Shortgame IS more important

[Started2k3]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

OK, 75% is too much, I admit that, but my point is that a good short game gets you down in twos and threes from 100 yards and a bad one gets you down in fours and even fives.
It`s interesting that you go with this theory though, pretty much contrary to what everybody else has always said - I guess "opinion is divided" to quote Blackadder.
We would all like long accurate drives and accurate approaches that hit all the greens in reg, but for the vast majority of players that`s just not attainable so we have to live with the fact that we`re going to miss a lot of greens and the only way to score from there is by chipping close and one-putting.
I made this my target for practice last summer and my average came down from 92 to 84 and it was ALL short game.
This summer I`m going to work on the same things but I recognise that I`ve got to hit a lot more G.I.R so the full swing will get some time as well.

If "this theory" is what martin is saying then only partially.

My theory (which I think has been stated earlier) is that your most important part of your game IS what needs the most work (or where you are losing the most shots).

If you have a lot of wayward drives (have to chip out of the trees to get back to the fairway, or a lot of lost balls off the tee), then work on your drives until you can get a reasonable number of FIRs and/or "roughs in regulation" and no "woods/trees in regulation".

If you are getting next to zero GIRs, then work on your iron's accuracy and distance control. Get to know exactly how far each iron goes (also with partial shots - I use the clock method - left arm pointing at the 7, 8, 9 & 10 o'clock positions). Figure out what you are doing in your swing to get poor dispersions (combination of ball flight and video should tell you everthing you need to know), and fix the problem.

If you are taking 42 putts in a round, work on putting (want to get under 36). Distance control of the first putt is the most important thing in putting. Know exactly how to hit (repeatedly) 10 footer, 15 footer, 20 footer, etc so that you are left with at the most a 2 ft putt. Within 6-8 ft you should be able to sink it 90% of the time.

If your chips around the green and green side bunker shots don't get you to within 6ft (90% zone), then work on that until you can do it from almost any distance from any lie (rough, sand, sidehill deep rough lie with a 3 club wind blowing in your face (little extreme but you get my point)).

Keeping some statistics will enable you to determine which area of your game needs work.

Drives - FIR, penalties+extra drives (ie lost ball off the tee, so 3 off the tee).
GIR
Putts per round
Putts per GIR
Non drive penalties (approach shot lost or out of bounds, etc)
Gross score.

Little bit of math and you can determine exactly where you are losing (or wasting) strokes.

[mariner]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

Give me one golfing wish from these and it wouldn`t be 300-yard drives in the fairway every time, it wouldn`t be holing every putt and it wouldn`t be chipping stone dead every time - I`d go for hitting every green in regulation, then unless I`m a really lousy putter, I`m a scratch player.
So I sort of understand what you mean, I should be practising those shots to the green but in the real world it`s just not going to happen and I`ll go with what I said about missing G.I.R. - the only way to save par from there is with chipping and putting, so, as long as you are actuall keeping the ball in play with your first and second shots, the short game is more important.

[OOM]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

Lets analyse the game:

14 tee shots with a driver .......................14
4 tee shots on shorts...............................4
4 par fives thus 4 long 2nds.......................4
10 "approach" shots on par 4's..................10
Total so far...........................................32
Shots under 100 yards
4 approach shots on 5's............................4
Putts............................................. ......36
Total............................................. .......72
Of these 40 are under 100 yards i.e..........55.5%
For a scratch golfer
Now lets assume a 5 hcp misses 40% of greens i.e hits 10 in regulation
Thus extra shots <100yds.......................8
Percentage within 100yds.........................57% and so on.

It is easy to get to within 100yds on any hole for 3 shots the key is to minimise the damage from there

without any doubt the short game is MOST important

[Mr_Change]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

Short game is what sets the better players from the worst players. I have played with many golfers who use drivers on par 3's where i use a 3 iron, and still beat me into the hole. I have the distance to be chipping onto the greens of par 5's for my third shot, and the better players still have 100 yard shots, and beat me in.

I have played with a guy who on a 440 yard par 4 would hit a driver and 3 wood, but still chip it close enough to par the hole. this guy plays off 6. the same hole I use a driver and 6 iron. and i still get bogey.

[GreeBoman]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

The further away you are from the hole the less accurate you have to be.
If you are 10% off with every drive you might be a bit short or a bit left or right.
10% off with every putt means that you never leave the first green.

[merarmou]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

Something all of you might find interesting. A friend of mine is about a 12 handicap and has a fabulous long game. However, his short game is down right pathetic. On very rare occassions when his short game has been on I have seen him score 68 and 69. Everytime we play together before the round I will spend sometime putting and chipping etc, as he blasts away his driver and irons on the range. When I ask him if he wants to join me on the putting green or chipping green he always declines. Finally one day I confronted him and told him that he needs to spend less time on the range and a lot more time working on his short game. His response surprised me. He told me that he hates the short game. That he finds it boring to spend an hour putting or chipping. For him he got a lot more enjoyment in hitting it long so that's what he concentrates on. He also indicated that he didn't care how it reflected his score. I'm bringing this up because I'm sure that there are many other golfters out there who probably don't practice their short game for the same reasons.

