My stats - what would you work on ? - Page 2

Cool story.     It was simply a compliment to go along with a little criticism.  Nobody is saying he should fit his stats to his handicap.  Short game technique correction is not just treating a symptom, it is a cause as well, unless you hit every green or hole every approach.  That is a bad metaphor for this.  Ultimately, a little technique correction on the short game up front can make the game more fun to play while you focus more time on your long game.  Not everyone has the time or money to do this though.  I went from a 15+ to a 4.5 in two years by hitting a cut in play, hacking it up by the green and getting up and down.  I probably was more effective than a lot of other people focusing on their long game for that stretch of time.  I did not take a single lesson during that period, because I did not have the time.    All I had the time for was to get up at 5:00 am and play nine holes before work as I was going through a job transition.  Sure what Erik is saying it the best way, but it cannot always be done that way at first.  It is not quick nor is it the cheapest, which makes sense that it is the best.   My first post was bad, oh well.  You'll get over it. 

You're right about it not just being a symptom, obviously nobody is hitting every green.  And your original advice is not wrong ... I even said so in the first sentence of my first post! :))

I just wanted to reiterate to the OP that neglecting the long game at the expense of the short game is not going to get him very far in the long run.  (That's why I thought Harmonious said it best originally)

Two schools of thought here:

1) Lower GIR's and you'll score better.

2) Improve short game/putting and you'll score better.

Both are true. To lower your score quicker, work on the short game/putting. To lower your score more permanently and to become a better golfer overall, work on your long game. 

What I mean is, with your current ball striking, you are leaving a lot of strokes out there. On a typical round, you hit 6 greens. Let's say that equates to 13 putts (5 two-putts and 1 three-putt). On the other 12 holes that you don't hit the green, you take 22 putts. That means you hardly ever get up-and-down! If you do nothing else but improve your short game so that you average 12 putts for your 6 GIR's and get up-and-down 40% (not an unrealistic goal at your current handicap), you will have dropped your total putts to 31 (12 for GIR's and 19 for non-GIR's).  That's 4 less strokes per round.

Improving your long game will help all other areas.  Your GIR's will increase and you will be hitting it closer to the hole so your up-and-downs should improve. But you don't have an adequate short game/putter (your stats would seem to show) and that is something you can improve in a relatively short period of time and see the benefits.