Why aren't you playing to your real potential?

[SammmeBee]

I have found as I get a bit older that I can’t reach the par 5s in two now.
My average score on them has gone down .
I leave myself 80yds if I can.
This is the yardage I practice most purely for this reason.
I also play to this yardage if I am in trouble off the tee.
It’s helped my scores and usually takes double off the table.
But if you have the length to get to the long holes it’s very tempting, but was always the big scorer for me if I missed it.
At least I am learning as I get older

I have found as I get a bit older that I can’t reach the par 5s in two now.
My average score on them has gone down .
I leave myself 80yds if I can.
This is the yardage I practice most purely for this reason.
I also play to this yardage if I am in trouble off the tee.
It’s helped my scores and usually takes double off the table.
But if you have the length to get to the long holes it’s very tempting, but was always the big scorer for me if I missed it.
At least I am learning as I get older

I have found as I get a bit older that I can’t reach the par 5s in two now.
My average score on them has gone down .
I leave myself 80yds if I can.
This is the yardage I practice most purely for this reason.
I also play to this yardage if I am in trouble off the tee.
It’s helped my scores and usually takes double off the table.
But if you have the length to get to the long holes it’s very tempting, but was always the big scorer for me if I missed it.
At least I am learning as I get older

Why 80 yards? You’ll hit it much closer from 70….60….50…..40….

 

[clubchamp98]

Why 80 yards? You’ll hit it much closer from 70….60….50…..40….

80 yds is a comfortable yardage for me.
It’s a great distance to spin the ball if you need to or hit gap if you want to take the spin off.
It’s where I am most comfortable and can hit it closer from there than 40yds twitchy /handsy shot.
It’s rare to see the pros hit it 40/50 yds as it’s hard to control the spin from such short distance.
Purely personal but it’s what suits me.

 

[harpo_72]

For me it’s about being committed and relaxed.. if I am both of those I will score exceptionally well. The decision making plays apart but when I have the commitment and relaxation it doesn’t matter where the ball is or how it lies it will get to target.
I just cannot get there, there are flashes and you see it in the scores for a run of holes .. if I can turn it on for more holes it would be great.
In the pairs my partner knows the issue, he was quick on the commitment to the shot and when it get going it’s bang down the middle and straight on the green .. which undid the opposition but frees him up to attack as well.

 

[SammmeBee]

80 yds is a comfortable yardage for me.
It’s a great distance to spin the ball if you need to or hit gap if you want to take the spin off.
It’s where I am most comfortable and can hit it closer from there than 40yds twitchy /handsy shot.
It’s rare to see the pros hit it 40/50 yds as it’s hard to control the spin from such short distance.
Purely personal but it’s what suits me.

No you can’t……

 

[fundy]

balsa wood

 

[Tashyboy]

80 yds is a comfortable yardage for me.
It’s a great distance to spin the ball if you need to or hit gap if you want to take the spin off.
It’s where I am most comfortable and can hit it closer from there than 40yds twitchy /handsy shot.
It’s rare to see the pros hit it 40/50 yds as it’s hard to control the spin from such short distance.
Purely personal but it’s what suits me.

Is 80 yds a full shot in with ? Wedge rather than. 3/4 shot.

 

[clubchamp98]

No you can’t……

Really.
Have you seen me play.?

 

[clubchamp98]

Is 80 yds a full shot in with ? Wedge rather than. 3/4 shot.

56* SW.
Or 3/4 50*

 

[SammmeBee]

Really.
Have you seen me play.?

No but whoever you are….the closer you are to the hole, the closer you should hit it…….

 

[Biggleswade Blue]

When I left the UK for America I always felt that my handicap did not reflect my ability. Smiffy at an outing at the Whippersnapper Vs Old Farts summed it up once. He said I am the best 9 handicapper he has ever played with. Was I though? I might have had the technical abilities to be better, but I didn't have the right mental attitude and it cost me getting a good score.

So what happened? I got a great lesson from my pro in the clubhouse over a beer after playing one day. When the score card was added up I shot +5, he shot -2, but I did not feel that I was 7 shots worse off. This is where the lesson started. He told me that I had easily left 3 or 4 shots out there through bad decisions. He used the last hole as an example, he birdied it and I bogeyed it. I stepped up to my 2nd shot and tried to rip a 3w into the green chasing the eagle which I didn't quite catch right and put it in the face of a fairway bunker 30 yards short of the green. I hack it out sideways into the short rough, pitched to the back of the green and 2 putted for bogey. He played a mid iron short of the bunkers, hit a wedge to about 12/15 foot and holed the putt for birdie. On a par 4, he hit 2i, I hit driver. I went into the rough and got bogey, he hit the fairway and got par. Driving iron was the right shot, not a driver I realised. So straight away there is 3 shots I lost to him through bad decisions not bad shots.

