Strategies to lower handicap

[jim8flog]

If you under club a lot know the ignore the yardage to the front/middle of the green and work from the yardage to the back of green.
Use a club that your best ever/ perfectly hit shot will get you to that yardage and you should always be on the green.

Very few players hit the best ever shot more than a couple of times in a round.

Aim line should be at the middle of the green, on most courses this will put you in easy two putt distance.

 

[duncan mackie]

From 150 yards in I am usually on the green in two at worst where. If I am 50-100 yards out I feel quite confident attacking the green and I can normally get on the green provided it is a fairly easy approach.
I do tend to underclub on approach
8 iron and above I am fairly straight and only have the odd pull these are my go to clubs at about 175 yards and in.
I do take my medicine and will normally take a 9 iron+ to get the ball back in play unless I have a the ball is sitting up in the rough then I may use my Hybrid 4
.

Taking this, and your comments about strategy in all your posts, I am afraid I see a very muddled approach - which is always over and above your actual swing capability whatever level you play at.

The guys with clear thinking, a structured approach,and an honest assessment of their underlying capability will end up scoring much better than they swing - and the opposite applies in spades! (which is why there are more discussions about people who don't hit the ball like a 20 handicapper meaning that they seem a lot better, than the other way round.)

For example, I get the impression that you can hit a 9 iron about 140, and you have said your course isn't long but quite tight - so why would you ever need a 9 iron to get the ball back in play? Try committing to using your SW to get back in play everytime. Start by judging success at getting back in play as the exact middle of the fairway.
Then focus on getting the ball I the hole with another 3 strokes from there.
Even if you put every tee shot in a position that needed recovery you would be playing to 18 if you did that!

To get down in 3 you need to ask 1 question - where is the safest area to get down in 2 from (long, short, favour the left or right) and club/aim appropriately.

I've played with a lot of higher handicap golfers who have solid swings and can strike the ball very well - most simply do not get the ball back in play properly, over and over again. They are always on the back foot and most poor tee shots result in a triple bogey rather than a bogey. Their other huge problem is around the green - but you seem to have that sorted.

Enjoy the game but get some really solid stock shots in the bag - recovery thinking and your approach from 50 and 150 are the keys to scoring.

Finally, your references to clubs and yardages suggests a need to focus more on the outcome than the club used - doesn't matter whether you hit a 9 iron or a 6 iron from 150; the only things that matter are how close and how consistently. It's a really good habit not to reference the club (even to yourself!) There are evil devils in club distances and challenges!

 

[shortgame]

Taking this, and your comments about strategy in all your posts, I am afraid I see a very muddled approach - which is always over and above your actual swing capability whatever level you play at.

The guys with clear thinking, a structured approach,and an honest assessment of their underlying capability will end up scoring much better than they swing - and the opposite applies in spades! (which is why there are more discussions about people who don't hit the ball like a 20 handicapper meaning that they seem a lot better, than the other way round.)

For example, I get the impression that you can hit a 9 iron about 140, and you have said your course isn't long but quite tight - so why would you ever need a 9 iron to get the ball back in play? Try committing to using your SW to get back in play everytime. Start by judging success at getting back in play as the exact middle of the fairway.
Then focus on getting the ball I the hole with another 3 strokes from there.
Even if you put every tee shot in a position that needed recovery you would be playing to 18 if you did that!

To get down in 3 you need to ask 1 question - where is the safest area to get down in 2 from (long, short, favour the left or right) and club/aim appropriately.

I've played with a lot of higher handicap golfers who have solid swings and can strike the ball very well - most simply do not get the ball back in play properly, over and over again. They are always on the back foot and most poor tee shots result in a triple bogey rather than a bogey. Their other huge problem is around the green - but you seem to have that sorted.

Enjoy the game but get some really solid stock shots in the bag - recovery thinking and your approach from 50 and 150 are the keys to scoring.

Finally, your references to clubs and yardages suggests a need to focus more on the outcome than the club used - doesn't matter whether you hit a 9 iron or a 6 iron from 150; the only things that matter are how close and how consistently. It's a really good habit not to reference the club (even to yourself!) There are evil devils in club distances and challenges!

Solid post there. Great advice!

 

[Jasonr]

Thanks for your time in answering I think you may have touched on some important points for me and I think may actually be in the early stages of forming a course management plan

Just for clarity when I am 175 yards out and say 8 iron up I mean 8, 9 PW SW are my go to clubs

Taking this, and your comments about strategy in all your posts, I am afraid I see a very muddled approach - which is always over and above your actual swing capability whatever level you play at.

The guys with clear thinking, a structured approach,and an honest assessment of their underlying capability will end up scoring much better than they swing - and the opposite applies in spades! (which is why there are more discussions about people who don't hit the ball like a 20 handicapper meaning that they seem a lot better, than the other way round.)

For example, I get the impression that you can hit a 9 iron about 140, and you have said your course isn't long but quite tight - so why would you ever need a 9 iron to get the ball back in play? Try committing to using your SW to get back in play everytime. Start by judging success at getting back in play as the exact middle of the fairway.

