High Handicappers-The Tee Shot

[Brakkus]

Would anyone agree with me that the tee shot is probably the most important shot for those in the 20-28 range?

It sets the whole tone for the round and each individual hole.Where I would make a 6 OR A 5 on a long hole if I screw the tee shot then your'e in trouble OB or a much bigger distance away even if you manage to hold the fairway after a topped shot,then it can easily be a 7 or 8.

Never mind the short game or approach shots it's only now after gaining some swing consistency that I can set myself up for a bogey hole.

All the advice on course management won't be worth anything unless you can put the ball in play.I put as much time into mastering the longer clubs in my bag as I do wedges.

Anyone else find this?

[JCDot33]

I was taught the game from green to tee ... the old addage "drive for show, putt for dough" is my motto. Realistically your driver, at most, accounts for 14 to 16 shots on a course (most of the time it's more like 12). While your putts can account for up to 36 strokes per round.

Now, I agree with you about starting off OB is a bitch, but, until you are comfortable with your driver why not take 3W, 5W or Hybrid off the tee - no one says you HAVE to use a driver on every hole that isn't a par 3.

When it comes to course management you have to think more than just "grip and rip (and in my case, pray)". For example: if you know that you are dead solid at 150 yards get yourself to that 150 yard mark (in the case of a 370 yard par 4 that's a 220 yard drive and for me, that's not a driver off the tee, it's more like a solid 5W/3I-ish). If you have a 340 yard par 4 dogleg left/right club yourself to the cusp of the dogleg instead of trying to rip your driver and fade/draw it around the corner.

Last year, when I started to "think" myself around the course more, I scored better. I know that at 150 I am deadly with my 8I (I can do almost anything with it that I want to) so on some short par 4's (as much as I would love to show off and try and drive a green, which usually ends up going horribly wrong) I hit 5i, 8i, putt for bird.

What it comes down to is that you really need to play to your strengths, find your strongest shot and form your game around that one aspect that you are truely comfortable with until you become comfortable in all aspects of your game.

[kuteazn1]

I agree about not hitting driver on every shot...
but I also believe in just getting out of the box so you can have a good second shot
I have played with many that can not hit a driver out of the box but still they try
for me, I start off first hole with a 3W if struck well I will hit my driver second hole, and that will determine if I will be using my driver often or not, on wide or narrow fairways,

If you can not get of the box safely you are in for a rough ride for the hole or the entire course... I like the green to tee idea but if you can't get out of the box how can you get to the green... think about that...

So I practice a lot with my driver and 3w, my driver is about 30 yards farther then my 3w and at times I rather hit my 3w to know that I can have a chance at birdie instead of hitting one bad...

remember there is a lot of statagy to golf, but the first thing in golf is getting out of the box safely... accomphish that then concentrate on you putting... because if you can hit your driver and 3 wood the rest of the clubs will come with out thinking, besides the wedges... because that is all fee...

good luck to all and hit em striaght

[PiKapp23]

I do believe that the tee shot is critical for higher handicap players because they do not possess the skills to recover as well. Without good tee shots a player can quickly become very frustrated and the game often gets worse after that because of the frustration. As a player gets better the short game and putting become more important, but I think it's very important to be able to get off the tee and in play. This doesn't mean long tee shots - it simply means in play with a comfortable approach distance from there (even if it's 220 yards left on par 4, you can play it like a par 5). When I was getting back into the game several years ago I noticed how much better my overall round was if I was able to get off the tee into fairway without too much trouble. Even now, if I'm off on tee shots it makes the game very difficult. If my irons are off, I can rely on my short game. If my short game and putting are off, well, then I know I need to work on that, but I still feel better because I got to the green. The short game is the easist to practice and gets better with feel and experience.

[Fat Slice]

As a high handicapper myself, I will agree that an OB tee shot can mess up a hole...otherwise, a bad tee shot is just +1 stroke and you get some distance along the way. You can let it get in your head, but that's up to you! I've driven bombs left of the green, pitched over the green into the sand, hacked twice out of the sand, and three putted for a triple bogey on a short par 4. I don't discount the psychological aspect - it's there, for sure! But I try and get it under control. Realistically, if my tee shot goes 50 yards on a par 5, I can still be on in 4 quite easily and try and two-putt for bogey.

