How do you stop the dross?

[woody69]

A classic round for me at the weekend.

14 holes of either par or bogey (sometimes even a birdie) (an average score of around 5 -10 over) and then 4 absolute nightmare holes of triple or even worse. The triples or worse are caused by absolute rubbish shots, either off the tee or with an iron on a perfect lie. I'm talking total duffs either into deep rough, or not moving more than 10 yards forward.

It's doing my head in. Usually a thin with an iron or top with a 4W.

1 hole I hit a perfect (for me) 4W off the tee. Straight, good distance. Next hole, same 4 wood and it almost misses the ball and I top it 5 yards off the tee.. Aaaargh!!

It's like night and day.

I would almost prefer that I was just pretty rubbish most of the time with the odd great shot as it is soul destroying and very frustrating.

Is it simply a case of practice to eliminating these poor shots? Should I just accept with my limited playing time, this is it?

I mean, I think I know "why" I hit these shots... usually head moving, not comfortable with set up and trying to correct, but when it can be 100s of things I think I have cracked it and then another poor shot appears.

 

[user2010]

Lack of concentration caused by dehydration?

 

[Tashyboy]

I could of wrote this 😁👍

 

[SteveW86]

I know how you feel, fortunately I am down to maybe 1 or 2 of these shots per round.

For me it has been about practise, I've found that having a consistent pre shot routine has really helped me too. Even if I have a shot now which looks pretty easy, I still do all my checks as I know I'm not in a place yet where I can just walk up and hit the ball. So its now, getting a reference point on aim, address the ball, 2 SLOW practise back swings to make sure I am getting the club where I want it at the top of the swing, then take my proper swing and trust the downswing. I have found this has really helped me because it stops me rushing, it may take a little bit longer per shot, but I am definitely taking less shots so overall I am quicker

 

[hovis]

Lack of concentration caused by dehydration?

give over!!!!!

 

[Capella]

Sounds very familiar. If you find a solution, let me know

 

[Marshy77]

Spare seat for me? I'm in too.

 

[Imurg]

Lack of concentration caused by dehydration?

give over!!!!!

The first part is correct
The second debatable
If you hit this 4 wood well on one hole but top it on the next it's down to a poor swing probably caused by a loss of concentration
Been there, many times.
Thinking you've cracked it because you just hit a good one, being slightly blasé about a seemingly easy shot, too much going on in your head etc etc.
Easy to say, not easy to do.

 

[Tashyboy]

Spare seat for me? I'm in too.

Flippin Eck our bus is filling up quick.can totally relate to what Steve is saying. Most of what he says I was told when I had my first lesson. Unfortunately it struggles to become a routine/ritual. I say ritual because read a book that said routine sounds boring but ritual means a positive so your more inclined to do it. Hmmm right oh.

 

[Slab]

If we are to progress from ‘a couple of good holes a round with mostly dross’ to get to ‘mostly good holes with only occasional dross’ there comes a point when we'll reach 14 good holes and 4 dross, it’s just another increment towards getting better

If it’s frustrating you more than 9 good/9 dross did it’s probably because you’re stuck at one level too long (which is either because you’re not doing the right things to get better or you can’t get better)

What did you do to go from mostly bad holes to get down to only 4 bad holes? Why not try that again

 

[patricks148]

don't play:rofl:

 

[njrose51]

we do this probably because we are not professionals and don't play for a living! But have a look on youtube under any subject saying PGA Golf Worse shots and you'll see the stars of today duffing shots that would make us look like +1 handicappers.

So we all do it. So why beat yourself up about it?

For me, the thing that my pro told me, is keeping with the pre shot routine and remembering the basics. stance, grip, line, full shoulder turn, pace etc.

We don't do this for a living, so if you make a bad shot, move on, take the pain, and make the next shot better.

 

[Region3]

we do this probably because we are not professionals and don't play for a living! But have a look on youtube under any subject saying PGA Golf Worse shots and you'll see the stars of today duffing shots that would make us look like +1 handicappers.

So we all do it. So why beat yourself up about it?

For me, the thing that my pro told me, is keeping with the pre shot routine and remembering the basics. stance, grip, line, full shoulder turn, pace etc.

We don't do this for a living, so if you make a bad shot, move on, take the pain, and make the next shot better.

This ^ :thup:

Rory McIlroy et al can accept they hit bad shots, but a lot of handicap golfers can't?

You can't eliminate bad shots, but you can eliminate dumb shots. If you make a bad shot, don't try to get it all back in one go otherwise 1 shot gone can turn into 2 or 3.

