Getting to five

[Seng84]

Apologies if this is the wrong forum or it has been asked a thousand times before but it's my first post as I'm new to he forum.

I'm a current 8 handicapper (just) who has got down from 14 over the last 18 months.

My game consists of being a reasonably long hitter off the tee, I strike all my irons well but my weakness is 100 yards in and I'm not a confident putter. Most dropped shots are from the green or stem from he occasional rash drive.

i feel I have the potential to get to five within a couple of years but was after any tips in terms of practice/lessons/equipment that anyone could suggest. I don't have the best golfing brain so was hoping to be pointed in the right directions.

Im not going to have loads of time on my hands from November either so hours of practice isn't going to be an option
thanks i
advance

 

[bobmac]

Apologies if this is the wrong forum or it has been asked a thousand times before but it's my first post as I'm new to he forum.

I'm a current 8 handicapper (just) who has got down from 14 over the last 18 months.

My game consists of being a reasonably long hitter off the tee, I strike all my irons well but my weakness is 100 yards in and I'm not a confident putter. Most dropped shots are from the green or stem from he occasional rash drive.

i feel I have the potential to get to five within a couple of years but was after any tips in terms of practice/lessons/equipment that anyone could suggest. I don't have the best golfing brain so was hoping to be pointed in the right directions.

Im not going to have loads of time on my hands from November either so hours of practice isn't going to be an option
thanks i
advance

How do you play a flat 50yrd shot with a soft green, no wind and a good lie

 

[Seng84]

Pitch it ten yards short and hope it rolls up somewhere close....

 

[bobmac]

Pitch it ten yards short and hope it rolls up somewhere close....

What club
What grip
What length of swing
What ball position ?

 

[Seng84]

56 degree, normal grip, 50% swing, inside front foot

 

[bobmac]

If you have a gap wedge 52 ish try that and hold the club at the bottom of the grip, ball centre of a narrow stance and half swing.
If you can't practice you wont get to 5

 

[the_coach]

Apologies if this is the wrong forum or it has been asked a thousand times before but it's my first post as I'm new to he forum.

I'm a current 8 handicapper (just) who has got down from 14 over the last 18 months.

My game consists of being a reasonably long hitter off the tee, I strike all my irons well but my weakness is 100 yards in and I'm not a confident putter. Most dropped shots are from the green or stem from he occasional rash drive.

i feel I have the potential to get to five within a couple of years but was after any tips in terms of practice/lessons/equipment that anyone could suggest. I don't have the best golfing brain so was hoping to be pointed in the right directions.

Im not going to have loads of time on my hands from November either so hours of practice isn't going to be an option
thanks i
advance

welcome along - good luck with the goals - & yep it's a subject that does tend to get some airtime on these threads 😎

to be real honest you've partly already answered some of the issues that you face goin forwards here in the post

one real important area to work down the index ladder is from 120 yards in - part of this is good practice part is realizing technique to be able to control distance is key & that technique can be a tad different to a full swing motion through the irons

being good with the flat stick is also key as is the area just off the green 20 - 30 yards in including bunker game in here too - as no room to flash the 3 putt or leave shots in the sand as from here to be solid cat 1 you're looking more at getting down in 2

but there's not really a ways round not being able to put the time in both on the practice tee plus play & still get down to cat 1

real important that any practice time is 'good' practice - not about the amount of balls hit but about the quality of fewer balls a good practice plan
so practice needs to be more about 'random practice' not solely 'block' practice (block is 10 - 20 balls one club one target)(random is totally target orientated - but each ball a different target - different club - so more echoing the game out in play)

need to know your exact carry distance with every club through the bag - as distance control is real key - both good & elite players if they miss are goin to miss a tad left or right as opposed to being a ways short or long