[glebert]

I've tried hitting 5w off the tee instead of driver on the first tee box and I usually still screw it up. It doesn't help that the courses I play don't have a driving range, so the first tee shot is totally cold. I should probably hit an 8 iron

[JCDot33]

If you can not get of the box safely you are in for a rough ride for the hole or the entire course... I like the green to tee idea but if you can't get out of the box how can you get to the green... think about that...

You and I are basically saying the same things, weather it be a driver to get "out of the box safely" (not necessarily strongly) or a 5 iron, a safe first shot is necessary (long par 5? 5 iron off the tee + 5 iron off the fairway + 5 iron off the fairway + wedge into the green and a 2 putt = Bogey 6, for someone who is a 28 handicap, a consistant +18 round would drop their handicap 10 strokes)

I personally think that is where a lot of higher handicappers get into trouble is to think that they HAVE to hit a driver on every hole that isn't a par 3 (heck, I have one course that I play that I leave my driver at home and toss in an extra wedge becuase it's a short course and there isn't a hole that I hit my driver on). I was out last year with my brothers-in-law and father-in-law (and they are all just learning the game) and they are all pulling out drivers and then asking me what I was hitting (which isn't against our rules when you are learning the game and strategy) and when I would tell them 7 iron, they would look at me like I was crazy - then after I told them what I was planning on doing, and why I wanted to do it, and then birdied holes - they understood what I was talking about. Remember - 200 yards OB leaves you hitting 3 on the tee - 125 yards in the center of the fairway leaves you 3 strokes to get the rest of the way home.

[Uber$winG]

I’d have to say that every shot is of great import - no matter what one’s handicap is.

[Shindig]

When I was a high handicap, I took great pride in my ability to hit driver into play, and usually into the fairway. I remember hitting 9-10/14 many rounds before I even broke 100. After a bad hole, a good drive made me feel much better. Still does.

[flanagan]

Would anyone agree with me that the tee shot is probably the most important shot for those in the 20-28 range?

The question is whether for a 20 - 28 handicapper, the drive is the most important shot. The answer is "no".

Not all bad drives are OB or unplayable or necessarily cost you a shot out of the rough. If your average score is over 100, the majority of the strokes you will save with improvement come from inside 150 yards. Your handicap suggests even if you hit a fairway, it's no gimmee you'll be on a green in regulation, or even so on par 3s. Your short game, as it is for most of us, is your equalizer, whether your goal is bogeys or pars. It is unlikely that if you hit 12 - 14 drives in every fairway each round your handicap will improve significantly without the ability to score. I think if you significantly changed your practice ratio in favor of pitches, chips and putts you will see great improvement in your score.

[clearwaterms]

my 2 cents as a high handicapper.

I do not drive the ball off the tee very good. I usually end up having to take a mid iron, and when I play a longer course, it's itimidating. When I am having trouble with one part of my game, I end up relying too much on other parts of my game. As a result I end up seeing the faults in that part. If you have one part of your game that you know is consistent you can play to your strong suit. As a high handicapper, I don't have a "strong suit" so when one part of the game fails, the entire game starts to fall apart.

[Brakkus]

The question is whether for a 20 - 28 handicapper, the drive is the most important shot. The answer is "no".

Well yes My practice routine favours wedge play.In fact I have been almost obsessive about it lately hitting at least a bucket of balls every time at the range with my limited practice time,putting at home on the carpet,and using plastic balls with my SW and LW.

Also some seemed to think I was meaning the driver off the tee,I'm talking about any club off the tee but it usually does fall into something with a lower loft. The other thin is that the lower handicappers on here are not hitting as many complete duffs like fat and thin and make fewer errors.When I swing well then I'm happy with the ballflight even if I just miss the fairway or find the rough. Because of my relatively short time at this game I still have that awful swing that can happen a half a dozen times a round because I haven't become totally consistent,and the worst place to do this I thought was off the tee,especially the high handicap because basically you have lost a shot straight away. One of my playing partners this week said he loved my technique and noticed that what I needed was more consistent good shots which is all down to practice.As I have been finding out golf is a game of small improvements that eventually make a big difference.

