How to break that 70 bench mark!

Hey guys, Im from up in the pacific northwest and am currently a 6 handicap. I have played golf since I was 4 and have never took a lesson, haven't played competitively, just recreationally. I just got done playing college baseball and football so fortunately the two sports correlate into golf really easily.

I hit my driver 330, 5 Iron 195, PW 150, so I have the distance part of the game down. I really have to focus on my control aspect of the game. Rare 3 putts, I tend to have a slice time to time but that's a quick fix. I mean I can get to most par 5's in two strokes and am close to or am eagle putting. I just cant figure out what I need to focus on into breaking 70. I have the tools the confidence, everything to do it. I am currently hitting the driving range 5 times a weekends and on the course twice a week working on my game and for some reason I just cant break that 70 bench mark.

I just need some kind of guidance to get to me to that next level. I am super competitive with my self and want to be a consistent scratch golfer. I've had countless people I've played with tell me I have the tools to play competitively but I just can't overcome myself? I don't know what it is. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

......GO HAWKS.

Post a swing video. You can find the requirements here http://thesandtrap.com/t/38240/my-swing-video-threads-rules-please-read

Side note. How do baseball and football translate to golf easily?

Well a baseball swing all starts at your feet with balance, the main component. & when you swing a baseball bat, its an inside out swing. How can it not translate to golf? Staying through the ball through impact creating drive and spin. Try and take a soccer player and teach her/him golf. It will be 1000x harder to understand the game. I will upload a video though.

You mean like Rory or Sergio?

Exactly. But lets take a Rory, but he didn't play golf, winning ametuer championships at the age of 14, lets imagine didn't play golf competitively until the age of 24 and just started picking up the clubs after his college soccer career was. Does that help you?

The reason I mentioned it is because a baseball type motion is generally not regarded as conducive to a good golf swing.

that's 2 out of 200,000,000 who have played. If you took all those soccer players and started them from scratch next to 10,000 good baseball players I gaurentee success. just looking for help, not you're soccer input..lol

I agree. Most (former) MLB players that are really good at golf were pitchers.

yeah I know, but it translates and is comparative. and yes the pitchers are good at golf because they are long and are mentally more stable lol

Hit 10-12 greens in regulation, get up and down 50% of the time, and sink some putts ;)

With your handicap of 6 you have a less than a 1/2 % chance of breaking 70. So you definitely need to improve your overall game and the ability to just play golf better on the course.

To really get your game solid, I would look at buying "Lowest Score Wins". It's a golf book that delves into many aspects of the game. The sections on game planning and how to work your way around the course will really help your game. If you start throwing in OB's from wayward drives you are really hampering your ability to score well. You might be good enough to shoot single digit, but breaking 70 would be a very difficult feat to achieve.

I think that's just because pitchers don't have to play every day. More down time for golf.

Ok guys, back on topic please.

This is not a thread about baseball players going to golf ;) I actually believe there was a lengthy discussion in a thread elsewhere about that topic.

Greens, greens, and more greens, along with decent putting.

Every time I have broken 70 it has been with no fewer than 14 greens in regulation (and the one time I did it with 14 I had good scrambling with a chip-in and only 1 bogey).

look at a score card and identify 6 holes that are the easiest by handicap rating, these holes are the ones your need to play agressively at in hopes of birdieing. Next identify the 6 tougheest holes, these you must par. Its importent to respect the difficulty of these holes, even though you may not see them as difficult. Aim for the center of the fairway or put yourself in a great angle to the green, over club if you must to ensure that your ball ends up in the center of the green for a 2 putt....and par these 6 holes. If you are hitting your driver 330 yards, less than 1% of all golfers in the world, your handcap should be a lot less than 6 for a 6300-6600 yard course. I hit my driver 100 yards less and have broken 70 numerous times of my course thats rated 73.5 @ 6400 yards Leave your driver in the bag at the driving range, same with the putter. If what you say is accurate with a 330 yard drives, your 5 iron distance is way off. 195 yards should be 7 or 8 iron. its your approach shots that need help for more pars and birdies.

That's what I was thinking. That can't be your 5 iron distance. Heck my drives are only about 290-310 (in Colorado) but my 5 iron is 200-205 yds. As other have said GIR of at least 14 is needed to break 70. I have not broken 70 myself but came close a few times. Shot 71 and 73 a couple of times each. And each I those times my GIR was at least 12 with a few birdies and a few bogeys.

A slightly different take, since I'm obviously not breathing the rarefied air that the rest of you play in.  70 isn't just a benchmark, it's the Crown Jewel, the Mt. Everest of Amateur golf.  99% of us will never even sniff it, much less cross that line.  My personal best is one over par 73, it happened 26 years ago and it's never been matched, and it's going to have to live as the one real sports highlight of my not terribly athletic life.

For most of us there are 3 benchmarks.  100 for the obvious reason that it has pretty much always been the golfer's first goal.  90, because that translates to beating bogey on most full size golf courses.  Then 80, because it's the last realistic target for most amateurs.

For most of us, 70 is the carrot that dangles forever out of our reach.  The harder we try to touch it, the farther away it seems to be.  For that reason I give it a significantly higher status than just a benchmark.  To all who have reached that goal, I salute you.

Naah...

The pitchers are good because they have 4 days off between starts and can play more golf....