why are amateurs not reducing their handicaps despite all the new technolgy

I feel like this is the part of my game that is missing the most, anybody have any suggestions about that, or good books on the topic?

instruction really hasn't gotten too much better, courses are much harder than they used to be, equiptment is better but nobody focuses on custom putter/wedge fitting and thus everyone hits the ball longer but because instruction is still rather poor across the board coupled with harder/longer courses you have relatively the same issues in bringing the handicap down.

jeff i would recommend reading books by bob rotella hes about the mental side of golf

alexallen2 to be completely honest with u i have never completely read a rotella book. lol. i did flip around one b4 a us junior qualifier and shot 71 in the first round but i had a heat stroke and had to withdraw but that doesnt matter. my dad swears by them tho so when i hear people asking for advice i say to read his books. i personally think i have a very strong attitude while im playing and mental game, my coach says its my greatest asset. im also very stubborn so im not quick to read a book on golf but when i flipped through one of his books i had my first underpar round

Take a look at almost any range and you'll see 90% or more practicing the full swing, especially drivers. It's fun to hit the long ball but the short game is where your scoring really comes from.

The majority of golfers are recreational golfers who are lucky if they play twice a month during season, much less practice...

Hardcore golfers, much like we find on www.golfwrx.com, are the minority...

As an instructor, I will actually discourage golfers away from me, if they are seeking to take 5 lessons in a 5-7 week period...

Golf is a time consuming activity/hobby, to spend the time necessary to improve for most people is simply asking too much...

I've noticed that during the evening hours, there are 1300+ members reading the golfwrx forum. Over 80% of those people will be on the different equipment forums with very few people hanging out here in the instruction section.

Most people are looking for a quick fix - new clubs, new golf magazine tip etc. They don't want to take the time to examine their own swing, examine their own limitations and think about how to play better. By giving it a fair bit of thought and working diligently, you WILL see improvement in your game. New clubs may help, but they won't help as much as regular practise and attention to fundamentals.

You have to fully prepare for your round and have a game planthat you are going to employ. If you are not playing better towards the end of your round then it shows that you are mentally fatiqued. Playing EGO GOLF is very DANGEROUS as constantly trying to impress your friends leads to tension about the results. This leads to cheating and you forget why you play the game- FUN and ENJOYMENT.Jack Nicklaus said that he never hit a shot in practice and competition without having a vivid and clear picture of the shot in hand.The game of golf is all about AWARENESS and knowing where the club is during the swing. A good way to do this as well as occupying any NEGATIVE VOICESthat may be in your head is to say BACK when the club reaches the top of the swing and STRIKE when you hit the ball. It really helps your tempo and naturally leads to good rythm. "What you focus on consistently you get more of". This implies to golf as so many people see hazards such as water and bunkers and their brains simply respond to what it has been told to focus on.

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Well I assume your focus with this post is to discuss the neglect of the 'mental' side of the game.

However, I would argue that there is very little correlation between the neglect of the 'mental' side of game to why golfers aren't improving...Improving in the 'mental' arena will help those who are committed to improving their game, most golfers aren't 'committed' to improving their game...

I'll also add that average golfers don't have time to practice, especially the short game, thats where most of the scoring takes place. The most forgiving clubs won't help you if you can't make putts or get up and down.

I think any time when you are looking at stats things can be misleading. If we were to look at SAT scores over the last ten years, I doubt we would see much change in the average score. It is a little tough because the scoring has changed over the years. The reality is not every person is going to be good at the SAT. There will be some who score perfect and others no matter how hard they try cannot reach the number they desire.

Very few of the millions of golfers actually take lessons. I have never seen a report which tracked the handicaps of the number of lesson takers but I would imagine there would be a gradual lowering. In the end, I think more golfers get better taking lessons than getting worse. I do think that there are a growing number of "golf professionals" who are more managers rather than teachers and players. I am sure someone will bring up the PAT but remember at one point guys like Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Claude Harmon, and so on were teaching lessons at clubs. I believe that learning how to teach and becoming a more well rounded playing professional go hand and hand for a number of years.

