Pitching/chipping expectations & managing them

[turkish]

So our ground staff have painted circles at 2 ft, 4ft and 6ft which is great but it has just emphasised how poor my short game is.

I set up a game where i pitch 12 balls from 20 yards and score myself... -1 outside 6 ft, 1 point inside 6ft, 2 points inside 4 ft, 3 points inside 2ft and 5 points for hole out.

I said when ive got to 20 points ill move on to 30 yards.... after 4 sessions im still hitting from 20 yards. Often only 50% im putting inside 6 ft which seems terrible? Most ive got to is 18 points.

So my point is what should my expectations be from this distance- am i right to realise im garbage or is that quite a hard scoring game? What about 30 yards, 40 etc?

What expectations should you have relevant to your handicap from set distances... is there anything out there that says you are ahead, within or below you handicap expectation level?

 

[Coffey]

I guess I would look at it slightly differently. I would be considering at what range I would be confident I'd make a putt at. At the end of the day, you are looking to get up and down as many times as possible. That may mean inside 6 foot below the hole is enough for you to be confident you can sink 6 foot putts most of the time. It may also mean that you need to be inside 4 foot to be confident. Obviously the closer you get the better, but at what range would you be comfortable to hole a putt from?

For me, anything inside 4 foot i'd be happy with, even 6 foot i'd feel like i'd have a good go at sinking the putt. I don't think i would score too well using your points system. Getting 10/12 inside 4 foot would be pretty difficult for me.

 

[pendodave]

Not sure that the point system is as useful as it could be.

There's 3 outcomes from 20yds (I think we can eliminate the chip-in for statistical purposes). Close enough to be confident of a one putt (3feet), a two putt (25ft?), A three putt (≥25ft). As an 18cap (which you are) I'd be happy enough with the two putt tbh. Then spend the time saved making sure you can hole out from 3 ft and 2putt from 25ft every time.

In reality, you probably miss a six foot and a four foot putt, so just give the extra point for a chip you are 100% certain to hole

 

[IanG]

I play a related but different game in practice. Take your 12 chips and then try and hole the putts. Keep track of how often you get up and down and have that as your target to improve. It has the advantage of measuring what really counts - i.e. strokes taken, and mixes up chipping and putting in a more realistic way. It's even better if you spread the 12 chips around more than one target (or equivalently play them from some different locations).

You can see from

http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.368.html

that the poorest performers on the pgatour only get up and down from 10-20 yards about 50% of the time, so don't beat yourself up if you only get up and down 20% of the time. Big gain for 18 handicap golfer is to avoid taking 4 from 20 yards.

 

[GreggerKBR]

The goal is inside 6ft, that's where "make" stats start to swing heavily in favour of chip & 1-putt.
Some easy ones you'll look to get really close or even hole, but the main goal will always be inside 6ft.

But the key is to constantly change your challenge to keep it realistic, gain knowledge that translates.
So do not stand and repeat the same shot again and again, constantly change the lie, distance, stance etc.

As you do it, you'll recognise the easy, medium and hard shots, and your expectations will alter accordingly.

From outside 15 yards to the hole, getting inside 6ft becomes proportionally much harder, more like inside 18-24ft

Technically, James Ridyard's stuff is really good. Expensive but good.

 

[pokerjoke]

Even though you feel you are quite poor at your game it will actually improve your game on the course.

Having a target to aim at will help you focus more.

One thing I feel that would really help you is nailing down the 20 yards because even if you push it or pull it slightly being pin high will help a lot.

 

[Sweep]

According to Dave Pelz anything within 8' of the hole is statistically makeable. Anything outside 10' is a 2 putt. Another stat you may wish to consider but regarding a slightly different distance to your practice is this - if you can get up and down from 120 yards or less HALF THE TIME - you will play to single figures. As is usual with golf, it sounds a lot easier than it is but clearly demonstrates how important the short game is and how many shots are lost around the green.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Aim to hole them and score by how many finish within 6 foot. Can add bonus points for closer or holes of course.

Just aim to pass a level by having a score which would be equivalent to the percentage of up and downs you want to achieve.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I started recording some stats during my winter practice including a lot of pitching which showed some interesting traits. It's something I didn't carry on with but will be revisiting going forward

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8LWsHBeO3FgZS1mRUF2VjdIdzg/view?usp=sharing

For me, it's ensuring the quality of strike is there and eradicating the fat/thin. I am getting better with my pitching in particular, and bunkers are fine. Chipping is the biggest issue and where I need to focus my attention next