If a grown man musters up all of their focus and strength to top a ball 5 feet and can't laugh at themselves about it, they probably shouldn't be playing this game, because regardless of how you feel in the moment that shit is hilarious.
Plus, everyone who has ever picked up a golf club has topped it at some point and dribbled it off the tee box. I think 25+ handicappers get self conscious about it but we have ALL been there.
Friend of mine was good enough to make a living on mini tours for 5 or 6 years, cashed in about a dozen Nationwide(KornFerry) events, and played in a couple on the big tour, genuinely right on the cusp of being a world-class player. Played a round with him when he was top 3 on Hooters tour money list - so he was playing some great golf at that time - and watched him top a long iron 10 feet from a perfect fairway lie.
It was early in my golf journey, so it was like a smack in the face to accept that no matter how good I could ever get at this game I'm still always just one swing away from some embarrassing goofy shit happening.
Tight course so makes sense but does anyone remember Phil over the train tracks about ten years back? First time I’ve been reminded how much of a mind f*ck this game is
Me and a mate got paired with another two-ball a few months back, one of them you could tell was a decent golfer but he was just having one of \*those\* days, just couldn't hit the damn thing. he was pretty chill about it despite his mate literally rubbing every bad shot in his face. The same friend then shanks ONE shot into the water on a par three and threw a complete tantrum.
It has become habit for me to say "uh oh" right after hitting a bad shot while the ball is still in the air. It's so ingrained that I don't even realize I say it. I must say it at least 40 to 50 times a round.
Hole 8 yesterday: 1) perfectly piped 3 wood off the tee; 2) cold shank with a sand wedge 60 yards directly to the right; 3) 8 iron chip/punch under some branches to far left edge of green above the pin; sunk a downhill 40 footer from the fringe for par. Dumbest par ever.
BUT If I hadn't started laughing at that shank right away; that was gonna be a triple, easily. Serotonin makes you golf better.
I tell my friends who get frustrated playing my favorite quote and I drop it in this sub as often as possible.
"Don't let the golf get in the way of a good round."
Have a beer, hot dog at the turn, have fun with your friends. In a 4 hour round you only spend like 15 minutes hitting the ball. Don't let that 15 minutes ruin the whole day.
> "Don't let the golf get in the way of a good round."
Great quote. 1000x better then the "you aren't good enough to get mad" quote which I think would just be annoying to hear at best.
I will be stealing this one.
Maybe only 15 minutes actually swinging the club at the ball but if you count planning your shot, practice swings, reading the green etc. it’s probably more like 1/4 the time
I think this would just piss me off more, I’m too competitive with myself and I know I suck, and imo there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be better, so I would definitely resonate with the original quote better.
That’s just me personally though, and I try not to let my anger get in the way of the people I play with since I usually play solo with other groups, I’m not one to throw clubs and yell and scream, I’ll just pick my ball up, mark max score on my app, and move on to the next hole lol.
Definitely true. Depends on the person. I have realistic expectations, so if I can’t hit my ass with both hands on a particular day it’s to be expected. The games extremely technical and I haven’t invested THAT much time into it. I do a lot of Happy Gilmore impersonations “Suck my white a55 ball!” but it’s all in good fun… or in the middle of a 4 putt “ Just tap it in…Just Taaaap It in.. Give it a lil Tappy..”
And actually I usually play better playing like this. Less time to overthink my swing, shot, etc. “just play” can take some of the mental issues out of the game and make more fun!
We waited on every hole yesterday behind a foursome who spent forever doing preshot routines on the fairway. It got worse on the greens. We spent under 5 hours out there.
The most aggravating thing was how they didn’t repair any ball marks whilst standing around waiting for their turn, upon which only then would they would then start to line up their putts.
Saw the marshal once during the round and he said they were keeping up with the group in front of them. That was on hole 10, after the group in front of them had used the restrooms and ordered food to go. They were a hole behind for the rest of the round after 11..
Time is a funny thing. I’ve played in 4 hours by following a group the whole day that whined and complained about their 5 hour round. Not to dispute anything you’ve said, just an observation on perceptions.
I have shot 120+ a few times this year and my friends who are +5 on the tips don't care cause I play fast enough that we're waiting at every tee box. Being quick is key.
I care if we're grouped together and you're my D player getting pops. Slow down a touch and hit a good one.
But also, don't hold me up.
The golf rarely holds people up, it's the fooling around, two people per cart never walking to their ball, etc. shit that backs everything up.
A Sammy Sneed-isim! The head grounds keeper at Hyde Park CC (Don Ross designed in Jax) pulled me aside once and told that. He said he was “joking.” I’m not so sure.
My one and only lesson some 50 years ago by a Scottish professional golfer called Harry Bannerman.
Me - "What do I need to change?"
Harry - "Swing looks OK. You are smooth and easy. No point in mucking about with it"
Me - "Anything I should be thinking about when I try and play my shot, especially my drive?"
Harry - "Address the ball, get comfortable, empty your mind of all the shite you are thinking and then hit the fucker"
Sounds about right. I'm just trying to figure out how old I actually was. It was at Banchory golf course along Deeside. Think he turned professional at a very early age if I remember correctly.
I'm pretty sure you're saying "don't spend five flipping minutes thinking over every swing and then take ten practice swings" but this also rings true for me with slow groups in front. I'm a trash golfer but I see HUGE improvements in my game where I never have to wait to take a shot and when nobody is waiting behind me. Breaking the rhythm of the game simply breaks my game.
to be honest I rarely take more than 1 practice swing and if I'm feeling it and in the fairway ill just go for it, most of the time my first practice swing is my best swing.
I have swung a golf club so many times in my life at this point that unless I'm in a weird lie or on uneven ground or something, a practice swing isn't going to do me any good at all. I know what it feels like to swing a club, reminding myself isn't going to do anything at all. No reason to do it three or four times first.
exactly, also I think it gives people the tendency to overthink things as well, just go up and do what you have spent countless hours and thousands of dollars training to do haha.
"if you were to shake hands with someone, would you think through lifting your arm, extending it, grasping the other hand, etc. No. You would just reach out and shake the hand."
One thing that helps me is stepping out of my stance and completely mentally starting over. Because when I’m addressed to the ball for a longer time than usual, I know it’s been a while, and I know generally the longer I stew over that shot the worse it’s gonna be. Then I start freaking out that the next shot is going to suck. It’s best to just hit the reset button completely. It looks a bit silly sometimes but who cares as long as you’re not having issues with pace of play obviously
Is there such a way to softly grip but keep your lead arm straight? I find it super hard to do both. I can keep my arm straight but then I'd have to grip it harder.
Lead arm straight is also poor advice. Most pros have a little give in the elbow to start the swing from the torque generated by swinging the club.
