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Game improvement

Putting - pace on longer putts and technique from within 4 feet - both are terrible! I mean terrible! I've tried all sorts of grip, technique change, putter styles etc. I've finally conceded something must be fundamentally wrong so booked a lesson with my pro.
 
From being a strength a couple of years ago, to no being a weakness...my iron striking. Can be too inconsistent at times. Re-developing a swing that is functional and repeatable is my aim. I am getting there, but occasionally, it is just 'out'

If I can improve that, then it will take a lot of pressure off the rest of my game
 
Putting. Have bought a welling putt mat and have been trying to play "18 holes" on it using the games provided with it at least 5 times a week. Improving my scores on the mat and grooving a more comfortable stroke. Hoping to see some improvement this summer, could shave some serious shots if I could drop my putting down to 1.7 a hole.
 
I need to work on my short game - from about 75 yards and around the green. My putting is ok but I lose shots wit fat/thin wedges and chip shots.I just need to practice more off grass rather than range mats.
 
Lag putting my distance putting is pretty poor to the point where I'd rather chip.

Wouldnt care but I enjoy putting and feel like I'm pretty good at reading greens.

It's the main thing I'm gonna work on this summer.
 
I think with us all being amateurs it is around the greens that needs most of the work. When it all drys up a bit in March and April I will be on the practice ground hopefully two evenings a week.

First I want to dial in my distances. Having just moved from a short to a long course I genuinely have no idea how far my long irons go. 3/4 irons have only been used off the tee to go around 200 until now.

After that I am going to be concentrating on 100 yards and in. Get some work on the half swings, lob shots, bunker play, chip and runs. I think this could take 2 shots off my handicap alone.
 
Realistically? Like something that I have a feeling I really can change if I put more work into it? Short game. Getting the ball into that comfortable 3 ft and less circle around the flag from 60 yrds out and less.

If we talk wishfull thinking (as in a fairy appears and grants you a wish) it would be a higher swingspeed resulting in more distance, enough to at least give me a chance at a green in reg on most holes.
 
As you will see on the 6th Jason, I'm 6'5 and have a fairly short flat swing. My ball striking is OK in that I can generally hit the middle of the club and my distances are fine. Therefore, for me its a constant battle to decide whether to stick with what I have, and really work on my chipping, pitching and putting (the poorest parts of my game) to improve my scores, or, to become a more solid ball striker, change my swing and get my hands higher and my left wrist flatter at the top........and also improve my chipping, pitching and putting :)
 
20-60 yard pitches, hate them! I have more success if I lay it up to 80ish yards although I reckon if I can find a good repeatable method it's got to be more beneficial to get the ball closer to the hole.

Maybe I just need some new wedges.:thup:
 
Long irons / hybrids. I have two lessons to use, asked for them for Christmas, to try and help with this. They let me down over and over again and really hold me back.
 
Capella said:
Realistically? Like something that I have a feeling I really can change if I put more work into it? Short game. Getting the ball into that comfortable 3 ft and less circle around the flag from 60 yrds out and less.

If we talk wishfull thinking (as in a fairy appears and grants you a wish) it would be a higher swingspeed resulting in more distance, enough to at least give me a chance at a green in reg on most holes.
Click to expand...

IMO, you've got those the wrong way around! Swing speed can be improved through increased flexibility, stronger core and a quick lesson. Unless of course you have already gone through this process or have some physical limitations to how you can swing.

Getting to within 3ft from 60 yards regularly is 'fairy wishing' - a tour pro would be happy if they averaged 6ft from this distance!
 
Seems a little basic and easy, but for me it's my backswing. All of my problems stem from that and when it's bad this is the phase it all goes wrong at.
Upper rotation, wrists cocking, etc. Very inconsistent, and if I had that off to perfection I'd be a happy man.
 
Being mentally stronger during a round.

I'll often allow a poor shot (.... That isn't particularly bad) to affect my mental state.


How do I plan to address it?

Stop searching for perfection and accept what my swing gives me.
 
TheDiablo said:
IMO, you've got those the wrong way around! Swing speed can be improved through increased flexibility, stronger core and a quick lesson. Unless of course you have already gone through this process or have some physical limitations to how you can swing.

Getting to within 3ft from 60 yards regularly is 'fairy wishing' - a tour pro would be happy if they averaged 6ft from this distance!
Click to expand...

I think this is really one of the major points were male and female golfers are different, especially those who (like me) start golf later in life. I'm in my fourties. I never played any competetive sports and I was never a good athlete. But I have been dancing most of my life, everything from jazz dance to argentine tango. My felxibility and core strength are therefore quite good. Granted, nowhere near as good as a tour pro's, but I'd say above average for my age group. And even my mum, who is 25 years older than me and started golf even later, not until she was over sixty, is way more flexible than most men I see on a golf course. My golf swing, even though I am sure there is lot of room for improvement in the details, is basically okay. I can try to get a tad more lag and hip turn, maybe, but I doubt that I will get more than a few extra yards out of that.

Most male amateurs I know, apart from a few seniors maybe, are theoretically able to hit the golf ball far enough to reach a GIR, it is controlling the direction of the ballflight which causes them problems. Most higher handicapped female amateurs seem to struggle more with distance than with control. Which makes perfect sense. My driver clubhead speed on a good day (summer, warmed up and all that) is 70 mph. That's a healthy pitching wedge swing for many male golfers. And the main reason that my driver does not go that much further than their wedge. It also means that my control with the driver is naturally better than theirs, just because it is easier to control your swing at 70 mph than it is at 90 mph or more.

In short: women hit it straight, no matter how far; guys hit it far, no matter where.

Of course not all my shots go straight. And sometimes I lose distance because the ball strike is not perfect. That is something I feel I can work on. That means, I feel I can learn to hit my good shots more often. But really upping the swing speed is a completely different beast.

And of course I know that I won't be able to get within 3 ft on every short approach. But improving my short game is something that I find way easier to do than hitting the ball further.
 
the part of my game that irks is the very short game ,ie you are off the green by three yards and in the rough ,very little green to work with ,you are just staring at three more from the get go. its those little beautys that bugger my game up.
 
The poacher said:
the part of my game that irks is the very short game ,ie you are off the green by three yards and in the rough ,very little green to work with ,you are just staring at three more from the get go. its those little beautys that bugger my game up.
Click to expand...

Thats a mental thing for me. If you are just off the green with little green to work with you can just poke at it with a wedge. Play to get it just past the hole and commit to the shot.

Stop looking at it as a must get down in two to a I can get this in. If you manage that then you will always get down in 2 if not one!
 
You need to work on the pop chip. Literally, you just drop the club on the back of the ball, use a LW and just a short backswing and drop it, the club should almost stick in the ground. The ball pops up and out of the rough.
 
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