How long to develop a repeatable swing?

[OldFrog75]

I used to play quite a bit of golf and got my handicap down to 12. But then I took a 15 year hiatus and just started playing again 4 months ago. Mentally the game is pretty much the same but physically it feels like starting over. 3000 outdoor range balls, 9 hours at an indoor TrackMan facility, 15 rounds of golf and if my score cards are any indication I still do not have a repeatable swing. I doubt I'm any more impatient than most golfers but what is a realistic expectation for developing a consistent, repeatable swing? I expected more from 3500 swings given my prior experience but maybe it takes 35000?

[ebrasmus21]

Wish I knew. When i find out ill let you know.

[BB28403]

Stop hitting range balls except to groove your swing with a coach.

Then just play, play, play!

The game is on the course. Not at the range.

 

Use your instincts and gut to lower the score card.

[OldFrog75]

Stop hitting range balls except to groove your swing with a coach.

Then just play, play, play!

The game is on the course. Not at the range.

 

Use your instincts and gut to lower the score card.

Can't see how playing will improve the consistency of your swing if you hit it straight only 33% of the time on level ground.

[BB28403]

Stop hitting range balls except to groove your swing with a coach.

Then just play, play, play!

The game is on the course. Not at the range.

 

Use your instincts and gut to lower the score card.

Can't see how playing will improve the consistency of your swing if you hit it straight only 33% of the time on level ground.

 

Because Golf is on the course , Pete Cowen and Dave Alred 2 amazing Europe’s golf coaches both say that.

Your brain learns faster playing, it adapts.

[ScratchyDawg]

30 years and counting...

 

Seriously though...Just keep working on it and results will come. You will, however, never be satisfied if you think there is such a thing as consistent and repeatable. Moe Norman is the closest to that, and he hit millions of balls.

[jasonfish11]

30 years and counting...

 

 

Same here, I'll let you know if my swing becomes consistent and I've found the "end."

 

But to be fair that day will probably result in golf becoming boring and I'll quit.

[juststeve]

I think the how long question depends to a large extent on how you are trying to swing the club. I had a repeatable swing within days of first picking up a golf club. To be sure it improved over time, in the sense that I struck the ball further, straighter and more solidly as time when on, but my swing repeated from the outset.

 

The reason I had a repeatable swing early on is that I had the good fortune of learning from a man that taught a swing that was very easy to repeat, the late Manuel de la Torre. Every aspect of the swing he taught, from grip, to set up, to alignment, to the actual swing mechanics were designed to promote consistency. Manny's method requires that you consciously perform relatively few actions allowing the rest of the golf swing to be reactive. It is relatively easy to repeat a few simple motions compared to what many other golfers are trying to do.

 

Steve

[OldFrog75]

I think the how long question depends to a large extent on how you are trying to swing the club. I had a repeatable swing within days of first picking up a golf club. To be sure it improved over time, in the sense that I struck the ball further, straighter and more solidly as time when on, but my swing repeated from the outset.

 

The reason I had a repeatable swing early on is that I had the good fortune of learning from a man that taught a swing that was very easy to repeat, the late Manuel de la Torre. Every aspect of the swing he taught, from grip, to set up, to alignment, to the actual swing mechanics were designed to promote consistency. Manny's method requires that you consciously perform relatively few actions allowing the rest of the golf swing to be reactive. It is relatively easy to repeat a few simple motions compared to what many other golfers are trying to do.

 

Steve

Sounds great!!!

[Krt22]

Stop hitting range balls except to groove your swing with a coach.

Then just play, play, play!

The game is on the course. Not at the range.

 

Use your instincts and gut to lower the score card.

Can't see how playing will improve the consistency of your swing if you hit it straight only 33% of the time on level ground.

 

Because Golf is on the course , Pete Cowen and Dave Alred 2 amazing Europe’s golf coaches both say that.

Your brain learns faster playing, it adapts.

 

I would disagree. If you have a mechanical change you are trying to groove, a lot of times you need to take swings where the result absolutely doesn't matter. Sometimes with a coach, sometimes it’s focused practice with a clear goal.

 

You can't do that on the course, your mind won't allow for it since you still have a clear target.

 

You need enough reps off the course to trust it otherwise your old swing/compensations can easily take over when you need a good result.

