How many good shots do you hit during a round?

[CrapHacker]

Serious question for once.

I suddenly thought, as I was 'analysing' my 9 holes of last night that I played pretty badly. BUT I was only 3 over my handicap. Ok, not big or clever, but nothing to be ashamed of either.

And then I took that thought 1 step further.

I did it without hitting any 'great' shots. I had a couple of 'lucky' shots ( EG the half thinned 3H on the 5th making it's way greenside ) a lot of 'poor but it's on the way' shots.

And 2 what I would call 'good' shots.

Now I'm a dodgy 18 handicapper that hasn't even played to that for a while, but I know that if I ever had to put my mind to it, and think my way round a course, I can still score ok ( by my standards, that is ).

But I'd have to do it whilst only hitting 4 or 5 good shots during the round.

That can't be right, can it ?

Is it the case that as handicaps fall, players hit more 'good' shots? Or does that just mean that the better players judge themselves more harshly, and set higher standards for themselves, so they don't count many more good shots per round?

Do the guys in the 20s hit fewer good shots, or do they hit more good shots, but even more bad shots to counter that?

Or am I just overly self critical, and in reality should lower my expectations and put down that half thinned effort as a good shot because it ended up in the right place?

If I'm right and normal, (?) it means that I play the game I love with a general expectation of playing to about 7% or 8% of the standard I would like to achieve.

Am I getting too deep now?

 

[Imurg]

I think you need to properly define what a good shot is. Is a good shot one that is struck well, flies on the predicted trajectory, pitches where aimed and comes to rest at the required point...

Or is it one that comes to rest at the required point regardless of how it gets there?

There's not much better in Golf than the first example but in this game of numbers isn't the 2nd example just as "good"?

I probably hit no more than 3 or 4 of example 1 but many more of the 2nd.

As I said, it's a game of numbers and I'd take lots of example 2's over a few example 1's any day.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

It's all relative really isn't it. I don't keep the stats but I do go through my round afterwards and classify my shots as bad average and good and I don't count chips and putts.

Normally I'm hitting in the region of 35 full shots and I would say it's normally up to 5 in the bad category, and then about 60\40 split between average and good so about 10 good shots a round. I am however very picky. For instance, if I hit the green with a wedge but am 25ft left of the pin, that's average and if I hit one a big thin and knock it close, that's average as well as it's about the strike as much as the result.

I have however had rounds where I hardly hit a decent shot all day but still make the buffer, those rounds are classed as lucky

 

[CrapHacker]

I deliberately didn't make any definition, because I want to know what everyone else judges themselves by.

As you say, it's a game of 'how many'. But we strive for that perfect strike.

I hit very, very few perfect strikes, but I expect to hit more 'good' shots than it seems I do atm.

Maybe I never have.

Or maybe I hit many more good shots than I think, I just misjudge them.



Reading between the lines of your post would that be, say 4 of type a) and lots of type b) so you'd end up with a total of about half your round you'd be happy with ? ( Don't let me put words into your mouth )

 

[Imurg]

Reading between the lines of your post would that be, say 4 of type a) and lots of type b) so you'd end up with a total of about half your round you'd be happy with ? ( Don't let me put words into your mouth )

Something like that - yeah.

Although I like to play well, to me, it's the final score that matters most. I honestly don't mind if I hack around and still break 80!!

 

[USER1999]

I like to hit about 3 truly good, near on perfect golf shots in a round.
The rest varies.
If I struck it perfect all the time, I'd be on telly.

 

[StrangelyBrown]

I like to hit about 3 truly good, near on perfect golf shots in a round.
The rest varies.
If I struck it perfect all the time, I'd be on telly.

This. If I can remember 3 screamers then I'm happy.

 

[Oddsocks]

to me a good shot is one hit from the button of the face, pured with good flight with little or no side movement (ie left to right or right to left) I for example i intended to take a 3wood for safety on a par 5, cream it and it flys straight where intended thats a good shot.

one that gets there even though it was a bit thin, or it was pushed right with a draw or visa versa is not a good shot,

on sunday i shot 85 with 35 putts, effictively 50 shots, from that i just recalled my round to the below:

4 fringe putts

Crap (either fat chips, or shots that had alot of moment on them) - 14
OK ish (not punishing but also not totally executed) - 14
Good(pured and straight, or chips exectured well) 18

if you want to go one better:
30% Crap
30% OK
40% Good

 

[Alex1975]

I hope to hit at least one good shot on each hole but I can score on holes with no "good" shots.

I guess for a me a "good shot" is one that does what I wanted it to, how I wanted it to.

 

[USER1999]

I guess for a me a "good shot" is one that does what I wanted it to, how I wanted it to.

But is it?

I mishit a drive into a bunker on Sunday in the medal. It plugged under the lip, such that I could hardly stand there to hit it. Got it out, leaving 200 to the middle of the green, into a stiff breeze, pin at the back. So I hit my 4w, perfectly, couldn't hit it any better, ever. Straight through the back of the green.
To me, that was still a good shot, regardless of the outcome. Good swing (for me), great strike, great flight. What more could I ask?

