Tips for high handicappers

[Snelly]

Watch the club hit the ball on every shot, be it driver or putter. Especially putter in fact.

This is the only tip in golf that I know that actually works.


Good advice above about playing within your limits though. Pick your favourite club - 7 iron maybe - and use it whenever possible. Not just when you have the yardage for that club. E.g. on a tricky drive with not much carry. Or from the fairway to get you nearer the green rather than trying to hit a 4 iron on to it.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Watch the club hit the ball on every shot, be it driver or putter. Especially putter in fact.

This is the only tip in golf that I know that actually works.

I agree, excellent advice.

Keep your eye on the ball......NOT to be confused with keep your head down!

 

[londonlewis]

Be sensible with club selection - a couple of people have covered it already.

As an example; I played Farleigh golf club recently in a 4-ball.
Short par 4 around 290 yards (can't remember which hole exactly).

My 3 playing partners all hit driver off the tee.
One ends up in the cabbage on the right, re-loads for 3 off the tee. Hits a double bogey.
One ends up in the cabbage on the left, chops out to the fairway, misses the green. Hits a double bogey.
One ends up in the bunker in front of the green. Splashes out but leaves himself a big putt for birdie. He pars it.

I hit a 7 iron off the tee, 8 iron into the green and left myself an 8 footer for birdie. I missed it but I had the best chance of hitting birdie.
I also had the least chance of things going horribly wrong.

There were a few 'that was the safest tee shot I've ever seen' comments as I teed off, but there were also a couple of 'great shot mate' comments as I finished pin high.

My biggest recommendation for breaking 90:

Learn to putt
Learn to chip
Learn to pitch
Learn to play out of bunkers

If you have a strong short game, it doesn't matter if you don't hit greens in regulation.

 

[Dan2501]

Club selection is so important. I had a couple recently where I decided to club down on shortish par 4's in order to give myself a good yardage into the green, and avoid trouble. One example is at my home course. The 7th is a 260 yard par 4 with the green tucked in a tight corner with a small stream surrounding it. I normally hit driver to get it up there and go for the green in one, however, the line is very tight, and if you get the right distance but the wrong line there's all sorts of trouble. So, last time I played I took a 6 iron off the tee, knocked it down there 185 which left me with a nice comfortable pitch with the SW to the middle of the green. No danger, I three putted so walked away with a disappointing bogey, but it took the danger completely out of play. Similarly, at Knott End the wind was blowing left-to-right with OB on the right. I'd taken on driver on the first 2 par 4's and ended up taking 3 off the tee both times, so, on the 4th I laid up, once again with a 6 iron. Knocked it 170 down the middle, hit an 85 yard SW to the middle of the green and 2-putted for an easy par. Lesson learnt.

 

[thesheriff]

Plenty of food for thought and I'm taking on board everyone's comments.

Now, with the sun shining and Edinburgh bathing in rare warm weather, I'm itching to finish work and get out there to work on all this stuff.

I'd said in my original post that i wanted to break 90 today, but having read some of the advice i think I'll break down my goals and let the score take care of itself.

Today's targets:

- Fewer than 3 penalty strokes (through OB, lost balls, hazards etc)
- Get at least 2 pars which would beat last week's round.
- Get fewer than 5 double bogeys or worse which would again beat last weeks round.

I'll report back after the round.

Hope everyone else playing today has a good one. What a day for it!

 

[hines57]

keep it in play & use your noggin.

As the old saying goes - "it's not how, it's how many"...............

 

[delc]

Spend your money on lessons, rather than fancy new clubs!

 

[davemc1]

I know all responses are all well meaning but, and it's a big but...

being a high handicapper (such as myself) generally means your not (yet) a great ball striker. That for me is the number one 'must have' to be a decent golfer.

so this hitting a 7 iron off the tee malarky doesn't sit very well. I can just as well muck up a 7 as I can a driver...

I'd suggest to find a club, that goes a good distance, hybrid, 3 or 5 wood. That sits well in your hands, and just get used to it. Have that be your go to club, and only try the others for practise, until your ball striking is better.

And don't get me started on the 3, 5 irons will get you anywhere brigade! :rant:

 

[Tashyboy]

I know all responses are all well meaning but, and it's a big but...

being a high handicapper (such as myself) generally means your not (yet) a great ball striker. That for me is the number one 'must have' to be a decent golfer.

so this hitting a 7 iron off the tee malarky doesn't sit very well. I can just as well muck up a 7 as I can a driver...

I'd suggest to find a club, that goes a good distance, hybrid, 3 or 5 wood. That sits well in your hands, and just get used to it. Have that be your go to club, and only try the others for practise, until your ball striking is better.

And don't get me started on the 3, 5 irons will get you anywhere brigade! :rant:

👆 yup to all of that, ave just posted well a post and have mentioned how well I was striking the ball today, which in turn led to a good score. In essence use your shots. If you have a shot on a par four. It's a par five. Two points your playing to par/hcap.
good luck and welcome to the mad house.

 

[thesheriff]

Just back from playing 18 holes in Costa del Carrick Knowe.

Wasn't striking the ball well at all but still managed to shoot 95 down to some damage limitation and good short game and scrambling.