Yes I would say my 9 iron is around 140, PW around 125 and SW about 110. I can hit these clubs OK and with some form of consistency provided I don't try to larrup them. The 8 iron is fairly consistent also and around 150 but not as consistent as 9-SW and the seven around 160 but I start going awry with this and more awry with 6, 5 and so on.

As I wrote my post I was thinking of a specific shot scenario on a par 5. I still had over 250 to the hole after hitting a wayward drive to the edge of the adjoining fairway in light rough but a good lie. I wanted to get the ball back on the fairway but also advance it as it was still a long way to the hole so I chose my 9 iron as that gave me a balance between distance and accuracy. In that scenario the better shot would have been SW to the middle of the fairway even I lost say 60 yards to the green.

Then focus on getting the ball I the hole with another 3 strokes from there.
Even if you put every tee shot in a position that needed recovery you would be playing to 18 if you did that!

Following on from the scenario above I would really struggle to get down in 3 from 250+ yards out so instead of taking my Hybrid or a higher iron and getting back in trouble I should just pick my most reliable club and dink it up the fairway even if it is only 120 yards thinking about the points you make in your next paragraph (and save my hero shots until I practise on my own)

To get down in 3 you need to ask 1 question - where is the safest area to get down in 2 from (long, short, favour the left or right) and club/aim appropriately.

I've played with a lot of higher handicap golfers who have solid swings and can strike the ball very well - most simply do not get the ball back in play properly, over and over again. They are always on the back foot and most poor tee shots result in a triple bogey rather than a bogey.

Guilty as charged

Their other huge problem is around the green - but you seem to have that sorted.

Not sorted per se as I still need a lot of work on this but I am more confident on this aspect of the game compared to the others so I will get better with practise


Enjoy the game but get some really solid stock shots in the bag - recovery thinking and your approach from 50 and 150 are the keys to scoring.

Finally, your references to clubs and yardages suggests a need to focus more on the outcome than the club used - doesn't matter whether you hit a 9 iron or a 6 iron from 150; the only things that matter are how close and how consistently. It's a really good habit not to reference the club (even to yourself!) There are evil devils in club distances and challenges!

Apologies but I am a little confused by this probably because I have completely missed the point. If I see I am around the 150 yard mark I will estimate what club to use based on what distance I estimate I have to get to the centre of the green which is based upon my yardages above. I wouldn't ever use a 6 iron from 150 as I would be more accurate using an 8 or a 9. Even further out I favour the 8 or 9 over the 6 or 5 as those are the clubs that really exacerbate my pull. Again apologies if I have completely missed your point.

 

[duncan mackie]

I'll pick up on two bits.

Firstly the last (I'm like that!).

The point I was making was that when, say, 150 to the centre, an important consideration (for improving scoring) is to consider whether the centre of the green is really the best distance/target upon which to base your club selection. It's doesn't matter what it is - although your words here are hugely significant in the context of being hugely focused on how far you hit the ball!

Turning back to

Following on from the scenario above I would really struggle to get down in 3 from 250+ yards out so instead of taking my Hybrid or a higher iron and getting back in trouble I should just pick my most reliable club and dink it up the fairway even if it is only 120 yards thinking about the points you make in your next paragraph*(and save my hero shots until I practise on my own).

If you have 250+ to the green after an errant (but solid) tee shot I had assume you were on a par 5?
Anyhow, the principle remains that you should take the 90% shot to return to play, not the 70 or less one. If that's 100yds of progress, and gets you within your 90% of getting down in 3 distance then great!
Most players have a comfortable distance for general approach shots - the lower the handicap the higher it tends to be. Again, what club that relates to for you is incidental. I just picked examples.

Listen to any bar room discussion after a comp, or even social fourballs. The good scorers will be discussing what they did - those that scored less well will generally be discussing how they did it ie they hit a 9 iron X yards into such and such par 3.

Arguably the same thing applies to tee shots....putting into position to be able to play a high percentage approach shot is so much more relevant that what club you used to do it - but that's how you get from 18 -> 9 handicap 😎

 

[MadAdey]

Not read all the replies, just some so I might repeat what some have already said.

Learn to play bogey golf. 3 shots to get the ball within 2-putt range on a par 4, do that and you've already got yourself on the right track. When you are stood over a shot that needs your Sunday best fairway wood to reach, don't try it. Take a club out that will leave you with a wedge and lay it up.

Forget what you have seen on the TV, they play shots that even scratch golfers struggle to play. Trying to play fades and draws when you can't even hit it straight consistently is going to get you into more trouble than you need to be in. Every approach should be aimed at the middle of the green, forget where the flag is. Chances are the middle of the green is never going to be a mile away from the flag.

Get some putting lessons, IMO that is one of the fastest ways to get your scores down. If you can get the ball down you can easily shave 5 or 6 shots off a round. I only hit 8 GIR on Sunday, but managed to 1 putt 6 of the other 10 to get round 4 over.