I Thought I Was the Fastest Player, but Was I?

[bones75]

Today was my second day with a golf club in my hands since covid. Have some bad things happening in my game so I have 2 areas where some people *may* consider it to be slow play. 

    1. full swing pre-shot routine now has 2 practice swings and sometimes... a third! 😕  (but quick ones, in my mind)  

    2. In addition to three quick practice putting strokes, I stand over the putter for like a good 5-15 seconds before my final putting stroke (I'm looking up and down my line several times).

And to add to this, I'm rusty, not playing well, don't have the time to even hit a few balls before the round (young kids), and consequently have multiple blow up holes.

I think I'm usually a very fast player in general. When I'm alone on the course, I casually walk 18 in ~2:20. I will fairly quickly drop a ball as opposed to searching for it if my group is waiting on me, I'm always the first to tee off (simply because everyone else seems slow getting ready), and I always immediately start my pre-shot routine as soon as the last guy hits his shot (unless still walking up, like after a tee shot).

Went out as a single today and our group fell behind. In my mind, there was no doubt it was 2 guys that were the culprit and not me. Long searches for lost balls, diddling when it's their turn, reading putts only after it's their turn, etc.. I wanted to score well, but was also doing whatever I could to speed up our play, so long as I feel it didn't impact my routine. On the 14th, I was 150 out, hitting 4 on a par4 and one guy politely gave me the "Hey, I think we're falling behind" advisory as I was taking one of my *many* practice swings. I sped things up and blew up the already blown up hole.

We caught up on the next hole (we didn't get any faster, that's just where the traffic started) so wasn't a lingering issue.

1. Do you think I need to speed up my pre-shot routine

2. Does speeding up play in one area ever justify slowing it down in another?

 

[Double Mocha Man]

7 minutes ago, bones75 said:

1. Do you think I need to speed up my pre-shot routine

I'm probably the only person in the world that does this.  I step up to the ball immediately and take a half swing just to make sure no joints have locked up since the last shot.  Then I smack that puppy.  In my mind practice swings are never going to be replicated in the real swing anyway, so why take 'em?

[Papa Steve 55]

15 seconds standing over a putt after the practice strokes sounds very counter producive to me. Once i make a practice stroke that feels like what I want, I step forward the few inches and try and redo that stroke.

Edited June 13, 2020 by Papa Steve 55

[Vinsk]

6 minutes ago, bones75 said:

1. Do you think I need to speed up my pre-shot routine

2. Does speeding up play in one area ever justify slowing it down in another?

If you’re playing in a group and the group is not playing to pace it should be pretty obvious who’s causing the delays. No idea how fast/slow you’re pre-shot routine is.

If you’re keeping pace it really doesn’t matter. What has to be understood is pace and not time. So often I’ll see a twosome with a hole and a half between them and the foursome ahead and the twosome thinks they’re playing on time. 
 

Keep in mind if any part of your playing is slow, that’s what will be noticed regardless if you’re actually the fastest in the group.

[Double Mocha Man]

21 minutes ago, bones75 said:

2. Does speeding up play in one area ever justify slowing it down in another?

Whenever I eagle a par 5 I slow things down on the next tee as I'm writing down my score, asking everyone else as I'm about to take the tee, "Anybody beat a 3?" 😁

Even better is when you make a hole-in-one.  "Anybody beat a 1?"  

Edited June 13, 2020 by Double Mocha Man

[Yukari]

I am one of those people that do NOT take any practice swing when I play. 

I just never had a need for it.  I get tired swinging clubs trying to hit the ball.  I don't need extra workout. 🤣

I see many players take 3-5 practice swings on every shot and often hit a poor shot. That's a lot of swings over 18 holes.  Shoot I would be tired after nine!  LOL!

[Double Mocha Man]

2 minutes ago, Yukari said:

I am one of those people that do NOT take any practice swing when I play. 

I just never had a need for it.  I get tired swinging clubs trying to hit the ball.  I don't need extra workout. 🤣

I see many players take 3-5 practice swings on every shot and often hit a poor shot. That's a lot of swings over 18 holes.  Shoot I would be tired after nine!  LOL!

