How do you develop a more complete golf game??

[Robobum]

So, you've had your lessons and have settled into the perfect grip, stance, posture etc. The swing is smooth and rhytmical and is on plane and generally looks the part.

You can stand there on the 1st tee and be really comfortable that you will hit an absolute belter out of the button right down the middle, stroll off after it and repeat the process with a crisply struck iron right into the heart of the green.

Now, my question is...at what point do you start learning how to make a score??

When and how do you learn to cope with playing off a side slope with the ball round your knees? How do you get taught the belly wedge from a crappy greenside lie? How about a chunk and roll out of a bunker to get towards a back pin??

To me, this is all part of playing the game but not something which you can go for a lesson to learn. I just think that there are soooooo many parts to this game which you can only pick up by being out there farting about and experimenting. That may still be on the practice ground but just not on the beautiful new mats with your alignment sticks pointing the way home. One of the fun parts for me is to be in a world of hurt but be able to fashion some sort of shot to kepp things ticking along.

There have been quite a few threads about lessons and learning swings at the moment, how do those people go about tackling the types of shots that aren't covered in any coaching manual but are essential for putting a score on the board??

Any thoughts??

 

[bobmac]

Good question

Playing lessons and just playing.
I love giving playing lessons.
Helping people with their choice of shots and club selection.
Seeing their real swing, not their range swing is great and helps me help them.
And seeing their face when a shot comes off. The smile is priceless.

But you cant teach experience.
That just comes from playing golf and learning from your previous mistakes.

If your handicap is stuck and you cant figure out why, try a playing lesson, I promise it will help.

 

[Tiger]

Very good point fella. I'm a great range player but still learning how to score on the course. Every time I go out on the course I encounter a new challenge or one I have had before and failed to navigate effectively. I think there is a lot to be said for practice by playing method. For the past two and a half years my practice has been on mats and good lies. When the evenings get lighter I'm going to he on the course a lot more. There are guys I play with on a Saturday who readily admit that my swing is better than theirs. I hit it further than them. Yet they play off a mid teens handicap because they know how to score. Should be an interesting discussion.

 

[pbrown7582]

I think it comes with time as there are occasions when you have no option but to experiment and try different things. Another good way is during friendly rounds attempt different things try different clubs for the same chips shots etc let your imagination take over and give different things a try.

 

[Robobum]

Bob - are playing lessons popular with people that come to you?? From what I see with my mate who is a head pro, too many people don't even consider them as an option.

It's clear that I'm not an advocate of lessons, but for those who are and or are just starting out, I would be having playing lessons as a priority over range time.

I'd be very surprised if many chose being told they have a nice swing but scored 90 over shooting 70 and being told "nice score"

 

[bobmac]

At my old course I used to offer a package of 6 lessons which were
Putting
Chipping
pitching
bunkers
fairway shots
Tee shots.

If they booked this package they had a choice of either
1. Book 6 lessons but only pay for 5
2. Pay for all 6 lessons and get a free on course lesson.
Most opted for the free on course lesson.

 

[SGC001]

I'm all for experimenting, playing and trying different shots; but why do you think those things can't be taught or aren't in manuals? You can just build on your present understanding and I'm sure you could get help to guide your learning, evaluating your options, decision making, playing from awkward lies and different uses of different clubs.

 

[Piece]

IMHO, playing lessons are essential. You get to see a pro put together a score and they get to see you in action. It's a real eye opener watching a pro hit boring shots and yet score. Course management is overlooked in the game and a pro will help you to save shots by simply advising on club selection and the type of shot to hit.

 

[Snelly]

IMHO, playing lessons are essential. You get to see a pro put together a score and they get to see you in action. It's a real eye opener watching a pro hit boring shots and yet score. Course management is overlooked in the game and a pro will help you to save shots by simply advising on club selection and the type of shot to hit.

Essential? No way. A good experience and worthwhile - definitely.

Play in Pro-Ams is a much better way of doing it though. In my opinion...

 

[HomerJSimpson]

HID got me a course of 6 x 30 minute lessons with the new pro I'm using and this comes with a 9 hole playing lesson too. He has a good reputation for his playing lessons and so I'm looking forward to the course drying out and it warming up and using this.

I tend to use the practice ground at the club. It isn't dead flat and so hitting off hanging lies is the norm. It has a patch of thicker grass which is ideal for trying to hit pitches and chips in and recreate a missed green. It has a practice bunker so I can recreate all the different types of sand shots and can have fun trying to hit lobs over the trap to a tight pin.

In essence I go out there and play around with the different shots. I do work a lot on my wedge distances for 1/2 and 3/4 shots etc as that is essential in my book. Other than that its about learning how to hit it high, low, run, check etc. I could lose hours and hours hitting balls no further than 50 yards or less.

As for course management I think that comes down to two main things. An honest assessment of your ability including how you hit it and how far, and what you are trying to achieve. If you can have a game plan and stick to it, it can make a huge difference. I make no bones about reiterating the FoA where at least 6 of the par 4's were over 400 yards. I know I'm not good enough or long enough to take them on and be sure of a good result so I laid up to 80-100 yards on all of them. The result were 5 x 2 point holes and one 3 pointer. It took the pressure off the driving knowing I wasn't going for it anyway.

What are you trying to achive. If you are looking for handicap cuts (aren't we all) then use the shots you already have. There is nothing unmanly about laying up. Let your mate whack his 5 wood and put it in trouble or top it. If you are casual golfer then just use each game as a learning curve and maybe keep a note of those tricky shots you came across, how you played them and the outcome and use it as a reference guide.

