Golf Confounds

[mferraguti]

I recently read a survey which concluded that the majority of golfers rarely break 90 and occasionally break 100. It is clear that most of us hacks out there love the game and desperately want to play better, more consistent golf. It's a wonderful game, but moreso when played well.

We all seek to improve so we read golf magazines and visit sites like golftuition. We learn about mechanical tips and take them to the range hoping that we're interpreting them correctly. But who really knows unless someone is guiding us.

Where am I going with this? If most of us could shoot in the 80's consistently, I think the majority of golfers would be overjoyed. So where are the instructors who have the ability to work with our strengths, instead of starting from ground zero, and can get this majority of golfers (of which I am one) to play better, more consistent golf. I'm not talking tour pro here. I have been playing this great game for 30 years, have broken 100 several times, broken 90 maybe ten times. If I poured my golf work ethnic into another sport, I would be an Olympian.

I am adept at other sports but golf confounds. If you want proof, just go to your local muni and watch action on the first tee. Is there no simple way to play this game consistently well?? Trahan's simple vertical swing baffles me. Others' systems also fail. One pro says to swing flat with the right elbow in but that only causes issues. Another says swing upright. Thank you. I apologize for the length but thought this would be interesting discussion.

[mferraguti]

Re: Golf Confounds

Thanks Go Low...I may be dead wrong but it seems like more information...maximum clubhead speed at impact. Not hitting at ball but through it. And then, how I interpret this on my own may be in error. I know there are no easy answers here or everyone would play great golf!

[KrudlerAce]

Basics

Nice Thread.

Every weekend I play with golfers who struggle to break 100 or 90. I notice the same thing over and over that they do which I believe why they find the game so difficult. They haven't mastered or even closely been able to grasp the fundamentals of the golf swing.

(1) Their posture is incorrect (hunch over or too far away from the ball)
(2) Their alignment is off, they usually are aiming too far right
(3) Their stance is either too open or closed
(4) Their grip is very weak or way too strong

Most good players I play with usually have these things pretty well worked out. It doesn't have to be perfect, just as close as possible to ideal.

Interesting enough, these things were fixed by my coach in just a 1 hour session. Seeing yourself on video really opens your eyes. Get a second set of eyes to look closely at your set up, it will work wonders.

Get the fundamentals right and you are well on your way to improving your golf score.

[LowPost42]

Re: Golf Confounds

To back Krudler, Arnold Palmer was quoted as once saying that having a sound setup, grip, and alignment doesn't guarantee a perfect shot, but gives him a very good chance at it. If grip, setup and alignment aren't right, then the perfect shot becomes a miracle.

As for being happy shooting in the 80's, there's no joy there. You still 'what if' your round no differently than you did when you were shooting 100, shooting mid 90's. My personal best is 78 on my home course, and 80 on an away course. These scores did not come from hammering fairways. They came from hitting greens and putting once or twice, and wedging it close and making the putt if I missed the green.

I realise it's not Tour Pro status - but the principle is the same: Whoever has a golden short game, rules. (Thank you, Dave Pelz).

Look at the numbers for Tiger (not including last year). #1 in putting. #1 in scrambling. #1 in proximity to the hole when a GIR is missed. He's even #1 in proximity to the hole when a GIR is made. This tells me that short game is where it's at.

I'm winding up my 6th season. For the last two seasons, once the snow melts I head out and start hitting half wedges. Quarter wedges. Three quarter wedges. And note distances. Then I start hitting to objects (that tree, that shrub, the neighbour's snowblower, etc) and marking those distances. Correlating swing feels to distance in my mind, developing my "inside 100 yards" eye. It's been in the last two seasons that I've taken 7 strokes off my handicap (from a 22.4 to a 15.5) and knocked 12 strokes off my average score for the last 3 years (from 102 to 90). Yes, my full swing has gotten much better. Yes, I hit more fairways now, too. Yes, I hit straighter, better 'golf shots'. But it's draining putts and wedging it tight - stealing 3's and 4's from 4's and 5's - that bring the score down.