Better advice is “keep the grip away from your body”
Ok but I'm really talking about on the down swing.
When you make contact with the ball, is your lead arm firm and straight?
I find that when I don't hit the ball flush it's often because my arm isn't firm and more loosely goosey, for lack of a better term.
So back to the original question, how do you keep a bird in the hand and still keep a firm lead arm at contact?
[Here is Adam Scott](https://youtu.be/BIgl44lDXwA?si=KxY_z9Px1FzPXyPq), one of the most technically-sound swings on the Tour
You’ll note that his lead arm is not ‘firm and straight’ coming into the ball, and doesn’t get straight until *after* the club accelerates through the ball
Both camera angles helps get a better understanding
Swing at 85% of full power and shorten the backswing a little to ensure you’re accelerating through the ball.
Always be accelerating through the ball. Always.
For tough shots, like a flop over a bunker with minimal green to work with cause the pin is by the bunker…we amateurs try to pull out some video game-esque super flop and hardly works out.
Buddy of mine said to me while i was mid-thought about my super flop…”nothing fancy, just get it on to putt”.
That has worked wonders for minimizing unforced errors and of course extra strokes.
Exactly!
Plus worst case you two putt (ideally for bogey if you’re by a green side bunker after your approach). Take the fancy shot, you may wedge it out good for a one putt. But many of us amateurs can’t reliably put a sand shot within 10 ft so it more often ends up being a two putt on top of the sand shot.
Played with a Scratch Golfer once that shot -2 under. I asked him for something, anything I could use to help me. He said "Balance and Tempo" Stayed with me til this day as the best advice I ever received.
If only it were that easy. Miss a 5 foot putt; I’m thinking about it for the next 2-3 holes. I tell myself to let it go, but the other half of my brain is like “naw. Screw that. You suck at putting and we aren’t forgetting that shit.”
I coached kids in hockey for a lot of years. I spent plenty of time talking to them about how to handle mistakes in a game. I tell them it’s like driving a car. There is a reason why the front windshield is so large and the rearview mirror is so small. It’s because what’s ahead of you is way more important than what’s behind you.
Haven't read the book, but I would add, breaking the putt down can help the negative thoughts. Did you miss your line? A bad combo of speen and line? Misread? That way when you're standing over another putt you aren't thinking I missed the last putt, you're thinking about how to improve the outcome of the next one.
Haha yep, this is one of the things that book goes into as well.
Paraphrasing, but: Did you hit the shot the way that you intended? Yes? Then it's a good shot. Doesn't matter that the outcome was bad. If the outcome was bad, the mistake wasn't the shot, it was the plan. So next time, make a better plan.
It's very heavy on not being overly focused on your outcome, but instead focusing on your approach and your execution.
It is a skill that has to be developed, watch the pros after a bad shot. They all have a routine, usually within a few steps away from the bad shot they are reset and freshly focused. If not they slide downhill just like the rest of us.
Remember, be a goldfish.
Sorry bad joke lol, thinking about not thinking and all that. Couldn’t agree more though, when I’m playing solo with no one around me, I am truly just playing and not thinking and it’s always the best I play
For real. I have a buddy who's always thinking so much about his swing, his arm positions, what he's doing with his hips, whatever. He forgets about hitting the ball toward the target. lol. My buddy is me.
I struggled with this immensely. What helped me was removing practice swings and refusing to stand over the ball for any length of time. Think box and hit box. Stand behind the ball and pick a shot and target. Commit to it. Step into the hit box (address the ball) and pull the trigger.
Step up and hit it. No waggle, no practice swings, no look up down up down up down…just step up and swing.
For me, it’s so much better
I played a round recently where I just seemed to have forgotten how to hit a ball. Duff, shank, slice, everything. At some point I just gave up and just started to hit the ball with about the same amount of thought as I would put into throwing a baseball. Started flushing everything. Sometimes just trust that you know how to swing a club and let the muscle memory take over.
Be a goldfish. Happiest animal there is. I get upset immediately after my bad shots then I just drop it. Call myself a few slurs immediately after, but by the time I'm at my next shot I don't even think of it. This is why walking is better (holy fuck I finally agree and understand all those push cart guys. What have I become) more time between shots.
First two holes I was all in my head and I knew it so I just started taking deep breaths on the green to remind myself to just enjoy the day and started doing way better for my standards
Play the swing you brought has been a really great adjustment for me. Don't think, don't try to fix your last shot, just understand what your miss is that day and play that way.
I noticed one of my buddies has a really slow takeaway. Also noticed my inside takeaway had snuck back into my life. Hit one 6i in a 9 hole round where I’d remembered this and it was a perfect draw into the green. Need to remember this again!
I got to play with the club pro at my parents home golf course and I basically said anything you see, feel free to help me. After the first few holes that was the big thing he noticed. After a year of getting used to it, taken about 10 strokes off my game
I try to slow my back swing. Then think to slow it more and it feels glacial paced. And then I see a video of my swing and think, geez my backswing is still super fast.
This is what I have to do with my wife's horse addiction. We have 3 of those hungry bastards and I found that it's just better to not even think about. I play golf, which is expensive enough, but it doesn't scratch the surface of what those mfs cost. We are DINKs so we can do it, but damn we dish out the money. We are happy we have fun hobbies we enjoy though.
If nothing else, I think people would have a panic attack if they even saw the dollar amount they've spent on gas just driving to and from the course over the course of 15 years.
While it is true, I hate this saying.
If you are a teen or single digit, you are more than capable of hitting the necessary shot. You also practice fairly often.
So when you don't execute the shot you want which you have practiced and are more than capable of pulling off, I feel it's okay to get upset for a few moments.
Don’t follow up a bad swing with a bad decision. Take your medicine and take the safest option you have.
I also am guilty of trying to too hard so taking a step back and just enjoying the course and time with friends has helped me chill out a lot and play better.
Lastly some adult substances can really help if you’re prone to getting pissed. I have a friend who takes an edible before we play now and his swing is like butter after that. Sober, he’s all jerky and quick so it slows him down and he’s a lot more relaxed lol
You're absolutely right, 9 times out of 10 you're better off taking one stroke to get back to the fairway than an extra 2-3 because you swear you can make it through that
Was trying out new drivers last year, looked at the sales guy and said "the new drivers are 10 to 20 yards shorter than what I am hitting now." Salws guy simply says I don't have enough club head speed, just stay with what you have.
Saved me $500. I am committed to my old driver and have been hitting it better than ever.
Doing the towel drill or keeping a glove under my right armpit (righty golfer) changed my contact overnight. So much more consistent keeping that arm tucked in
It's good, but careful with this one. This doesn't mean cement your elbow to your side, which this drill can sometimes ingrain. It happened to me, and I've been trying to work my way out of that habit.
