Do you drive 250+ yards and have a 20+ handicap?

[SloverUT]

I am currently a 20+ handicap and I drive the ball between 250-265 on average.  My handicap is mostly due to a poor short game and lack of focus.  Too often I will drive great and miss the GIR.  I will then chip onto the green (not close enough) and will proceed to three putt.  Putting really kills my scoring.

[Motown88]

Try spending some time on a practice green and do some putting drills. You'll save a lot more shots by good putting then you will hitting a bomb down the center of the fairway.

[Spyder]

When I first started golfing, I was able to drive the ball with a consistent distance between 250 and 270 yards. The problem is that I fought a slice, with all of my clubs. I was swinging for the fences with every club and trying to be fancy for no reason, playing clubs that were too low and trying to get an extra 10-15 yards out of it because I didn't understand that I had more control clubbing down and swinging with more control and accuracy. I was a 19.8 HC my first year and knew I could do better...

By the second year, I straightened out my slice and turned it into a fade which resulted in increased distance throughout every club in my bag. I focused 90% of my practice on and around the green and became very comfortable chipping, pitching and putting. I then focused on what my swing meant to me and what I was doing wrong. Instead of getting upset at bad shots, I honestly sat there and took what I learned from this site and processed the information into a meaningful result of what I just did. I no longer lined up left and expected a 170 yard 7-iron approach shot to land on or near the green. I began aiming at my targets and when I missed, I knew what I did wrong from the ball's flight due to the knowledge I gained here (mostly, again, with regards to the ball flight laws that Erik posted). I finished my second year at approximately 14.3 HC.

This year, I've made more changes and I am now able to hit a ball that is slightly left of target, yet straight... or the occasional draw. My distances at this time have increased dramatically and I focus most of my range time towards developing a consistent weight transfer and focusing on keeping my right elbow more inside of my body. I still fight the occasional chicken wing and hook, but I very rarely slice the ball OB.

My transition from hitting the ball 270'ish with a slice and maintaining a 20 handicap, to 10 HC with occasional drives of 300+ and consistently between 275-285 was due to a better understanding of lag, weight transition, ball flight laws and more focus on maintaining contact in the center of the club face.

When I was a 20 HC, most of my penalties and careless strokes came from OB shots from the tee and fairway - not on or around the green because this is where I started my practice.

My advice to those struggling with their drives and irons is to either really read the advice given by Mike and Erik on this site and utilize the knowledge in your range time. Develop your own feels and exaggerate them greatly until you can replicate the swing you are wanting without thinking about it.

This is just a bunch of blabber, I realize that... but I really can't say what I am trying to say. I learned a lot here and I worked my ass off at the range while transferring the "data" that I had stored in my head into my muscle memory through lots of practice and repetition.

[hacker101]

I would say that I can put my drive about where you are Lihu but my second shot has become to inconcistant at this point. That is one issue that can be fixed with more range time and figuring why I have a push?

If I hit the green I am good,  par is no issue for the most part.

Seems my game has taken a bad turn the last few weeks due to this push.

[David in FL]

No.  I carry a driver about 235 (roll/total distance is too variable based on conditions to even mention) and my hcp index is 5.6 as of July 15....

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by David in FL

No.  I carry a driver about 235 (roll/total distance is too variable based on conditions to even mention) and my hcp index is 5.6 as of July 15....

Trade you distance for skill. lol

[mdl]

There was a short time when I was in this category (my best half of my last 20 rounds got down into the 88-92 range fairly quickly).  For me the biggest problem was spraying the driver.  I could of course easily hit the fairway and still miss the green with a wedge or hit it and 3-putt my way to a 5 or worse.  But I'd bet I averaged under bogey pretty early on on holes where I hit a solid drive in the fairway.  Costly holes were always the big sprays with the driver.

[iacas]

No.

:)

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

Trade you distance for skill. lol

It's sometimes surprising to players who think they're long hitters when I actually keep up with them pretty consistently......

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by David in FL

It's sometimes surprising to players who think they're long hitters when I actually keep up with them pretty consistently......

I would in no way be surprised. As I said, the guy I've played with the longest, hits his drives anywhere from 50-100 yards shorter than mine, but we go back and forth on wins.

