Maybe It's Not All About The Short Game

[Orikoru]

Can you define what you mean by long game? Is it off the tee or 2nd shot into the green?

Well I suppose there I was mainly talking about off the tee - if you can hit all your long irons on the green that practically eliminates short game entirely. But even if you only miss the green by a fraction, you can still mess that up with an awful chip.

In my 24-handicap parlance 'good long game' just means hitting the bloody fairway once in a while.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

General question, what distance would you clarify as "short game" ?
Is it 60yds and in as per the initial stats?
Is it 150yds or even 20yds
For me, I tend to think of short game as anything 50yds and under.

 

[Driven2Distraction]

... for me it's anything less than a full PW

 

[Dasit]

Quicker gains to be made from short game

Someone who never practices, if they dedicate some hours to chipping and pitching they can make gains very fast

Those gains will cap out as there is a ceiling. Even the best guys on tour do not scramble 100%, Mickelson will even take 4 shots sometimes from within 50 yards.
A club golfer will never have a better short game than him, so once they get really consistent grinding for hours won't bring their scores much lower.


Much higher ceiling on driving, an extra 10 yards, learning to draw and fade, eliminating a side of the course, playing the wind conditions.
As long as you are not a total donkey at short game it is usually driving and approach play that determines if you are a 70s/80/90s or 100+ player.

 

[hovis]

my friend plays in high level amateur events. when he plays a social game he'll hit his driver and irrelevant of where that drive lands he'll take his next shot on between 180/200 from the green. he said it's all about length off the tee and long irons into greens

 

[lukeysafc100]

I was once of the opinion that I like to focus on my iron play and longer game. Being able to hit a short club in the green etc etc.
For me number 1 focus on a hole when you stand on a tee is - hitting the fairway, Next focus, hit the green, next focus chip or putt!

So you're focus changes at each shot at each hole - so every aspect of the game is as important as the next! consistency across the board.
Every low handicapper I've played with has consistency across there game - yes they may have a stronger part of their game but every part of their game is at a certain level.

So for me - Practice should be focused on every part of your game!

In golf - every shot counts a 1! regardless of 1ft putt or 300yard drive! its all just 1!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

So a tour pro has 7 shots inside 60 yards per round, that doesn't like many, but if he takes more than 2 to get down each of those 7 times, he won't be a tour pro for long.

Hitting long is good, hitting it straight is good, but no matter how long and how straight you are you will need a short game if you ever want to fulfil your potential...

...now why am I getting a feeling of deja vu on this thread?

 

[Hosel Fade]

Thought it was common knowledge now that the difference between the top players is in proximity to hole from right around 200 to 220

 

[pokerjoke]

So a tour pro has 7 shots inside 60 yards per round, that doesn't like many, but if he takes more than 2 to get down each of those 7 times, he won't be a tour pro for long.

Hitting long is good, hitting it straight is good, but no matter how long and how straight you are you will need a short game if you ever want to fulfil your potential...

...now why am I getting a feeling of deja vu on this thread?

To be honest I though 7 was a lot per round.

Surely all par 4s will be reached so it would have to be the par 5s and there wont be 7 of them.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Thought it was common knowledge now that the difference between the top players is in proximity to hole from right around 200 to 220

Westwood must be close to one of the best in that stat, all the pros say he has a great long game.



Just trying to remember how many Majors he has won

 

[Three]

As the commentator said on Sunday night, "the winners are normally the best putters from the group of guys who are the best ball strikers".

The long game dictates the limit of high you will score, the short game dictates how low you will score.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

To be honest I though 7 was a lot per round.

Surely all par 4s will be reached so it would have to be the par 5s and there wont be 7 of them.

The best player on tour averages 75% GIR, that's 4 or 5 times he needs his short game (unless he is hacking sideways out of trees of course). 4 or 5 bogeys isn't going to help much.

 

[guest100718]

The best player on tour averages 75% GIR, that's 4 or 5 times he needs his short game. 4 or 5 bogeys isn't going to help much.

A ball that finishes 10 foot from the hole but on the fringe is a missed green. On its own its a pointless stat.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

A ball that finishes 10 foot from the hole but on the fringe is a missed green. On its own its a pointless stat.

Most stats are

 

[guest100718]

Most stats are

99%

 

[Val]

To be honest I though 7 was a lot per round.

Surely all par 4s will be reached so it would have to be the par 5s and there wont be 7 of them.

7 is not really when you think about it, few pro's will hit 18 greens in regulation (Big DJ leads the PGA Tour average on 75.25%) add to that the Par 5's and there's your 7 shots.

 

[Dasit]

People overestimate the importance of some skills.


Like putting might be 30+ strokes a round, which could be 40% of your total strokes, but lots of those will be 1 foot tap in, which do not require practice.

 

[Orikoru]

People overestimate the importance of some skills.


Like putting might be 30+ strokes a round, which could be 40% of your total strokes, but lots of those will be 1 foot tap in, which do not require practice.

Speak for yourself!

 

[Hosel Fade]

People overestimate the importance of some skills.


Like putting might be 30+ strokes a round, which could be 40% of your total strokes, but lots of those will be 1 foot tap in, which do not require practice.

Thats the one that winds me up, Player X has made 30/35 putts inside 7' so far this week. Of which maybe 5 were actually more than 5'6" and 20 were inside 2' but they make it out to be the greatest putting feat in history

 

[Hosel Fade]

Westwood must be close to one of the best in that stat, all the pros say he has a great long game.



Just trying to remember how many Majors he has won

#136 from 175-200 and #58 from 200+ in the latest year they have him on the stats (2015)

Doesn't help when you use a clear outlier to try and make your point.