Joy, however, is forever elusive if score is your goal. Even on the PGA Tour, where we had two or three guys shoot 59 this year, they could have gone lower. And how frustrating to "balloon" back up to 68, 67, 70 for the rest of the season.

Joy for me comes in a well struck shot, knowing that the time I took to setup, and check my alignment finds my ball starting on target and me hoping I took the right club. It comes in taking money out of my friends wallets - and then buying the first pint with it. It comes in enjoying the sun, the smells, the banter. Sure, a good score feels good too - but having shifted my perspective, the bad scores don't seem so bad (or so frequent).

[mferraguti]

Re: Golf Confounds

Good thoughts. I too believe that the joy is in a shot well struck. And I know the importance of a good short game. But the majority of us are not hitting good shots. In this same survey I mentioned earlier, it also pointed out that if most golfers could improve their games from the tee, they would see dramatic improvements. Unfortunately, we're getting into trouble from the tee box.

I also believe that those four points made by KrudlerAce are critically important. As my son pointed out to me during a recent round after a duck hook, "Dad, you're aimed way right of your target line!" And I had no idea. I thought I was square to it and this is after a pre-set shot routine.

My personal experience with an instructor was that he thought my grip was fine, but he focused on my backswing to come inside, keeping right elbow in, flat. He really never addressed alignment and all I can wonder is "Why?" Keep plugging away! Great posts!

[bill reed]

Re: Golf Confounds

Hi
i go along with both Lowpost and KrudlerAce and would say if you look at any low handicap golfer you will see they put the hours in working on the short game. i know when i was playing of 4 that i played one night a week and praticed my short game for at least two hours two night and sometome more, then played again on Sunday, as soon as i stoped puting in the hours my handicap went up. i can now hold my handicap at 10/11 playing only once a week.
i worked hard to try and get to scrach but never got lower than 4.
i think most but not all golfers could play in the low 80s but they would have to put the work in and that work started with putting and the short game as thats where you score.
the books "the putting bible and the short game bible" by Dave Pelz are the two best books i have read in helping lower your score but you wont lower your score by just reading them you have to do the work and the drills in the books.
Cheers
Bill

[LowPost42]

Re: Golf Confounds

Good thoughts. I too believe that the joy is in a shot well struck. And I know the importance of a good short game. But the majority of us are not hitting good shots. In this same survey I mentioned earlier, it also pointed out that if most golfers could improve their games from the tee, they would see dramatic improvements. Unfortunately, we're getting into trouble from the tee box.

I spent three years mired in this - penalties off the tee. Almost a dozen or more per game. But I also wouldn't put the driver away - the one that I crushed was what was emblazoned in my mind, not the 12 others that I sprayed all over the place.

I play a short course - 6100 from the tips - and have since learned to put the driver away. Tom Wishon states that "the driving club is the longest club you can consistently put into play. For some this is the driver, for others a 3 or 5 wood, and for others it may be a 5 or 6 iron." This was coupled with a very good golfer friend of mine asking if I was confident to hit the green from 150. I replied "of course". So he then asked why I felt I needed to be any closer to the green than 150 - if I was confident I could hit the green from there. So then my challenge was to figure out what club would get me to the 150 - and play golf like that for a month. It was frustrating putting my ego in check and leaving the big dog in the bag, but there's a pleasant feeling from not watching your ball sail OB or in the creek or in the woods from the tees. It helped that my ego was soothed by realising that I'm hitting my 5 and 4 iron well - and to within 30 yards of my mates' poorly struck 3w and drivers - and still having a 7 or 8 iron into the green at about 150 yards.

It was even harder - with a seriously poor short game at this point - to go to longer courses which tempted me to pull driver more often, but instead lay back with a 5 or 4 iron off the tee and calculate a good spot to lay up with a second to attack the pin with the 3rd. But this, I'd soon learn, was course and game management, and the easiest way to take the big number out of play was to put the clubs away that hurt.