[BostonBrew]

Distance and handicap aren't always linked.

Used to play with a guy, early 30s, 6'5" 250 lbs, former D1 Defensive End. Not a pretty swing, but he could hit a driver a looooonnggggg way (consistently drove it through one fairway that was 340 from the tips). And a lot of the time they were relatively straight. But once he got within 150 yards, he was terrible. Zero feel with wedges and distance control. With the putter in his hand, he looked like a 7 year old playing putt-putt for the first time.

So although I can be hesitant to believe all of the 300 yard carries that get posted on here, I'm not the type to say "no way, with that handicap?"

[Lihu]

I would say that I can put my drive about where you are Lihu but my second shot has become to inconcistant at this point. That is one issue that can be fixed with more range time and figuring why I have a push? If I hit the green I am good,  par is no issue for the most part. Seems my game has taken a bad turn the last few weeks due to this push.

I noticed at the last outing ;-))

[Lihu]

No. :)

Scratch golfers don't count. :-))

[Lihu]

It's sometimes surprising to players who think they're long hitters when I actually keep up with them pretty consistently......

A carry of 235 is pretty far. Plus you're a low single digit handicap, and don't count in this category. :-)

[hacker101]

Originally Posted by Lihu

I noticed at the last outing )

Did you ever think that was why our two groups were last?

They all knew we could not hit them with our drives..ha-ha.

[TourSpoon]

The obvious answer is to improve ballstrihing, but aide from that, the biggest thing that I think a high capper can do on the course to avoid the blow-up holes is to get out of trouble in one shot. Too often trouble is compounded into more trouble trying to make up for lost ground. Learn a reliable low punch for the trees, get out of the bunker in one, pitch or chip the ball using a high percentage club in a reasonable spot, and work on 3 putt avoidance.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Lihu

Okay, so I had been in various threads, where people doubt the distances you can drive because you have a high handicap. This is not surprising, because for a low handicapper to drive 300 yards on average they need almost perfect swing mechanics.

My normal drive is only about 220 carry, which usually translates to about 230 to 240 drive distances. So, I don't quite fall into this category. However, from most of the standard male tees on a par 4, I generally take my second shot somewhere in between the red and the white tees.

This is not really a thread about distance, but it is about having the ability to be close to the red stakes after every drive on your appropriate tees and still get an average of 5 or more strokes on a par 4.

What happened?

So, my question to each of you is what makes your approach shot so bad? or is it the ability to 4 putt? or is it chipping poorly? or is it OB? or something else?

The ground rules are to post only one fault at a time, so we might get some specific answers.

When and if a specific problem has been addressed and fixed, please post the results. It could be in the form of a dialog about a specific round or even a hole that went really well because of the fix made.

It would be interesting if we can get some low handicappers to chime in and fix some of these problems.

These days my tee shot is about 230 - might hit 260 if I really tag one, but as of the last time I played the handicap index was still under 13.  The last time I played was spring of 2012, and 3 of my first 6 scores were in the 70's.  The last 4 before I hung up the clubs were in the mid to high 80's. My last official index was 12.6.

I'll qualify that by saying that I never play the back tees on any course except maybe the Executive 9 (par 31) at my home facility.  On any full size course I usually play the middle tees because that is what my game is suited for.

[AmazingWhacker]

I don't keep a handicap but it would be more like 18 vs 20.

I definitely do not average 250+ . . but I can sometimes hit them 250+.  First off - there is a big difference between averaging 250 and hitting one or 2 250 yard drives per round.  Aside from that, several issues are keeping my handicap high.

Not in any real order . . .

1.  Driving accuracy  - I often find myself punching out sideways or with no shot to the green.

2.  Missing the approach - I miss the green more often than not - even from 100 yards.

3.  Poor chipping - After I miss my approach, I am usually just a short chip away . .but I fail to get it close more often than not.

4.  Flubs - even if everything else goes right - I find a way to flub a shot somewhere.  Tops, shanks, fat-chips, etc.

If I could address the above, I feel like I could probably shoot low 80's or better with only a 200 yard drive . .at least on the courses where I play (no forced carries, big slow greens, no fairway bunkers, etc).