Are you one of these golfers?

I recently read an article from a PGA Pro saying...

"most golfers reach a certain level and never improve beyond that point. One study found that the average golfer reached this level after only 3 years of playing"

Let me know your experiences as far as golf improvement is concerned.

Did you get to this level after 3 years? 5, 10? Are you still improving? Are you still trying to improve?

I look forward to your replies.

SteveCowleGolf

P.S. I still have a few spots remaining for a free trial of my online golf membership so send me a private message if you are interested.

I am one of these golfers, took me 3 years to get to a 10 hcap and I'm finding it tough to improve. I don't hit many greens in regulation and think that is the problem.

i am improving steadily each year a few strokes come of this is i think just down to trying different bits and pieces and seeing what improves my game, i have never had lessons and am not sure if i would like them as i feel i am progressing nicely as i am.

I've been playing four and a half years but started nearly 5 years ago.  I had a series of six lessons mixed with lots of range practice before I went out on the course.  In fact, it was 5 months between my first lesson and me having my first forays onto a course!

My handicap didn't really start coming down until I had been playing for a couple of years.  I tend to measure where I am at the end of the season (although I play all year round) and my handicap at the end of the season has been as folows: -

• 2006 - 28
• 2007 - 27
• 2008 - 23
• 2009 - 18
• Current 16

I think this shows I'm still progressing and my target is to get to a playing handicap of 14 this year (a push but I think I can get there).  Whether I am capable of getting down to single figures I don't know, but my longer term goal is to get below the 'teens'. 

I honestly believe that if one is going to be a good player then it will be achieved sooner, rather than later.

Having the ability to produce the right kind of shot for the occasion is paramount, but this means moving away from the current methods of teaching and reverting back to clubs that are more receptive to the variations that can be applied to a golf swing.

I agree with you John.  When I do practice (like you I would prefer to play) I spend time practicing how to create shots as much as hitting it straight.  I don't see the point in just banging ball after ball straight(ish) down the range.  There is much more benefit to practice creating a draw, fade, punch or high shot as these are needed on the course.  i also spend at least 25% of my practice time on shorter shots, practicing a high flop, chip, bump and run, etc

I think that my ability to create some of these shots on demand, along with an improvement in my short game, has been the reason my handicap has started to fall again

Well, Chris, I think I had better shut up now that you are a better player than me now.

I'm a long way off being a better player than you John.  I just have a few years and the ability to hit the ball further than you on my side.  If you offered to play me off my tee shot, I'd just give you the money and stay in the clubhouse.

The rounds I have played with you have taught me much about the importance of good course management, the correct club and shot selection and a decent short game.  That has been a big contribution in the reduction of my handicap

Don't give me the credit, Chris, you have watched, learned and then put it into practice. To be honest I always felt that you were not making progress at the rate I felt you were capable of, but I am sure that the more you learn, the better the understanding in how to get round a golf course the easy way.

I would say that I'm not one of these.

My handicap was tumbling about 4 years ago & then I joined a private course where my handicap is based on playing from the competition tees so my handicap actually went up by about 2 shots in the 1st year & then it has gradually starting coming down again.

The problem is that I only actually get chance to play off the comp tees in a comp so it's hard to get any momentum going.

Also I find that I am never firing on all cylinders in a medal, either my driving is good & everything else is ok or vice versa!

I picked up a golf club for the first time 8 years ago at the grand old age of 50. A couple of years later I joined a golf club and my official handicap quickly tumbled to 18 (16 handicap on here). My problem is that for the past 4 years I have been stuck on this 18 even though I am now playing fare better golf and my ball striking is a lot more consistent. My stats show that I hit over 50% of fairways from the tee and average 240yds with my driver. The problem is that I hit only 15% of greens in reg and I then convert only 2 out of 3 of these into pars. I must admit I get really frustrated by this as I feel that as I now strike the ball really well I should be making more than 3 or 4 pars a round.

Ian

I've been playing 5 years and have improved year on year. I tend to measure my improvement by my average round score for the year rather than handicap as handicaps tend to react to odd freak scores rather than consistency.  My average scores have been:

120

108

103

101

98 so far this year.

So far I have only concentrated on consistency, course management and my short game.  If I ever get my average down below 95 I might think about trying to improve the length of my long game and shaping shots.

I think age does come into this equation.

I for one am not quite as supple as i was a few years ago.

The body stiffens up as we get older, which makes it more difficult to rotate at the speeds required.

However the other side of this is maturity, like John although he admits to not hitting the ball long.

His abillity to, if you like read the game is far beter than most young guns coming through.

A massive factor to improving anyones golf is how often you are able to play.

Play 2 to 3 imes a week & you will improve.

A few lessons will also help a lot of golfers improve.

In my case difficult to play as often as I would like. I know I could drop several shots off of my handicap with more practice.

Quite simply the more you play the better & more confident you become!

Definitley the mental side, being in the present and ignoring the distractions around me. I've played a little better recently in competitions since I've been concentrating on my own game and not being bothered with what my playing partners are doing.

I would say i'm one of these golfers at the moment. Dropped to about 18 after a couple of years and although my technique and understanding are better, scores are not doing what they should.

My goal is 15 by the end of the year.  (20 at the moment!!! doh).

I played golf in my teens, with my lowest handicap being 19.  i didn't really play throughout my 20s and started again about 3 years ago off 21.  I managed to get this down to 18 reasonably quickly, which is where it stayed for about 18 months.

Anyway, I took my first ever set of lessons over the winter and started striking the ball much better.  I was still playing to a handicap of 18.6 back in April and got some more advice during a round with Wayne and a visit to Jeremy Dale's Scoring School in London.  Since then I've been on fire with rounds in the 80s becoming more frequent, ending with a 79 gross last night which included four birdies!  I've moved from 18.6 to 14.2 in the space of two months and nine rounds.  It's fair to say i'm rather pleased with my game at the moment!