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THE plateau....

thedub

By thedub,
in Instruction and Playing Tips

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thedub Established Member

thedub

Well, recently i have noticed that my scores have been very similar(91, 88, 85, 88, 91)...which to me is pretty similar(for the most part). I can not seem to break the high 80s plateau...it sucks. I tell myself to keep perservering and practicing, but my question to you all is...what did you do to overcome the dreaded PLATEAU in your golf game????

In my Xtreme II carry bag:

Mizuno Driver
MacGregor 3Wood
Taylormade Rescue Hybrid 3i CG Gold Graphite Irons (4-PW) 52* CG14 wedge Vokey 56* Sand Wedge Vokey 60* Lob Wedge 33" Newport

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four1seven Established Member

four1seven

Practice practice play play play


That's me, I've been at 84, 85, 88, 91, 84, 83, etc... I just shot a 75 today. =]

I play as much as possible and practice as much as possible. Chip in the yard, put in the house, (I putt a nickel on the hard wood floor, just to keep stroke consistincy up. It keeps your head down and the club a nickels' width at most above the ground.) I go to the course early before playing and putt && chip.

But I play as much as possible. =] 2 rounds on Saturdays, 1 Round monday, 1 round tuesday, 1 thursday, and back to saturday. =]

"Everything will be ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not the end."

Started playing - April 25th, 2008

In my bag: FT-5 Neutral Driver 9° 990B Irons Rifle Flighted Shafts (3-PW) Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Midslant Vokey wedges 252*08,256*12 and 260*04 PROV1xSequoyah National - A Robert Trent...

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Richie3Jack Well Established Member

Richie3Jack

I'd suggest working on your short game. I'm willing to bet that about half of your shots come from your short game and it's probably easier to drastically improve that area in your game over learning how to hit the ball better.

Plus, a lot of the principles in chip and pitch shots can be used in the full golf swing. So if you master the chip and pitch shot technique, it should help your full golf swing as well.




3JACK
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kurtwainwright Established Member

kurtwainwright

Practice practice play play play

Holy crap man! Don't you work?? Have kids? No wonder my handicap is a 21... I play MAYBE 3 or 4 times per MONTH!

What's in My Bag?

Driver: 10.5° KZG SP-700 with Fujikura SIX Regular Flex Shaft | 2h: Adams A7OS Stiff | 3h: Adams A3OS Stiff | 4h: Nike Slingshot Steel | 5i-PW: Adams A2OS | Sand Wedge: Cleveland CG14 56° 3-dot | Lob Wedge: Cleveland CG15 60° 3-dot | Putter: Fisher CTS-9 Polyurethane Face
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Finn07 Dedicated Member

Finn07

Work on your short game. The majority of your shots during your round come with the wedges and putter. Become great with them and your scores will drop dramatically.
Driver-Taylor Made R7 460cc 10.5* Fujikara REAX Stiff
Fairway Wood-Taylor Made R7 Draw 15* Fujikara REAX Stiff
Hybrid Taylor Made 19* Rescue Mid Steel Stiff
4-PW-Golfsmith G40 TT Lite XL Stiff
GW-Ben Hogan Riviera 8* Bounce 50*SW-Ben Hogan Riviera Medium Bounce 56*LW-Cleveland 60* 588 ChromePutter-Taylo...
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four1seven Established Member

four1seven

Holy crap man! Don't you work?? Have kids? No wonder my handicap is a 21... I play MAYBE 3 or 4 times per MONTH!

I work 6 p.m. - 2 a.m. =] So I have time for golf.

"Everything will be ok in the end. If it's not ok, it's not the end."

Started playing - April 25th, 2008

In my bag: FT-5 Neutral Driver 9° 990B Irons Rifle Flighted Shafts (3-PW) Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Midslant Vokey wedges 252*08,256*12 and 260*04 PROV1xSequoyah National - A Robert Trent...

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thedub Established Member

thedub

  • Author
Work on your short game. The majority of your shots during your round come with the wedges and putter. Become great with them and your scores will drop dramatically.

i thought that could have been a problem...so short game work i is i guess....hopefully i can get better!!

