What do you think really holds you back from improving at golf?

[kacer]

With the plethora of writings, videos, and golf instruction, there is no shortage on golf swing information and knowledge available to golfers today. Yet on here I see numerous questions about similar topics that have been answered thousands of times before in a YouTube video, an article, paid subscription site, social media, whatever it is it has probably been answered somewhere.

 

You have guys like Monte, Iteach, and other GREAT instructors on here posting freely of their information that can help a lot of golfers.

 

Whether you take live lessons from your favorite instructor or partake of instruction online, you can get ANY question about the golf swing answered.

 

I don't believe it is for lack of "golf swing knowledge" that keeps us from getting better.

 

I want you to be honest as I'm genuinely curious why most golfers don't improve their games significantly, given that we know as much as ever about the golf swing.

 

What is keeping YOU from reaching your golfing potential? Why aren't you where you want to be with your golf game?

[Fade to Black]

Availability of time to dedicate to practice.

[Pigems]

Availability of time to dedicate to practice.

 

Bingo, if I could practice more I know I could improve faster.

[getitdaily]

Time

[MrJones]

Practicing the wrong method.

 

Practicing without real focus.

 

Mental barriers that keep us from staying in the game.

[PepsiDuck]

Squirrels.

[Aviador Naval]

Three things for me in rough order of magnitude.

 

1. I spend too much of my available time hitting balls, playing 'practice' rounds hitting multiple balls, etc and not enough time focusing hard on scoring and grinding to get the ball in the hole.

 

2. I'm weak mentally. Too many dumb decisions that cause unforced errors and losing focus when things go very well or very poorly for a stretch mid round.

 

3. I enjoy short game and long game practice but detest putting practice. Putting is easily the most streaky part of my game and almost certainly the ticket to reducing my handicap the fastest. I'm like the fatty that doesn't know the address of the nearest gym, eats nothing but carbs and sugar, knows what the problem is, yet simply can't/won't help himself...

[DixieD]

Agree with above, I'm under 30 and have two kids so time is precious. I get to play once a week and that's at 7am Sunday so I am home before 12 for family time. Get one range session a week in, sometimes two and they are at 8pm after kids are in bed so energy for golf is low. Then I wonder why I can't get under a 3 capper! Just not enough hours in the day.

[L29]

Agree with above. In golf there's only one position on the field to play, whereas, in football there are many positions you can try out for if you can't play QB. We have a bunch of offensive lineman, defensive tackles, and safeties having to learn how to play QB because thats the only position on the team and its the hardest position to learn. The guys who were born to play QB excel at golf much more easily. The rest of us need a lot of time, not to mention at least a little bit of money, to figure all this stuff out. Time is the one thing we don't have much of anymore in this life.

 

With less time available the tendency is to look for the quick fix which in turn leads us down rabbit holes and towards confusion that end up taking even more time to fix.

 

Lessons from a good instructor is the answer, but again that takes time and a little bit of money, but would end up being the fastest way to improvement. Imagine a defensive lineman trying to learn QB by watching Tom Brady on tv and downloading youtube videos with no real coaching whatsoever.

[rgk5]

I relish the days when I was between 0-2 for twenty years. Not at almost 71, age is a big factor. I have worked very hard in the gym for the last month and can now do a 10 rep set of leg presses at 380 lbs. in an attempt to get some power back. Lots of upper body work and stretching too. My 7-iron is now averaging between 164 and 172 yards which shows a 10% gain over last year.

 

Confidence is the biggest factor along with only average putting. The mental side of not over expecting results will be key this year as I want to get my handicap down from a shakey 6 to 4.

[Priceyd]

For me is practice when I go to the range am I working on something or just hitting balls, I have watched some videos this week of things I want to change now it’s about going to range and practicing in slow motion and half swings instead of trying to do it full speed

[RBImGuy]

With the plethora of writings, videos, and golf instruction, there is no shortage on golf swing information and knowledge available to golfers today. Yet on here I see numerous questions about similar topics that have been answered thousands of times before in a YouTube video, an article, paid subscription site, social media, whatever it is it has probably been answered somewhere.