 

[Justman]

Very good point fella. I'm a great range player but still learning how to score on the course. Every time I go out on the course I encounter a new challenge or one I have had before and failed to navigate effectively. I think there is a lot to be said for practice by playing method. For the past two and a half years my practice has been on mats and good lies. When the evenings get lighter I'm going to he on the course a lot more. There are guys I play with on a Saturday who readily admit that my swing is better than theirs. I hit it further than them. Yet they play off a mid teens handicap because they know how to score. Should be an interesting discussion.

I seem to be in EXACTLY the same situation as you. Only started in August and have been complemented on my swing. I just can't seem to turn it into a good score. There are SO many different aspects because aswell as all the different types of shots required for a round, getting my head around the different conditions has proved tricky too. I had a playing lesson aswell as going round The Roman Road course with my bro in law who is also a pro. Both have been fantastic.

I'm hoping what I've learned this winter will all come together and soon I can start improving my scores.

 

[Robobum]

..........getting my head around the different conditions has proved tricky too..

That is another good point. Things like knowing that you need to pick it clean and almost semi thin it when it's really wet....how do you get that on the range??

BTW, The Roman Rd is a great place for a playing lesson, especially the holes down the bottom which throw up all sorts of stances.

 

[Hobbit]

Experiencing different situations is the best way to learn to cope with them but you still need to know the right technique to use when you are faced with any given situation. My bible is a book I've had for nigh on 30 years, Tom Watson's "Getting up and down: how to save shots from 40yds and in." You can get it off Ebay or Amazon for less than a tenner. Its not full of meaningless photo's, but it does have simple line drawings and text - I can't do complicated.

Course mgt and being realistic are important. I would say that almost every time a mid/high handicapper gets into trouble they attempt a recovery that doesn't match their ability and end up dropping at least one shot without giving themselves a reasonable chance of saving it.

Bashing balls down the range will help give you the swing but you need to practice the difficult shots to learn how to score well.

 

[Iaing]

I'd say play lots of golf with players a good deal better than you. Ideally as part of a regular game.

 

[AmandaJR]

What Bob said about on course lessons. I buy 6 lessons at a time and often use 2 of them for a 1 hour course lesson. Every time I play a hole with Paul my course management on it improves but he's a tad expensive to book for all 18! There is also a grass practice area adjacent to the range where you can learn different types of shots and some of my best lessons have been an hour on there which gives so much more feedback than the range.

Plus playing with lower handicap golfers which I love to do and watch their skills from tricky lies etc with avid interest in the hope some of it will rub off on me !

 

[User 105]

I think once you have a usable swing it's more a case of play as much as you can.

It's only by getting into those situations that you can actually get the experience. You might mess it up first time but that will give you a better idea next time what to do.

I used to go out in the evening in the summer when it was quiet and just play. If I got into an odd spot I'd try the shot, if I messed up I'd drop another ball and try again.

Hitting balls on the range is one thing, but being able to do it when you are on the course and have a score going needs you to have done it a few times already so you have some level of confidence in what you're doing.

Nothing worse in golf than standing over a shot and having no idea of the likely outcome. !!! Recipe for disaster. (Unfortunately that's most of my shots right now, but that's another storey )

 

[Achilles]

Playing, playing, playing....and playing. In my eyes that's the only way to really get the experience needed for a 'complete' game. Lessons are a great way fo learning the fundamentals and identifying unseen faults but course time is where the serious learning is done. I love those summer evenings after work when the course is really quiet, having a few holes of 'me' time. I tend to start off playing one ball but every time I get a nasty / unusual lie or if I feck up a shot, I like to drop a few balls in the same position and make sure I can get back into a good position. That may involve trying different clubs, stances etc...trial and error seems to work for me. The same goes for playing in different conditions. I used to HATE playing in the wind but now I love the extra thinking needed. The more you play, the more lies and conditions you experience, and that can only benefit your game.

 

[SGC001]

Some seem keen on playing lessons. A more affordable way of doing this is (as you're paying for time) is to do it as a group of either 3 or 4. They'll still see you hit all the shots.

Sometimes the pro'll play or sometimes at certain points they'll just demonstrate shots, routines, ask questions about course mangement, certain situations.

A few pros offer playing lessons at different venues as the venues get green fees and the pro gets lessons and some of these can be reasonable places to play in the winter.

 

[Dreamer2]

all you have to remember the more mistakes you make on the course the better chances of realizing what you did wrong ,,,I'm practicing alot just lately & when I'm walking to the ball I'm starting to eye up the distance to flag ,looking for the distance markers & playing to them,, before i would try to fire to the green witch would put mistakes into the swing trying to get the power

another thing Ive started to do, i will look at the ball lie before picking a club if the ball lie is bad then i will lay up ,,if i have a good lie i will go for the green

if the ball is above or below my feet Ive learned to slow my back swing down with a 3/4 swing then whip through trying not to lift my head

I'm looking forward to paying against someone with a single number hc

 

[Tiger]

I would love to be able to play a different course every week for a year. I think I'd learn so much and my game would improve a lot because I'd need to think about what I was doing much more rather than going on auto pilot.

Great point about the conditions Justman. Dealing with the wind, tackling bare lies, slushy lies, wet rough, long rough, hard bunkers, soft sand, quick greens, slow greens etc etc.