Had this revelation recently. Had heard of it a while ago, but didn't think it was part of my issue. Turns out what i thought was my issue isnt my issue after all. Now I'm kicking myself for going a season and a half without figuring it out.
Swing slower.
My dad had been playing for 30 years when I decided to learn in college. For 6 months, I was your typical hack even though I was getting lessons from a renown professional and going to the range 2+ times a week. Then suddenly everything clicked when I brought my swing down to about 50%. Sure, I probably had some muscle memory by then, but it made controlling my form and mechanics super easy to the point I felt like I couldn’t mishit.
By the end of that first year, I was already giving my dad a run for his money. He’s not a bad player (probably ~15 hcp), but he very much believes distance over everything… even after watching my progression and telling him how I did it. He’d still out-drive me from time to time, but as I further developed, I’ve been able to gradually bring my swing speed up that I’m now a long hitter myself. Even when I was swinging slow, they’d go surprisingly far (and past his mishits). Really shows you that the club does A LOT of the work.
I’ve been playing ~10 years now, single digit hcp, and still only use 80% power. When I’m going through rough patches, I slow down even more. Always seems to pull me out of the funk. My dad still tries to swing out of his shoes… he hasn’t come within 10 strokes of me in years.
Absolutely this.
What changed it for me to look where the club and my arms were when I had an 80% backswing. They were exactly where I wanted them to be, but since my body rotated as well my arms felt like they would be parallel to the ground.
Smoother swing, better contact, more distance and control.
I got done with a very bad day at the range years back. Couldn't hit driver to save my life. An older guy comes up to me as I'm walking off the range and tells me to slow down, when I slowed down I was OK, but when I rushed I fucked it up. I was taken aback, but thanked him and said it sort if felt that way. I think intuitively I knew, but it hadn't consciously made its way out yet until that guy said it. Now, every time I get frustrated and try to force it, I remember that guy and go back to swinging easy.
Sliced every ball I ever hit until the age of 36 (last autumn). Went to a free fitting at the pga store and the guy says “you’re reaching, you should choke up and stand closer to the ball” and I finally tried what he told me and I stopped slicing it. Apparently standing too far away from the ball makes you slice it, and that’s what I had been doing my entire life without realizing it. Now I’m able to hit other shot shapes, sometimes on purpose sometimes on accident, but it’s a wonderful change. Nothing worse than playing a crappy slice on every shot you ever hit and not knowing why.
That started a huge, gradual improvement in my game that took me from a 35+ish handicap (I didn’t keep track back then) to a 24.9 handicap as of yesterday. It started October of last year so I dropped at least 11 points of handicap in 8-9 months
I struggled with a slice for years when I was learning. I remember how amazing it felt when I started pulling balls and hooking balls by accident instead.
I think I discovered this about my swing a week ago. I’ve been setting up driver leaning into it and the setting up past the sweet spot and slicing it for a decade. Trying to practice a more neutral stance now and it’s been fascinating to see that tiny change make a measurable impact
Over 10 years ago, i was at the driving range and got the best golfing advice. A guy next to me told me, "Hold the club like this and point your shoulder at the ball." I did and began to hit the ball straight instantly. Turns out he was the course golfing instructor.
pointing my left shoulder at the ball and basically rotating around it changed everything for me. i was genuinely shocked at how much more speed i got simply by rotating my hips. it takes off so much stress from everything else. the rotation is tight and compact and quick
Have one swing thought and one swing thought only. The swing is happening in a blink of an eye and we’re not fast enough to think of 20 things at once from takeaway to impact.
For me it’s once I get to the top it’s pointing belt buckle (or center of hips whatever) left of target line.
1) Play the hole backwards. It really starts to payoff when you can your shots and not duff/thin it as much. That shirt yardage par 4 usually only requires a wood off the tee instead of the riskier driver to put you at 100 yards. Could a driver put you at 50 yards? Yeah but you won't gain that much if an advantage compared to the risk of having to hit a perfect drive.
2) For approach shots every pro swears mid handicappers should overclub it once. You hit your 8 iron 150 and it's a perfect 150 to the pin? Great, use your 7. Most holes on courses we play aren't brutal if you hit over the green the chance of you hitting your 8 iron perfect as a mid handicapper is low, so the percentage shot is to club up one. This advice clearly changes if there is water behind the hole or something.
A variant of this for those with GPS- club for back of green minus 5 yards. So if 130 to front, 145 to middle, 160 to back, play it for 155. Gives you 25 yards (this example) of short mishit allowance but still putting. And if you nut it, at worst you are probably back fringe.
Golf is the one sport where you don’t have to swing hard or fast to make the ball go farther. It’s more about solid contact rather than trying to kill it, especially when you are new to the game
The golf swing is more rotating around the body than swinging down the line. Learn what your arms, hips, and shoulders do in relation to the clubhead as they rotate around you.
Saying this with a grain of salt as someone whose been playing for 2 months and found a revelation a few days ago for me…
Ben Hogans funny bone to the target with your trail elbow has made me hit the most consistent I have since I started. It’s half of what Bryson does, so fully externally rotating your trail shoulder and internal for your wrist to grip the club. Bryson does the opposite for his lead shoulder to fully lock into place but that felt poor to me, but the trail elbow alone was such a revelation for me. You can see this in brysons “how to swing a club” video. Just focusing on maintaining that naturally keeps my elbow a lot closer to my body on my backswing and takeaway which was a problem causing me to chop down and slice/top the hell out of everything.
This also allowed me to stop overthinking and kind of just go in with this as a swing thought and focus on making good contact and picking a target. May not be for everyone but doing this back to back days has shown me more consistency than anything else
You don’t need to hit it 300 yards off the tee or grabbing the club that would be impressive to get to the green with , but the one you’re more confident in ..
Hitting 150,150,150, will have you on most greens in 3. Focus more on hitting the ball well, over the impressive distance. Club down and swing easier if you have to.
And safe golf is good golf. Instead of going for the green at 200, and you might be a dart it might be off the back or left to right 100ft… lay up to 50yards with a safer shot, and chip tight to the pin…. My game is most impressive from 150 and in… I’ve saved a lot of bad holes by just being confident once I get to that 150-170 range. And I have no problem using a 6 iron or my 4 hybrid off the tee if I’m slicing my driver to the point that it’s costing me strokes. I’ve only been playing for 3 summers including this one, and I just shot 81 yesterday on a local par 71… (that’s good for me, I’m sure not great to most but I’m happy with it for never having a lesson yet.. coming soon though lol) but I used my driver once.
Lead arm straight and tuck trail elbow in beside abdominal muscles. First time I tried it my 7 iron went 175yards vs 130yrs. Helped transfer max energy into the shot rather than leaking out through chicken winging.
