How to improve decision making in the course...

[chimpo1]

Thanks everyone. Lots to work on in there.
I like the part about being my own caddy and taking my own advice.
I do play with better players as much as possible and agree that is a huge help. I am too nice and will always look for balls to help others, perhaps this does distract me.
I have read all the Rotella books, but perhaps they need revisiting.

I think I will use the winter to try and work on these and make some into routines.

Cheers guys!

 

[badgermat]

You're playing off a 5, so clearly no slouch when it comes to hitting the ball.

But are you relying too much on what you think is the "right" shot? The shot you already know you can make.

Maybe try playing shots you can't make reliably. Try playing with fewer clubs. Right down to the point where you play a whole round with one club only.

That way, instead of trying to make the perfect shot each time, you'll be setting up a game where you're recovering from the shot you have.

That makes for flexibility and for a whole different approach to course management.

Just a thought.

bm

 

[Sats]

Know your yardages.
Know your misses.
Reduce damage - sometimes a bogey feels like a par.
Keep calm.
Have a plan.
Learn from previous mistakes.

 

[ScienceBoy]

One method is, when in good form, to take the lowest risk shot you are happy with.

Play to the biggest part of the green.
Play away from trouble
Putt to leave an easy tap in when not confident on holing.

Then play a round doing the exact opposite. Attack everything, go for every pin etc.

Now you know the extremes you can understand the middle ground better.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

I am desperately seeking to reduce my handicap (currently 5.0) and have lessons regularly, practice as much as life allows. However I feel that my game is not always at fault.
For instance, I struck the ball really well on Sunday but ended up with a poor score as (I now think) that I chose to play the wrong kind of shot in a certain situation. Is it my decision making that is limiting me rather than my swing?
Apart from having a playing lesson, which I think is going on the "to do list", can anyone recommend some tutorials or books that they may think could help?
Cheers
Nick

I think you're over thinking it.

It's not uncommon to hit it well but not have the score match the striking. Similarly, everyone has days when they hit it poorly but score well.

Take it as it comes. If you're hitting it well, a good score is just around the corner. Back yourself to deliver it and don't try to force things.

 

[chimpo1]

Cheers,
I do tend to over think things. Mainly because I am so obsessed with this game!
:cheers:

 

[the_coach]

I am desperately seeking to reduce my handicap (currently 5.0) and have lessons regularly, practice as much as life allows. However I feel that my game is not always at fault.
For instance, I struck the ball really well on Sunday but ended up with a poor score as (I now think) that I chose to play the wrong kind of shot in a certain situation. Is it my decision making that is limiting me rather than my swing?
Apart from having a playing lesson, which I think is going on the "to do list", can anyone recommend some tutorials or books that they may think could help?
Cheers
Nick

few things to maybes consider

like how good are you at controlling your emotional reactions out on the course
how good are you at really identifying a definitive target for every shot & committing to it - to be able to freely execute the shot after the process of the psr


do you know your golf stats?
- mean really know them over a good long period of time

for instance stuff like

- how more often are you a short miss of the green as opposed to being pin high miss left or right - so realistic club selection
- of the misses left & right what's the percentage of short side misses to misses on the sides with some room to play - so identifying real best definite target at the green end

- what's the distance to the pin second shot in stats (real important stat)
- %bunker saves - %scrambling saves - percentage of 6' & under hole-outs - % of 2 putts from 30 feet or more

- fairways & greens hit %
- % of wrong side of fairways misses - ob & 3 off of the tee % - so shot & club selection & intermediate target selection issues

how often do you really consider leaving best iron distance shots into green on shorter par 4's as opposed to gunning the driver trying to get as close as possible leaving part pitch shots in

whats the percentage of pitch shots hit within a 12' diameter from 100' 90' 80' 70'
& the percentage of pitch shots hit within an 8' diameter from 60' 50' 40' percentage within a 6' diameter from 30' 20'

a real look at all this kind of stuff have found with folks wanting to improve scores in the cat 1 index kind of level - usually reveals that the game in general & particularly distance to the pin stats from second shots - from 100 in - bunker & scrambling are not actually as in shape as they think - so still a bunch of stuff around technique needs to improve along with course management

if you play majority of your golf at the home course - not including par 3's - but how many times have you played practice rounds where you have hit a 7i off of the tee-box at all par 4's & 5's - so forcing you to play & think about not so usual shot & club selections

how many times have you just gone to the course with a notebook & walked the course completely - backwards - so starting from behind the 18th green looking back down the fairway - while also really taking look at every green from behind to both identify flat & uphill putts & safer bailout side to help consider lines into the greens
usually when I ask this particular Q - the answer is - never


there's a number of books out there

Hogan's Ghost: Golf Performance and Scoring Coach - Ed Myers
Be A Player: - Pia Nilsson
Every Shot Counts: - Mark Broadie
Play Strategic Golf: Course Navigation: - Eric Jones
Going Low: -Patrick Cohn PhD


then there's a bunch of older ones like

Ray Floyd & Freddie Couples - The Elements of Scoring
Tom Watson"s Strategic Golf
Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons

 

[chimpo1]

thanks for taking the time to write that out. Some of that i am aware of, such as the stats, which I am making more use of and will discuss with my pro during my next lesson. Some of it i do not do in nearly enough detail/depth and will take those ideas onboard.

