Does the question, “why do I suck at golf ?” sound relatable? Admittedly, seeing no improvement in your golf performance despite frequent practices is frustrating.
Indeed, looking for answers and detailed guides on YouTube videos seems more challenging than easy.
But did you know that there are countless reasons why you suck at golf ?
Some of these reasons include being more focused on distance than precision, purposeless practice sessions, and no pre-shot routine.
Lack of strategy, incorrect grip, and not taking lessons with a golf instructor are also hindrances to improving your performance.
Similarly, you’re likelier to fail if you don’t play with the right people, skip warm-ups, and use inappropriate golf equipment.
Dig up the post below to uncover the best things you can do to level up your golf play.
Potential Reasons Why You Still Suck at Golf
1. Purposeless practice sessions
Not practicing regularly and not playing with a sense of purpose can lead you to nowhere.
Even if you practice more often, your efforts become futile in the end if it’s not a quality practice.
Whether you practice on the course or at home, setting a clear goal is crucial. It would be best if you also devoted more time and hard work to achieve those goals.
2. Using inappropriate golf equipment
Do you think you suck at golf because you’ve never had a lesson, so you don’t understand your clubs?
The inability to get suitable golf equipment can be because you didn’t seek the help and advice of a qualified coach.
The lack of golf expert guidance may result in swinging the incorrect specs. Hence, you usually employ stiff and heavy shafts for your swing.
Heavy and stiff shafts minimize clubhead speed, lose distance, and promote lowball flight.
Contrarily, quick swingers utilize flexible shafts that lose their distance and constantly blow up their shots.
Weak lofts can make your swing lose total distance and prompt an elevated launch.
Slower swing speeds are more appropriate for weaker lofted long woods and irons. In particular, golfers require available spin and ball speed to attain consistency.
Getting fitted for your first golf clubs is paramount, keeping you from wasting bucks on the wrong equipment.
Club fitters can help you examine and determine every swing component to find suitable wedges, woods, putters, and irons. Likewise, they can make setting up a launch monitor a cinch.
3. Lack of regular lessons with a golf instructor
Yes, practicing by yourself is okay. Nonetheless, having a qualified golf instructor who can teach you fundamental golf lessons and techniques is a significant edge.
Hiring an instructor you’re comfortable with, who has the same goals as you, and meets your budget is critical.
More importantly, select a golf coach with an outstanding track record of achieving fast and exceptional results.
4. Not visiting the driving range.
Understandably, you have a hectic schedule at work. However, making time to visit the driving range is still necessary if you seriously hope to improve your game.
You might want to invest in a golf simulator to help you improve your ball-striking skills. This way, you can improve your consistency even without leaving the comfort of your home.
Constant practice is required wherever you are to attain satisfying results.
5. Incorrectly positioned golf ball in your stance.
Your ball should sit aligned with the inside of your lead heel on tee shots. This way, you can properly position your hips and balance the face using impact for straight drives.
Afterward, position the ball a few inches back from the driver’s stance for shots with hybrids or fairway woods. Continue doing so when you have a wedge in hand, placing the ball slightly rear of the center.
Please note that the longer the shaft, the more the ball requires sitting in your position. It’s also essential to modify the ball depending on the form of shot you want to play.
Lay the ball forward in your position if it is teed up. This approach helps strike the ball on your upswing to take it off the tee.
It will help if you hit the ball at an elevated angle of attack when you put it back in your position. Such a technique urges you to de-loft the clubface and lowers the ball.
Meanwhile, consider setting it back in your position if you want to draw the ball. Finally, a forward ball setup is the most excellent means to prompt a fade.
Read more: What Axactly Is A “Tee Time” In Golf? A Beginner’s Guide
6. Lack of strategy
Are you the type who doesn’t strategize about the hole’s layout, striking your next shot, and making par? If so, then you have so much more to learn.
Devote some time to checking the layout and conditions of the hole. It’s a must to determine which side offers you the most straightforward route to the flag.
For example, find out which direction the wind blows. These conditions could lower your scores and place you in a top-notch stance.
Suppose you missed hitting your target. Still, you can miss in a secure spot that offers you a shot at the flag.
7. Incorrect grip
Did you know how you grip your golf club can affect your control? A tight grip can urge you to hit the ball with a closed clubface, producing a hooked golf shot. Oppositely, a loose grip can incite the clubface to open at contact, inducing a slice.
Ensure you can release the clubhead at the top of the backswing and the targeted club path.
Remember, you can doubtlessly produce optimal power and delight in a long straight shot with a correct grip.
8. Not playing in tournaments.
You’ll miss a lot if you don’t play in golf tournaments. Tournaments offer golfers the excitement and thrill of competition.
Best of all, it heightens the significance of every shot in a manner that an ordinary round simply cannot. Your know-how and experience in golf deepen when participating in tournaments.
9. You consider your short game a terrible experience.
Are you having issues with putting and chipping? If yes, then you have a severe problem.
You can solve this problem by committing more time to practice on the course to understand your short game better.
Work on your chip shots, pitch, get up and down, and flop. From there, you may start improving your putting to driving out 3-putts and bogies.
10. You’re more focused on distance than precision.
There’s no question about every golfer’s strong aspiration to increase their distance. Nevertheless, the actual problem here is the manner they attempt and accomplish it.
Golf experts highly recommend shortening your swing, as this technique helps hit more fairways and greens.
Hence, if a full swing causes your ball to fly all over the greens, try to shorten your swing.
11. Lack of pre-shot routine
A pre-shot routine works wonders in organizing things, prompting you to contrive from your practice swing to impact.
A pre-shot routine allows you time to think and concentrate on accomplishing your task.