& distance control is again real key from 120 yards in with all the different trajectory short-ish part shots

being able to strike putts to get the ball roll at a consistent pace is key both to lag puts - but also to being able to read greens can''t really begin the judge breaking lines without good ball roll pace control

target is key having a set psr with the process all around setting up to whatever the shot target is with club & body alignments is super important - definitive target & devise a scoring system say 5 points for a shot in the near vicinity to target - with a wedge or lob wedge or gap wedge at 30 yards that would need to be say within 6' - but for an 8i to 140/150/160 whatever the comfortable distance 8i is maybes that is within 12' - then work out a scale for the rest of the bag - over great result 5 pos miss be further 15% then 3 pts to 1pt that just would have hit the green out on the edge - take a notebook keep score - if just using one basket a session then not too much to write down - but importantly you starting to really quantify practice

with the driver be specific in target so one maybes has to finish in the middle of the rightsize of the imagined 40' fairway say if it end up leftfield but still on fairway that would be 1pt

so make up these 'target games' & just like real play there's no 2nd ball as the next shot won't be a driver it might be a PW or 8i/5i whatever you mix it up too

need to do the same on the practice putting green - if putting technique is a big issue sounds like it could be playing into the difficulties then search out a putting specialist teacher if you can - a short game teacher who can look at both chipping & pitching technique

don't go to practice to mostly practice what you good at - practice what you worst at - this in the limited time you sometimes do 'block' technique practice

if play practice out on the course alone don't always play the round as you would when playing for real - take nothing more than a 6i off of the tees for par 4/5's so you then have to play more 3 metals/hybrids/long irons & subsequently more times you at 100 yards & need to get down in 2 for a par or birdie or 1 over

then you got to look at course management how to plot the overall game which few flags is it safe to go at but also how to get at then without leaving yourself short sided
then there's the emotional control side of dealing with errors in a card counting competition

work to know your stats over the rounds you play - like you say iron striking is good - but how good in relation to your distance to the pin stats with all approach shots to the green from whatever distances

no practice at all probably is not goin to see too much improvement - if any
but you would be able to shave a few shots a round through better course management + better emotional control
if you really can't practice or not really in to practice ask is that because you get bored - if the answer is yes then likely you just bashing balls not really practicing with any real purpose or plan - so would look at the - if you can find 30 - 40 minutes then you can have a decent session - if you plan it

if not then you just have to play as often as possible - but play a ton smarter - tall order to get to cat 1
don't play any card counting rounds with the whole focus on score & how that night affect you index that day - if you do for sure the wheels will come off - to play good & take home a good scorecard you have to focus on the shot in front of you each time - stay in the present

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Apologies if this is the wrong forum or it has been asked a thousand times before but it's my first post as I'm new to he forum.

I'm a current 8 handicapper (just) who has got down from 14 over the last 18 months.

My game consists of being a reasonably long hitter off the tee, I strike all my irons well but my weakness is 100 yards in and I'm not a confident putter. Most dropped shots are from the green or stem from he occasional rash drive.

i feel I have the potential to get to five within a couple of years but was after any tips in terms of practice/lessons/equipment that anyone could suggest. I don't have the best golfing brain so was hoping to be pointed in the right directions.

Im not going to have loads of time on my hands from November either so hours of practice isn't going to be an option
thanks i
advance

Good luck and welcome along. If practice time is limited it has surely to be all about the short game if you keep it in play regularly

 

[Region3]

I came down to 4 from 11 in about 4/5 years, and in my case it was all inside 120yds and being smarter.

I wrote down distances for 3 swings for each of 3 wedges so 9 in total that pretty much covers 50-100yds.

Chipping can be practiced indoors or in a garden, just concentrating on landing spot.
Putting can be practiced at home too.

Being smarter is harder imo, and the one that took me (is taking me!) the longest to improve on.
Thinking about the best club for the tee shot, then where to aim coming into the green, and also minimising big scores when it goes wrong.
With a better short game you can back yourself to save par more often from a recovery after a poor drive, so just getting back in play rather than trying to hit the green on a 10% shot.

 

[chrisd]

welcome along - good luck with the goals - & yep it's a subject that does tend to get some airtime on these threads 😎

to be real honest you've partly already answered some of the issues that you face goin forwards here in the post

one real important area to work down the index ladder is from 120 yards in - part of this is good practice part is realizing technique to be able to control distance is key & that technique can be a tad different to a full swing motion through the irons

being good with the flat stick is also key as is the area just off the green 20 - 30 yards in including bunker game in here too - as no room to flash the 3 putt or leave shots in the sand as from here to be solid cat 1 you're looking more at getting down in 2

but there's not really a ways round not being able to put the time in both on the practice tee plus play & still get down to cat 1

real important that any practice time is 'good' practice - not about the amount of balls hit but about the quality of fewer balls a good practice plan
so practice needs to be more about 'random practice' not solely 'block' practice (block is 10 - 20 balls one club one target)(random is totally target orientated - but each ball a different target - different club - so more echoing the game out in play)

need to know your exact carry distance with every club through the bag - as distance control is real key - both good & elite players if they miss are goin to miss a tad left or right as opposed to being a ways short or long

