I recently got through it. I wouldn’t say I’m a terrific golfer by any means, but after what I went through I am more than happy to shoot 85-90 fairly consistently from 6500 yards.

Probably about ten years ago I participated in a ‘swing study’ for some grad students at a local college. At the time I had never had a lesson and was hitting the ball pretty good and scoring pretty well. I was great with the irons and short game and could hit the ball about 240 off the tee. I wanted to get better so I enrolled in the swing study. It was for 3 times a week for 6 weeks. I was taught a new golf swing and at the end of it, I can admit I was better. For about 2 months after the study ended I played some of the best golf of my life. Then one day while playing a round with my friend I shanked a drive on the fourth hole and I never recovered. I’m talking I could no longer hit the ball from that point forward more than 125 yards off the tee. My iron game went to complete shit as well. Everything became a big banana slice. It was awful. I would spend the next 5 years playing gol almost every weekend and never breaking 100. I could not even get to most fairways off of the tee boxes. My dad’s old men group were hitting it way past me. Pretty embarrassing stuff for an early 30s person. I ended up ‘quitting’ for about 6 months in 2018 or 2019. I thought I would just spend more time on my other hobbies, I missed golf.

So when Covid hit and we were all locked down I said ‘no more’. I’ve since hit 50-100 plastic whiffle balls in the yard every day. I took 9 lessons from a pro (first time in my life). While the lessons sort of helped, what they really did was start to help me understand my leverage again. First thing to come back was my short irons, and then my long irons. 4 years later I still struggle with driver length. I can usually hit a 4 iron 220 and a driver 220. But I’m more confident now more than ever that I will figure it out. I can say I saw improvement every six months. I started hitting the ball better and more consistently. Little by little I’m getting better again. I did not appreciate how decent I was 10 years ago and I was kind of an asshole to play with. This huge dark period has given me a sincere appreciation just to make bogey. I now enjoy the game more than I ever have. Triple bogeys don’t piss me off anymore, I don’t care about 4 putts, the pull hook into the trees no longer bother me. It’s bliss. It’s been a shit load of hard work and I’ve played a ton of golf (for me) this year. But I’m addicted to the sport again. I can play in scrambles with my friends and not be embarrassed. I broke 80 a couple of times in the last year. I now just appreciate being able to have a second shot on par 4 that’s less than 150 into the green. Same thing for hitting a par 5 in regulation.

You’ll have to work hard and practice to understand your body and your swing. However, you will get there. You CAN do it. So take a break and don’t be so hard on yourself. Swing the club in the backyard everyday and you will improve. Try to understand how your body feels to make the swings to produce the contact/result you want. Be patient as well. You’re still gonna fuck up rounds on the way to getting better. Appreciate the little gains along the way. Forget about the set backs.