So that day alone I learned that always trying to get as close to the green as possible is not always the right idea. I know this is obvious, but do what ever it takes to give yourself a chance to hit 18 greens in regulation. The more birdie chances you have, the more pars you will make. This is so obvious, but how many of us take this approach? Unless your are a plus handicapper you do not need birdies to shoot your handicap, but getting doubles will make it hard.

So it raises this question.................... does spending hours on the practie ground and hundreds in lessons really help the average golfer lower their handicap? Or spending time on the course and learning to play better golf yield greater results?

In today’s lesson I was told I have the swing of a single figure handicap player, but the ball strike of a 30-something!

 

[harpo_72]

No but whoever you are….the closer you are to the hole, the closer you should hit it…….

No not really, if you have a repeatable distance then you will get closer than a half baked distance that needs to be made up on the spot.

 

[Tashyboy]

No but whoever you are….the closer you are to the hole, the closer you should hit it…….

This is why I asked if it is a full shot with ? Wedge. Most folk know there distances with full Shots.

 

[BiMGuy]

Generally it's poor target or shot selection. Then poor execution.

Pretty much the same as every one else really.

 

[MadAdey]

These course management discussions never really apply to me. I hit driver wherever I can because a) it's actually the most reliable club off the tee for me and b) I would definitely rather be as close to the green as possible. If I hit a fairway wood or hybrid off the tee, it's no safer than driver, and all it does is give me a longer second shot in. So I hit driver wherever I can. There's only one par 4 at my course where I don't hit it, and that's because it's a shortish one that bends round left to right, so driver would see me go too far and into the trees.

I totally get what you are saying, but that is not really the point I am making with this post. I am talking more about hitting the right shot rather than hitting what you find easiest to hit a fairway with. In my OP I mentioned a par 4. To elaberate on that is going to be a good example of what I am saying. 400 yard par 4, generous fairway narrows quite a bit at 250 and then bunkers come into play at around 280. I hit my driver just short of these bunkers but into the first cut. THe ball was sat down, I got a flier that went through the green, ending up with a bogey. My pro hit a hybrid into the nice big wide part of the fairway, probably had about 170 to the green, hit the midde of the green and 2 putted.

But your last line makes my point. Instead of trying to hit a fancy shot round the corner you just play what you need to get to the corner, because that is the right shot to play.

 

[MadAdey]

No but whoever you are….the closer you are to the hole, the closer you should hit it…….

No not at all. I will take an 80 yard shot over a 40 yard shot any day of the week. Why do you see pros laying up at different distances, it's because that is the shot they prefer and feel more comfortable with.

 

[clubchamp98]

No but whoever you are….the closer you are to the hole, the closer you should hit it…….

I quite clearly said I practice from 80yds as that is where I am comfortable.
But you think you know my game better than me without even seeing me play.
“no you can’t”?.? YES I can and I do every week!

 

[MadAdey]

I quite clearly said I practice from 80yds as that is where I am comfortable.
But you think you know my game better than me without even seeing me play.
“no you can’t”?.? YES I can and I do every week!

I am with you on this. I have practiced that exact same shot and it's just a nice little controlled 50*. I find it stops on the spot, so no matter where a flag is I can go at it with confidence.

 

[clubchamp98]

I am with you on this. I have practiced that exact same shot and it's just a nice little controlled 50*. I find it stops on the spot, so no matter where a flag is I can go at it with confidence.

Yes it’s the first thing my pro taught me.
Everyone has a favourite yardage if I can’t get on the green I will play to that.
It takes out the big numbers which is what it’s about if you have already made a mistake.

 

[MadAdey]

Yes it’s the first thing my pro taught me.
Everyone has a favourite yardage if I can’t get on the green I will play to that.
It takes out the big numbers which is what it’s about if you have already made a mistake.

DO you also grip up and down. I find doing that gives me a reliable shot from 70, 80 and 90. Also playing this with a 50* gives a lower flight so is still good in the wind.

 

[clubchamp98]

DO you also grip up and down. I find doing that gives me a reliable shot from 70, 80 and 90. Also playing this with a 50* gives a lower flight so is still good in the wind.

No I don’t.
I play MCC +4 midsize but have always used the clock system to change yardage.
I play full out 80yds with 56* sw.
But can vary my yardage with my 50* using the clock.
I just find if I get to close 30/40 yds I start quitting on the shot and much prefer a fuller swing.