[TheCityGame]

How long to develop a repeatable swing?

 

 

How are you even gauging "repeatable swing"?

 

If you looked at 50 of my swings, I bet you couldn't tell a difference in them. But, I bet about 10 of them would miss the fairway left, 10 would miss the fairway right, and 30 would be somewhere in the fairway, and probably from all over the face.

 

But, I bet my "all over the face" is still a tighter pattern than your "all over the face". And a pro thinking he's all over the face is going to be tighter than my all over the face.

 

juststeve perceives his swing as repeatable, but if you put him over 10 balls, he's not going to land the balls on top of each other even with a perfect lie.

 

All I can say is that over time, everything just gets a little "tighter". Your pattern on the face gets tighter. The distribution of where you make contact with the course gets tighter. The distribution of where your balls land gets tighter. But, you're not going to keep hitting balls and one day you pass a magic number and you go, "oh, there it is, it's repeatable. I'm going to go score now".

 

It just doesn't work like that. Go play. Go practice. Be patient.

[timmy8151]

Stop hitting range balls except to groove your swing with a coach.

Then just play, play, play!

The game is on the course. Not at the range.

 

Use your instincts and gut to lower the score card.

Can't see how playing will improve the consistency of your swing if you hit it straight only 33% of the time on level ground.

 

Because Golf is on the course , Pete Cowen and Dave Alred 2 amazing Europe’s golf coaches both say that.

Your brain learns faster playing, it adapts.

 

+1. My handicap didn’t really drop until I started playing more. There were some really ugly rounds but I eventually found a way to put a decent score on my card.

[MPStrat]

Save yourself a lot of time and frustration and go see a good instructor. If you haven't found it yet on your own, you likely won't.

[Lamb]

Stop hitting range balls except to groove your swing with a coach.

Then just play, play, play!

The game is on the course. Not at the range.

 

Use your instincts and gut to lower the score card.

Can't see how playing will improve the consistency of your swing if you hit it straight only 33% of the time on level ground.

 

Because Golf is on the course , Pete Cowen and Dave Alred 2 amazing Europe’s golf coaches both say that.

Your brain learns faster playing, it adapts.

 

OP said his problem is the swing not the scores (ie bad course management or short game etc) If he is struggling with his swing zero chance he improves it on course. Do you think the likes of Tiger learning a new swing learnt it on the course? No! He spent no less than 8 hours a day on the range. Once he dialed his swing the next stage was to bring it to the course and compete. That's the final piece OP is not there yet with his swing. I think he must be either A: Practicing the wrong way B - Has a swing that is not suited to him.

[benhays98]

FWIW, I'm a 12.4HC. For me, a repeatable swing is a swing that produces the intended results ~70+% of the time.

 

With that, I didn't start to see those results until I crossed the 8k-9k range ball mark. But, YMMV as I was changing from a horrible slice/fat/thin/skulled/pop-up swing to a "repeatable" swing (which has become a draw/push draw). Luckily, that number also includes bunker work, tons of wedge work, uneven surface practice (above, below, uphill and downhill) and partial shots.

 

I didn't play until I had a swing that could reproduce the shot that I wanted, when I wanted it (within reason of my HC) on the range, having no consequences of a bad shot. Once that was possible, it didn't translate to the course, until I began playing more.

 

I hope that helps..

[DavePelz4]

Hmmm...been playing for 49 years and will let you know if I ever make the same swing twice in a row.

[Tim Schoch]

As it has been said, Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

 

One year ago I decided to learn how to chip. I reviewed many schools of swing and ended up choosing Stan Utley's because it simply felt good to me.

 

I took vidoes of my learning the swing until I saw when I was doing it right and recognized that feel. Feel is everything. I remember the correct feels. So I practiced them for 2-3 hours a day inside and outside. Hundreds of shots with various clubs, challenging myself on virtually every shot to hit it left or right or high or low, videoing to spot any bad habits.

 

One year later, I am a far better chipper. 70% of the time I don't give my swing one thought, only zero in on the exact target and visualize the entire shot. Then, I will suddenly double-hit--but I know from practice why, and I immediately correct it.

 

One shortcut is to get a good teacher who can help you with a plan. Still, focused practice with self-pressure and self-awareness is everything.