The Next Level

[Neil18]

Hey Guys n Gals.

Need a little help here.

I've been stuck on a 5 handicap for over a year now and it's high time I shot some better scores.

Only thing is, how?

My long game is coming along nicely.

I practice my short game. It's pretty good. When my putter's on I scare the hole every time.

It just seems to be a barrier that I can't bust my handicap. I experienced this once before when my handicap was stuck on 16. It seemed to be the number I pre-determined that I'd shoot without knowing it. I shot 86 eleven rounds in a row. Then I shot a 78 and never looked back.

It seems I have the same trouble now. Always shooting between +5 and +9. Chances of getting my handicap down with that standard are slim to none.

Improvement is definately a different ball game mentally when you get down to low single figures.

Has anyone had success with getting down to scratch? What were the mental keys to it? Did you play care-free or like your life depended on it?

I'm in danger of losing the will to improve because, try as I might, my rounds do not come down.

Heeeeeeeeeelp!

[Ian Hancock]

Re: The Next Level

Hi Neil,

Copy and paste this to a word doc and have a good read, it should help you break par with just a little more thought.

Golf Guide: Scoring Par or Better using Golf Course Targets



What is par? Well, par is a scoring standard calculated on the number of shots a scratch player should take to the green in regulation and 2 putts per hole.
How to shoot or break par is just as easy: use a formula calculated by a simple person not so long ago.
There are 18 golf holes in a standard round. In this guide I assume the course has: 4 par 3’s, 4 par 5’s and 10 par 4’s. If your home course is different, adjust the numbers accordingly and you have the formula to score or break par.
To shoot par, you need to hit 13 greens, the number of greens is critical. You can do the formula on less (I have broken par hitting 5 greens) but then you need a great short game. It doesn’t matter on which par holes you hit the 13 greens but the ideal mix to give yourself a good chance is: 2 par 3’s, 3 par 5’s and 8 par 4’s. If you do that you would have used 27 shots.
Of those 13 greens you’ve hit in regulation if you make 3 birdies, par 9 of them and bogey 1 after a 3-putt disaster, you’ve used 24 shots.
If you hit the 13 greens, you missed 5 of them. Good scratch players should get up and down 3 times out the 5 (60%), they do no worse than chip and 2-putt the other 2 for a couple of bogeys. That’s another 21 shots.
Now add all those shots up: 72, level par and in there you’ve had a 3-putt and 2 holes you didn’t manage to get up and down.
Simple! How easy is that?
You may need to develop your own formula, maybe you can hit all 4 par 3’s … in which case you can afford a few extra putts or you can still score par if you hit 6 instead of 8 par 4’s. Now I’m sure you seeing how it works.
Now you have your own formula, now it is time to show you how to execute it.
Key to successful scoring lies not in the 18 numbers you write on your scorecard but how the numbers are created. You have to play golf by using golf course targets. Play golf by focussing on the job at hand – hitting the fairway, hitting the green and “getting out of trouble” by putting reasonably well (31 putts will do it, which is average for scratch golfers). If you’re a good putter or have a good short game or if you can hit par 5’s in 2, well then par should be a piece of cake.

Hope this helps

Ian.

[GregJWillis]

Re: The Next Level

I do like that approach Ian, and makes sense. You get a quota of good vs. bad. If you make a mistake, you are not done for yet, it gives you hope and the need for focus on the remaining holes.

My approach to breaking out of a plateau is to know specifically what is keeping you there in the first place, practicing just that 1 aspect until it becomes the best part of your game.

You won't forget about the other items, they should make a comeback easily enough when you return, and they actually may enjoy the time off and return stronger, but if you do see degradation in previously strong areas, return to a normal practice routine will eventually even them out.

Start with looking at trends in your scoring. You have something there that is causing you to have a 8 foot putt for par for about 1/2 the holes (just a guess). Figure it out.
* Is it that you get into trouble off the tee for those holes, get in the rough and have to fight your way to the green where you are then forced to make a great chip to the hole and you are averaging it to that 8 foot position?
* It could be that you just get into the wrong places on the green for 1/2 the holes. You are faced with having a difficult time getting it to that tap-in for par.
* How about the fact that you are not making enough birdies. Birdies solve a lot of problems. They come mostly from approaches that are the perfect distance to the hole. It could be that you are not picking the right clubs.

Keep going here, there are so many reasons, and combinations that I am stopping.

So the idea here is to determine what it giving you this problem, and fixing it.

[Ian Hancock]

Re: The Next Level

Hi Greg,

Yeh common sense alot of this really, here is another similar effort posted years ago by Graham (teaching Pro).