 

[Achilles]

For me I'd consider a good shot one that goes roughly as far as planned and is safe, and has a nice flight. Any tee-shot that finds the fairway and is of reasonable length makes me smile as does any approach shot that is on / close to the green. Easily pleased!

It's the bad shots that seem to make the difference to my scores

 

[Alex1975]

I guess for a me a "good shot" is one that does what I wanted it to, how I wanted it to.

But is it?

I mishit a drive into a bunker on Sunday in the medal. It plugged under the lip, such that I could hardly stand there to hit it. Got it out, leaving 200 to the middle of the green, into a stiff breeze, pin at the back. So I hit my 4w, perfectly, couldn't hit it any better, ever. Straight through the back of the green.
To me, that was still a good shot, regardless of the outcome. Good swing (for me), great strike, great flight. What more could I ask?

Yep, you make a good point. I do make shots that are struck well and go in the direction I wanted but are long or short so ill go with: I guess for a me a "good shot" is one that goes in the direction I wanted it to and end up good or safe. Myabe there is a difference between a good golf shot and a good shot(good shot being one that does what was required.

 

[Oddsocks]

I guess for a me a "good shot" is one that does what I wanted it to, how I wanted it to.

But is it?

I mishit a drive into a bunker on Sunday in the medal. It plugged under the lip, such that I could hardly stand there to hit it. Got it out, leaving 200 to the middle of the green, into a stiff breeze, pin at the back. So I hit my 4w, perfectly, couldn't hit it any better, ever. Straight through the back of the green.
To me, that was still a good shot, regardless of the outcome. Good swing (for me), great strike, great flight. What more could I ask?

Valid point. Saturday i was 190 out from the pin after a good drive on a par 5, took an easy 5i and flushed it through the back. so pissed that this had happened i fluffed the chip and 3 putted. eagle chance gone, thanks for the bogey!.

 

[barrybridges]

If I'm playing non-competitively then I will mark on my scorecard whenever I hit a 'perfect' shot.

E.g. hit sweetly, good flight, where I'm aiming, and gets close to the target area.

If I manage a 'perfect' hole, I'll also mark that. A perfect hole is not necessarily where I get a good score, but where I hit every shot to the best of my ability and couldn't have done better.

In any given round, I'll normally have just 1 'perfect hole', perhaps 2 if I'm exceptionally lucky.

In terms of shots, I reckon I'd normally have between 5 and 10 perfect shots. This is probably counterbalance by having only 1 or 2 'bad' shots (e.g. duffed, thinned, sliced etc).

 

[barrybridges]

Sorry - I should have added that I count a 'perfect shot' as one even if I get the distance wrong. E.g. if I hit a sweet shot and it ends up going past the green I kick myself, because the error in that situation was choosing the wrong club rather than hitting a bad stroke.

 

[ademac]

If I were to say how many perfect, on the button, pro-like shots I would hit in a round then I would have to say one but mostly none, the one would most likely be a putt too.
However if I was counting a good shot for my sbility that I an happy with I would say

Tee shots 1or2
Iron/approach shots 4or5
Around the greens 3or4
Putts 4or5

I would class a good long distance putt that lips out as a good shot as I would a well struck iron that gets a bad bounce etc. But I wouldnt class a badly struck shot that ended up a foot from the hole as good, just lucky! But I'll take the lucky ones all day long!!

 

[AuburnWarrior]

I played some absolute rubbish on Sunday - some really embarrassing stuff but, on our par 3 13th I got a birdie.

I hit a 5 iron to about 8 foot.

It was the worst 5 iron I think I've ever hit!!

So, on the card, a 2 but I can still recall that 5 iron and it makes me feel sick!!

But, on our par 5 9th I hit a 2 wood for my second shot. I absolutely smashed it. It was a thing of beauty. Ended up in a bunker.

So, I guess you can class a good shot either way - a nice swing and strike but nor necessarily a good end result or a horror show of a swing but a superb result.

 

[Mongoose]

If I look at a good shot as one that goes pretty much as I planned, then on a typical round I would say about half of them. Sounds a lot but near half of those are putts that are holed. Add in the drives that make the fairway generally in the area I intended, appraoches and short game that find the general area of the green I intended and you get to about half.

How many really good shots though is a different matter, I would say maybe I hit 1 or 2 per round, some days none.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Not counting putting and chipping here I think I hit at least one good shot that ends up where I want it to per hole on average over the round. Then add in some shots where the contact was good but the aligntment was wrong or it was the wrong club or I hit it TOO well.

Add in a few more where I get it spot on but a bad bounce or bad luck or the wind pushes it and I think I can say 2/3 of my shots are good, 1/3 are not but I am working on that

 

[SatchFan]

For me, if the ball comes off the middle of the clubface or thereabouts then that's a good shot regardless of where the ball ends up which is probably partly why my handicap is stuck at 13. As a junior I played off 7 and hit more than my fair share of thins and fats and generally mediocre contact with only a really tight short game getting me the low scores. The game wasn't any fun to me so I gave up completely. Back to golf 30 years later and it's much more enjoyable. My driving accuracy is 82% FIR for the past year, my last 12 rounds have been between 81 and 84 and it's only a sloppy short game which is holding back my scores.