& distance control is again real key from 120 yards in with all the different trajectory short-ish part shots

being able to strike putts to get the ball roll at a consistent pace is key both to lag puts - but also to being able to read greens can''t really begin the judge breaking lines without good ball roll pace control

target is key having a set psr with the process all around setting up to whatever the shot target is with club & body alignments is super important - definitive target & devise a scoring system say 5 points for a shot in the near vicinity to target - with a wedge or lob wedge or gap wedge at 30 yards that would need to be say within 6' - but for an 8i to 140/150/160 whatever the comfortable distance 8i is maybes that is within 12' - then work out a scale for the rest of the bag - over great result 5 pos miss be further 15% then 3 pts to 1pt that just would have hit the green out on the edge - take a notebook keep score - if just using one basket a session then not too much to write down - but importantly you starting to really quantify practice

with the driver be specific in target so one maybes has to finish in the middle of the rightsize of the imagined 40' fairway say if it end up leftfield but still on fairway that would be 1pt

so make up these 'target games' & just like real play there's no 2nd ball as the next shot won't be a driver it might be a PW or 8i/5i whatever you mix it up too

need to do the same on the practice putting green - if putting technique is a big issue sounds like it could be playing into the difficulties then search out a putting specialist teacher if you can - a short game teacher who can look at both chipping & pitching technique

don't go to practice to mostly practice what you good at - practice what you worst at - this in the limited time you sometimes do 'block' technique practice

if play practice out on the course alone don't always play the round as you would when playing for real - take nothing more than a 6i off of the tees for par 4/5's so you then have to play more 3 metals/hybrids/long irons & subsequently more times you at 100 yards & need to get down in 2 for a par or birdie or 1 over

then you got to look at course management how to plot the overall game which few flags is it safe to go at but also how to get at then without leaving yourself short sided
then there's the emotional control side of dealing with errors in a card counting competition

work to know your stats over the rounds you play - like you say iron striking is good - but how good in relation to your distance to the pin stats with all approach shots to the green from whatever distances

no practice at all probably is not goin to see too much improvement - if any
but you would be able to shave a few shots a round through better course management + better emotional control
if you really can't practice or not really in to practice ask is that because you get bored - if the answer is yes then likely you just bashing balls not really practicing with any real purpose or plan - so would look at the - if you can find 30 - 40 minutes then you can have a decent session - if you plan it

if not then you just have to play as often as possible - but play a ton smarter - tall order to get to cat 1
don't play any card counting rounds with the whole focus on score & how that night affect you index that day - if you do for sure the wheels will come off - to play good & take home a good scorecard you have to focus on the shot in front of you each time - stay in the present

This is one of the best summaries I've ever read,

 

[patricks148]

TBH i'n not a better driver of the ball than when i was a 10 handicap ( worse in fact) I'm a better Iron striker than a i was but the biggest difference is i take my medicine if i get in trouble and get back in play no hero shots.

and i'm a much better putter and hole everything inside 6 feet.

 

[duncan mackie]

TBH i'n not a better driver of the ball than when i was a 10 handicap ( worse in fact) I'm a better Iron striker than a i was but the biggest difference is i take my medicine if i get in trouble and get back in play no hero shots.

and i'm a much better putter and hole everything inside 6 feet.

Yep

When I'm confident over the finishing putts I find my chipping gets better, my approach shots find the green more often and my tee shots more consistently get me into position to approach the green...all because I'm confident over those putts.

I estimate confidence over these 3 - 6 footers is worth 3 shots to me, if they are actually dropping it's worth even more!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

If you have a gap wedge 52 ish try that and hold the club at the bottom of the grip, ball centre of a narrow stance and half swing.
If you can't practice you wont get to 5

Now I have been practicing something that sounds exactly like this for hitting low punch a run shots into the green (though I play it more off the back foot). Is this the sort of shot you are thinking of - or is this for lobbing it in? for me there more accuracy and less risk around playing the low punch shot from 50yds than trying to judge the distance of a gentle lob. Effectively an extended putt with a 52* wedge

 

[Seng84]

Thanks very much for all your help and inputs. I've taken it all in and formed a mini plan about what I'm going to do next.