Executing a practice swing can help you determine if you’re correctly aligned. Additionally, you can see well if you’re on the right track to hit the ball neatly with a square clubface.
Otherwise, you can reset and execute the routine again. Attaining consistent results is likelier if you don’t g through the same process before each shot.
12. Not playing with the right players.
Playing and practicing alone is not only dull but also not educational. The next time you go to a local course in your area, try playing with a group of golfers with lower handicaps.
You can observe how they play and incorporate their strategies when you hit the ball.
Playing with the right players will teach you some valuable golf lessons you never knew before.
13. Skipping “warm-ups” before playing golf
You need to gain more mental and physical strength if you wish to do well in golf. And since golf can cause physical stress, body aches and stiffness can happen without warm-ups.
Therefore, executing excellent warm-up routines makes you less likely to suffer from joint pains and other body pains.
Warm-up routines can also prepare golfers mentally and affirm that they can play and perform better.
How Can I Improve My Golf Performance and Stop Sucking?
1. Practice regularly with a sense of purpose.
Generally speaking, you suck at golf because you don’t practice enough, and when you practice, it’s not considered quality practice.
Practice makes perfect, but that will only happen if you practice with intent. Practicing more often without giving your best shot is nothing.
Treat every practice as if it’s an important tournament. Know your goals, and strategize how to achieve them in no time.
2. Take lessons with a qualified golf coach.
Working with a professional coach can remarkably hone your golf skills and know-how.
A professional golf coach can assist you pinpoint your strengths and weakness, and teach you what you need to know.
Qualified instructors are adept at helping you with your mental game and offering advice to remain focused.
3. Play with golfers who play better than you.
Nothing’s wrong with playing alone; however, you have more chances of improving if you play with better golfers.
Playing with better golfers allows you to observe what they do and mimic their style.
Moreover, you can master valuable tips and tricks you can integrate into your course management tactics and swing.
4. Execute more on-course practice
Integrating on-course practice into your routine is a game-changer. Doing so helps you overlook various surrounding distractions, aligning yourself properly with your mission.
This technique works well in developing a noteworthy pre-shot routine, hitting each club as excellently as the next when necessary.
5. Hone your ball-striking skills.
Exceptional ball-striking is the outcome of the appropriate rotation of the hips, suitable takeaway, and sufficient shaft lean at impact.
Not to mention, honing your ball-striking skills can also result in powerful leg movement.
6. Play golf more competitively.
Competing against other golfers is integral if you aspire to become a better golfer. You might not know it, but competing with others can train you to execute your task under pressure.
The secret here is to show up and put your best foot forward. It’s unwise to take less challenging routes and quit playing competitions merely because you had a few terrible rounds.
7. Get up and down more frequently.
Improve your golfing by finding a way to chip the ball closer when you miss hitting the green. Execute this regardless of what technique you want to employ.
8. Aim to hit more fairways.
Are you having problems with the big stick? If you are, you might consider taking a driving iron or hybrid to find the fairway frequently.
Yes, you might have vast distances into the greens; you won’t be hindered by knee-high rough or trees.
9. Create more putts within six feet.
Invest in a top-quality indoor putting mat. Set it up in any preferred spot at home and begin acing those short putts.
This approach can help you significantly improve your score without the need to modify anything else in your swing.
10. Increase your distance off the tee.
Are you aware of the relation between the distances you strike the ball and low handicap?
It’s essential to know that the farther you strike the ball, the likelier you can shoot lower scores.
To increase distance, consider swinging faster, extending your backswing, and intensifying your attack angle off tee.
Spend a more extended time striking the ball and see how fast you can gain lower scores.
11. Trust that you will improve, and don’t quit.
Things aren’t always satisfying when playing golf. There are good days, and there are those that make the entire day terrible.
But focus on your goals, and remind yourself why you started. Keep practicing, believe in yourself, and stay positive.
Always give your best shot, and you will achieve what you want.
FAQ’s
Improve your backswing by following these steps:
Grip the club in a manner that precisely controls the clubface, allowing correct wrist motion.
Be sure that your weight is in the center of your feet, not on the rear, on the heels, or on the toes. Proper posture and body alignment are key factors in improving your backswing.
Create a minimal but advance shift into your trail side quickly in the takeaway. Before the club is partially back, you should feel as though the shift has already started.
Some players are incapable of getting their handicap lower, while others have issues with ability restrictions.
But, if you’re healthy, fit, and young, you have more chances of being a better golfer. With constant practice and professional guidance, there’s no room for error.
Without prudent practice, don’t expect to play better at golf. More practice time cannot guarantee you’ll get better at play, especially if you lack focus, guidance, and clear goals.
If you practice more often, but without intent, you’re merely developing poor habits.
The golf swing is challenging because it requires limitless moving components. Hence, it’s crucial to coordinate your chest, hands, legs, wrists, shoulders, core, arms, and shoulders to create excellent movements.
Unfortunately, you’re likelier to make mistakes if these body parts are not well-coordinated.
Final Thoughts
Becoming a better golfer won’t happen in a snap of a finger. It generally calls for more time, committed efforts, constant practice, and professional guidance to improve.
Regardless of the bad games and other obstacles, keep going, believe in yourself, and stay positive. It’s initially more challenging, but you’ll eventually make it right with constant and prudent practice.
Did we answer your question about “why do I suck at golf?” Hopefully, the guides we shared above can help you become a better golfer.
We can’t wait to hear your feedback. Please give this article a like and share it with your friends!
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Matt Stevens is the founder of Golfrough.com. He holds a Postgraduate in Sports Marketing and has played golf since he was four years old. Having experienced every high and low golf has to offer, his writing helps the average golfer avoid the mistakes he has made in 28-years on the course.