Take you home course and find the 12 or 13 greens that are easiest to hit. Figure out where on the green is best to end up for common pin positions, identify the no-go areas, etc. If you need to, walk the course and take a look at the green complex and make notes.
On the 5 holes you’re likely to miss the green, figure out where to miss them for each pin position and where not to go under any circumstances. Go onto the course early in the morning or late in the evening and practice up & downs, practice until you know exactly what to do. Draw a map if you need one in a note book and put it in your golf bag.
You need a strategy for each golf hole. Hole-by-hole you need to map it out from tee to green. Note what tee shot to hit, what distance to hit it, what approach to hit … what clubs to use … Think carefully playing to your good clubs and normal shot shape.
When you map the course, think broadly: think of ways to get the job done. Your job as a par scorer or a prospective par scorer is to hit greens. On my course there is a tight par 4. I play a 7-wood tee shot and a 7-iron to the green, 2 of my strongest clubs. In the last few years, I’ve hardly ever bogey it. There is also long tough par 3 with lots of trouble around the green. Play a medium-iron (normally a 6-iron) short of all the trouble to an area about 15m short of the green complex. From there my job is to chip and putt. Working from my notes, I know how to do it.
You may have to play each hole a few times and experiment with strategies to find the best for you. As you get into the system, it does become easier as you eliminate the possibilities.
The system is reliant on a reasonably good short game and you don’t have to be brilliant at chipping or putting. 31 Putts is what it takes. Scoring well isn’t about 300 yards drives – it is about getting the golf ball in the hole. The system is realistic and allows for the odd blow up … we all 3 putt now and then or hit a terrible iron shot … even tour pro’s do. I’ve seen it happen and I bet you have too.
Your job of hitting targets will be made easier if you have lots of information to use. Walk the course and write down as many distances as you possibly can. It makes hitting the target easier if you know refined distances to areas of the fairway or green.
Keep a log as you play your round of golf and tick off as you reach the targets and use the putts. Don’t worry about the numbers on the scorecard … they will take care of themselves.
By keeping track of where you are missing the targets, you know which holes are costing you and which part of your golf game is costing you precious shots. Work on those shortfalls, maybe develop a new strategy for the golf hole that is costing you and try again.
The key is knowing the formula and playing golf single-mindedly to that formula and shot strategy. To score a level par does not require lots of talent, it doesn’t require 300 yard drives … it takes a strategy. My driving distance is around 260yds I play to a decided strategy and I plot my way around the golf course and hardly ever make a mistake that kills the score.
I hope the system works for you. It has worked for me and lots of players who have struggled to score par or better.


I use yours mainly noe Greg, I just work on what poor in my game. (so that's everything then)

Cheers

Ian.

[bill reed]

Re: The Next Level

hi
back when i was a really good golfer my friend was the golf pro "david roberson" and i was playing of 8 i think then, david came out and caddy for me on a couple of afternoons ( just the two of us) and he took 2/3 shots off my score doing that. monty said if he was to caddy for most handicap player he could drop 6 shots off there score.
with david it was not so much tips about my swing but more about how i played shots and when to attack and when to play safe, the lowest i ever got was 4 handicap but then i played a round sat and sunday and also went and pratice for about 2 hours 3 nights a week too. that was back in the late 80s.
if you know a scratch golfer ask him if he would be willing to watch you play and give you some tips and see if he can spot where your going wrong on some of the holes.
i did find the time david caddy for me a great help and it was him that wanted to do it.
best of luck at working towards scratch.
bill

[Ian Hancock]

Re: The Next Level

Hi Bill,

As you may know I am a big fan of Monty, It is also very true that a good player can save any middle h/capper shots per round, all the above makes perfect sense really..................it's just a matter of single minded approach to playing your own method.

simple things like when the pin is tight right, play to left of green so even if you miss you have green to work with.

playing shorter clubs off the tee when needed, on our stroke index 1 I always play rescue/2iron off tee, 9 iron short of bunkers then a wedge........1 putt par or a good bogey.............or you can hit driver to a 15yds wide fairway with tree both sides, then a three wood up an alleyway of trees, uphill shot to a slopping green..............if you don't hit dead straight your double or trippling maybe quading the hole.....!!!!

I think all the above applies to most of us, as we all get a bit to abitious sometimes.

Ian.

[bill reed]

Re: The Next Level

hi ian
yes i agree, with david he would stop me hitting that shot i would only make once it ten tries and have me play what i knew would get results. if i was on my own i always wanted to try for that shot that would only come off once in a while and he helped me train my mind into playing the right shot for that moment in time.
you sound like you have good control of your mind so you should get down to 2 or even scratch. sometime its the mind that stopps you. try not thinking off the score and just go out and play.
bill

[bill reed]

Re: The Next Level

hi ian
have you read monty's book the thinking mans guide to golf, some great picture's off his swing in there.
bill

[Ian Hancock]

Re: The Next Level

Hi Bill,

Yes I do have that book, it is very good, I also read his biography at Christmas, did you know he lasted only a few hours at his first college, jumped out of the window and ran to the airport with his clubs......................just by luck his father got him in another but only on a walk in basis, the rest is history.

I think he is the greatest player never to win a major.


Ian.

[bill reed]

Re: The Next Level

hi ian
i love montys swing, so smooth. i was just going to order his book monty raw.
met him once he knew my friend david robertson and spoke to him, he is a really nice guy and chatted about 15 minuets to us, not like the papers make him out to be, again that was many years ago now but i have always liked him and sam torrance and sandy lyle too.
bill