 

You have guys like Monte, Iteach, and other GREAT instructors on here posting freely of their information that can help a lot of golfers.

 

Whether you take live lessons from your favorite instructor or partake of instruction online, you can get ANY question about the golf swing answered.

 

I don't believe it is for lack of "golf swing knowledge" that keeps us from getting better.

 

I want you to be honest as I'm genuinely curious why most golfers don't improve their games significantly, given that we know as much as ever about the golf swing.

 

What is keeping YOU from reaching your golfing potential? Why aren't you where you want to be with your golf game?

 

Information dont mean proper nor correct.

I know why golfers struggle and why its not really helping people.

Today a student hit 20% longer with the golf instruction I developed.

single advice adding 25 yards for someone else

the list can go on.

 

Your only stuck if you have the wrong bad information.

 

Secret safe

[kacer]

With the plethora of writings, videos, and golf instruction, there is no shortage on golf swing information and knowledge available to golfers today. Yet on here I see numerous questions about similar topics that have been answered thousands of times before in a YouTube video, an article, paid subscription site, social media, whatever it is it has probably been answered somewhere.

 

You have guys like Monte, Iteach, and other GREAT instructors on here posting freely of their information that can help a lot of golfers.

 

Whether you take live lessons from your favorite instructor or partake of instruction online, you can get ANY question about the golf swing answered.

 

I don't believe it is for lack of "golf swing knowledge" that keeps us from getting better.

 

I want you to be honest as I'm genuinely curious why most golfers don't improve their games significantly, given that we know as much as ever about the golf swing.

 

What is keeping YOU from reaching your golfing potential? Why aren't you where you want to be with your golf game?

 

Information dont mean proper nor correct.

I know why golfers struggle and why its not really helping people.

Today a student hit 20% longer with the golf instruction I developed.

single advice adding 25 yards for someone else

the list can go on.

 

Your only stuck if you have the wrong bad information.

 

Secret safe

 

Fair enough. I agree with your points. But there is no one secret to a good golf swing. And lets say that your said student improved during the lesson and walked away confident that he changed. We have all been there, walking away from a lesson hitting it better than we ever have, but two days later it's gone and we struggle again.

 

Why is that? It's not like we just forgot what we learned. We go back to shooting the same scores and playing just like we have in the past.

 

And during that lesson we may see ball flight improvement, which is obviously most important, but is it REAL LASTING VISIBLE change that we are after?

[dg_1983]

Desire, drive, want - lacking these to some extent.

 

Sure alot of folks say time......but really? You sure?

 

Getting better is hard,getting alot better is really hard, maintaining a certain level is hard. It takes effort and sacrifice and most folks really don't want to work hard at it. Tiny margins of improvement for so much effort.

 

Don't get me wrong, alot of folks waste their time with a poor approach but that's not the real reason.

 

Who fancies bashing balls at the range with Mates? Easy

 

Roll some putts in the Livingroom? Easier still.

 

Do mirror work in slow motion every night for a month without hitting a ball, who wants to do that??????

 

Start a fitness and flexibility regime? No thanks

 

Roll 1000 4 foot putts a week??

 

Spend 6months working on one sole intention in the swing fighting against a nature tendency?

 

Hmmmmmm

[Curlyman83]

Time

 

Bingo.

 

If I were a millionaire without any money worries, I’d be able to spend all of my time on getting down to scratch. If only I’d have taken up golf as a teen instead of chasing girls!

[dg_1983]

 

 

Time

 

Bingo.

 

If I were a millionaire without any money worries, I’d be able to spend all of my time on getting down to scratch. If only I’d have taken up golf as a teen instead of chasing girls!

 

Do you think you’d get there?

[MadGolfer76]

Golfwrx...

[Sean2]

Golfwrx...

 

Brilliant. :-)

[martynbirch]

I think it’s probably physical issues. I have been chasing a cure for my nasty overswing/cast/flip for YEARS all to no avail.

 

 

I know the theory but body just won’t do it. Early release acknowledged as one of the toughest flaws to fix...dont I know it!

 

Having said that some weeks I can play to single figures though the next I’m like a beginning hacker.