I guess when you average 34.67 putts a round that could be a problem(thats my BIGGEST problem--judging putt speed)

In my Xtreme II carry bag:

Mizuno Driver
MacGregor 3Wood
Taylormade Rescue Hybrid 3i CG Gold Graphite Irons (4-PW) 52* CG14 wedge Vokey 56* Sand Wedge Vokey 60* Lob Wedge 33" Newport

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Lbob Well Established Member

Lbob

The advice about the short game is right on the money. Do you keep stats? If so look at how many up-and-downs you average during a round. You probably hit from 4 to 6 greens in regulation so getting up and downs will save you a lot of shots. Pelz says that the distance from 100 yards in is the scoring zone and he's right. A couple of weeks back I had a really frustrating round. Could make good contact with my full swings, was standing up on iron shots, even had a couple of shanks, the whole nine yards. But my wedge was on fire. Case in point on how it can help. On a par five I hit a mediocre drive, stand up on the second shot and hit is about 100 yards, then damn near miss my third shot. Now I'm in iron range an so I proceed to chunk one. I'm lying 4 and I'm still 40 yards off. I pick up my sand wedge and put the ball 1 inch from the pin. I make a bogey instead of a double. That day I had 6 up-and-downs. Thats the difference between 84 (my score) and the 90 I could easily have shot. Practice the wedge, chipping and the old putter.

Robert Reid

In the bag:

Driver Cobra M/F Speed3 Cleveland LauncherCleveland Halo 2i Nike CPR 23 degree5-PW Mizuno MX 23 (graphite shafts)56 degree SW Mizuno MT

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young_gun_921 Member

young_gun_921

i hate to interfere with this thread, and i know what your saying about the plateau. its tough to improve. but i am trying to start a new thread and cant seem to do it. when i click on it, it says i dont have permission or something? whats wrong?

in my J-bag
DRIVER HS 9 8.5*
WOODS Pro Trajectory 980F 13* and 19*
IRONS MP-32
WEDGES Vokey Design Oil Can 52* 56* 60*PUTTER Scotty Cameron Studio Stainless Newport 2

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DavidFehertysBike Great Member

DavidFehertysBike

Like many have said, the shortgame is where you can improve and lower scores. Your ballstriking never improves beyond a certain point (the USGA says within 3 years of playing is about is good as a ballstriker as you're ever going to be) But you can always be a better putter or chipper, even when you're 75 years old.
THE WEAPONS CACHE..

Titleist 909 D2 9.5 Degree Driver| Titleist 906f4 13.5 degree 3-Wood | Titleist 909 17 & 21 degree hybrid | Titleist AP2 irons
Titleist Vokey Wedges - 52 & 58 | Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport 2 Putter | ProV1 Ball
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Avid Golfer Dedicated Member

Avid Golfer

Like many have said, the shortgame is where you can improve and lower scores. Your ballstriking never improves beyond a certain point (the USGA says within 3 years of playing is about is good as a ballstriker as you're ever going to be) But you can always be a better putter or chipper, even when you're 75 years old.

I disagree with the statements that the short game can

always be inproved, that ball striking never improves beyond a certain point, and that a person reaches their maximum potential after 3 years of playing. Look at the putting stats the best players do for a season is 1.7 putts per GIR. http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/wm3.html?104 (jump to different years and you will see it says around 1.7 for the best putters). You're not going to make every putt you have (mechanics, break, reading of break, green condition, and changes in green speed among many other things will all limit the amount of putts you make). Lies of chips, pitches, bunker shots, green contour, and green speed are going to prevent you for getting up and down every time (day after day, week after week, etc) you miss a green. I've seen both young and old players that have played for far longer than three years improve their ball stiking. The golf swing isn't a magical thing. The swing is governed by the laws of science: including physics, and biomechanics. Anyone who improves his/her setup can eaisly gain ball striking improvements very quickly. Enter your rounds at golfdigestchallenge.com's statistic section and you'll see that both the long and short game can change.
Well, recently i have noticed that my scores have been very similar(91, 88, 85, 88, 91)...which to me is pretty similar(for the most part). I can not seem to break the high 80s plateau...it sucks. I tell myself to keep perservering and practicing, but my question to you all is...what did you do to overcome the dreaded PLATEAU in your golf game????

I've seen my major improvements come from two main things: better understanding of the way the swing works, and from improved setup fundamentals.