Had a horror 8 on a par 4 and two further 7s which I wasn't happy about. I missed my target of fewer than 5 double bogeys or worse with 7 in total.

But I achieved my goal of making at least 2 pars during the round with 3. One was made by draining a 15 footer to give me an up and down out the trees.

I think I had 3 penalty strokes which is what I aimed for so suppose that's also a success.

Will hopefully get another outing this week. Onwards and upwards!

 

[TheCaddie]

I agree, excellent advice.

Keep your eye on the ball......NOT to be confused with keep your head down!

This is really good advice. It's something I am working really hard on atm, and trying to remember at all times. The temptation to try and see where that ball is going (especially if a certain club isn't working) is always there. But actually concentrating on watching the club hit the ball has been a very recent revelation to me!!

 

[Paul77]

From my own experience and being someone who regularly shot over 100, I felt lessons were really important to me. Even the very first lesson where I learned to pitch the ball and have a more consistent stance over the ball. Last night I worked on angle of attack on irons. Went from shooting a 7 iron 149 yards at first with my dispersion all over the place, to 173 yards with a 10 yard dispersion.

I would also mention that practicing anytime you can is helpful too. I've been gunning it lately, with playing a round after work leaving it a day then going to the range, then playing a course the day after. Went from shooting over 100 to shooting 84, 85 and 79 on my last rounds.

You only get out what you put in.

 

[TheCaddie]

Completely agree! I am hitting the range probably onece a week, but tempted to increase this. I do find it useful, but nothing beats playing a round. Unfortunately, I am in the waiting period between relocating, so can't join a club. So paying to play isn't really cost effective for me atm, given the time I finish work, etc.

 

[Paul77]

Completely agree! I am hitting the range probably onece a week, but tempted to increase this. I do find it useful, but nothing beats playing a round. Unfortunately, I am in the waiting period between relocating, so can't join a club. So paying to play isn't really cost effective for me atm, given the time I finish work, etc.

Crikey that must be as bad as taking your clubs away.

I'm lucky that I have a range that's 10 mins drive away and my course is 2 mins down the road. Not everyone has that, and sometimes going to a range is more of a hassle.

 

[TheCaddie]

Crikey that must be as bad as taking your clubs away.

I'm lucky that I have a range that's 10 mins drive away and my course is 2 mins down the road. Not everyone has that, and sometimes going to a range is more of a hassle.

Sorry, I should have said paying to play of an evening isn't cost effective!!! I am still playing nearly every weekend now!

 

[garyinderry]

I know all responses are all well meaning but, and it's a big but...

being a high handicapper (such as myself) generally means your not (yet) a great ball striker. That for me is the number one 'must have' to be a decent golfer.

so this hitting a 7 iron off the tee malarky doesn't sit very well. I can just as well muck up a 7 as I can a driver...

I'd suggest to find a club, that goes a good distance, hybrid, 3 or 5 wood. That sits well in your hands, and just get used to it. Have that be your go to club, and only try the others for practise, until your ball striking is better.

And don't get me started on the 3, 5 irons will get you anywhere brigade! :rant:

Up to a point this is all true. Saying take 3 7 irons to reach most par 4s is all well and good but how many 28 handicaps are going to hit 3 perfect or even good 7 irons and hit the green from 150 yards with the third. They are likely to land the third in the bunker, take 3 to get out then 3 putt and stick their next drive oob in a rage.

 

[M1ke]

. My target for tomorrow is to break 90 as i shot 94 last week.

How did you get on on the back nine?:rofl:

 

[Skypilot]

As a high handicapper my biggest problem is trying too hard, forcing shots or using too much strength.
Yesterday I played my first full round after having a horrible chest infection (still lingering).
I felt knackered before we even started and told my brother (playing partner) that I was going to take it really gently and may have stop if I feel too bad.
He keeps the scores as he's got one of those clip things in his trolley.
You know what's coming.
After the round he totalled up and I'd scored my best score for months and just 2 more than my best ever score. And that was with several daft miss hits through tiredness/lazyness.

Gentle technique beats brute strength hands down it seems. My drives were so much more consistent and oddly, in a couple of instances, longer than I'd hit before.

 

[thesheriff]

As a high handicapper my biggest problem is trying too hard, forcing shots or using too much strength.
Yesterday I played my first full round after having a horrible chest infection (still lingering).
I felt knackered before we even started and told my brother (playing partner) that I was going to take it really gently and may have stop if I feel too bad.
He keeps the scores as he's got one of those clip things in his trolley.
You know what's coming.
After the round he totalled up and I'd scored my best score for months and just 2 more than my best ever score. And that was with several daft miss hits through tiredness/lazyness.

Gentle technique beats brute strength hands down it seems. My drives were so much more consistent and oddly, in a couple of instances, longer than I'd hit before.

Good effort! A few have mentioned on this thread and others that a gentle swing and perhaps taking an extra club can lead to more consistent ball striking so I think I'll be giving that a go as I probably lash at it a bit hard at the mo.

 

[TheCaddie]

WAs at the range last night, and was just consciously watching the club face hit the ball.

Even for the shots where the connection wasn't great. They were going straight everytime.

Made a HUGE difference with my driver as well. Can't wait to play on Sunday now!!