The other thing that helped was after some work, I could put the driver back into play, but only on wide-open holes with room to hit my 25 yard slice. So I completely understand the whole idea of "I need to hit my full shots better, as I'm as likely to chunk this from 160 as I am to hit it well; before I work on my short game." What I've learned, however, (through my own stubbornness) is that for the most part, a repeatable full swing will come along if we don't tinker with it - and that it's never to early to work on your short game. I play with some fellows with some absolutely horrific swings, but they hit the ball where they want. Ugly as sin on a Sunday, but effective. A mate and I go back and forth with the banter, he's a long-time baseball player and his golf swing resembles it, but he can golf his ball around a course. We call him the 10 capper with the 25 capper swing. Of course, I've got the 10 capper swing, but have the 25 cap (now down to 15).

So if we stop the tinkering, the full swing will settle. I'm two years removed from tips and tinkering. And I hit some absolutely cracking shots every round. As my coach would say, "most golfers try to follow up a perfect shot with one that's perfecter. Please don't." I've finally gotten around to hitting it 'near perfect' and simply wanting to hit it 'near perfect' again. I'm even ok with following up 'near perfect' with 'pretty good'.

[mferraguti]

Re: Golf Confounds

6100 from the tips sounds like fun to me. My son who plays on his high school varsity team plays from the back tees so, when we play together, I play along with him to my dismay. With all the emphasis on distance, I think the shorter course has lost some appeal. But there is nothing like short par 4's. Guess I should bag the pride and play the shorter tees.

I understand what you're saying about management, putting the driver away, stopping the tinkering. As I watch lots of golfers, I think most of them are just trying to reach a point where they are not embarrassing themselves. It's one thing to miss a fairway after a 210 yard drive. Quite another when you're duck hooking 75 yards into a pond.

[bill reed]

Re: Golf Confounds

hi Lowpost
your story about 150 yards out hits a spot with me but it 160 yards out and still a 5 iron. i found that most par 4 were a 1 iron or a 3 wood or an easy drive to leave me 160 to the hole.
what this does is give you so much confedence when you go to play your second shot.
you no longer thinking "distance " of the tee but put that 220/235 or 250 yards and i have an easy 5 iron in.
i know this works and have used it for many years and only wish i had known and used it 20 years ago.
all the best
Bill

[LowPost42]

Re: Golf Confounds

6100 from the tips sounds like fun to me. My son who plays on his high school varsity team plays from the back tees so, when we play together, I play along with him to my dismay. With all the emphasis on distance, I think the shorter course has lost some appeal. But there is nothing like short par 4's. Guess I should bag the pride and play the shorter tees.

I understand what you're saying about management, putting the driver away, stopping the tinkering. As I watch lots of golfers, I think most of them are just trying to reach a point where they are not embarrassing themselves. It's one thing to miss a fairway after a 210 yard drive. Quite another when you're duck hooking 75 yards into a pond.

The other thing I've done is play the forward tees at 5400 yards.

I've gone around in 36 from both the forwards and tips this year - and it all comes down to short game.

Granted, I also think it's fun to take just a 7 iron and whack it around once in a while from the tees that don't involve forced carries - just to play something different. It really forces you to think about where to lay it up, and where to miss.

[LowPost42]

Re: Golf Confounds

Playing long and difficult courses can only make you a better golfer. Moving up in caliber (length and difficulty) as you improve is "how" you improve. It's much like pushing yourself as you get stronger when lifting weights, training for endurance, etc.

If I was more often than not shooting a rifle at a target that was so close or so large that I could always hit the bullseye - how am I going to get better if I don't push myself? If I'm put in a position where I'm shooting from a longer distance or a smaller target than I'm accustomed to - I'm not going to be comfortable and it's very doubtful I would be competitive.

If you really want to be a better golfer my suggestion would be to not let lower scores from playing shorter and less difficult courses get in the way of improvement.

I certainly am not against challenging yourself. I mentioned the forward tees and the 7 iron round more in line with a course management and a "think outside the box" drill - especially for those of us who hit the 1 wood no matter what the hole requires. And sometimes the golfer's ego needs the soothing balm of a low score - even from an easy course or shorter tees. Now, make no mistake - I've also failed to break 90 on a 5600 yard course.