In my bag:

Driver: Burner TP 8.5*
Fairway metals/woods: Burner TP 13* Tour Spoon, and Burner TP 17.5*
Irons: RAC MB TP Wedges: RAC TPPutter: Spider Ball: (varies ) (Most of the time): TP Red or HX Tour/56---------------------------------------------------

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tm22721 Dedicated Member

tm22721

Originally Posted by thedub Well, recently i have noticed that my scores have been very similar(91, 88, 85, 88, 91)...which to me is pretty similar(for the most part). I can not seem to break the high 80s plateau...it sucks. I tell myself to keep perservering and practicing, but my question to you all is...what did you do to overcome the dreaded PLATEAU in your golf game????

Keep trying because persistence pays off. Yesterday I had a eureka moment when I discovered that my fat shots were occurring because I was not staying behind the ball. I then shot par on the next three consecutive holes something I have never done before. A tremendous confidence boost.

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sonicblue Great Member

sonicblue

I'm going to go a slightly different route on advice, hoping it triggers something. Yes, short game can be improved, always can, but I'm wondering if there are some other "big nuts" to be cracked....

Game management: how 'realistic' are you in your shot selection? This is speaking from my own experience, I find that we amateurs tend to be overly optimistic on our long shots and very pessimistic on our short shots - completely opposite of logic. For example, you're in the fairway on a par 5. We'll look at the long approach and believe we can cut a 3-wood 240 yards to the green. The result is usually, or commonly, we'll skull/top/overswing/shank the 3-wood, and take one, or even two, more shots to get near the green. Once greenside, however, we'll look at a simple bump-and-run and think, 'just get it up there somewhere,' and often dink it up and then have to two-putt. BAM - bogey or double.

Instead, that 3-wood approach should probably turn into a 6-iron layup. Then, a wedge either gets you to the green or leaves you greenside (laying 3). But now, narrow your focus on either your first putt or that bump-and-run: it's just tapping the ball and rolling it on, aim for the hole!

The moral is: think to yourself, "how often do I allow the big number to enter the picture with my shot choice?" Sometimes, it is simply one bad decision, which leads to more. Change that decision, take the big number out of play and play smart. I think you'll find your confidence increases greatly when you decide to play smart shots, execute them and keep the doubles off your card.

Nothing in the swing is done at the expense of balance.

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thedub Established Member

thedub

  • Author
I'm going to go a slightly different route on advice, hoping it triggers something. Yes, short game can be improved, always can, but I'm wondering if there are some other "big nuts" to be cracked....

i've been thinking about this more often...and trying to do what you were describing. I appreciate all the help, and yesterday i shot an 85...with no doubles thru 16, then doubled the last two...dang!

In my Xtreme II carry bag:

Mizuno Driver
MacGregor 3Wood
Taylormade Rescue Hybrid 3i CG Gold Graphite Irons (4-PW) 52* CG14 wedge Vokey 56* Sand Wedge Vokey 60* Lob Wedge 33" Newport

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sonicblue Great Member

sonicblue

i've been thinking about this more often...and trying to do what you were describing. I appreciate all the help, and yesterday i shot an 85...with no doubles thru 16, then doubled the last two...dang!

Glad to hear it! Keep improving!

Nothing in the swing is done at the expense of balance.

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mikelz Great Member

mikelz

Holy crap man! Don't you work?? Have kids? No wonder my handicap is a 21... I play MAYBE 3 or 4 times per MONTH!

I'm with you. I play so infrequently that I've forgotten what a smart play is.

Best, Mike Elzey

In my bag:
Driver: Cleveland Launcher 10.5 stiff
Woods: Ping ISI 3 and 5 - metal stiffIrons: Ping ISI 4-GW - metal stiffSand Wedges: 1987 Staff, 1987 R-90Putter: two ball - black bladeBall: NXT Tour"I think what I said is right but maybe not.""If you know so much, why are you...

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So Long BaLL Member

So Long BaLL

As others have said, short game is key to lowering your scores. Over 65% of your shots (maybe more) will come from within 100 yards. So practice hitting your wedges from 100 yards and in. Also work on putting a lot. I know it gets boring, but You will be happy with the results.
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Note: This thread is 5807 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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