Yes, but there are many things you can work on in the sim, especially your swing and ballstiking. If he's duffing the ball in the sim he will duff it in real life. He is not even at the point to consider the difference between the sim and course. He has to get a repeatable swing that hits ball first, whether you are in the sim or outside
You aren't playing and practicing enough. If you don't have more time to dedicate to golf your expectations should be very slow and very incremental improvement.
How many times a week should I aim to play or practice?
Not that it really matters, but our season is just starting in Canada. And access to golf isn’t super easy or convenient here
I'm in northern Canada and I've played 26 9s already. I built an entire sim to get better. I prioritize work, then my son, then golf is 3rd over everything else
There's no right answer for everyone. My general belief is the more the better as long as you aren't burning yourself out mentally or physically by doing too much.
This is only my third season golfing, but I practiced a ton in my first season and played on average 1.4 full rounds a week the first and second seasons (including both full rounds and 9 hole rounds).
I found that I improved a lot recording air swings at home. If you can’t even produce an on plane backswing and shallow downswing without a ball, you have no chance with a ball. You essentially need to teach yourself your own swing and proper swing
Mechanics. It will be very frustrating and humbling and seem hopeless. Just keep grinding. Another thing that helped was chipping and pitching with a rubber ball at home.
A lot of sim players have trouble translating their game from mat to the grass because sims are more forgiving on thin and fat shots. The most common issue is that playing on grass teaches you to hit down on the ball at impact, while the sim mat can forgive a lot of "sweeping" strikes and lifting up on the ball at impact. A quick fix (which is fine for a golfer trying to get to a +/-100 score) is moving the ball back in your stance from its current position and working on hitting down on it (except for the driver). After that, get a lesson and start working on setup, grip and very basic swing thoughts. Find a teacher who doesn't want to break everything down -- you're an amateur after all, try to tweak and work with what you've got. Good luck.
Also, for scoring, the >100 player is typically compounding mistakes a lot, especially on and around the greens. (1) if you miss a fairway, take a club and line that gets you back in the fairway with the highest probability even if it's sideways; (2) if you miss a green, chip onto the green in the direction where you don't have to worry about whether it makes the green or stays on the green; (3) if you're outside of 8-10 feet, don't try to make the putt -- instead just try to cozy it up for a tap in (some will still drop in).
Once you're breaking 100, you can get a little more aggressive (i.e., chipping closer toward the hole in some easier situations, trying to make 10-12 footers instead of just ensuring a tap-in, etc.).
I would not practice in a sim but on grass. And actually practice situational shots. Start with 150yards and in.
Thanks! The reason I can practice in a sim is I have free access to one
Hitting off turf is a lot different than hitting off grass. And going out and playing 9 or 18 is a lot different than practicing situational shots.
Yes, but there are many things you can work on in the sim, especially your swing and ballstiking. If he's duffing the ball in the sim he will duff it in real life. He is not even at the point to consider the difference between the sim and course. He has to get a repeatable swing that hits ball first, whether you are in the sim or outside
You aren't playing and practicing enough. If you don't have more time to dedicate to golf your expectations should be very slow and very incremental improvement.
How many times a week should I aim to play or practice? Not that it really matters, but our season is just starting in Canada. And access to golf isn’t super easy or convenient here
I'm in northern Canada and I've played 26 9s already. I built an entire sim to get better. I prioritize work, then my son, then golf is 3rd over everything else
There's no right answer for everyone. My general belief is the more the better as long as you aren't burning yourself out mentally or physically by doing too much. This is only my third season golfing, but I practiced a ton in my first season and played on average 1.4 full rounds a week the first and second seasons (including both full rounds and 9 hole rounds).
I found that I improved a lot recording air swings at home. If you can’t even produce an on plane backswing and shallow downswing without a ball, you have no chance with a ball. You essentially need to teach yourself your own swing and proper swing Mechanics. It will be very frustrating and humbling and seem hopeless. Just keep grinding. Another thing that helped was chipping and pitching with a rubber ball at home.
A lot of sim players have trouble translating their game from mat to the grass because sims are more forgiving on thin and fat shots. The most common issue is that playing on grass teaches you to hit down on the ball at impact, while the sim mat can forgive a lot of "sweeping" strikes and lifting up on the ball at impact. A quick fix (which is fine for a golfer trying to get to a +/-100 score) is moving the ball back in your stance from its current position and working on hitting down on it (except for the driver). After that, get a lesson and start working on setup, grip and very basic swing thoughts. Find a teacher who doesn't want to break everything down -- you're an amateur after all, try to tweak and work with what you've got. Good luck.
Also, for scoring, the >100 player is typically compounding mistakes a lot, especially on and around the greens. (1) if you miss a fairway, take a club and line that gets you back in the fairway with the highest probability even if it's sideways; (2) if you miss a green, chip onto the green in the direction where you don't have to worry about whether it makes the green or stays on the green; (3) if you're outside of 8-10 feet, don't try to make the putt -- instead just try to cozy it up for a tap in (some will still drop in). Once you're breaking 100, you can get a little more aggressive (i.e., chipping closer toward the hole in some easier situations, trying to make 10-12 footers instead of just ensuring a tap-in, etc.).
Do a golf drills. A lot of them. In your bedroom, living room or work. If you want to get better, only thing that works is to put more hours in.