I have just bought 2 of those books this week to try and get a fresh perspective on my game and get out of habits that may not be helping me.

i feel that some of my issue is which type of shot; chip/pitch/bump and run/flop and stop, should i play when in a certain position. I guess by examining the stats you suggest for strengths and weaknesses that will become clearer.

 

[shortgame]

few things to maybes consider

like how good are you at controlling your emotional reactions out on the course
how good are you at really identifying a definitive target for every shot & committing to it - to be able to freely execute the shot after the process of the psr


do you know your golf stats?
- mean really know them over a good long period of time

for instance stuff like

- how more often are you a short miss of the green as opposed to being pin high miss left or right - so realistic club selection
- of the misses left & right what's the percentage of short side misses to misses on the sides with some room to play - so identifying real best definite target at the green end

- what's the distance to the pin second shot in stats (real important stat)
- %bunker saves - %scrambling saves - percentage of 6' & under hole-outs - % of 2 putts from 30 feet or more

- fairways & greens hit %
- % of wrong side of fairways misses - ob & 3 off of the tee % - so shot & club selection & intermediate target selection issues

how often do you really consider leaving best iron distance shots into green on shorter par 4's as opposed to gunning the driver trying to get as close as possible leaving part pitch shots in

whats the percentage of pitch shots hit within a 12' diameter from 100' 90' 80' 70'
& the percentage of pitch shots hit within an 8' diameter from 60' 50' 40' percentage within a 6' diameter from 30' 20'

a real look at all this kind of stuff have found with folks wanting to improve scores in the cat 1 index kind of level - usually reveals that the game in general & particularly distance to the pin stats from second shots - from 100 in - bunker & scrambling are not actually as in shape as they think - so still a bunch of stuff around technique needs to improve along with course management

if you play majority of your golf at the home course - not including par 3's - but how many times have you played practice rounds where you have hit a 7i off of the tee-box at all par 4's & 5's - so forcing you to play & think about not so usual shot & club selections

how many times have you just gone to the course with a notebook & walked the course completely - backwards - so starting from behind the 18th green looking back down the fairway - while also really taking look at every green from behind to both identify flat & uphill putts & safer bailout side to help consider lines into the greens
usually when I ask this particular Q - the answer is - never


there's a number of books out there

Hogan's Ghost: Golf Performance and Scoring Coach - Ed Myers
Be A Player: - Pia Nilsson
Every Shot Counts: - Mark Broadie
Play Strategic Golf: Course Navigation: - Eric Jones
Going Low: -Patrick Cohn PhD


then there's a bunch of older ones like

Ray Floyd & Freddie Couples - The Elements of Scoring
Tom Watson"s Strategic Golf
Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons

I also appreciate this post Coach, some good points to consider for my own game :thup:

 

[Sweep]

As to books I only read one which really changed my game - Timothy Galwey's Inner Game of Golf.

I am half way through this just now. It is an excellent book

 

[the_coach]

I also appreciate this post Coach, some good points to consider for my own game :thup:

thanks - hope it helps some

 

[Bbothwell]

few things to maybes consider

like how good are you at controlling your emotional reactions out on the course
how good are you at really identifying a definitive target for every shot & committing to it - to be able to freely execute the shot after the process of the psr


do you know your golf stats?
- mean really know them over a good long period of time

for instance stuff like

- how more often are you a short miss of the green as opposed to being pin high miss left or right - so realistic club selection
- of the misses left & right what's the percentage of short side misses to misses on the sides with some room to play - so identifying real best definite target at the green end

- what's the distance to the pin second shot in stats (real important stat)
- %bunker saves - %scrambling saves - percentage of 6' & under hole-outs - % of 2 putts from 30 feet or more

- fairways & greens hit %
- % of wrong side of fairways misses - ob & 3 off of the tee % - so shot & club selection & intermediate target selection issues

how often do you really consider leaving best iron distance shots into green on shorter par 4's as opposed to gunning the driver trying to get as close as possible leaving part pitch shots in

whats the percentage of pitch shots hit within a 12' diameter from 100' 90' 80' 70'
& the percentage of pitch shots hit within an 8' diameter from 60' 50' 40' percentage within a 6' diameter from 30' 20'

a real look at all this kind of stuff have found with folks wanting to improve scores in the cat 1 index kind of level - usually reveals that the game in general & particularly distance to the pin stats from second shots - from 100 in - bunker & scrambling are not actually as in shape as they think - so still a bunch of stuff around technique needs to improve along with course management

if you play majority of your golf at the home course - not including par 3's - but how many times have you played practice rounds where you have hit a 7i off of the tee-box at all par 4's & 5's - so forcing you to play & think about not so usual shot & club selections

how many times have you just gone to the course with a notebook & walked the course completely - backwards - so starting from behind the 18th green looking back down the fairway - while also really taking look at every green from behind to both identify flat & uphill putts & safer bailout side to help consider lines into the greens
usually when I ask this particular Q - the answer is - never


there's a number of books out there

Hogan's Ghost: Golf Performance and Scoring Coach - Ed Myers
Be A Player: - Pia Nilsson
Every Shot Counts: - Mark Broadie
Play Strategic Golf: Course Navigation: - Eric Jones
Going Low: -Patrick Cohn PhD


then there's a bunch of older ones like

Ray Floyd & Freddie Couples - The Elements of Scoring
Tom Watson"s Strategic Golf
Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons

very interesting. Have many people done the 7i thing? Would be interested to see how people have benefited from that and what it taught them

