Final Rounds

Today in the Northeast, I was fortunate to be able to play a February skins game (not that common an occurrence). I played with my normal group of guys and was lucky enough to have a young guy who I try to give pointers to play with us. The young man is just starting his journey in the game and I have tried to offer advice on coaches, shots, ways to think around the golf course, etc. It's essentially that whole growing up in a single parent household thing. He went from hitting a 140 yard (carry) 8 iron (P790s- slightly tuned down lofts) to 170 yards in 50* weather. This has taken him three months. Truthfully, amazed. I'm somewhat skeptical but if he's honest about club selection.... d**n. He's also only 14. His growth in the game is astounding and it gives me great satisfaction to see how far he's come in such a short period of time and to be of minimal help. At the same point, it was the saddest round of golf I've ever played. About 6 years ago, I was caddying at an exclusive club when an a**hole on the hole behind us snap hooked a golf ball into my face. Dips**** didn't yell fore, caddies didn't yell fore. I look up on a blue sky day and all I see is white. Thank god for a pair of Oakley shades and impact glass or I may have been seriously in trouble. Anyways, I went from swinging the golf club between 108-110 to barely 100. Something happened with my eyes and my ability to sense the club through the ball, add speed in the bottom third and sequence the swing. My wedge game has also suffered in the sense that I can't save shots with hands. Actually, that correlates the whole way through the bag. The brain is a strange organ to say the least. This problem already caused me to not touch a club or barely touch a club for 1-2 years. I've tried everything from weight lifting, to speed training, swing changes, a neurologist. Nothing has gotten me back close to that level of proficiency. People say minimize expectations, get fitted for a different set of clubs, etc. You can't fake this game, you can't fake the feeling of a perfectly struck shot. I'm not an old guy by any stretch, approaching 28. Competitive golf of any nature seems out of the question at this point and personal expectations kill anything except practice but the amount of practice v. yielded results is ridiculous. It's to the point where I don't wanna touch a club. I guess I'm looking for some sort of advice because I'm at my wits end.

Golf can be infinitely rewarding and infinity frustrating. I can't think of many activities where a person can put in so much effort for so little return...relatively speaking. I share some of your frustration as I would like to play competitively, but simply don't hit the ball far enough. Yes, I am closing in on 65, but I "should" still get more distance than I do. I exercise regularly, am tall, and flexible. I can continue to stay frustrated, or reach some kind of level of acceptance about my ability...while continuing to work on my game. I realize I lack a basic talent for golf, but that just compels me to work even harder just to keep up, so to speak.

All I can suggest is to stay patient, continue working at it, and accept where you are with this game at any given point in time. And realize that the work you put in will reap rewards, even if it may take longer than you would like. Think how rewarding it will be when you do work through those frustrations and limitations and get back to where you once were?

ps: I have found it is never a good idea to compare yourself with others. That is a slippery slope that just leads to disappointment and more frustration. I have a friend who is beginning his fourth season this year, is already a 3HI, and has a ball speed in the low 180s. Some people simply have a gift for this game. :-)

Sounds like you're a feel player? I would go back to the basic fundamentals of the swing. I don't think you can ever go home again on something like this so trying to recapture the old feels may be an excercise in futility.

I know never to compare with anyone. It kills your play and your internal game / strategy. The thing that's the most frustrating is to not loose it to age, decline in work ethic or life changes but to a freak occurrence. It took so long to get there and I never thought a concussion would cause such an issue. I had one before that but it didn't cause any coordination issues. I didn't notice any.

I'm really sorry to hear about the concussion and the decline in your game. I think you have to try to overcome the mental problem that is happening inside your head and just try to perfect one club at a time and don't think about your game as a whole.

Last round 13 holes, 1 greenie, 1 skin, 4 over par. It's a tire kick at this point. SS with driver same, maybe I hit it a little better. SS 102. It's useless. Training, hitting golf balls often. You don't play good amateur golf without being able to hit it a long way. 102mph doesn't cut it. Time to consider a new hobby. Thinking about a learn to surf camp, maybe body building? Don't think it's a mental problem... think it's just unfortunate. I didn't start playing till I was 14-15 and had little to no formal instruction or direction till 21. At 5'9" with limiting factors described above and current situation it was a d**n near impossible road.

Don't start surfing, it's already too crowded! :P Just kidding ( well sort of ).

I got rear ended a couple of years ago and my index has gone from 6 to 9 ish since. Somedays I have rotational mobility and others I don't. When my back isn't tight, i hit about 65% GIR and shoot mid 70's,

but when I'm tight that drops to 25-30% and is compromised by distance loss in my irons. Very frustrating. But I still love the game.

Look, Golf is a difficult game, but if you can't find enjoyment in the challenge, by all means, find something else to do.

I basically gave up surfing ( My obsession from age 10 ) due to the crowds and pollution about 15 years ago, but still hit it a few times a year. Hard to stay in surf shape when you're not surfing, though .

I figure surfing would be a kind of zen experience with the right shot of adrenaline. If anything its something new to try, I need another hobby and travel activity. I grew up around skiing and snowboarding (though not good at the second at all). Surfing seems like it'd be very challenging. So something new to work at that may work as a good cross-training activity.