It's pretty obvious that golf is getting more and more popular. More people would LIKE to play it. More people think they can play it, and EVEN MORE people cant play it worth crap.
Newsflash: GOLF IS FRIGGIN HARD!!!!!
It requires more athleticism than you think. Flexibility, hand eye coordination and a bit of humble pie. Why the latter? Because the game is hard. Most accomplished golfers not only plan for the dart near the pin, but also where to aim if there is a miss. So what do people do about it? Lets by NEW CLUBS! Obviously that is the issue at hand. Its the damn arsenal of weaponry, not the swing tempo, the swing path or ball position....its the clubs. So we are told....
"Fix your game by buying these awesome new clubs!!!" or "Fix your game by buying these awesome balls" even better "Fix your game by buying this apparatus that you strap to your ass and shove it down your throat and it will read exactly what is wrong with your game". I'll tell you what is wrong with your game....you stink. You stink because you only play twice a year....and you only play alone. But you buy crap loads of balls at the range and bang away with the driver and you put down your little alignment rods and you hit your irons and think you are awesome because you hit off of mats. But then when it comes to a nice tight on the fairway with grass, it either is chunked or skulled.
So here are some ways to improve your hobby:
1) Go into a lesson knowing that you are not any good and LISTEN! Listen to the guy in front of you. and take anything you read or watch on tv with a grain of salt.
2) Once you start your lessons.....play! PLAY PLAY PLAY PLAY! My God this is what bugs me the most. Yes, you can go to the range, but how do you know it works? And dont give up after just one round. Play a few rounds A WEEK! Not only that, dont take a lesson...not play, not practice...then take another lesson. Because its useless and a waste of money.
3) Know that you will suck for awhile. There is no secret ointment. Your mind and body has to adjust to new swing habits. It happens to me all the time. Usually what happens to me is this.
New swing habit, first day is great, second day utterly sucks, then it gets progressively better. Dont know why, but it just happens.
4) Dont expect much within the YEAR. You have to understand that there is alot that not only goes into playing golf, but there is even more that comes with SCORING. You can play or hit the ball, but can you score. Difference between Web.com and PGA Tour guys....is CONSISTENT scoring. You can play with the "worst" guy on the Web.com tour on some puny muni course and will probably score in the 60's but put them in a tournament they will either shoot 65 or 80, its all about consistency.
5) Know when to keep score and when not to. Honestly, Dont keep score, you will get more depressed or angry about that one shot and forget about the good ones. I will go a month and not keep score because the score to me is meaningless. I keep track of fairways and greens in regulation. In other words, focus on BALL STRIKING. It will all fall into place eventually.
6) Focus on the little things and not the big picture. HONESTY ALERT: I shot a 96 at the most recent US Open qualifying. Did I suck? Yup. But I took away some positives as well.
http://ghintpp.com/mgalinks/TPPOnlineScoring/ResultsStroke.aspx?id=386
On the surface it WAS embarrassing. But on the way home i thought about my score and what i did right. I struck the ball well with my Irons, especially my long irons. Hence I parred all the par 3's and a few par 5s. But I couldnt drive the ball worth crap. It was the last time I ever used the SLDR driver. Just didnt fit me. but i got it because it was nice and shiny and totally discounted the fact that my RAZR-Fit was working just fine! Nope, i succumbed to the pressure of advertising and guess what happened. I sucked. Whats the point? The point is I can take away EXACTLY what went right and what went wrong. So the following weeks: I put back the old driver (working fine) and have been working on what I need to work on.
Hell, there are times, that I wont even use a driver. There are times I will go into a round saying "im going to work on my five-iron" So I will use my five-iron off the tee. Most places dont have 200 yards of recommended carry on holes, so you can get away with it. My 60 degree wedge is my 100 yard club. I worked on that for a solid week, and now i am so confident in it, i dont even have to worry about it.
So just because you see a piece of equipment that looks awesome, still might not work for you. And just because you scored a big number, doesnt mean that you are terrible. Just means you have to work on things. But, you wont improve on things until you attack these things and work on them. I admit, i went into it as an "acid test" anyway. Realized that I am not as good as I thought I was, but as my coach said "you are physically gifted to play. You can either throw it away and cry about it, or you can suck it, be a player and work on it".
So that is what I will do...............
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