[gord962]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

This is the problem with most golfers. They all want to drive a ball 300+ yards like Tiger and they think that will give them a complete game like Tiger. What they don't understand is the short game is a much more useful skill.

Truth is that practicing the short game with a partner can make the short game much more fun. Competitions to see who can get the ball closest to the hole from various lies and distances can eb quite a competative event. Just knowing which club to use going up slope or down slope will give you the advantage. It teaches you how to bump and run, flop and chip and how to judge how far each club will carry and roll.

I like bashing balls over the 300 yard marker as much as the next guy, but it's not much of a competition - the results are always the same when one person is a long hitter and one is not. The short game doesn't give the long or short hitter the advantage. Advantage around the green comes from practice and imagination.

[shootin4par]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

Something all of you might find interesting. A friend of mine is about a 12 handicap and has a fabulous long game. However, his short game is down right pathetic. On very rare occassions when his short game has been on I have seen him score 68 and 69. Everytime we play together before the round I will spend sometime putting and chipping etc, as he blasts away his driver and irons on the range. When I ask him if he wants to join me on the putting green or chipping green he always declines. Finally one day I confronted him and told him that he needs to spend less time on the range and a lot more time working on his short game. His response surprised me. He told me that he hates the short game. That he finds it boring to spend an hour putting or chipping. For him he got a lot more enjoyment in hitting it long so that's what he concentrates on. He also indicated that he didn't care how it reflected his score. I'm bringing this up because I'm sure that there are many other golfters out there who probably don't practice their short game for the same reasons.

for me the better my long game is the MORE I want to practice short game. Golf is a game of balance

[ubizmo]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

My theory (which I think has been stated earlier) is that your most important part of your game IS what needs the most work (or where you are losing the most shots).

I can't see any way to deny this. If you're three-putting every green, that's bad. But if it's taking you [par] strokes to *get* to every green, that's worse. You may be wasting one stroke on every green, but you're wasting more than one getting to every green. This may only apply to really high handicappers, but they're still golfers, and for them the long game is what needs immediate attention.

[GreeBoman]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

This may only apply to really high handicappers, but they're still golfers, and for them the long game is what needs immediate attention.

Nah, there is only 1 "long-game" swing, there are potentially hundreds of short-game swings that you will use in a round.

Learn how to make one full-shot swing and then go back to it when you have mastered your short game.

[shootin4par]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

Nah, there is only 1 "long-game" swing, there are potentially hundreds of short-game swings that you will use in a round.

Learn how to make one full-shot swing and then go back to it when you have mastered your short game.

I guess with this logic no one would go back to the long swing

[ubizmo]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

Learn how to make one full-shot swing and then go back to it when you have mastered your short game.

Well yes, that's the point isn't it? A golfer who is wasting two or more strokes per hole just getting to the green should make it a priority to get a reliable full-shot swing. For *that* golfer, it's a priority.

I might add that for the sake of other players, the golfer who is hitting wild balls and duffing the rest is also inevitably slowing the pace of the game *way* down, even more than the player who has ugly chip shots and bad putts. He's likely to be hunting for the ball every other shot, and zigzagging across the fairway, all of which slows the pace of the game down and annoys the next party waiting at the tee. I would say that as a courtesy to other players on the course, competence in the long game should come first. Notice I say "competence," not "mastery."

I speak from direct experience. There have been plenty of times when, on a busy day at the course, if things are going badly I just pick up the ball (or stop looking for it) and "concede" the hole and put an 11 on my scorecard, rather than hold things up forever.

[pinyo8]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

I think that short game is more important in the end. However, your long game has to be good to a certain level before the short game matters. Your score is not really going to improve (well it will but the score still wont be great) even if you can get up and down from within 100 yards if it has already taken you 3-5 shots to get there. There's no point being green side or on the green and you duff your pitch/chip, or cant make putts.

So its a matter of which comes first, the chicken or the egg thing for the average/beginners players. For beginners, go work on the long game the work on the short.But for better players, there is no doubt the short game is more important. You will never hit GIR everytime and this is where your short game is required to still maintain a good score.

[GreeBoman]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

I guess with this logic no one would go back to the long swing

Which is exactly the point, there are more shots to be saved on the shortgame than the long game.
Isnt that the whole point of this thread?

[ubizmo]

Re: Shortgame IS more important

Which is exactly the point, there are more shots to be saved on the shortgame than the long game.
Isnt that the whole point of this thread?

It is the point of the thread, but your claim that there are more shots to be saved on the short game than the long game may not (and probably does not) apply to golfers whose full-swing ball striking is horrendous.