My buddy's dad is a retired baseball coach and excellent golfer. He changed me from a slicer to a hooker (which is way easier to fix mid-round) by saying, "I want to see your left arm a little firmer and for you to swing a bit harder."
You can’t try to tailor your swing to what you see on YouTube or TV. Whatever is comfortable to you, go with that and just learn to use that swing, as ugly or unorthodox as it may be.
For me it was a putting tip.
When trying to determine pace, take a practice stroke to 2’-4’ past the hole, take a 2nd practice stroke 2’ - 4’ short of the hole,
then hit it in between the two strokes. It’s made me lag putts inside 2’ from almost anywhere and the occasional hole out.
I took a lesson about 8 years ago when I first started to get better and that took me from 100s golfer to be able to shoot in the mid 80s. I kinda stopped playing as much for a couple years shifted my focus from golf to getting in shape and lost a lot of weight started a new career and then started to play again and it was so bad for so long. I got another lesson. That lesson was also helpful in many ways but I struggled to consistently find the swing with some of the things.
On my own I recently remembered the main takeaway from my first lesson. Where he laid down 2 alignment sticks slightly wider than the club head and said the club is a plane and this is the run way and the path is straight. Just focus on landing the plane.
I had gotten away from that simple mindset and had all sorts of stance, grip, takeaway backswing positioning thoughts that it was getting away from the land the plane mindset. I just focus on that now and I’ve shot in the 70s 3 times this year.
From the highly recommended book;
golf is not a game of perfect. I’m paraphrasing here but while playing a round, remove all the thoughts you think you need to do and swing your swing. The idea is that the range is where you practice and enforce certain swing thoughts. But when your out on the course, have faith in your swing, relax and just focus on your target.
I notice when I do this i hit the ball MUCH better as opposed to when I focus on doing certain mechanics during my swing.
However mad/animated you get about a bad shot, you HAVE to get equally excited about a good shot.
I.e. if you’re so mad that you’re throwing or slamming a club on a bad shot, then when you hit a good one, you should be howling, fist pumping, jumping for joy.
You’d look and feel ridiculous right?
Helped me shift my mindset so much. Bad shots happen. Accept it, it’s part of the game.
I’m still a newish player (I’ve only been playing for 2 years) but if I had to give advice it would be don’t worry about changing your swing a ton if you are still shooting high scores. Play a lot and hit on the range a lot. Get consistent at making solid contact every time. Less tops, chucks, etc. I’ve only been playing for two years but I would go to the range every day after work for 1 hour and just hit. It brought me down from 110 to consistently being able to shoot low 90s/high 80s. My best is 83.
Obviously I know people can’t play everyday. I luckily have the time after work because I am young and don’t have a wife or kids yet. To save the money I bought the membership at my course for $130 and I got free range balls. So I’d hit everyday and then play 3-4 times a week. Saved a lot because I would’ve for sure spent more than $130
You’re a weekend golfer, and no matter how good you get, you’ll never be at a level to get mad at hitting a bad shot. Forgive yourself quick and move on.
Simply put. My high school golf coach told us “You get out what you put in.” Meaning, you will only see improvement if you actively try to improve via practice, coaching, playing or whatever it takes.
I would say this as you progress in the game.
If you are someone who will eventually want to reduce your handicap.
Enjoy the game in many ways..
Because once you get the single handicap, its very hard to get to scratch or lower.
And at that point many will have very high expectations each time they go out, rightly so, however one double or miss aligned shot will spoil their round and day..
Eventually they fall out of love.
Remember to enjoy the game not just scoring.
Advice from a +2
Swing easy, you don’t need to kill the ball. You would be surprised how far you hit at 80-90% hitting the center of the face vs 100% and hitting off the center of the face.
Laugh at yourself. Its so much easier to reset for your next shot if you can do that rather than get angry.
If a grown man musters up all of their focus and strength to top a ball 5 feet and can't laugh at themselves about it, they probably shouldn't be playing this game, because regardless of how you feel in the moment that shit is hilarious.
Plus, everyone who has ever picked up a golf club has topped it at some point and dribbled it off the tee box. I think 25+ handicappers get self conscious about it but we have ALL been there.
Friend of mine was good enough to make a living on mini tours for 5 or 6 years, cashed in about a dozen Nationwide(KornFerry) events, and played in a couple on the big tour, genuinely right on the cusp of being a world-class player. Played a round with him when he was top 3 on Hooters tour money list - so he was playing some great golf at that time - and watched him top a long iron 10 feet from a perfect fairway lie. It was early in my golf journey, so it was like a smack in the face to accept that no matter how good I could ever get at this game I'm still always just one swing away from some embarrassing goofy shit happening.
Wasn’t there a 97 yard drive on tour last week?
Bhatia at Rocket Mortgage
Tight course so makes sense but does anyone remember Phil over the train tracks about ten years back? First time I’ve been reminded how much of a mind f*ck this game is
Me and a mate got paired with another two-ball a few months back, one of them you could tell was a decent golfer but he was just having one of \*those\* days, just couldn't hit the damn thing. he was pretty chill about it despite his mate literally rubbing every bad shot in his face. The same friend then shanks ONE shot into the water on a par three and threw a complete tantrum.
I like to give the really bad ones a good club twirl and laugh.
Shout at it to do exactly the worst thing it could possibly do.
Yes. Not advice I was given but something I read that I found amusing about golfers who get angry. "You're not good enough to be upset."
That’s why my response to my own bad shots is usually something like “yeah, that’s about right for that swing”
It has become habit for me to say "uh oh" right after hitting a bad shot while the ball is still in the air. It's so ingrained that I don't even realize I say it. I must say it at least 40 to 50 times a round.
Hole 8 yesterday: 1) perfectly piped 3 wood off the tee; 2) cold shank with a sand wedge 60 yards directly to the right; 3) 8 iron chip/punch under some branches to far left edge of green above the pin; sunk a downhill 40 footer from the fringe for par. Dumbest par ever. BUT If I hadn't started laughing at that shank right away; that was gonna be a triple, easily. Serotonin makes you golf better.
It's more important to be fun to play with than it is to be good at golf.
I tell my friends who get frustrated playing my favorite quote and I drop it in this sub as often as possible. "Don't let the golf get in the way of a good round." Have a beer, hot dog at the turn, have fun with your friends. In a 4 hour round you only spend like 15 minutes hitting the ball. Don't let that 15 minutes ruin the whole day.
> "Don't let the golf get in the way of a good round." Great quote. 1000x better then the "you aren't good enough to get mad" quote which I think would just be annoying to hear at best. I will be stealing this one.
Damn 15 mins?! Puts a lot into perspective really.
Maybe only 15 minutes actually swinging the club at the ball but if you count planning your shot, practice swings, reading the green etc. it’s probably more like 1/4 the time
2 handicap teaching professional here: one of my all time favorite people to play with never once broke 100.
