I'm starting to believe I have a mental problem!
I started golfing late, in my 30's, and have been playing casually since the early 2000's. I'm a 20 handicap and about 2 years ago I decided to get serious about getting better. I started using Arccos and analyzing my rounds, I resolved to swing easier w/ an old man golf swing and started practicing short game 70% of the time. I practice 2-3 times per week for at least an hour and play maybe once a week. I focused more on course management to avoid trouble.
I have improved. Objectively and demonstrably; my dispersion is better, I almost never loose balls, I get up and down a bit more, chunk less shots. I now miss long more vs. leaving everything short on approach. My scoring average for 9 holes has dropped about 3 strokes from around 47 to 44.
So here's the rub... perhaps I'm delusional, but my drives average 220 with my trusty mini-driver and I no longer loose balls off the tee. I feel like I have the swing to score better, but I'm not. It's like I cruise along with bogies and pars and then all of a sudden have the most ridiculous mishits & blowups you've ever seen to pull myself back to my same average. I think I'm somehow mentally blocking myself.
Any suggestions for improvement would be greatly appreciated! Thanks