Has anyone actually improved?

[Cool Hand Luke]

Loads of ways to improve but I think the biggest determining factor is how much time you are able/willing to dedicate. If you're a 15 and your goal is to get to a 6 but you can only play twice a month and hit the range once a week for 1 hr.... uhhh... good luck!! Even if you were getting private lessons from Butch Harmon, there's only so far instruction can get you, you still have to find it on the course and ingrain the muscle movements.

 

And even if you're able to practice a few more times per week, I still think you gotta be able to play at least 1-2x per week in order to move up to a mid/low single digit. I know guys who were once scratch or better who can not play for months and still shoot a score but I also know those aren't the guys we're talking about.

[smeal818]

I think most people improve, it's just that most improvement isn't linear and/or instant, which could lead to one interpreting their game as stagnant.

[gregkeller]

I think most people improve, it's just that most improvement isn't linear and/or instant, which could lead to one interpreting their game as stagnant.

 

This is key. I think a great place to see this would be improving my lag putting. I could work on this a ton, every day for hours and hours and hours, and I'm still not gonna make all that many 30 footers, maybe one more every 4 or 5 rounds. I would hope I'd increase my 3 putt avoidance, but even that isn't going to make a huge difference in my scores. The best tour player in 3 putt avoidance averages one three putt every 3.5 rounds, and the worst averages about one per round, so we are only talking less than one stroke per round improvement.

[DShark1]

Haha, I improved drastically when one night I watched the LPGA and noticed that they don’t try to kill the ball. They have good rhythm and tempo. Then I played with a couple of guys who were mini tour players and they also had good rhythm and tempo. Lucky for me one of those guys would practice at the same place I did and we became friends. He helped me a little and said one thing that has stayed with me. He said the club hits the ball you are just swinging it as smoothly as you can. That was 20 yrs ago and anytime I start hitting the ball poorly I work on rhythm and tempo slowing it down. 

[aggiegolfer21]

I went from a probably a 16 handicap in 2017 to about +4 now.

 

Best way to make an improvement for your long game is to figure out what movements your body naturally makes and use those movements in your swing over and over again. E.g. - Does your right elbow naturally move behind you or stay in front of you? - whichever it is, don't change it, use it.  Find as many articles/videos from Mike Adams and Terry Rowles as you can.  After you've figured that out, stick to the shot shape you produce naturally.  If you cut the driver, cut it every single shot.  Doesn't matter the wind direction or hole shape.  Stick to one shot.

 

For the short game, it's mostly practice.  Anyone can chip and putt.  There's obviously some technique involved but you can have poor technique and still chip and putt it well with practice.

[NoTalentLefty]

Yes I have but that was after getting worse due to lack of play during my 40s and some of my 50s. Like to say it was about a certain method but not true. Kinda took parts that seem to fit from a few teachers. What works was a very neutral grip and  weight forward with a slightly closed address, not S&T though. Was 13.7 early last year , down to 8.8. Btw I’m 64 this too shall pass.

Edited September 9, 2023 by NoTalentLefty

[TheDeanAbides]

23 hours ago, DShark1 said:

Haha, I improved drastically when one night I watched the LPGA and noticed that they don’t try to kill the ball. They have good rhythm and tempo. Then I played with a couple of guys who were mini tour players and they also had good rhythm and tempo. Lucky for me one of those guys would practice at the same place I did and we became friends. He helped me a little and said one thing that has stayed with me. He said the club hits the ball you are just swinging it as smoothly as you can. That was 20 yrs ago and anytime I start hitting the ball poorly I work on rhythm and tempo slowing it down. 

The irony is that the vast majority of ams are trying too hard to be smooth because their sequencing is poor. Smoothness can often cover up those issues. The only place to give yourself more time to hit it should be in transition. 

[EagleAteBirdie]

We play golf for fun, but improving is usually tedious, uncomfortable and boring.  Too many look for a short cut, but the way to the end is the way through.

 

Training should be intensive when it comes to making changes.  Sometimes, it is necessary to spend a lot of time with a coach who can give continuous feedback on every swing you make.  Drilling changes on your own takes a tremendous amount of discipline.  

 

I also find there is a period between drilling changes and seeing any improvement. I remember being awful at chipping and it bugged the hell out of me.  I spent hours practicing and no matter what I did, any change I made would only last for a few swings and I would inevitably fat or thin the ball.  I resorted to spending hours chipping foam balls off a putting mat indoors.  Swinging back and through with mixed results.  One day during a round I just started to chip better and my focus changed to what the club head was doing.  I reached a level of confidence where I preferred to chip than putt.  I know that if I tried to just "focus on the club head" a year earlier, it wouldn't have made much difference.  The fact is that hours of internal focus and practicing a good movement made the external focus on the club head work.

 

Don't be surprised if you practice like hell with limited results, and then one day just start to play much better.  Eventually, you will improve and probably when you least expect it.

[Patnachts]

5 hours ago, EagleAteBirdie said:

We play golf for fun, but improving is usually tedious, uncomfortable and boring.  Too many look for a short cut, but the way to the end is the way through.

 

Training should be intensive when it comes to making changes.  Sometimes, it is necessary to spend a lot of time with a coach who can give continuous feedback on every swing you make.  Drilling changes on your own takes a tremendous amount of discipline.  

 

I also find there is a period between drilling changes and seeing any improvement. I remember being awful at chipping and it bugged the hell out of me.  I spent hours practicing and no matter what I did, any change I made would only last for a few swings and I would inevitably fat or thin the ball.  I resorted to spending hours chipping foam balls off a putting mat indoors.  Swinging back and through with mixed results.  One day during a round I just started to chip better and my focus changed to what the club head was doing.  I reached a level of confidence where I preferred to chip than putt.  I know that if I tried to just "focus on the club head" a year earlier, it wouldn't have made much difference.  The fact is that hours of internal focus and practicing a good movement made the external focus on the club head work.

 

Don't be surprised if you practice like hell with limited results, and then one day just start to play much better.  Eventually, you will improve and probably when you least expect it.

Couldn't agree more. You can practice an aspect of golf for months or even seasons without your scores getting any better at all, just to, one day, wake up and have significantly better results. The most important part is that you must remain diligent during that practice and have the faith that eventually all that work is going to pay off. I can distinctly remember each plateau I have face while getting better, just to eventually have that break through moment where one day I magically (not magic at all, but consistent practice) wake up shooting better scores than I did the day before. Consistent, diligent, and patient practice is the only way (or the most reliable) way to get better.

[slytown]

On 5/25/2018 at 12:50 AM, Your-away! said:

There i am watching another Youtube golf video about a coach trying to improve someones swing and how difficult it is to implement the changes, ive heard and read numerous times about how difficult it was for Faldo to change his swing and how long it took.

 

So got me thinking is there anyone out there who has improved a ridiculous amount compared to how they used to be, i don't really mean someone new to the game and they improved their handicap by say 10 strokes within the first 12 months.

 

I'm thinking someone who has played for years at roughly a 15, then all of a sudden got to a 6 within 12 months.

 

And what changed?

 

I'm in my late 30s. I always had a good short game but when I got back into golf I finally tried to work on my swing. I was always a feel player and folks like @Valtiel really helped me, as well as some Youtube instructors. Was a 10-12 handicap and got down to 5-7 handicap.

 

What helped me was just working on what I needed to over a long period of time. I would say after 3 years of DIY, only in the last year and a half have I improved. It was mostly squaring the face earlier in the downswing and rotating more through impact. Really helped me hit more fairways and greens. When I was a kid I had trouble hitting greens because I was so steep and flippy, creating low point issues. Always hit fairly straight because I had decent corrections.