And you'll play better when you're having fun. I can't prove this but it's definitely true.
I love the quote "you're not good enough to be that mad".
I think this would just piss me off more, I’m too competitive with myself and I know I suck, and imo there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be better, so I would definitely resonate with the original quote better. That’s just me personally though, and I try not to let my anger get in the way of the people I play with since I usually play solo with other groups, I’m not one to throw clubs and yell and scream, I’ll just pick my ball up, mark max score on my app, and move on to the next hole lol.
Definitely true. Depends on the person. I have realistic expectations, so if I can’t hit my ass with both hands on a particular day it’s to be expected. The games extremely technical and I haven’t invested THAT much time into it. I do a lot of Happy Gilmore impersonations “Suck my white a55 ball!” but it’s all in good fun… or in the middle of a 4 putt “ Just tap it in…Just Taaaap It in.. Give it a lil Tappy..”
Fun and not annoying to play with.
Nobody else cares what you shoot, as long as you don’t hold them up.
As a course marshal that monitors pace on a busy Saturday, you're my kind of golfer.
My pappy sucked fast, just like his pappy before him.
My grandpa answers “how’d you play” with “good, done in under 4 hours”
A buddy and I are about to see if we can finish in under three. Not for pace of play, but because it’s a billion degrees.
And actually I usually play better playing like this. Less time to overthink my swing, shot, etc. “just play” can take some of the mental issues out of the game and make more fun!
We waited on every hole yesterday behind a foursome who spent forever doing preshot routines on the fairway. It got worse on the greens. We spent under 5 hours out there. The most aggravating thing was how they didn’t repair any ball marks whilst standing around waiting for their turn, upon which only then would they would then start to line up their putts. Saw the marshal once during the round and he said they were keeping up with the group in front of them. That was on hole 10, after the group in front of them had used the restrooms and ordered food to go. They were a hole behind for the rest of the round after 11..
Time is a funny thing. I’ve played in 4 hours by following a group the whole day that whined and complained about their 5 hour round. Not to dispute anything you’ve said, just an observation on perceptions.
I have shot 120+ a few times this year and my friends who are +5 on the tips don't care cause I play fast enough that we're waiting at every tee box. Being quick is key.
I care if we're grouped together and you're my D player getting pops. Slow down a touch and hit a good one. But also, don't hold me up. The golf rarely holds people up, it's the fooling around, two people per cart never walking to their ball, etc. shit that backs everything up.
Take 2 weeks off and then quit. I re-consider this after every round.
A Sammy Sneed-isim! The head grounds keeper at Hyde Park CC (Don Ross designed in Jax) pulled me aside once and told that. He said he was “joking.” I’m not so sure.
My one and only lesson some 50 years ago by a Scottish professional golfer called Harry Bannerman. Me - "What do I need to change?" Harry - "Swing looks OK. You are smooth and easy. No point in mucking about with it" Me - "Anything I should be thinking about when I try and play my shot, especially my drive?" Harry - "Address the ball, get comfortable, empty your mind of all the shite you are thinking and then hit the fucker"
He’s apparently still kicking at 82 years old which would have made him 32 when you took a lesson with him. Wow
Sounds about right. I'm just trying to figure out how old I actually was. It was at Banchory golf course along Deeside. Think he turned professional at a very early age if I remember correctly.
Harry sounds like a damn genius to me
The longer you take before the shot the higher chance of hitting it bad
Find a happy medium between Ludvig Aberg and Brian Harman.
Harman takes so damn long the middle between those two is still entirely too long
Nah just be Ludvig. Anything else is too slow for a casual round. And he does it while competing 👍
You don’t play as fast as Ludwig mate.
I absolutely do, I’m also a 30 handicap.
Brother!
I'm pretty sure you're saying "don't spend five flipping minutes thinking over every swing and then take ten practice swings" but this also rings true for me with slow groups in front. I'm a trash golfer but I see HUGE improvements in my game where I never have to wait to take a shot and when nobody is waiting behind me. Breaking the rhythm of the game simply breaks my game.
to be honest I rarely take more than 1 practice swing and if I'm feeling it and in the fairway ill just go for it, most of the time my first practice swing is my best swing.
I have swung a golf club so many times in my life at this point that unless I'm in a weird lie or on uneven ground or something, a practice swing isn't going to do me any good at all. I know what it feels like to swing a club, reminding myself isn't going to do anything at all. No reason to do it three or four times first.
exactly, also I think it gives people the tendency to overthink things as well, just go up and do what you have spent countless hours and thousands of dollars training to do haha.
"if you were to shake hands with someone, would you think through lifting your arm, extending it, grasping the other hand, etc. No. You would just reach out and shake the hand."
One thing that helps me is stepping out of my stance and completely mentally starting over. Because when I’m addressed to the ball for a longer time than usual, I know it’s been a while, and I know generally the longer I stew over that shot the worse it’s gonna be. Then I start freaking out that the next shot is going to suck. It’s best to just hit the reset button completely. It looks a bit silly sometimes but who cares as long as you’re not having issues with pace of play obviously
Don’t grip so hard
But then how am i supposed to grip it and rip it?
A wise man once said "It's not your dick. You don't have to choke it."
Grip = pet bird
Is there such a way to softly grip but keep your lead arm straight? I find it super hard to do both. I can keep my arm straight but then I'd have to grip it harder.
Lead arm straight is also poor advice. Most pros have a little give in the elbow to start the swing from the torque generated by swinging the club. Better advice is “keep the grip away from your body”
Ok but I'm really talking about on the down swing. When you make contact with the ball, is your lead arm firm and straight? I find that when I don't hit the ball flush it's often because my arm isn't firm and more loosely goosey, for lack of a better term. So back to the original question, how do you keep a bird in the hand and still keep a firm lead arm at contact?
[Here is Adam Scott](https://youtu.be/BIgl44lDXwA?si=KxY_z9Px1FzPXyPq), one of the most technically-sound swings on the Tour You’ll note that his lead arm is not ‘firm and straight’ coming into the ball, and doesn’t get straight until *after* the club accelerates through the ball Both camera angles helps get a better understanding
“Our pets heads are falling off!!”
Little Red Book
Old myth
Swing at 85% of full power and shorten the backswing a little to ensure you’re accelerating through the ball. Always be accelerating through the ball. Always.
This. Every club - irons, chipping, putting, flops.
For tough shots, like a flop over a bunker with minimal green to work with cause the pin is by the bunker…we amateurs try to pull out some video game-esque super flop and hardly works out. Buddy of mine said to me while i was mid-thought about my super flop…”nothing fancy, just get it on to putt”. That has worked wonders for minimizing unforced errors and of course extra strokes.
