Why am I so bad at golf?

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118187349#Comment_118187349

Yeh exactly - god forbid he becomes too reliant on a 3/5 wood or something off the tee - hard to eventually change to using a driver, this costing themselves a hell of a lot of distance

ShivasIrons

My advice is not to take advice from anyone who has never seen you play.

Every tip is good for someone, no tip is good for everyone and the only way to know what will help you is to get advice from someone who has seen you play.

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118187798#Comment_118187798

People are allowed and well within their rights to give some advice that has nothing to do with the guy’s swing.

willabur

rereading the OP

So much reveals itself in the last paragraph. Get a set of clubs that are relatively new and suit your strong hand. Thats your starting point. I'm a single handicapper but if I started to play left handed with a set of 40 year old clubs then I would be shooting triple bogies on every hole also. It seems unbelievable that a pro wouldn't tell you this

prawnsambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188297#Comment_118188297

That's not necessarily correct. My wife is left handed and plays right handed clubs. Used to play hockey and played that right handed as well. So it really depends on circumstances and it could be as much of an issue for the OP to change to left-handed clubs as for you.

DuckSlice

I'm also left handed and play right handed. But I'm pretty sure if i was handed a left handed club at the start i would be left handed now but it hasn't held me back I would think.

OP: have you tried playing left handed? You are at the stage where now is the time to try it as it could be impeding you? Do you do absolutely everything else left handed and its just golf right handed? If that's the case then you may need to go left handed. I am mixed I do plenty things right handed.

coillcam

Phil Mickelson is actually right-handed, he actually picked up golf playing left-handed and obviously stuck with it. Plenty of hurlers I know would play off their left despite being right-side dominant. Ultimately everyone is unique.

Regarding the previous driver comments. Stats about distance and strokes gained driving are only relevant to the tour pros and you could begin to argue for lower to mid HC players who are actually hitting the ball consistently. Now if you can drive the ball decently and keep it in play, of course it's a clear advantage. However, it ain't much use if it's being topped or spraying 60-80 yards offline. No driver is needed to break 100.

The driver has a completely different swing pattern and setup to irons. You'll probably hit 2x times as many iron shots in a round to the big stick if you're lucky. Even more for a higher HC player. The obvious advice here is, to begin with drilling the irons, short game/putting with lessons and practice as that's where over 90% of all strokes are going to be made. You might get the green light for the driver 10-14 times per round.

The driver can be worked on later, having developed confidence with irons and created some muscle memory it will actually be easy to pick up. Trying to focus on learning to swing ALL clubs at the same time is quite hard to do. Could be considered complete overload for someone struggling or starting out. Why spend time on the one club that only gets hit a fraction of the time in a round and also can produce the biggest miss? Time is clearly better spent practising irons and short game at the start.

Ultimately what I'm saying is to keep the practice simple and repetitive with a trusted coach. Same for on-course, keep the game simple maybe even carry 1/2 set of clubs. Like anything in life, it's all about practice and reps. Practice smart and get the reps in, results will definitely improve.

ShivasIrons

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118187870#Comment_118187870

Without any knowledge of how someone plays the game, any advice given is just guessing of which some can be right and other which will be wrong. This is just filling the OP with clutter which they don't need, what they need is clarity.

Ivefoundgod

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118190925#Comment_118190925

Not to derail the thread but strokes gained applies to everyone and its completely incorrect to say it only applies to tour pros. Decent article here that goes into more detail albeit comparing 3 wood to driver https://shotscope.com/blog/stats/driver-versus-3-wood/ however the pattern holds as you move down the bag. While I agree that its no use if you top it, offline shots can be managed once you know the strategy and there is zero guarantee that the average golfer won't completely mishit a 7 iron either. Unless you are so accurate and consistent with an iron that you are getting good distance and guaranteed accuracy then the benefits don't outweigh the negatives. The problem with taking an iron off the tee is this, lets take a scenario where the hole is 350 yards long par 4, lets say you take 7 iron off the tee and hit it perfect, 150 yards middle of the fairway. You now have 200 yards in, for any amateur that is a tough shot and I would say the majority of players I've played with would hit a 4i or hybrid from there, not a high percentage shot and brings in a lot of bad possibilities. So lets say you play conservatively and hit a 7 iron again. You don't flush it, it goes 135 and lands in the rough. You've now got a 65 yard shot into the green, lets assume its best possible case and you've no bunkers or water to overcome. You hit your wedge in, it goes 50 yards and you're short of the green. You chip on, leave yourself 15 ft and 2 putt. Double bogey. Now repeat that multiple times over the course of a round and you will see how difficult the game becomes when you don't hit driver off the tee. Theres a whole host of stats and data from strokes gained that backs this up, Scott Fawcett (while an arsehole on twitter) is a proponent but you will find that almost every golfer is better off hitting driver off the tee. I would say to anyone that thinks driver shouldn't be used to think about their home course and how difficult you're 2nd and 3rd shot is on the par 4s/5s when you are only getting 150-180 yards off the tee.

One other thing for OP to keep in mind while playing, everyone who plays the game asks themselves 'why am I so bad at golf?'. Its part of the game for us all regardless of skill level so don't be too hard on yourself and do not be overly critical either. Most amateurs expect far too much out of themselves and think if they're 100 yards out and don't land it within 20 ft its a bad shot. The tour average from 100-125 is 19ft 7in so just remember you aren't as bad as you think you are and the pros aren't as good as you think they are.

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118191849#Comment_118191849

Not everything is exactly about how they play the game though - there are other things too which are helpful (or round preparations etc)

OP seeked advice and people are trying to help, and kindly so.

billy3sheets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118187123#Comment_118187123

Have to disagree. Depends on the OP of course but it he's losing balls by spraying them all over the course and OOB then I'd definitely say drop down to a hybrid for a while. That's based on personal experience with my 20 year old son with a 34 handicap. He hits a couple of beautiful 250+ yard drives but loses 6 balls a round off the tee with driver. Get him to hit hybrid reduces it to 2 lost balls. That's 8 shots.

