Broke 80! Now How Do I Do It Consistently?

[GeorgeHiggins]

Hey!! I just broke 80 yesterday!! I’d like to be consistently in the seventies by the end of the summer for my high school fall season. Any suggestions and practice drills would be awesome!

[MarvChamp]

@GeorgeHiggins congratulations! That is a great achievement! Others will tell you about technical golf swing stuff, but don't forget to have a pro take you out on the course for course management lessons to lay a foundation. That was all part of the deal when I started years ago. And maybe learn how not to think of yourself when playing. Best wishes from an old duffer, -Marv

[jmanbooyaa]

That is terrific. Congrats. Keep it going. 

[dennyjones]

Welcome to TST.   

Quote

Any suggestions and practice drills would be awesome!

During your practice rounds, play worst ball, the worst shot of two.    There are lots of very good videos here on the forum.   Good luck

[Patch]

C.Congrats, and welcome to TST. 

My suggestion for consistency is to identify, and practice on the weaker parts of your game. 

Also, even if your weaknesses are not in your short game, don't neglect that part of your game either.

[David in FL]

Congrats, and welcome to TST!  

[saevel25]

On ‎5‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 10:01 AM, GeorgeHiggins said:

I’d like to be consistently in the seventies by the end of the summer for my high school fall season. Any suggestions and practice drills would be awesome!

Get specific golf instruction for your swing.

If you don't have a decent instructor near you then try Evolvr.

There is no singular drill that will make you break 80 all the time.

[klineka]

On 5/18/2019 at 10:58 AM, MarvChamp said:

@GeorgeHiggins congratulations! That is a great achievement! Others will tell you about technical golf swing stuff, but don't forget to have a pro take you out on the course for course management lessons to lay a foundation. That was all part of the deal when I started years ago. And maybe learn how not to think of yourself when playing. Best wishes from an old duffer, -Marv

If you can break 80 there's a good chance you already have a solid foundation and understand at least some of the basics of course management. 

I disagree that a playing lesson is the right way to go.

 

[Piz]

Nice going and welcome.  

[David in FL]

One thing that you will likely discover, is that now that you’ve broken through that milestone for the first time, it’ll be much easier to do so again...

As to what to work on...full swing ball-striking is what gets GIR, and those are what will get you consistently into the 70’s. 

[gbogey]

Congrats - Two Thoughts:

1. Come up with some sort of stat keeping system or use an online software to do so. It will help you identify what to work on.
2. Not the only guide out there but this article helped me. Yes, the title is ridiculous but if you change it to How to Break 80 in 6 steps I think the 6 steps are pretty universal in becoming a sub 80's player.      
   

   How to Break 80: Your Six Week Plan to a Lifetime of Low Scores

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   Your plan to finally break 80 requires you to do a number of things, the first of which is to accept that striking the ball like Ben Hogan and knocking...

[saevel25]

12 minutes ago, gbogey said:

Congrats - Two Thoughts:

1. Come up with some sort of stat keeping system or use an online software to do so. It will help you identify what to work on.
2. Not the only guide out there but this article helped me. Yes, the title is ridiculous but if you change it to How to Break 80 in 6 steps I think the 6 steps are pretty universal in becoming a sub 80's player.      
   

   How to Break 80: Your Six Week Plan to a Lifetime of Low Scores

   ---

   Your plan to finally break 80 requires you to do a number of things, the first of which is to accept that striking the ball like Ben Hogan and knocking...

That article is so old they didn't maintain the videos.

[gbogey]

4 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

That article is so old they didn't maintain the videos.

Sorry about that.  I have a copy at home that I should be able to scan and post.

[DaveP043]

On 5/18/2019 at 10:01 AM, GeorgeHiggins said:

Hey!! I just broke 80 yesterday!! I’d like to be consistently in the seventies by the end of the summer for my high school fall season. Any suggestions and practice drills would be awesome!

Congratulations, and welcome to TST!   Please feel free to contribute whenever and wherever you see something interesting.

I'd be interested to find out what made this round different and better than your normal round.  I know that most of my "good" rounds come when I consistently strike the ball well.  That keeps me in play, minimizes penalties, and gets me close to the green in regulation almost every time.  Occasionally my short game and putting will produce a good score when my ballstriking is sub-standard, but that's pretty rare.  My BEST scores come when my ballstriking, chipping, and putting is all really good.

So for you, I'd suggest the same approach.  Improve your ballstriking, your full swing shots.  Tee shots in play (and longer is better as long as its in play), second shots on or near the green, its hard to make a bad score on a hole when you do those two things well. Second, short game shots should ALWAYS end up on the green, two-chips are bad.  Last, putting, make your share of 5 and 6 footers, and minimize 3-putts when you're further away.

Last, you can learn a whole lot by reading Lowest Score Wins.

Lowest Score Wins - Shoot Lower Scores on the Golf Course NOW

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Shoot lower scores on the golf course… NOW!

This isn't swing instruction, but more about all kinds of decisions.  Evaluating your game and deciding what to practice, and deciding which shot to try on the course, along with lots more.

[GeorgeHiggins]

Update:

78 today! Thank you guys for your tips. It definitely is a lot easier the second time. I was trying to focus on playing the least stressful shot every time, and it seemed to help! I was hitting everything really well except the putter (36 putts  :P  ). Will definitely keep grinding this summer and hopefully we can get there by August!

 

Edited May 25, 2019 by GeorgeHiggins

[Buckeyebowman]

On 5/21/2019 at 8:54 AM, klineka said:

If you can break 80 there's a good chance you already have a solid foundation and understand at least some of the basics of course management. 

I disagree that a playing lesson is the right way to go.

 

Let's not lose sight of the fact that this may be an outlier! The man has no handicap index listed, so we don't know how he "usually" scores. But I do agree that there's no reason for a playing lesson. Get on the tee! A pro can tell you a lot. Well, a good pro!

Edited May 28, 2019 by Buckeyebowman

[GeorgeHiggins]

14 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Let's not lose sight of the fact that this may be an outlier! The man has no handicap index listed, so we don't know how he "usually" scores. But I do agree that there's no reason for a playing lesson. Get on the tee! A pro can tell you a lot. Well, a good pro!

I'd say I stay under 90 95% of the time. according to GolfLogix, my handicap index is about 9 or 10. Currently my putting and driving are pretty iffy. Irons are ok. Could be a bit better. I think for putting I'm just having temporary yips. They should be better in a week or two. If I could keep driver in the fairway closer to 10 or 11 times, that would help a lot.

[Shindig]

5 minutes ago, GeorgeHiggins said:

If I could keep driver in the fairway closer to 10 or 11 times, that would help a lot.

That depends on where the ball goes when you miss the fairway.  In the trees?  Yeah, that's a problem.  In the rough?  Not as big a problem, unless you're playing in the U.S. Open or something.