Frustration

shun_naka

shun_naka

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No matter how well i think im striking the ball i cant seem to get rid of the odd brain fart. Especially when im 100 and less than in.

Went out at the weekend and scored 120, my worst score to date. I'm aiming to break 100 soon and i think the only way im going to do it is by playing much more smart. Keeping the driver, woods, 4/5 iron in the bag for the round.

Whats your thoughts on this? Part of me thinks i may aswell keep using them, as i'll need to get better with them at some point

another part of me thinks leave them and break 100, increase confidence and swing and the long clubs will take care of themselves.

I suppose im just a bit worried about the long par 5s too, hitting a 6iron off the tee
 
a lot of people will no doubt say keep the big dog in the kennel and not use it ,but if you keep using other clubs how are you ever going to get confident using the thing ?
as for breaking 100 ,if you really want to do that above all else then hit seven irons off the tee and seven irons or less for second shots ,you should be able to break 100 doing that but you will never be happy doing it.
 
Felix_G said:
Went out at the weekend and scored 120, my worst score to date. I'm aiming to break 100 soon and i think the only way im going to do it is by playing much more smart. Keeping the driver, woods, 4/5 iron in the bag for the round.
Click to expand...
I did something sort of similar to that. When I was just a casual player I couldn't hit a driver or wood to save my life, so I just left them at home. Once I started playing a lot more I gradually introduced the 5 wood, then the 3 wood, then the driver. Then I decided the driver was useless so I bought a new cheap one with 12° loft which was easier to hit - and once I got decent with that, I bought a 10.5° G15, just a couple of weeks ago.

But yeah, short version - it's not a bad idea to focus on just the irons for a bit and introduce the longer clubs gradually as you improve.
 
If most of your problems are from 100 yards in what's the point of hitting a 6 iron off the tee? If I were in your shoes, & I was half a century ago, I wouldn't be happy breaking 100 using just 6 iron to wedge because, even if you did, so what & you'd not progress any further playing like that. Get something like a 12° driver with a shortish shaft & practice, practice, practice until you can hit it reasonably straight. Then you'll eventually break 100 playing "properly" & the next step, breaking 90, will come so much more easily. I am no natural athlete but started playing golf with a Driver, 2 to 4 Woods & irons starting at no 4. Perhaps my scores at the start were worse than if I'd played conservatively but, longer term, improvement came more quickly, I went from 17 to 7 in one season, having been stuck on the then maximum of 20 for a couple of years.

And nothing beats the sight of your drive zooming off arrow straight, even if it's only once in a while.

Good luck, it will all click some time.
 
When I started the driver used to be my main weakness, for a while I ditched it and a hybrid off the tee. Which was fine and was able to make decent scores but you do struggle on the longer holes. Off the course, I kept working on it and had a few lessons which sorted it all out. Now the driver is the best club in my bag.

My advice, which people may not agree with, is to leave the driver out of the bag for the serious rounds. Practice with it at the range, practice with it on practice rounds but I really recommend getting a lesson for it if you are looking to play more consistently as it will get to a point where you need it.

I would also recommend getting a hybrid if you don't already have one. They go far and are extremely easy to hit off the tee and fairway, should give you a few more options.
 
I think it depends on what you real goal is. I was like you - focussed on breaking 100 for while but for me that wasn't my real goal. The 100 is just a mental barrier and is not always are true read of where you are at. For example, a 100 on a par 72 is better than a 99 on par 69

My real goal was to improve and play better golf and naturally this led to me breaking 100 and reasonably regularly to. To this I needed to play smarter golf and for me this was:

1. be able to hit a Tee shot on to the fairway at a reasonable distance (3 wood worked for me in the end)

2. Forget about the pin. just try and get the ball on a safe part green and then work on a 2 putt from there (basically avoid trouble - water/bunkers)

3. Play safe and don't try and hit the miracle shot (I cant do this - just accept the situation and try and get on the green in 2 shots)

4. Have a realistic idea of my yardages. (I used to think I hit a 7 iron 155. the fact is I did hit it that far but that happened 1 in 10 times. 5 out of 10 times I hit it 145 but I my head I wanted the perfect 155 shot as my yardage)

5. Over club rather than under club if in doubt. (most trouble is in front of the green)

6. Have a personal par for the hole. this maybe that a bogey is your par and see that as the achievement (that is what I am now)

7. Practice short game - putting, chipping, 100 yards in. (This is where the good players save their shots. I played with a guy who I could match off the tee and general play but around the greens he would always get down in 2 or 2 putt. He saved a shot a hole on me)

7. Enjoy the game - don't worry about breaking 100 - it will happen I promise you.

Mr C
 
Last edited:
I hope you can enjoy this phase of your game as much as you can, and more than I did,
being able to laugh at myself was something I wish I'd done more of, far to desperate to get "good"!

If you can, it's the twilight of golf, hitting those desperately sort after shots, scores etc. first achievements... such joy.
I often ask myself if I would give up everything I can do and have learned to go back and start it all again, usually the answer is yes.

There's a buzz to catching it sweet with the driver, hitting a long ball. I'd never ever suggest you should take that out of the game.

To score your best (regardless of level) for my 2p I'd say:

(a) Study and adopt James Ridyards short game series (if you can you'll probably break 100 with a wedge and putter).