Going to consist of
1. Some putting/short game lessons.
2. 2 x putting/short game practices per week (still looking for suggestions for drills for both so please keep them coming)
3. Finish reading dave pelz' short game bible
4. New putter

Thanks again to all

 

[Seng84]

welcome along - good luck with the goals - & yep it's a subject that does tend to get some airtime on these threads 😎

to be real honest you've partly already answered some of the issues that you face goin forwards here in the post

one real important area to work down the index ladder is from 120 yards in - part of this is good practice part is realizing technique to be able to control distance is key & that technique can be a tad different to a full swing motion through the irons

being good with the flat stick is also key as is the area just off the green 20 - 30 yards in including bunker game in here too - as no room to flash the 3 putt or leave shots in the sand as from here to be solid cat 1 you're looking more at getting down in 2

but there's not really a ways round not being able to put the time in both on the practice tee plus play & still get down to cat 1

real important that any practice time is 'good' practice - not about the amount of balls hit but about the quality of fewer balls a good practice plan
so practice needs to be more about 'random practice' not solely 'block' practice (block is 10 - 20 balls one club one target)(random is totally target orientated - but each ball a different target - different club - so more echoing the game out in play)

need to know your exact carry distance with every club through the bag - as distance control is real key - both good & elite players if they miss are goin to miss a tad left or right as opposed to being a ways short or long

& distance control is again real key from 120 yards in with all the different trajectory short-ish part shots

being able to strike putts to get the ball roll at a consistent pace is key both to lag puts - but also to being able to read greens can''t really begin the judge breaking lines without good ball roll pace control

target is key having a set psr with the process all around setting up to whatever the shot target is with club & body alignments is super important - definitive target & devise a scoring system say 5 points for a shot in the near vicinity to target - with a wedge or lob wedge or gap wedge at 30 yards that would need to be say within 6' - but for an 8i to 140/150/160 whatever the comfortable distance 8i is maybes that is within 12' - then work out a scale for the rest of the bag - over great result 5 pos miss be further 15% then 3 pts to 1pt that just would have hit the green out on the edge - take a notebook keep score - if just using one basket a session then not too much to write down - but importantly you starting to really quantify practice

with the driver be specific in target so one maybes has to finish in the middle of the rightsize of the imagined 40' fairway say if it end up leftfield but still on fairway that would be 1pt

so make up these 'target games' & just like real play there's no 2nd ball as the next shot won't be a driver it might be a PW or 8i/5i whatever you mix it up too

need to do the same on the practice putting green - if putting technique is a big issue sounds like it could be playing into the difficulties then search out a putting specialist teacher if you can - a short game teacher who can look at both chipping & pitching technique

don't go to practice to mostly practice what you good at - practice what you worst at - this in the limited time you sometimes do 'block' technique practice

if play practice out on the course alone don't always play the round as you would when playing for real - take nothing more than a 6i off of the tees for par 4/5's so you then have to play more 3 metals/hybrids/long irons & subsequently more times you at 100 yards & need to get down in 2 for a par or birdie or 1 over

then you got to look at course management how to plot the overall game which few flags is it safe to go at but also how to get at then without leaving yourself short sided
then there's the emotional control side of dealing with errors in a card counting competition

work to know your stats over the rounds you play - like you say iron striking is good - but how good in relation to your distance to the pin stats with all approach shots to the green from whatever distances

no practice at all probably is not goin to see too much improvement - if any
but you would be able to shave a few shots a round through better course management + better emotional control
if you really can't practice or not really in to practice ask is that because you get bored - if the answer is yes then likely you just bashing balls not really practicing with any real purpose or plan - so would look at the - if you can find 30 - 40 minutes then you can have a decent session - if you plan it

if not then you just have to play as often as possible - but play a ton smarter - tall order to get to cat 1
don't play any card counting rounds with the whole focus on score & how that night affect you index that day - if you do for sure the wheels will come off - to play good & take home a good scorecard you have to focus on the shot in front of you each time - stay in the present

Thanks so much for the time you put into this reply. Massively appreciated

 

[richart]

I played off 6 as a kid, and now play off 11. Biggest differences in my game between then and now is not only the short game, but also the standard of my bad shots. Today they can finish in another county, where as before they would still be in play, and a chip and putt could still save a par.

 

[DCB]

Thread tidied. Lets keep it civil folks.