I call it "Noodle arms".

[Buckeyebowman]

27 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I'm probably the only person in the world that does this.  I step up to the ball immediately and take a half swing just to make sure no joints have locked up since the last shot.  Then I smack that puppy.  In my mind practice swings are never going to be replicated in the real swing anyway, so why take 'em?

This also reminds me of the guys who drop another ball after a missed shot. What's the point? You need to do it the first time! 

26 minutes ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

15 seconds standing over a putt after the practice strokes sounds very counter producive to me. Once i make a practice stroke that feels like what I want, I step forward the few inches and try and redo that stroke.

Yep! Sounds like you might freeze up over the ball. I learned a long time ago to trust my instincts as to read, and go with my first impression. That works better for me. Find your line, make two practice strokes, then step up and make the putt! 

[David in FL]

You’re not the fastest, but you’re welcome to play in my group anytime!  

[bkuehn1952]

1 hour ago, bones75 said:

1.. Do you think I need to speed up my pre-shot routine

2. Does speeding up play in one area ever justify slowing it down in another?

1. I suspect you spend some time evaluating the lie, getting the yardage, determining the line.  And take three practice swings.  That seems like it might take some time.

2. Maybe some are not bothered by slow aspects and then fast in others.  It would bother me.  My preference would be a decent pace in most aspects like pre-shot, walking, etc...Taking 45 seconds on the pre-shot and then running to the green doesn't work for me.

[bones75]

26 minutes ago, bkuehn1952 said:

1. I suspect you spend some time evaluating the lie, getting the yardage, determining the line.  And take three practice swings.  That seems like it might take some time.

I wasn't counting club selection, yardages, lie evaluations, green reads etcc in my pre-shot routine. 

For putting, it's 15-25 seconds* after the guy putted before me.  The longer the putt, the longer it takes for me to make any last minute adjustments in line. However, the 5-15 second pause which I'm now doing does feel like a lot of "required silence time" I demand from my group. This as opposed to the guy who also takes 20 seconds to putt, but you only need to hold still and be quiet for the last 5 seconds.

I also don't do this pause when I feel comfortable w a putter (playing regularly). But every time I'm shaking off rust, I get like this again.

1 hour ago, Yukari said:

I just never had a need for it.  I get tired swinging clubs trying to hit the ball.  I don't need extra workout. 🤣

 

They aren't full swings at all. Feels like 25% effort swings. Just making sure the wheels are on the right rails. But they do take time.. about 25 seconds for the whole routine* (no more than 30)  Again, I don't do this when I feel comfortable, but can't stop it when I'm shaking off some rust.  In fact.. I typically want to do more, I just stop at 3 maximum because of time pressure.

I only felt my routine was 5-10 seconds longer than everyone else's, but that's just because I thought they were pretty fast when standing over the ball. They just took their time getting there.

When you've hit twice already on a par 4 and still have 150 in (and took a penalty), in hindsight I should've stopped w/ the practice swings. But I often then do what I did today on that hole: poor approach 10 yds short, ran up to the green because they were all waiting for me, fatted a chip, and two putt for snowman... But i don't see a better alternative.  

*I just timed my routines

Edited June 14, 2020 by bones75

[FlyingAce]

I don’t do practice swings anymore unless I am on an uneven lie. When I used to do practice swings, they were always perfect but I could never reproduce the same swing when the ball is in the way. So I have decided not to waste my good swings anymore.

Edited June 14, 2020 by FlyingAce

[dennyjones]

7 minutes ago, FlyingAce said:

So I have decided not to waste my good swings anymore.

Love this... We have a finite number of good swings!  😄    

[dagolfer18]

Do you think you play better with a faster pace? I’d say try a faster pace one round, and if you don’t play better, stick with your current routine. I personally take one practice swing, max. Usually, when I get to my ball, it’s usually in the air within 20 seconds. That means I can get around in about 2:40 when I don’t have to wait on anybody in front of me.