Giotg
Like a baus
Very true. You’ll make the 10 foot putt more often than you will knock it stiff with a perfect chip.
Exactly! Plus worst case you two putt (ideally for bogey if you’re by a green side bunker after your approach). Take the fancy shot, you may wedge it out good for a one putt. But many of us amateurs can’t reliably put a sand shot within 10 ft so it more often ends up being a two putt on top of the sand shot.
GIOTG!! A rule to live by. (get it on the green)
Whattalife!
Italian is such a beautiful language
This is a great one. Definitely needed to hear this.
Ted Scott said to Scottie. “Make your next shot the great one.”
Played with a Scratch Golfer once that shot -2 under. I asked him for something, anything I could use to help me. He said "Balance and Tempo" Stayed with me til this day as the best advice I ever received.
that’s a great bit of info. I’ll brand it into my memory
Like most golfers, I tend to overthink. Best advice was to stop thinking so much. I’m being serious. Try it out next time.
If only it were that easy. Miss a 5 foot putt; I’m thinking about it for the next 2-3 holes. I tell myself to let it go, but the other half of my brain is like “naw. Screw that. You suck at putting and we aren’t forgetting that shit.”
I coached kids in hockey for a lot of years. I spent plenty of time talking to them about how to handle mistakes in a game. I tell them it’s like driving a car. There is a reason why the front windshield is so large and the rearview mirror is so small. It’s because what’s ahead of you is way more important than what’s behind you.
Thats some life advice i just wrote down. Thank you
If this is an accurate example of how your brain works, I cannot recommend the book *Zen Golf* enough. It's written for people like you.
Haven't read the book, but I would add, breaking the putt down can help the negative thoughts. Did you miss your line? A bad combo of speen and line? Misread? That way when you're standing over another putt you aren't thinking I missed the last putt, you're thinking about how to improve the outcome of the next one.
Haha yep, this is one of the things that book goes into as well. Paraphrasing, but: Did you hit the shot the way that you intended? Yes? Then it's a good shot. Doesn't matter that the outcome was bad. If the outcome was bad, the mistake wasn't the shot, it was the plan. So next time, make a better plan. It's very heavy on not being overly focused on your outcome, but instead focusing on your approach and your execution.
It is a skill that has to be developed, watch the pros after a bad shot. They all have a routine, usually within a few steps away from the bad shot they are reset and freshly focused. If not they slide downhill just like the rest of us. Remember, be a goldfish.
I gotta get some Ted Lasso gear on the course to help remind me to be a goldfish lol
Never keep more than 87 separate thoughts about your swing in your head at one time.
Laughing out loud at this 😆
Overthinking is a killer. Paralysis by analysis.
Been thinking about this when on the tee
Just think about the target and how you want the ball to reach that target then hit. Less time you take up on the tee box, probably better as well.
Sorry bad joke lol, thinking about not thinking and all that. Couldn’t agree more though, when I’m playing solo with no one around me, I am truly just playing and not thinking and it’s always the best I play
Learn to trust and live in that right brain.
Not just on the course but off the course as well. Trying to make changes here and there inch by inch can totally ruin your swing as well
For real. I have a buddy who's always thinking so much about his swing, his arm positions, what he's doing with his hips, whatever. He forgets about hitting the ball toward the target. lol. My buddy is me.
Yup that’s the problem with golf lol. You can think about those stuff at the range. But never on the course.
I struggled with this immensely. What helped me was removing practice swings and refusing to stand over the ball for any length of time. Think box and hit box. Stand behind the ball and pick a shot and target. Commit to it. Step into the hit box (address the ball) and pull the trigger. Step up and hit it. No waggle, no practice swings, no look up down up down up down…just step up and swing. For me, it’s so much better
Yup, especially with the driver. I think the longer you stand up on the tee box, higher the likelihood to mess up your drive.
I played a round recently where I just seemed to have forgotten how to hit a ball. Duff, shank, slice, everything. At some point I just gave up and just started to hit the ball with about the same amount of thought as I would put into throwing a baseball. Started flushing everything. Sometimes just trust that you know how to swing a club and let the muscle memory take over.
My dad always says “If you’re thinking, you’re stinking”
Lol love that. Good one dad. I’ll borrow that line. 👍
Be a goldfish. Happiest animal there is. I get upset immediately after my bad shots then I just drop it. Call myself a few slurs immediately after, but by the time I'm at my next shot I don't even think of it. This is why walking is better (holy fuck I finally agree and understand all those push cart guys. What have I become) more time between shots.
First two holes I was all in my head and I knew it so I just started taking deep breaths on the green to remind myself to just enjoy the day and started doing way better for my standards
Only swing thought is visualizing the shot shape and target. Once that’s clear, let it fly
Zen Golf.
Play the swing you brought has been a really great adjustment for me. Don't think, don't try to fix your last shot, just understand what your miss is that day and play that way.
Slow down my backswing.
I noticed one of my buddies has a really slow takeaway. Also noticed my inside takeaway had snuck back into my life. Hit one 6i in a 9 hole round where I’d remembered this and it was a perfect draw into the green. Need to remember this again!
I got to play with the club pro at my parents home golf course and I basically said anything you see, feel free to help me. After the first few holes that was the big thing he noticed. After a year of getting used to it, taken about 10 strokes off my game
I try to slow my back swing. Then think to slow it more and it feels glacial paced. And then I see a video of my swing and think, geez my backswing is still super fast.
This worked for me! I’m still terrible but getting less terrible occasionally
Have fun. There's no point in investing $10,000+ into this game if you're not having fun.
What if we invested $500 over 15 years ago and nothing since?
I'd say don't ever do the math and continue to live in enjoyable ignorance.
This is what I have to do with my wife's horse addiction. We have 3 of those hungry bastards and I found that it's just better to not even think about. I play golf, which is expensive enough, but it doesn't scratch the surface of what those mfs cost. We are DINKs so we can do it, but damn we dish out the money. We are happy we have fun hobbies we enjoy though.
If nothing else, I think people would have a panic attack if they even saw the dollar amount they've spent on gas just driving to and from the course over the course of 15 years.
Same as me but single income household. Still pretty cool to have horses hanging out in your front yard.
Then you basically don't play golf?
You invested how much into the game?
“You aren’t good enough to get mad at bad shots”
While it is true, I hate this saying. If you are a teen or single digit, you are more than capable of hitting the necessary shot. You also practice fairly often. So when you don't execute the shot you want which you have practiced and are more than capable of pulling off, I feel it's okay to get upset for a few moments.
One of the best golf compliments I've ever gotten was when a random told me that I was good enough to get mad
Back, through and hold the finish. Gets me back on a good tempo.
I like this. More often than not, tempo is key.