(b) Hit the longest club you can that gives you a more than reasonable chance of success and use same philosophy on all shots.
So no, don't drop the driver, just use it wisely if you think you can pull the shot off.

(c) Avoid unnecessary risks - they will ultimately cost you more than the success you might get if you pull off the shot.

(d) Compartment each facet of your game and try to improve each independently (with a good long-term coach).
Knowing what you are trying to do, knowing your game, your tendency and abilities is more important than confidence.

(e) Confidence is temporary and uncontrollable (especially if it's based on successes/performances), but application/effort and knowledge you can develop and rely upon.
 
100 is just a number. So is 99. I have never got into this 100, 90, 80 stuff. Its good to have goals, but i dont get the number ending in 0 thing. If you are putting yourself under pressure to do this, you are making golf unnecessarily difficult. Enjoy playing, and add up the score at the end.
Its not like the queen writes you a letter when 100 is broken.
 
murphthemog said:
100 is just a number. So is 99. I have never got into this 100, 90, 80 stuff. Its good to have goals, but i dont get the number ending in 0 thing. If you are putting yourself under pressure to do this, you are making golf unnecessarily difficult. Enjoy playing, and add up the score at the end.
Its not like the queen writes you a letter when 100 is broken.
Click to expand...
I do get it, going from a three digit score to a two digit score is like a milestone, a sign of progress. That said though, I tend to look more at how consistent I was generally, how many pars I got lets say - and if there were a couple of disaster holes pushing your score over 100, just write them off.
 
murphthemog said:
100 is just a number. So is 99. I have never got into this 100, 90, 80 stuff. Its good to have goals, but i dont get the number ending in 0 thing. If you are putting yourself under pressure to do this, you are making golf unnecessarily difficult. Enjoy playing, and add up the score at the end.
Its not like the queen writes you a letter when 100 is broken.
Click to expand...

Golf is a game where your only opponent is yourself.

Even in a competition you play against people who may have packed up and gone home hours before you even tee off.

The only exception is matchplay of course, which is why its such a special format.
 
Breaking 100 is just a line in the sand, which represents your best effort.
Which is a worthy objective/target because golf is a numbers game in so far as you total your score at the end and you have a number.
Golf lends itself rather well to the challenge of wanting to better your last best effort...
 
Sounds a familiar tale. Had several seasons now of 15-16 good holes getting close to a buffer or a cut and then chucking two or three car crash holes in. Never the same shot, never the same hole. Really annoying and hard sometimes to know what to do so I understand the frustration of the OP. For me, corny as it sounds, it's boiled down to one shot at a time and then dealing with the outcome from there. Good bad or indifferent it really is the only shot I can influence. I'm trying (not always succeeding) to swing with no swing thoughts and trust what I've learnt in lessons and done in practice
 
i think it is best to always think of your score as stableford, and aim to break 100 were treble bogey is max for each hole as you would be picking the ball up.

I kept scoring 100 on the dot last year, could not break 100. Then when i finally did I have not shot a round over 100 since...maybe 40 rounds in a row. I broke 90 2 months after first breaking 100 then shot under 85 2 months after.

Keep plugging away and maybe stop counting the score until after the round.
 
Felix_G said:
No matter how well i think im striking the ball i cant seem to get rid of the odd brain fart. Especially when im 100 and less than in.

Went out at the weekend and scored 120, my worst score to date. I'm aiming to break 100 soon and i think the only way im going to do it is by playing much more smart. Keeping the driver, woods, 4/5 iron in the bag for the round.

Whats your thoughts on this? Part of me thinks i may aswell keep using them, as i'll need to get better with them at some point

another part of me thinks leave them and break 100, increase confidence and swing and the long clubs will take care of themselves.

I suppose im just a bit worried about the long par 5s too, hitting a 6iron off the tee
Click to expand...

Do you get the Driver out on every Par4/5?


I used to be like that get it out as far as possible and work it out from down there (I'm not a long hitter at all so felt like I needed too)


So I went the other way and used a hybrid every one... scores didn't really improve as I had a few long approach shots on certain holes and tried to leather everything from the fairway/light rough

then I started to plan my rounds as I got used to the courses I played so for example

Short Par 4 - If I nail my drive I've got a wedge in and a birdie/par chance however 5 yards either side of the fairway and you're taking 3 off the tee so Hybrid it is (even then its normally 150 yards in)


another short Par 4 trees up the right and left but 90% of the time you will find it and have a gap so if you do screw up badly you're not dead so I take a driver

Even one of the Par 5s that dog legs round to the right I take a hybrid/iron to be in a better position to attack the green in reg, rather than looking for distance and ending up in the rough/trees that are on the right having to try and get out or over them (I play with a slice as my bad miss).

I used to kill myself on Par 5s for months because in the middle of summer this ONE time I nailed a drive 260 and nailed a 3 wood onto the side of the green. I got it into my head this was the new me this is what I can do .... It wasn't.

Bogeys are not a bad score.

When I play I target the Par 3s and Par 5s to get my Pars (even the odd birdie)

Par 4's i'll target bogeys on them all and if my short game is on fire/or I'm striking it well I get there in 2 I've got Par chances.

Even if you play like this and you're on the green 3 putts can kill you!
 
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