As far as equipment, there is no doubt that today's technology is much better than in years past. Unfortunately, a person, not a robot, much eventually play the clubs. The clubface tells the ball where to go and can be difficult to gain control over.

In the end, the player is responsible for his or her improvement. In golf as in life, there is no miracle potion to make one successful. Smart practice will certainly go a long ways. At the end of the day, I believe there is way to many factors to site one or two reasons as to why the number hasn't lowered.

As Mark Twain stated, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

Well I assume your focus with this post is to discuss the neglect of the 'mental' side of the game.

 

However, I would argue that there is very little correlation between the neglect of the 'mental' side of game to why golfers aren't improving...Improving in the 'mental' arena will help those who are committed to improving their game, most golfers aren't 'committed' to improving their game...

And that's the big issue right there. I know that MOST of the guys in my golf league don't practice. Heck, I'd be shocked if they go to the driving range more than 3 times a year. they are out there to have fun. I think that's what most your amateur golfers are like. Remember, that the obsessed "must improve" golfer is NOT the norm.

Heck, of our regular threesome, one guy has ALWAYS sucked. It didn't bother him when I started playing the first season but when we started the second and I'd gotten my game on track, he was left in the dust. That didn't sit well. And yet, he STILL won't take a lesson, won't go to the range, won't get clubs that fit..what are ya gonna do?? :drinks:

Tiger Woods grew up from an early age listening to [tapes at night that fed his mind with self confidence. His father showed him that golf was not a game for those with a fragile mind. You have a self image of yourself as a golfer and this has aHUGE IMPACT on the results that you get. You see it so often at your weekly competition when a high handicap player pars the first couple of holes only to record a triple or a string of bogeys. This is to make sure you stay in your comfort zoneand to restore the scores that you expect to record ( SELF IMAGE). ANNIKA SORENSTAM has worked on vision 54 whereby she wants to shoot 54 because she knows can birdie every hole- JUST LIKE YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN BIRDIE EVERY HOLE AT YOUR HOME COURSE!!

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Rotella Books are all very good reads. Have them all, and he writes them in simple easy reads. Does a good job of using tour player examples to explain his point.

Zen Golf by Dr. Joseph Parent is good as well...a different take on the mental game. Compares golf to Zen teachings.

I didn't care for Dr. Gio's book very much, interesting information, but not practically applied as well.

And another book to check out would be Every Shot Must Have a Purpose by Pia Nilsson. She's a founderof the Golf54 school I believe.

You'll find you can take tidbits from all of the books and then apply whatever works to your game.

I suggest stationary handicaps have more to do with lack of playing and practice time, the aging process and number of new and retiring golfers rather than an underdeveloped mental side. Quotes from Kite, Plamer, etc. are not applicable to the average male golfer, who shoots 96 and plays about 10 rounds/year.

It's the nature of physical activity to demand less attention as competency increases, freeing one to cultivate the mental side of things. That's why it's mostly the best golfers who dispense such esoteric wisdom while the average golfer is trying to remember how to play a sidehill lie.

In terms of repetition, "trusting your natual abilities" is not useful until certain sequential movements in the golf swing are ingrained to the point they become 'natural.' Until that happens, there's nothing much to trust and the average golfer never gets to that point either. Put another way, how much trust could you have if your swing yielded 12 bogies and 6 double bogies every round.

Finally, if golf were all about awareness I'd be reading the teachings of Swami Muktananda and shooting 65 and Tibetian monks would lock up the Ryder Cup for the next 50 years.

Everything has it's place, but until you own your game the mental side is best employed in the service of promoting physical competency.

Golf at the Top with Steve Williams: Tips and Techniques from the Caddy to Raymond Floyd, Greg Norman, and Tiger Woods

after reading this book i really did play my best golf. didn't make one change to my swing, didn't change anything physically, just used visualization and other techniques mentioned in the book.

it was an odd read, but the visualization information and other tools that stevie points out are interesting. really, who would be a better person to ask about golf at the highest level than stevie?

most people do not improve at golf because golf is hard, most people don't like hard.

In golf as in life, there is no miracle potion to make one successful.