If it gets really bad, go back to basics and make very conservative shot choices.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

How about people can't stop the dross relative to their HC because that's the level of ability they have

We are all HC golfers and we all will have bad spells and your HC will show a representation of that

Just go out and hit the ball and what will be will be and just try and enjoy yourself because it doesn't put the food on the plate - just accept that at times we will hit bad shots and have bad rounds but remember that we also have good shots

 

[woody69]

This ^ :thup:

Rory McIlroy et al can accept they hit bad shots, but a lot of handicap golfers can't?

You can't eliminate bad shots, but you can eliminate dumb shots. If you make a bad shot, don't try to get it all back in one go otherwise 1 shot gone can turn into 2 or 3.

If it gets really bad, go back to basics and make very conservative shot choices.

I'm not talking about a bad shot a pro makes. You don't see them knobbing off the tee 10 yards. That's what I can't accept and need to eliminate.

I know it all comes down to my technique. Someone nailed it earlier with speeding up the swing, causing sway or arms changing position. It's just so frustrating when it does happen and when it happens near on 10 times in a round that's basically 10 shots dropped.

Classic example on our 9th for me. 4W duffed 10 yards forward. Hybrid nailed to about the same distance my 4W would have ended up. So dropped shot

Our 15th, tee shot knobbed into the rough 20 yards. Dig it out, 7 iron down to where my driver would have ended up. 2 shots dropped.

16th, 2nd shot thinned 30 yards to behind a tree in the rough, dig it out, pitch to where my 2nd should have ended up. 1 shot dropped.

Over a round, I reckon I am losing near on 10 shots just from utter rubbish.

I appreciate it's one of those things that will happen occasionally, but it's far too frequent at the moment. I play with a guy off 13 and he probably hits one duff a round, if that. It's killing my game.

I guess it just comes down to practice practice practice to eliminate.

 

[Foxholer]

This ^ :thup:

Rory McIlroy et al can accept they hit bad shots, but a lot of handicap golfers can't?

You can't eliminate bad shots, but you can eliminate dumb shots. If you make a bad shot, don't try to get it all back in one go otherwise 1 shot gone can turn into 2 or 3.

If it gets really bad, go back to basics and make very conservative shot choices.

Please stop being so sensible!

Bad shots happen - at all levels!

The only real difference is how bad 'bad' is and how the player handles it.

Just don't follow a bad shot with a stupid one!!

 

[jusme]

I get what your saying but I have learnt over time to accept that bad shots will happen. I read somewhere that pro's expect to hit on average 7 bad shots a round. Bad is relevant to handicap. You continue to identify the cause (focus, tiredness etc) and work on removing the fault. The frequency will become less over time. You may not see it but your handicap should reflect it. Do not be so hard on yourself

 

[User62651]

If you're totally duffing off a tee with a wood soon after hitting a few good ones, somethings clearly wrong with your swing, even a mediocre handicapper won't do that. Sounds like there is tremendous movement or lack of balance in your swing or you're trying to hit it way too hard for that level of inconsistency to happen hole to hole. Need to cut down on the number of moving parts and swing under control and in balance to improve consistency/ball striking and thereby improve scoring.
Suggest you get some lessons or do some range drills for balance i.e. hitting with both feet together, hitting one handed etc etc.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

A classic round for me at the weekend.

14 holes of either par or bogey (sometimes even a birdie) (an average score of around 5 -10 over) and then 4 absolute nightmare holes of triple or even worse. The triples or worse are caused by absolute rubbish shots, either off the tee or with an iron on a perfect lie. I'm talking total duffs either into deep rough, or not moving more than 10 yards forward.

It's doing my head in. Usually a thin with an iron or top with a 4W.

1 hole I hit a perfect (for me) 4W off the tee. Straight, good distance. Next hole, same 4 wood and it almost misses the ball and I top it 5 yards off the tee.. Aaaargh!!

It's like night and day.

I would almost prefer that I was just pretty rubbish most of the time with the odd great shot as it is soul destroying and very frustrating.

Is it simply a case of practice to eliminating these poor shots? Should I just accept with my limited playing time, this is it?

I mean, I think I know "why" I hit these shots... usually head moving, not comfortable with set up and trying to correct, but when it can be 100s of things I think I have cracked it and then another poor shot appears.

You could be describing my season. Lots of good stuff undone most times by one or two errant holes. Never the same hole or the same shot. I just try and regroup and make a good score on the next. As a handicap golfer I will hit bad shots, but I feel I lose focus, and concentration or alternatively try too hard at times. I think you need to accept it on the course and not compound one bad shot with another. After that, any swing faults can be ironed out on a range, time permitting