Now I don't expect him to never use the driver again but I believe it's best until he gets to a certain level of competence, maybe down to 25.

hurleronditch

I would definitely think about getting different irons. I’m off 9, I moved to the states a few years back and picked up those exact pings in a second hand bucket just to get me started and after about 7 or 8 rounds I had to replace them, I found them to be complete pigs (not a typo). For you to step into the forgiveness of a modern “improver” set with a nice deep cavity, slightly larger head and a modern shaft you should see some prompt improvement in consistency.

Are you putting yourself under pressure going out on course? Are you playing by yourself, with other club members you don’t know, or with mates? If you’re playing with strangers (or even mates) is the psychology of playing badly getting into your head and making you worse? As in “****, I double bogeyed the first, now I’ve played 4 on the second and I’m still 50 yards from the green, the lads must think I’m cack, etc etc”? First of all, never let that get into your head, once you don’t unduly delay the group and keep moving 90% of golfers in clubs don’t care, they know you’re learning and whether you go around in 6 over or 56 over they don’t mind.

secondly, I think you should try play some golf by yourself.

get that practice in without anyone watching. No pressure from anyone to perform. If you skull a chip through the green, pull a ball from your pocket and try again. Get yourself confident in real world golf situations. If you struggle with a tee shot on one hole that has OB right or whatever, if there’s no one behind you try hit a handful of balls to figure out your alignment, where to aim, or maybe to figure out that driver just doesn’t suit you on the hole, it’s a 5 iron instead.

the last thing I’d say is you have 2 shots on every hole, remember that and use them. If you’re trying to hit 250 yard drives or 160 yard 8 irons because you can on the range, that might be part of the problem. On a 370 yard par 4 you could hit a 180 yard hybrid, a 150 yard 7 iron and a 40 yard pitch and 2 putt for a 3 pointer. If one of those shots goes wrong, you have a duff, a slice, a chunk, you still have lots of golf to play

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058218426/why-am-i-so-bad-at-golf

Sounds as if u are not able to get the last shot out of your head when it's a bad one, not remembering it when it's a good one. When youve hit a good strike, don't just throw the club in the bag and walk on, look at everything you've done, from the stance, divot shape, finishing position, tempo thru the ball. EVERYTHING. Do it nearly from the same stance in slow motion. Laugh off the bad shots. Funny how the muscle memory works. The mental side of the game is huge. Start thinking positive things over shots. Bin the negatives

derambo

Thanks everyone for all the advice, gives me a lot to think about. Will definitely get new irons. Will also start playing more at my course as opposed to going to the driving range, as I think the matts are screwing me up a bit. I’ll get an on course lesson in the new year too. Going to stick with the one instructor too. I’m going to try and avoid constantly looking up tips on YouTube all the time, as I normally end up going out to play the next day with about 7 things in my head that I need to work on, which is doing me no good at all. It’s amazing the amount of pros on YouTube that give completely different advice, it just shows there’s no 1 correct way to do things. I just need to stick with one instructors way of doing it. Given the worsening weather and state of my course I will soon take a few months off golf, which will probably do me the world of good too. Then get back into it in March when hopefully I will have new clubs.

Hijpo

I'm currently playing off 14 and never use driver, 5 iron off every tee except par 3. You can 100% navigate your way around the course with irons. So, personally I think you really need more forgiving irons and you will get that with a more resent set.

Now, to get past 14 I'm going to get lessons using driver, that's my progression.

One other thing is practice swings, try brush the grass with a normal swing, stick the club down where you touched the grass and step into the ball then repeat the swing. Should give you an idea of where the ball needs to be with regarding YOUR club path.

dan_ep82

Depends on what course you play at and how far you hit your clubs. The 10th in Headfort for example off the competition tee's has a forced carry of 180yds or so.

The last thing I would say is try to play with a few better players of 10 and under, as long as you keep up they wont care but it would be good to see how they play the game, it can be enlightening.

Skyfloater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118218586#Comment_118218586

That's quite an achievement, you obviously have a top notch putting and short game. It would be interesting to see where your hc goes when you're 50-60 yards closer on every hole.

Browney7

Just a few thoughts for you OP and not a criticism in any way and more a thought experiment.

Are you really as good as you think you are on the range? If you hit 80 balls (say 30 drives, 30 irons and 20 wedges) what percentage of them are you stitching and in what consistency? Depending on your course, you'll hit what, maybe 13 drives off the tee? (allowing for short par 4s and par 3s). If 20% of your 30 drives at the range are very bad (mad slices, 10 yard toppers, snap hooks - with no pressure on) you'll think "great only 6 very bad ones all night got 24 away". Go out on the course with the thoughts in your head and pressure and if that 20% becomes 30%, 4 very bad drives follow which could torpedo your round.

Another point and probably obvious to many, do you warm up before a round or do you go straight from the car to course? I personally notice a difference myself if I start "cold" so to speak.

I say this as someone with a handicap in the 20s with no problems with swing speed or distance and can't get it together either despite a pile of lessons!! 🤣

derambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118218586#Comment_118218586

I was able to brush the grass with my old swing, but since getting lessons I found out I was too upright and had to change my posture. Since then even in my practice swings I find it hard not to take massive divots, I guess I just need to work on that more.

derambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118225331#Comment_118225331

I never warm up to be honest, it’s always a mad rush to the first tee

Hijpo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118228534#Comment_118228534

Might be a case that in a lesson it was explained\suggested you need to "hit down on the ball" and now you are dipping into it to get the feeling your striking down on it?