u/Carolinavore

Forgive the rant.

This may seem like a silly question, but how does one practice golf? And please don't give me the stupid, obvious answers of swing a club and hit balls. I played a round this past weekend and hit the ball pretty well and shot a 98, which is a good score for me as I rarely break 100. I wanted to build off that momentum so today I went to the range. I took my 8 iron and paid $16 for two bags of balls. The first half I hit the ball fairly well, with the only issue being pushing the ball to the right somewhat. As I tried to figure that out, everything fell apart. By the time I was done with the second bag of golf balls I looked like Roy McAvoy with the shanks. This is usually how it goes at the range. The more I practice, the worse I hit the ball.

So it brings me back to my question of how do you actually practice the golf swing? Without someone there to watch me and provide insight, or filming every swing and watching them back (nobody has time for that), what exactly can you do to know what is going right and what is going wrong? What makes it more difficult is practicing golf costs money and you have a limited number of balls to hit. I was a great shooter in basketball in my younger days. I had a ball and a hoop and it cost me nothing to practice endlessly. The more I played the better I got. Golf doesn't seem to work that way.

I'm at the point where I might stop trying to get better and just treat golf as a fun activity. But that bothers me because I really, really want to improve. I know I have it in me. I have improved since I started playing again about a year and half ago, and when the swing is working my 3 wood goes 250. I just can't figure out how to create consistency in my swing. If anyone has tips on how practicing golf should work please let me know.

TL;DR - The more I practice the worse I get, probably because I don't know how to practice or I don't practice the proper things. How does it work? How can you actually get better at this game?

Dear 137 Club,

I continually read your recommendations and preferences for cooking ribeyes at 137 degrees on this subreddit. This past Friday I decided to try it with two beautiful, thick, bone-in ribeyes. I cooked them for 2 hours in the water bath and then seared them on a ripping hot cast iron pan. The result was . . . not the best. They were ribeyes, so it was still good. But I have to tell you that you are wrong. You are all so very wrong. There is nothing special about cooking them at 137. All that happens is a steak that is slightly overcooked. A gorgeous cut of meat such as this should not be cooked past 135 no matter what method you use. From now on I will be doing what I have always done with ribeyes - I will be grilling them. I will let the flames of the grill render the fat and I will make sure it stays rare to medium rare. It was a fun experiment, but I will not be joining your cult . . . err club. Enjoy your medium to medium well steaks in good health!

Best,

Carolinavore.

I can't hit a driver and I don't know why. I am at the point where it just stays in my bag and I tee off using my 3 wood most holes. If I am playing well I can hit my 3 wood 240-250 yards. Part of me says this is great so why bother with the driver? But it's the driver and I want to hit something 270! Why can I hit a 3 wood and not the driver? Are they really that different?