Sigh...How I wish this weren't true. Since it's not we're left with the original question, which is much broader than can be discussed in a single post. First off, golf is an athletic game and there aren't that many athletes included in the definition of the "normal" golfer. Look at some of the swings you see, most of which contain a number of speech impediments in addition to hitches, glitches, sways, leans, reverse pivots, over the top, under the bridge moves that precede an attempt to hit a round stationary ball with a moving stick. No amount of mental game improvement would fix these guys. Except most of them don't care enough to do more than swear a great deal, through clubs and generally ruin the afternoon for anyone unfortunate enough to have to play with them. Would they try and get better? Nope. The mental side of the game for them is thinking they should play better than they do and as such represents a form of insanity not easily treated despite being highly recognizable. The physical side is as foreign to them as the mental because it would involve something akin to actual physical activity, beyond channel surfing or snacking. So why would they get better? Even when their physician tells them they have to quit smoking and exercise or they will be dead in a year they don't do anything different. If their lives are important enough to save by changing what chance exists that the golf game might get worked on in order to improve? And I say good for all of them, because the choice to improve involves choice, work, determination, time, and sweat and if they'd rather not get better its ok with me.

For myself, I like Bob Rotella's books also, and Manuel de la Torre's swing theory book also because there are some really interesting and valuable insights into the mental side of the game presented . Like Yogi Berra said..."50% of golf is 90% mental"

davidhowellaaa, would I be wrong in suggesting that you have read "The Inner Game of Golf" by W.Timothy Gallwey?

If I am wrong and you have not picked it up, I would suggest you might be interested in his mental approach to the game.

Yes you are SPOT ON. It is a great book that is from the 1980's

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Teachers are teaching "the swing" insted of teaching "how to score" They are different.

Teachers are teaching "the swing" insted of teaching "how to score" They are different.

never something more true.

my "fake uncle" gary, perfect example. he has a 30 yard slice, with every club (150yd par 3, 8 iron from the tee, the ball lands and crosses the green from lt to rt, crazy!), scratch golfer. has 4 hole in ones. wins almost every league and scramble.

IMO, no matter what technology improves, the player still has to get the ball in the hole. What I mean is, you still have to hit it consistently for 18 holes and score. Club technology allows a player to miss-hit it and still get 90% of the yardage and ball technology allows the player to miss-hit it and not pay the price of side spin. With these facts taken into account, players still have to hit the ball and put themselves in scoring position. In addition, it may have to do with the fact that alot of public courses have priced themselves into poverty and no long keep the course as well as they have in the past.

New technology has really been neutralized by the increasing distances at golf courses across the world. The reality is, the designers and pros at golf clubs realize players are finding it easier to hit the golf ball (at least sometimes) and have redesigned and lengthened courses to battle tech. This doesn't really help the amateur or new player compete.

Also, because of longer courses, golf has become a power game for sure. If you can't hit it a long way, you might face 3 shot par 4s. Amateurs find bizarre ways that they feel will help them to hit the ball longer and cause longterm harm to their swings. Go to any driving range and watch dozens of players swing as fast as they can, but ironically generate less swingspeed. This causes serious problems with tempo and balance which subsequently hurts their entire game. If every amateur tried to model themselves after the Big Easy, the game probably would be a lot easier for most players.

The Zealous Golfer

I am one of the guys that raises the national handicap so I will give you my reasons (excuses!) why I have been scoring the same even though I swear that I am "getting" better:

1) I have no idea what the"mental" game you are talking about is.

2) I have never taken a lesson and I probably never will because every other sport that I have had coaches in I have stopped playing shortly after getting coaching (I'm probably a difficult person to coach).

3)I am the worst putter ever.

4)A buddy of mine asked me to figure out my short game handicap, why? My short game is my handicap.

5)And lastly, it is way more fun to try and smash shots over the back wall (have done it from the second level, been close at ground level) or try and hit shots at the wrecked cars than work on swing technique.

But I bought a medicus dual hinge to help my swing so I try to get better. I know I should practice the short game (and I even plan too this year) but course management is a foreign topic to me. I hit driver on all of the 4's and 5's because I spent that much money on the club (plus hitting it far is more fun!). No clue on what to do after that. I may try and take a short game/putting lesson in the future, do they offer something like that? That sounds like something I could do.