 

[the_coach]

Have many people done the 7i thing? Would be interested to see how people have benefited from that and what it taught them

my guess would be not many - if any at all

& my take it would maybes be more useful for folks who tend to spend the majority of there playing time on one home course which is a certain overall lenght

as that usually tends to mean falling in to a general routine of the same kinda shots & club selection to the same holes more or less every round give or take (barring hacking out of trouble with wedges following errors)

so taking a 7i off of the tee box (can even start to include par 3's so forced to play shot with a part swing) means you at many different distances than normally used to when playing to the greens - so if forces both a different thought process and a different intention of shot type
just used a 7i as an example it could be a 6i or 5i that kinda thing

& also could start just by doin it for 3 holes a round or 6 or 9 whatever
it's more about the different mental thought process it produces along with having a greater variance & challenge to shots from distances that are 'unusual' & different to the normal home golfing habits over a sustained time - as opposed to the different shots that have to be taken on 'normally' in a round after just making errors

 

[OnTour]

few things to maybes consider

like how good are you at controlling your emotional reactions out on the course
how good are you at really identifying a definitive target for every shot & committing to it - to be able to freely execute the shot after the process of the psr


do you know your golf stats?
- mean really know them over a good long period of time

for instance stuff like

- how more often are you a short miss of the green as opposed to being pin high miss left or right - so realistic club selection
- of the misses left & right what's the percentage of short side misses to misses on the sides with some room to play - so identifying real best definite target at the green end

- what's the distance to the pin second shot in stats (real important stat)
- %bunker saves - %scrambling saves - percentage of 6' & under hole-outs - % of 2 putts from 30 feet or more

- fairways & greens hit %
- % of wrong side of fairways misses - ob & 3 off of the tee % - so shot & club selection & intermediate target selection issues

how often do you really consider leaving best iron distance shots into green on shorter par 4's as opposed to gunning the driver trying to get as close as possible leaving part pitch shots in

whats the percentage of pitch shots hit within a 12' diameter from 100' 90' 80' 70'
& the percentage of pitch shots hit within an 8' diameter from 60' 50' 40' percentage within a 6' diameter from 30' 20'

a real look at all this kind of stuff have found with folks wanting to improve scores in the cat 1 index kind of level - usually reveals that the game in general & particularly distance to the pin stats from second shots - from 100 in - bunker & scrambling are not actually as in shape as they think - so still a bunch of stuff around technique needs to improve along with course management

if you play majority of your golf at the home course - not including par 3's - but how many times have you played practice rounds where you have hit a 7i off of the tee-box at all par 4's & 5's - so forcing you to play & think about not so usual shot & club selections

how many times have you just gone to the course with a notebook & walked the course completely - backwards - so starting from behind the 18th green looking back down the fairway - while also really taking look at every green from behind to both identify flat & uphill putts & safer bailout side to help consider lines into the greens
usually when I ask this particular Q - the answer is - never


there's a number of books out there

Hogan's Ghost: Golf Performance and Scoring Coach - Ed Myers
Be A Player: - Pia Nilsson
Every Shot Counts: - Mark Broadie
Play Strategic Golf: Course Navigation: - Eric Jones
Going Low: -Patrick Cohn PhD


then there's a bunch of older ones like

Ray Floyd & Freddie Couples - The Elements of Scoring
Tom Watson"s Strategic Golf
Butch Harmon's Playing Lessons

Think we can all take notes from this 👍

Stats yes 👍 I do my own course book for every course inc pins and borrows, great for confidence especially away courses. There's always plenty to work on for that game improvement.

 

[garyinderry]

my guess would be not many - if any at all

& my take it would maybes be more useful for folks who tend to spend the majority of there playing time on one home course which is a certain overall lenght

as that usually tends to mean falling in to a general routine of the same kinda shots & club selection to the same holes more or less every round give or take (barring hacking out of trouble with wedges following errors)

so taking a 7i off of the tee box (can even start to include par 3's so forced to play shot with a part swing) means you at many different distances than normally used to when playing to the greens - so if forces both a different thought process and a different intention of shot type
just used a 7i as an example it could be a 6i or 5i that kinda thing

& also could start just by doin it for 3 holes a round or 6 or 9 whatever
it's more about the different mental thought process it produces along with having a greater variance & challenge to shots from distances that are 'unusual' & different to the normal home golfing habits over a sustained time - as opposed to the different shots that have to be taken on 'normally' in a round after just making errors

I like this idea. Basically creates a new course for you to play.