But to use your rifle experience - if I had trouble hitting the bullseye at 100y, I'd certainly move it up to 50y or closer until I did start hitting the bullseye. Then I'd move it back. It would certainly cheapen the experience to leave the marker at 25y forever.

[bill reed]

Re: Golf Confounds

Hi Go Low
we have a lot of wonderful links courses within 20 miles of me and even the short one can be a challange, its not so much the course as the day and time you play. the tide has a big say in how hard the course will be, if you play when the tide starts to go out them most times its calm and the course plays not to hard. but you tee of with the tide comming in and you get wind comming from the sea and some times that can make a short course a monster. i think that why i love links golf so much as the course changes like the Scottish weather. if you wait long enought you'll get a tast of it mild and brutal.
cheers
Bill

[keiko]

Re: Golf Confounds

I having been playing for over 50 years and always from the tips no matter where I play; now at age 65, I still play from the tips which has challenged me to maintain my tempo, timing and swing because I know if I don't have these things working, I don't have a chance of keeping up with my younger partners(who often find themselves in the rough trying to keep up with my distances).
Sometimes when playing a purely practice round by myself, I will just take 4 clubs and a putter and sometimes without any woods, ie. 4 iron off the tee, 6 iron to the green or on par 5's, 4 iron off tee, 4 iron from fairway, SW to the green. Great way to play

I recently read a survey which concluded that the majority of golfers rarely break 90 and occasionally break 100. It is clear that most of us hacks out there love the game and desperately want to play better, more consistent golf. It's a wonderful game, but moreso when played well.

We all seek to improve so we read golf magazines and visit sites like golftuition. We learn about mechanical tips and take them to the range hoping that we're interpreting them correctly. But who really knows unless someone is guiding us.

Where am I going with this? If most of us could shoot in the 80's consistently, I think the majority of golfers would be overjoyed. So where are the instructors who have the ability to work with our strengths, instead of starting from ground zero, and can get this majority of golfers (of which I am one) to play better, more consistent golf. I'm not talking tour pro here. I have been playing this great game for 30 years, have broken 100 several times, broken 90 maybe ten times. If I poured my golf work ethnic into another sport, I would be an Olympian.

I am adept at other sports but golf confounds. If you want proof, just go to your local muni and watch action on the first tee. Is there no simple way to play this game consistently well?? Trahan's simple vertical swing baffles me. Others' systems also fail. One pro says to swing flat with the right elbow in but that only causes issues. Another says swing upright. Thank you. I apologize for the length but thought this would be interesting discussion.

[bill reed]

Re: Golf Confounds

Sometimes when playing a purely practice round by myself, I will just take 4 clubs and a putter and sometimes without any woods, ie. 4 iron off the tee, 6 iron to the green or on par 5's, 4 iron off tee, 4 iron from fairway, SW to the green. Great way to play

Hi Keiko
i think thats a great way to learn that you dont need distance "ie the driver."
often you get a good score with just 4 or 5 clubs.
i have often went out with a 1,5 7 and 9 and putted with the blade of 1 iron.
playing off the tee's with a 5 iron make you work back from the green and to work out what to leave for the third shot to the green. should i leave a 7 or a 9. you think more about the club to the green and if you play a few rounds like that then when you do take out your full set of clubs to still have a bit of thinking of what would give you the best second to the greenif you played other than a driver off the tee. and this comes into play on a tight drive hole
Cheers
Bill

[Mox]

Re: Golf Confounds

Too many golfers spend most of their training hours at the driving range and very little time working on their short game.

Want to cut shots from your game ... work on the short game.

A round of 90 is bogey average. That's "Missed-fairway, missed green, poor chip/pitch, 2 putts", and on the rare occasion when you hit the green in regulation, you 3-putt.
Getting up'n'down for par is what makes the difference.

And once you get good at the short game, your confidence grows, and chips become birdie opportunities instead of battles to save bogey.

Chip airballs into a bucket or a chipping-net. You need close to no space to do that. You can even do it off a welcome mat inside your house or apartment.

When you are getting good at the airballs, go to real golf balls (but play outside then).