[bones75]

37 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

Love this... We have a finite number of good swings!  😄    

One of my old boss's said that's why he doesn't go to the range. "Why waste your good swings there?"

He wasn't an impressive golfer.

 

[Buckeyebowman]

22 hours ago, dagolfer18 said:

Do you think you play better with a faster pace? I’d say try a faster pace one round, and if you don’t play better, stick with your current routine. I personally take one practice swing, max. Usually, when I get to my ball, it’s usually in the air within 20 seconds. That means I can get around in about 2:40 when I don’t have to wait on anybody in front of me.

I know that I do. I can't stand slow play. Whether from the group in front of me or from members of my own group! I have a buddy who is on the slow side, and it gets worse if he is not playing well. One time, he was fussing around, taking forever, when I stepped up and hit my shot even though I was not away. He yells, "Hey! What the hell are you doing?" I yelled back, "Playing ready golf. What the hell are you doing besides taking forever?!" 

To tell you the truth, I sometimes think he does this on purpose because he knows I hate slow play! 

[Mr22putt]

On 6/13/2020 at 6:53 PM, FlyingAce said:

I don’t do practice swings anymore unless I am on an uneven lie. When I used to do practice swings, they were always perfect but I could never reproduce the same swing when the ball is in the way. So I have decided not to waste my good swings anymore.

Hi Ace:

This is so true....in all my practice swings including chips and pitch shot my practice swings are great....perfectly sweeping the ground only to chunk most real shots....ugh....I'm such a MENTAL MIDGET.

So how have you been playing?....I haven't heard of any DRAMA stories now that you're playing Paako more often....any good gems to share?

Our June weather has been brutal....rainy, cold and windy.....standing water on the courses and no roll out....my game is OK....in the last 6 rds I've had 9 holes under 40 (35-39) but can't replicate it on the other 9 holes.

It's been frustrating lately...either paired up with or playing behind really slow and lousy old couples that really have no business playing a regular length course.....lousy etiquette too....all rds over 4.5 hours.....very rare here to play under 4 hrs.....blah. 

Edited June 15, 2020 by Mr22putt

[Bonvivant]

On 6/13/2020 at 7:29 PM, bones75 said:

and I always immediately start my pre-shot routine as soon as the last guy hits his shot (unless still walking up, like after a tee shot).

Your pre-shot routine should start before your partners ball is in the air. So often I see players who watch their playing partner's whole ball flight, pause for a second, then get out their gps or start thinking about club selection. Particularly if you are "behind" (left of a righty, right of a lefty) them, you can even start your practice swings while they are doing their thing. The ball could leave your club-face 5 seconds after theirs instead of 40.

 

On 6/13/2020 at 7:29 PM, bones75 said:

In addition to three quick practice putting strokes, I stand over the putter for like a good 5-15 seconds before my final putting stroke (I'm looking up and down my line several times).

This seems unnecessary and could potential be taken as rude, especially if you are falling behind the group in front of you. As much as we all love golf, we don't want to be on the course forever (unless we are playing 54 a day). Does this habit have a lower (short putts) limit? If not, I would be pretty frustrated on your 3 putts.

 

I've found that in slow groups, it isn't one person that takes up all the time. It's usually a combination of variables ranging from shagging balls to plumb-bobbing every putt. On occasion, I have seen a single player make a group slow, but that is much more rare.

On 6/13/2020 at 7:29 PM, bones75 said:

1. Do you think I need to speed up my pre-shot routine

2. Does speeding up play in one area ever justify slowing it down in another?

1. I think you should. I know you want to play well, but overthinking/standing over the ball may be hurting you more than helping.

2. I don't think so. I once played with a guy that had a golfbike that had been motorized. He was always first to his ball, but didn't play ready golf. He wouldn't do a thing before everyone farther away hit. Then he would take 1:30 to play his shot. Sure, his traveling was quite fast, but it didn't do a dang thing for his pace of play. There is a 40 second clause in the rules, but it is a "should" rule, so it isn't hard and fast.