Shots within 50 yards

[garyinderry]

It can be hard to judge for people especially when you factor in a baked english summer course.

When it rains and softens up the landing zone and run out is more predictable.

The dryer and firmer the course is I tend to cut myself more slack. 2 similar shots can have very differnt outcomes. All it takes is it to land and take a forward bounce and you may run many feet past the hole.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It can be hard to judge for people especially when you factor in a baked english summer course.

When it rains and softens up the landing zone and run out is more predictable.

The dryer and firmer the course is I tend to cut myself more slack. 2 similar shots can have very differnt outcomes. All it takes is it to land and take a forward bounce and you may run many feet past the hole.

I get your point but where possible I always try and land my approach on the green wherever possible whether the course is hard baked or softened by rain. It tends to give a more predictable first bounce (although I accept some greens are more contoured than others)

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I spent about an hour and a half today hitting blocks of 20 balls, all from within 50 yards of the practice hole.
Pitches, chips, lobs, bunkers, high, low, fairway, rough, lush lie, bare lie, uphill, sidehill, downhill blah blah blah ? ?

All well and good quoting "methods", YouTube etc etc to get some ideas, nothing wrong with that, but the only way you will improve is practice, practice, practice, and probably at least one or more decent one to one lesson.

There's no YouTube video can swing the club for you when you have 46 yards carry on the 15th hole with a good card going...

Have to agree. I struggle with my short game so it's an area I need to work on and you need to try different shots and lies and especially different distances. So often I'll see someone chipping on the putting green (allowed) and make sure each one is on a nice fluffy lie. Get them on the course and chuck in a bare lie and they panic

 

[Papas1982]

This is a part of my game I have massively neglected in the last year. I reckon from inside 50 yards I’ll get up and down once a round maybe. I don’t tend to chunk or thin chips, but no real feel for what will get me close. My irons in recent weeks have saved me As I’ve been hitting more greens but feel that if I wanna make a move on my handicap This is where it will be.

sorry, that doesn’t help at all. I concur with the last to responses. Practice is the only way you will improve.

 

[turkish]

Stats
Kite got himself down from 15% pe to 5% for his short game as measured by pelz. That equates to a 30 yard shot leaving 1.5 yards which is top draw pga pro.
Broady median leaving distance in feet from fairway at 10y 20y 30y for average pro, 80 golfer 90 golfer,100 golfer 4 5 6 6 feet, 5 6 7 10 feet, 6 8 12 16 feet
so 10% ish to under pe average pro
At 80 golfer its 12.5% to 17.5%ish
So at 14 if u get your percentage error to 15% i.e. from 30 yards to 4.5 yards or 12.5 feet u r ahead of the game.

Pelz has short game handicap games where u can work out where you are with his scoring system.

Pelz, utley pretty good short game books for techniqie and info.

Is 6 8 10 just using those clubs?

Rule of 12 for chipping using trajectory over spin to control distance very easy and transferable to different course conditions. Google it but effectively sw ratio roll to carry is 1 to 1, pw 2 to 1 9 iron 3 to 1, 8 iron 4 to 1... Massage it a bit for conditions.

General errors in chipping or pitching come from understanding and technique. Again generallt people dont understand how far the balls roll out and tske a backwing thats too long then get quitty and technical problems arise from a lack of understanding.
Other common errors include flicking or trying to help the ball up often coming from the body slowing down and shooting the hands past if the body is even used at all. Golf clubs have loft and are designed to be presented with hands level or ahead of the clubhead at impact.

After about 50 shots of 100 yards and in I’m at a PE of 18.25%. Some of which are caused by duffs and thins and some are caused by terrible scruffy lies I’m not sure if I should be including them?

 

[SGC001]

After about 50 shots of 100 yards and in I’m at a PE of 18.25%. Some of which are caused by duffs and thins and some are caused by terrible scruffy lies I’m not sure if I should be including them?

You'd include them all in that. Its a fairway stat, others are available for rough etc. If u notice u struggle of bad or awkward lies, its something to work on and if practically all your bad ones are coming off bad lies its a big clue.

Iffy lies may requure a different technique or be showing up a technique flaw. Fats (usually what people mean by duff but maybe shank could count) and thins tend to suggest certain technique issues are worth investigating. Similarly whats your idea of a bad lie may not be the same as someone elses.

Again u may be been hard on yourself, but if the duffs and thins are too many, you may well have identified where you need to address 1st.

Lies, damned lies and statistics

Median is a very generous stat in this context particuarly as handicaps go up, as complete duffs and hortors effectively get chucked out so your median shouldnt be getting overly affected.

Practice and skills tests are best when personalised.

Pelzs scoring tests to handicap are reasonable as its based on probabilities of holing your next shot, but a zeri pointer from say 20ft left to 30 yards left isnt telling you everything. Even a mean can hide this a bit.

You could do total footage left, still lacks without context. You could count your worst 5 a bit like a yellowsome or worst ball scramble. Whether thats appropriate depends on the data set and peoples standards (ate all shots average but not great, are 5 great 3 average, 2 awful). For better players whos having big issues with 1 or 2 balls you need to find a system that brings them in as they will reflect ability to score.