[caniac6]

I play a lot, but I don't take it seriously. I don't take lessons very much, mabye one a year just to have the pro check me out. I am satisfied where I am. I almost feel like that if I practice more, it will be like work, and not a game. I don't like to have many, if any, swing thoughts. I like to hit it, find it, and hit it again. I have been blessed with good eye-hand coordination, so I usually hit in places where I can hit it again.

[kacer]

Desire, drive, want - lacking these to some extent.

 

Sure alot of folks say time......but really? You sure?

 

Getting better is hard,getting alot better is really hard, maintaining a certain level is hard. It takes effort and sacrifice and most folks really don't want to work hard at it. Tiny margins of improvement for so much effort.

 

Don't get me wrong, alot of folks waste their time with a poor approach but that's not the real reason.

 

Who fancies bashing balls at the range with Mates? Easy

 

Roll some putts in the Livingroom? Easier still.

 

Do mirror work in slow motion every night for a month without hitting a ball, who wants to do that??????

 

Start a fitness and flexibility regime? No thanks

 

Roll 1000 4 foot putts a week??

 

Spend 6months working on one sole intention in the swing fighting against a nature tendency?

 

Hmmmmmm

 

I love this reply. I think it hits the nail on the head for a lot of golfers.

 

I've thought about this for a long time, lets say you do the boring, repetitive work it takes to have a great swing, or be an awesome putter. Whatever it is, if you could say 9-12 months from now all you had to do was maintenance work and just be able to play golf without a swing thought or be working on something significant, would you do it?

 

I think about this daily... and guess what, if I would have committed to this a year ago, I'd be starting this season with the swing i've always wanted and be the player I want to be, but I continue to put this process off.

[MonteScheinblum]

My ex wife put a root on me.

[Torrey4Life]

Not having time to practice anymore, nor the money to get lessons like I used to. I'd managed to get down to a 7.x at one point but now I'm a 10-12 index and it's quite frustrating.

 

The upside is that I now get way less upset on the course at bad shots, because I really don't have a right to expect otherwise. I mean, I can still get around Torrey north/south at 90 or a little better so that's not bad, just not what I want.

[otto6457]

Probably age now. At 60 it's unlikely I'll get much better. I have plenty of time to practice and I've always been a bit of a range rat so I can't claim a lack of time or other commitments. I had my day in the sun with golf so it's not that big of a deal anymore. In all honesty, there really isn't much of a need to get better anymore except for personal satisfaction. I have no tournaments to prepare for anymore. I don't even have a regular foursome anymore. And there's no doubt that for 50+ years of golf I've been a bit "handsy". Too much timing, not enough training. I tamed it some in my youth, but it still requires constant maintenance and I never managed to build the swing I wanted. Now at 60, I'm not sure I could if I tried. No matter how much time I put in.

 

Occasionally I think I might want to try and qualify for the State Senior Open just to see if I could, but other days, not so much. Texas is a tough senior field to qualify for. There are a lot of top notch senior amateur players out there. I'm not sure I have the drive needed to do the job right anymore. 60 is sort of tough. I'm not so old I can't hit the ball decently, but at the same time, I'm not the same golfer I was at even 55. I'm in pretty good shape but it would take some serious gym time just to get strong and flexible again. I wish I could sit here and say I'm ready to make a run at golf excellence again. But at 60 I'm not as sure of myself as I was at 30.

 

Anyway....sorry for the long winded self analysis. I apparently have some un-examined demons in my golf game.

[sheldonjhacker]

Other stuff to do, and other hobbies to enjoy. :wave:

[finleysg]

Talent.

 

Working with bad or misunderstood information.

 

Lack of focus -- working on too much at the same time for too little time.

[farmer]

I'm 67, half my neck is fused, and as Otto says, the motivation is just not there.

[Cpm881]

The fear of a new move/motion in swing or short game. Feels so wrong, so, I'll just go back to my old move and stay right where I am. Not gonna check that on camera, just convince myself I'm doing it right.

 

Second to that is time. Although if I had time, I'd waste half of it machine gunning 7 irons with no purpose.

[pearsonified]

Sub-par contact :D

[phillyspecial]

The fact that golf is hard