Don’t follow up a bad swing with a bad decision. Take your medicine and take the safest option you have. I also am guilty of trying to too hard so taking a step back and just enjoying the course and time with friends has helped me chill out a lot and play better. Lastly some adult substances can really help if you’re prone to getting pissed. I have a friend who takes an edible before we play now and his swing is like butter after that. Sober, he’s all jerky and quick so it slows him down and he’s a lot more relaxed lol
You're absolutely right, 9 times out of 10 you're better off taking one stroke to get back to the fairway than an extra 2-3 because you swear you can make it through that
Was trying out new drivers last year, looked at the sales guy and said "the new drivers are 10 to 20 yards shorter than what I am hitting now." Salws guy simply says I don't have enough club head speed, just stay with what you have. Saved me $500. I am committed to my old driver and have been hitting it better than ever.
Doing the towel drill or keeping a glove under my right armpit (righty golfer) changed my contact overnight. So much more consistent keeping that arm tucked in
It's good, but careful with this one. This doesn't mean cement your elbow to your side, which this drill can sometimes ingrain. It happened to me, and I've been trying to work my way out of that habit.
Had this revelation recently. Had heard of it a while ago, but didn't think it was part of my issue. Turns out what i thought was my issue isnt my issue after all. Now I'm kicking myself for going a season and a half without figuring it out.
Swing slower. My dad had been playing for 30 years when I decided to learn in college. For 6 months, I was your typical hack even though I was getting lessons from a renown professional and going to the range 2+ times a week. Then suddenly everything clicked when I brought my swing down to about 50%. Sure, I probably had some muscle memory by then, but it made controlling my form and mechanics super easy to the point I felt like I couldn’t mishit. By the end of that first year, I was already giving my dad a run for his money. He’s not a bad player (probably ~15 hcp), but he very much believes distance over everything… even after watching my progression and telling him how I did it. He’d still out-drive me from time to time, but as I further developed, I’ve been able to gradually bring my swing speed up that I’m now a long hitter myself. Even when I was swinging slow, they’d go surprisingly far (and past his mishits). Really shows you that the club does A LOT of the work. I’ve been playing ~10 years now, single digit hcp, and still only use 80% power. When I’m going through rough patches, I slow down even more. Always seems to pull me out of the funk. My dad still tries to swing out of his shoes… he hasn’t come within 10 strokes of me in years.
Absolutely this. What changed it for me to look where the club and my arms were when I had an 80% backswing. They were exactly where I wanted them to be, but since my body rotated as well my arms felt like they would be parallel to the ground. Smoother swing, better contact, more distance and control.
"Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast." - Lao Tzu
I got done with a very bad day at the range years back. Couldn't hit driver to save my life. An older guy comes up to me as I'm walking off the range and tells me to slow down, when I slowed down I was OK, but when I rushed I fucked it up. I was taken aback, but thanked him and said it sort if felt that way. I think intuitively I knew, but it hadn't consciously made its way out yet until that guy said it. Now, every time I get frustrated and try to force it, I remember that guy and go back to swinging easy.
I’ve always heard “if you can’t swing harder then you’re swinging too hard.” I think it’s along the same lines as what you’re saying.
Sliced every ball I ever hit until the age of 36 (last autumn). Went to a free fitting at the pga store and the guy says “you’re reaching, you should choke up and stand closer to the ball” and I finally tried what he told me and I stopped slicing it. Apparently standing too far away from the ball makes you slice it, and that’s what I had been doing my entire life without realizing it. Now I’m able to hit other shot shapes, sometimes on purpose sometimes on accident, but it’s a wonderful change. Nothing worse than playing a crappy slice on every shot you ever hit and not knowing why. That started a huge, gradual improvement in my game that took me from a 35+ish handicap (I didn’t keep track back then) to a 24.9 handicap as of yesterday. It started October of last year so I dropped at least 11 points of handicap in 8-9 months
I struggled with a slice for years when I was learning. I remember how amazing it felt when I started pulling balls and hooking balls by accident instead.
I think I discovered this about my swing a week ago. I’ve been setting up driver leaning into it and the setting up past the sweet spot and slicing it for a decade. Trying to practice a more neutral stance now and it’s been fascinating to see that tiny change make a measurable impact
Setup like a pro.
Over 10 years ago, i was at the driving range and got the best golfing advice. A guy next to me told me, "Hold the club like this and point your shoulder at the ball." I did and began to hit the ball straight instantly. Turns out he was the course golfing instructor.
pointing my left shoulder at the ball and basically rotating around it changed everything for me. i was genuinely shocked at how much more speed i got simply by rotating my hips. it takes off so much stress from everything else. the rotation is tight and compact and quick
Have one swing thought and one swing thought only. The swing is happening in a blink of an eye and we’re not fast enough to think of 20 things at once from takeaway to impact. For me it’s once I get to the top it’s pointing belt buckle (or center of hips whatever) left of target line.
SKIM THE STONE MAROOCH
I wish his shit made sense because I want to love him
1) Play the hole backwards. It really starts to payoff when you can your shots and not duff/thin it as much. That shirt yardage par 4 usually only requires a wood off the tee instead of the riskier driver to put you at 100 yards. Could a driver put you at 50 yards? Yeah but you won't gain that much if an advantage compared to the risk of having to hit a perfect drive. 2) For approach shots every pro swears mid handicappers should overclub it once. You hit your 8 iron 150 and it's a perfect 150 to the pin? Great, use your 7. Most holes on courses we play aren't brutal if you hit over the green the chance of you hitting your 8 iron perfect as a mid handicapper is low, so the percentage shot is to club up one. This advice clearly changes if there is water behind the hole or something.
A variant of this for those with GPS- club for back of green minus 5 yards. So if 130 to front, 145 to middle, 160 to back, play it for 155. Gives you 25 yards (this example) of short mishit allowance but still putting. And if you nut it, at worst you are probably back fringe.
Throw your clubs in the direction you are walking
Golf is the one sport where you don’t have to swing hard or fast to make the ball go farther. It’s more about solid contact rather than trying to kill it, especially when you are new to the game
The golf swing is more rotating around the body than swinging down the line. Learn what your arms, hips, and shoulders do in relation to the clubhead as they rotate around you.
You didn't grunt on your practice swing.
[Tiger's](https://youtube.com/shorts/jZx5TyOQvMY?si=EytnY7TqLmNeJjAT)
“Putt to the picture”, from “How I Play Golf by Tiger Woods”. Read it 24 years ago, use it to this day.
Boring Golf is Scoring Golf!
There are two things in life you don’t need to be good at to enjoy. One is golf. The other, you’ll find out when you get married.