[Chief Broom]

This is one of those questions where the best answer really has nothing to do with what's being asked.

Obviously the tee shot is important. It's your best opportunity on a hole to hit your best shot. Therein lies much of the pressure. You're supposed to hit it good (the ball is sitting up on a tee afterall) so when you duff the tee shot right away you're in a bad place mentally, not to mention that you've got to now try and recover from that in order to salvage some simblance of a decent score on the hole. But a chief mistake I think high handicappers make (and I include myself in that group) is to focus overly much on the tee shot and by default the driver. Most of us are guilty of spending the majority of our practice time working the driver. This seems to make sense in that we rely so heavily on our driver. A good tee shot not only puts us in a good position on the golf course, but it is a tremendous ego boost and helps to put us mentally in a place conducive to scoring well. Who hasn't busted one down the fairway and walked off the tee box with a pride you can't put a price on (actually all the money we spend on new drivers is easily spent in pursuit of this feeling)! So we work the driver to the point of mania, but in actuality it doesn't help us all that much. What I'm now seeing is that focusing more on mid lenght shots, for me using an 8 iron, has a more immediate and positive impact on my ball striking ability, and that is what makes those long drives possible. That seems counter-intuitive, but when yu think about it it makes sense. You're golf swing is the same, or should be, with all of your clubs. Certainly shaft lenght has an effect on your swing plane, but the swing itself, your tempo, should remain the same. What I'm finding out is that working on your tempo and your ability to consistantly strike the ball in the club's sweet spot can be done with any club in your bag, and to do it with a club that is easy for you to hit makes the entire process much more possible. We all know the adage about perfect practice making perfect, and that's where focusing more on the mechanics of your swing rather than one particular shot (driver) makes a big difference in your ability to get better at this game.

[HytrewQasdfg]

If you don't hit the fairway off the tee you never get the chance to "put for dough", so from that standpoint the tee shot is the most important shot. That doesn't mean though, that you have to be long off the tee.

There are any number of short-drivers that have been competitive simply by concentrating on their short game. If I was going to suggest an order to become skilled in, it would be:

1. Learn to drive the ball of the tee and hit the fairway (not long, but in the fairway.)
2. Wedge play (the ability to drop your 2nd shot onto the green consistently, you can't put till you get the ball on the green.)
3. Putting.
4. Mid-irons.
5. Distance.

[ryohazuki222]

How is wedge play the ability to drop your 2nd shot onto the green if you have no distance off the tee beause you are just happy to hit a fairway short?

[cigarnut81]

I do not agree with that. No matter your handicap you will always hit more putts than any other shot during your round.Putting is the most important part of the game.

[GaijinGolfer]

Id say that being decent with the mid to short irons is more important than being good with the driver or 3-wood off the tee.
Lets say you hit a great tee shot: 230-250 yards in the middle of the fairway. Great, but you suck with your irons, wedges and putter, so what good is that tee shot???
IMO, having a good full swing with an iron is the most important, then shortgame, then off the tee.
Last summer I was about a 38 handicap and now Im about a 20 handicap. The difference didnt come from learning how to hit my driver/3-wood well, it came from learning how to hit a solid, controlled iron shot, by learning how to hit good chips/pitch shots and by getting good with the putter.
Im now learning how to hit my driver better. Ive always hit a big slice with the driver, but Ive been working with my grip (stronger grip) and with staying on plane (avoiding coming over the top) and Im getting better at it.
By no means am I booming 300 yard driver, but Im to the point where I can hit it about 230 yards (and thats with a 12* driver) and keeping it in the fairway at least half the time (I used to keep it in the fairway maybe 1 or 2 out of 10 times).

[baddawg]

Well Im very new to this game of golf, so my handicap is pretty high... well... very high...

My thought on the tee shot is that is does indeed set up the entire hole. The only birdie I've ever made was on a great drive on a short par 4 (250 yd, drove it to the fringe). Im sure I could have made a couple more if I hit 9I and PW on the hole, but what fun is that???