The Scoring Zone

[kid2]

I think that the longer we start to play this game the more we come to realize how important the scoring zone becomes to all players regardless of handicaps...

Lately it seems to be an area that i have a lot of fun practicing.....
Im not blessed with a large back yard... Its only about 17 mtrs long from my back door to the shed at the end but its enough for chipping purposes as the window of the shed found out the night before last .....

So i decided to get my house in order as it were and really make an impact on my handicap come this year....Everything thats written or said seems to always relate back to the scoring area.....From 120 yards and in or in my case 110mtrs.....

I came across a great article in a mag this month about having just 2 swings for each wedge...That really isnt going to make things complicated is it?..
So armed with that i hit the range yesterday evening...Conditions were inclement...A strong right to left wind and the odd heavy burst of rain but i battled away...

Iv got my distances down to what were a pretty decent guess i think as when the balls were landing past the markers and between them it was the best i could do....
What i focused on were smooth swings...I wasnt trying to go after the ball too much as i knew that i was going to cause too much spin and too much height...

So here is what iv got....
Full swings with each wedge had my hands a touch over my right shoulder and what i was calling half swings my hands were level with my hips in the backswing....

Full PW (47deg) 100 mtrs
Full GW 52deg 85 mtrs
Full SW 56deg 75 mtrs

Half swings were PW about 80mtrs
GW about 65 mtrs
SW about 50 mtrs

The half swings were give or take a metre or 2...It was hard to gauge the distances... between the markers...
I could have hit them all a bit longer maybe but accuracy then was impacted by the faster swings.
On average i was only a metre or 2 either side of my targets...

I didnt want to get caught up in clock face drills as i think that thats getting a bit too complicated especially as when you swing through impact to keep some acceleration going your naturally going to swing past the mirrored point of where your backswing has stopped....


Iv got so much interest now in this part of my game that hopefully im going out again tonight to a local sports grounds to hit some more and pace them off just to really tighten things up....
Would there be a big difference between the distance that a range ball would travel and the distance that say you'd hit a ProV1

Sorry for the long winded post but it may be of some use to someone.

 

[Matty]

Hmm, interesting. I'm trying to develop this area of my game too. I'm very happy with my chipping but pitching needs loads more work. I've also tried to avoid a clock face apprach as it adds too much variation for me. I've got a half, 3/4 and full swing approach but even then I struggling. Maybe I'll drop the 3/4 level and try that out for a bit. Then it's just a case of picking up the right club for the distance.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I bught into the Pelz method a few years back based on the clock face. To be honest it took away a lot of the natural feel I had for a shot and these days I just go by the yardage skycaddy gives me, the flag position and the wind. I'm about to really get to work on the pitching side of the game again and work on the distance control as its something I neglected over the winter. I love trying to hit different shots to a target say 50, 70 and 100 yards away. Some of those will almost be full shots with one club but you can then mix it up and try and hit a lower flighted one in, open the face and send a half swing the same distance (clubbing up of course) and generally just mucking about and seeing what works for you

 

[gjbike]

I carry 4 wedges 46, 52, 56, and a 60 and use one ¾ swing but get 8 different yardages
46- 120 yds
52- 102 yds
56- 80 yds
60 -65 yds
Then by gripping the wedge at the bottom of the grip but still with a ¾ swing I can get the following distances
46 -81 yds
52 – 71 yds
56 – 63 yds
60 – 47 yds
You can use the same method for your 8 and 9 iron as well giving you 4 more distances why over complicate things with 3 or 4 different swings.
Hope this helps