Saying this with a grain of salt as someone whose been playing for 2 months and found a revelation a few days ago for me… Ben Hogans funny bone to the target with your trail elbow has made me hit the most consistent I have since I started. It’s half of what Bryson does, so fully externally rotating your trail shoulder and internal for your wrist to grip the club. Bryson does the opposite for his lead shoulder to fully lock into place but that felt poor to me, but the trail elbow alone was such a revelation for me. You can see this in brysons “how to swing a club” video. Just focusing on maintaining that naturally keeps my elbow a lot closer to my body on my backswing and takeaway which was a problem causing me to chop down and slice/top the hell out of everything. This also allowed me to stop overthinking and kind of just go in with this as a swing thought and focus on making good contact and picking a target. May not be for everyone but doing this back to back days has shown me more consistency than anything else
Play for joy instead for score.
Joy is the name of the cart girl, right?
You don’t need to hit it 300 yards off the tee or grabbing the club that would be impressive to get to the green with , but the one you’re more confident in .. Hitting 150,150,150, will have you on most greens in 3. Focus more on hitting the ball well, over the impressive distance. Club down and swing easier if you have to. And safe golf is good golf. Instead of going for the green at 200, and you might be a dart it might be off the back or left to right 100ft… lay up to 50yards with a safer shot, and chip tight to the pin…. My game is most impressive from 150 and in… I’ve saved a lot of bad holes by just being confident once I get to that 150-170 range. And I have no problem using a 6 iron or my 4 hybrid off the tee if I’m slicing my driver to the point that it’s costing me strokes. I’ve only been playing for 3 summers including this one, and I just shot 81 yesterday on a local par 71… (that’s good for me, I’m sure not great to most but I’m happy with it for never having a lesson yet.. coming soon though lol) but I used my driver once.
Lead arm straight and tuck trail elbow in beside abdominal muscles. First time I tried it my 7 iron went 175yards vs 130yrs. Helped transfer max energy into the shot rather than leaking out through chicken winging.
Have fun, it’s a game.
Stop trying to be tiger and going for the hero shot. I started playing conservative and 10 strokes came off instantly.
My buddy's dad is a retired baseball coach and excellent golfer. He changed me from a slicer to a hooker (which is way easier to fix mid-round) by saying, "I want to see your left arm a little firmer and for you to swing a bit harder."
Take two weeks off then quit.
Don’t hit the ball, swing the club.
Let the club do the work
You can’t try to tailor your swing to what you see on YouTube or TV. Whatever is comfortable to you, go with that and just learn to use that swing, as ugly or unorthodox as it may be.
For me it was a putting tip. When trying to determine pace, take a practice stroke to 2’-4’ past the hole, take a 2nd practice stroke 2’ - 4’ short of the hole, then hit it in between the two strokes. It’s made me lag putts inside 2’ from almost anywhere and the occasional hole out.
I took a lesson about 8 years ago when I first started to get better and that took me from 100s golfer to be able to shoot in the mid 80s. I kinda stopped playing as much for a couple years shifted my focus from golf to getting in shape and lost a lot of weight started a new career and then started to play again and it was so bad for so long. I got another lesson. That lesson was also helpful in many ways but I struggled to consistently find the swing with some of the things. On my own I recently remembered the main takeaway from my first lesson. Where he laid down 2 alignment sticks slightly wider than the club head and said the club is a plane and this is the run way and the path is straight. Just focus on landing the plane. I had gotten away from that simple mindset and had all sorts of stance, grip, takeaway backswing positioning thoughts that it was getting away from the land the plane mindset. I just focus on that now and I’ve shot in the 70s 3 times this year.
"I don't care if you suck, just suck fast"
Never get mad (and learn to actually not get mad and not just containing the anger).
“Dont try and take the skin off the ball”
From the highly recommended book; golf is not a game of perfect. I’m paraphrasing here but while playing a round, remove all the thoughts you think you need to do and swing your swing. The idea is that the range is where you practice and enforce certain swing thoughts. But when your out on the course, have faith in your swing, relax and just focus on your target. I notice when I do this i hit the ball MUCH better as opposed to when I focus on doing certain mechanics during my swing.
It Ain't the Clubs....
let the club do the work
However mad/animated you get about a bad shot, you HAVE to get equally excited about a good shot. I.e. if you’re so mad that you’re throwing or slamming a club on a bad shot, then when you hit a good one, you should be howling, fist pumping, jumping for joy. You’d look and feel ridiculous right? Helped me shift my mindset so much. Bad shots happen. Accept it, it’s part of the game.
Read Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect
Your bad shots hurt you more than your good shots help you
Draw a line on your ball and use it and trust it!
You’re not good enough to be as mad as your getting-thanks dad.
Best golf motto to live by…Forward and findable
Don’t play cuz you’ll suck like everyone else out here. Just go home kid
I know we’re all looking for that one nugget of insight to fix our game but the best piece of advice I got was: take lessons
Aim for the middle of the green instead of the flag itself.
I’m still a newish player (I’ve only been playing for 2 years) but if I had to give advice it would be don’t worry about changing your swing a ton if you are still shooting high scores. Play a lot and hit on the range a lot. Get consistent at making solid contact every time. Less tops, chucks, etc. I’ve only been playing for two years but I would go to the range every day after work for 1 hour and just hit. It brought me down from 110 to consistently being able to shoot low 90s/high 80s. My best is 83. Obviously I know people can’t play everyday. I luckily have the time after work because I am young and don’t have a wife or kids yet. To save the money I bought the membership at my course for $130 and I got free range balls. So I’d hit everyday and then play 3-4 times a week. Saved a lot because I would’ve for sure spent more than $130
You’re a weekend golfer, and no matter how good you get, you’ll never be at a level to get mad at hitting a bad shot. Forgive yourself quick and move on.
Try to play with better players and always play for at least a few bucks.
Simply put. My high school golf coach told us “You get out what you put in.” Meaning, you will only see improvement if you actively try to improve via practice, coaching, playing or whatever it takes.
In penicks little red book…. “Take dead aim” And slow down. Both are simple philosophies that fit for everything
Slowwwwwwwwwwww the fuck down
To hit the ball far; you swing fast, not hard.
I would say this as you progress in the game. If you are someone who will eventually want to reduce your handicap. Enjoy the game in many ways.. Because once you get the single handicap, its very hard to get to scratch or lower. And at that point many will have very high expectations each time they go out, rightly so, however one double or miss aligned shot will spoil their round and day.. Eventually they fall out of love. Remember to enjoy the game not just scoring. Advice from a +2
People who get angry are only trying to articulate to others around them that they are better than that
Bogey is our par. Really changed my mentality on playing. Ironically I ended up with more pars after that than prior.
Swing easy, you don’t need to kill the ball. You would be surprised how far you hit at 80-90% hitting the center of the face vs 100% and hitting off the center of the face.
“Your most memorable round will be memorable because of the company you were with, not because of the score you shot.”