How do you divide you practice time between woods, irons, and wedges?

[noSnowman]

Maybe if you're defining "good" as playing off +2 and "great" as playing off +5.  Then you can convince me that the incremental improvement is mostly course management, putting, and a spectacular short game. For the rest of us schlubs, it's about full shot ball striking.  The reason I beat my 12-15 hcp buddies is that I don't lay the sod over the ball once or twice a round.  I don't top a 3-wood, or skull a mid-iron.  I don't blade a wedge over the green from 60 yards, and I'm not flirting with the woods on every 3d drive.  In short, it's because my ball striking, while not great by ANY means, is more solid and consistent than theirs, and as a result, my 32ish putts nets me 78 or 80, while their same 32ish putts nets them 90+ more often than not..... ......likewise, the reason my 2-3 hcp buddies beat me is that they're hitting another couple of greens and thegreens they do hit result in shorter birdie putts.  Again, ball striking.

Just read your post makes sence. It does take all the shots. But just figuring that 2 putting is half of par tells me its half the game or what you use more than any other club. What clubs get trashed by pros more than any other? Drivers and putters...keeps the pro shops in business$$$

[NM Golf]

Originally Posted by noSnowman

If you think about it the tee shots sets up the hole fore scoring! You use driver on 14 holes..Think about this though. If you 2 putt every green that's half of par on a 72 track. Putting is huge.

I have played with some really good players, they told me that putting is what separates the good from the great.

I liken this to an old wives tale. Some good player long ago got it in his head that putting was the most important thing in golf, said it out loud, and everyone in earshot took it as gospel.

Remember people:

-At one time people just knew the earth was flat.

-At one time people just knew the earth was the center of the universe.

and

-At one time people just knew that putting was the most important aspect of the golf game.

Fortunately science and the gathering of applicable data has proved all those myths to be untrue. It does not matter how well you putt or how well you chip. If you cannot hit fairways and greens in regulation you will never be able to compete. Long game sets up the short game.

BACK ON TOPIC:

What I am working on determines what I hit the most. Some days I hit all wedges, some days I work on the driver predominantly. When I warm up pre-round I hit mostly wedges and short irons. I might only hit driver 3-4 times in warmup.

[noSnowman]

Well I don't know how you work this part of the game but am guessing its practice. Willing to bet a lot of pros would agree that the mental game is the part that makes the better players separated from good players. Tigers father worked on tigers mental game a lot. Tiger was saying he was going to beat Jack's record when he was young. Who told him that. Never seen anyone get ready to hit a shot and stop on a down swing like Tiger did...ever. I know in boxing we were taught that if you do the physical you will be mentaly tough...practice practice practice. I only practice chipping and putting so yes ball striking has left me. I have to scramble to get it done

[Na5carr3]

14 Drives. 22 Irons and 2 putt every hole is par on a 72 course. Now cut those putts by just 20% and.......well you can figure the rest out.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by Na5carr3

14 Drives. 22 Irons and 2 putt every hole is par on a 72 course. Now cut those putts by just 20% and.......well you can figure the rest out.

Do you finish all of your rounds with just 14 drives and 22 iron shots?  No penalties for OB, no water hazards, no missed greens, no bunkers, no chunked chip shots, no thinned irons, etc, etc, etc?

If so, then I completely agree.  You need to work on your putting.  However, I "speck" not.  I would wager a fair amount of money that you don't average 45 putts per round to get that 10 handicap. ;)

[noSnowman]

I posted on what did you shoot today? Had a bad round ok front and disastrous back. Thinking back yes I was spraying my driver but was always in scoring postion. I could of and should of scored in the 70's. I stood up on a couple of shots and quit on them. I trippled a short hole by hitting a tree limb on a punch shot underneath a low limb,chipped long twice and 3 putted

[noSnowman]

Tiger Woods putting stroke average is per hole 1.476 average in his rounds. That's less than 27 a round. The good players that I spoke to were talking touring pros. Heard it many a time by tv announcers. The ones who putt win....I am sumarising. If you 3 putt half the holes your at 45 half of a 90

[minitour]

Is that putts per hole or putts per green in regulation?

[iacas]

I encourage you to do some reading on the subject. Tiger Woods has historically earned way more "strokes gained" with the long game (full swing) than he does with his short game or putting. Hitting it closer helps your putting averages, too.

[saevel25]

Honestly Tiger wasn't that exceptional of a putter. This is putters per round

1999: 74th

2000: 36th

2001: 134th

2002: 163rd

2003: 32nd

2004: 20th

The best he's finished ever was 20th.

What tiger did do well when he was unbeatable was, Scrambling, his short game has always been underrated, but he was in the top ten in scrambling when he was dominating the tour. Next was GIR's, he was in the top ten as well. So you get a 70%+ in GIR's and a 70%+ in scrambling. He's basically not messing up. His putting should lower tremendously in the years he had high GIR's and high scrambling. Lots of one putt pars from the scrambling.

[noSnowman]

Is that putts per hole or putts per green in regulation?

Shot link strokes gained by putting so I might be wrong in how they are figuring it o_Oo_O Google pga tour average putts cdw is keeping track

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by noSnowman

But just figuring that 2 putting is half of par tells me its half the game or what you use more than any other club. What clubs get trashed by pros more than any other? Drivers and putters...keeps the pro shops in business$$$

Except a lot of the strokes you use the putter for are tap in's.  Don't need to spend anytime practicing those

[noSnowman]

Scott Hoch had a tap tap tappy

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by noSnowman

Scott Hoch had a tap tap tappy

Ok...I bet he has made more bogeys missing greens than missing tap in's.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by mvmac

Except a lot of the strokes you use the putter for are tap in's.  Don't need to spend anytime practicing those

Beachcomber does!!!!!!!!!!!!! As we like to call him now, "Mr. 37."

[David in FL]

Beachcomber does!!!!!!!!!!!!! :beer:   As we like to call him now, "Mr. 37."

Ok. For those of us who weren't there......spill! :-D

[Ernest Jones]

Ok. For those of us who weren't there......spill! :-D

Sounds like a certain somebody had an LPGA moment. :-p

[SCfanatic35]

I usually spend 20% of my time on Driver and 3 Wood.  About 30% on my long irons and hybrids, and the remaining 50% on short irons and wedges. I'm going to hit the majority of my shots with the shorter clubs so that is what I practice.  Out of a typical 14 holes, I might hit Driver on maybe 8 of them. Probably 3 Wood or a hybrid on the rest.  I usually score in the low 90's, so that gives me 70+ shots with long irons on down.