The quest for greater golf...

[Brakkus]

what's a good online handicap service? I've been playing a year and have no idea what my handicap is but I'm sure it's more than 19 after reading this thread.

I started a free account with Todays Golfer and they also have a premium account that has extra features.You just feed in your card from your round and it does the rest.

[Damien45]

One of the things that helped me was to know my weakness. Since I know I can hit the green from 120-90 out, I started to figure out what it would take to get to that spot. On a par 4, if it took me 3 to reach the green, so be it. I was making worse than bogey most of the time anyway.

As I work on my short game and driver, things will improve some more. Until then I use the clubs that I know I can hit fairly consistantly when I play. Most of the time I hit my tee shot with a 2i if my driver has gone on vacation....which it has done again! I generally figure my "short average" ranges for each club. That actually helps when I am not hitting things perfectly.

That last thing I try to do is properly adjust for wind / elevation changes by taking a club that I would reach the back of the green normally when into the wind/up hill, or front when wind is with me/down hill shots.

Course management has been what helped me the most,

[William Le Wolf]

3 Hours a day.
1 hour hitting chip shots with about 100 balls to a target until you can hit every single one within 4 feet. Never chip from the same spot as last time.

30-60 minutes a day hitting your wedge to a target until you can hit 100 balls from 100 yards within 10 feet...

1 Hour to Practice your putting from all distances. Try not to stick to one putt over and over. It's not challenging and it's very boring.



>>> If you can hit your wedge shots perfectly im quite sure you'll be able to hit the longer irons also.

Most important things in golf are short game, Balance, Rhythm and mental strength. Once you have the basics golf seems to be 90% mental game. The more you practice the better you will strike the ball and the more confident you will be. The better you stike the ball the further you will hit it (Distance doesn't come from how hard you hit the ball). You will gain your confidence from the practicing you do...

[jeffhale08]

All of the above tips and comments are correct and full of truth. But, you really need to base your decision on what to work on by knowing what you shoot consistently. For those above 100, you probably need to throw the driver in the garage and forget about it until you can get into the mid to low 90's. Go with a 3 wood or even a 5 wood. Some of these High Launch drivers are a great option also. The driver is too hard of a club to keep in play unless you have reached a higher level of play. When you can do that, then the next step is to really work hard on hitting more greens. As a 100's shooter, unless you 4 putt everything, you probably only hit about 4 greens a round, if that many. Once you start keeping the ball in play more off the tee box, you will have more chances to hit more greens. Time to work on the irons. Once you can hit 7-9 greens a round, then you will be in the mid to high 80's. From there it will only change with a solid short game. That just takes years of work. Lots of practice chipping. The closer the chip shots the less pressure on the putting.

[William Le Wolf]

If your shooting over 100 you are not hitting anything consistently.

Personally i think perfect the short game first what ever you are scoring. You can hit the ball all over the shop and still make a birdie, par or a bogey because within 100 yards you will always be up and down into the hole within 2 shots what ever the conditions. At a young age i was too small to strike the ball, if i was lucky i would get the ball to go 150-200 yards. I would shoot 2 over par by hitting only a 2-3 greens in the round. Up and down from everywhere, 1 chip & 1 Putt everything...

Today i was talking with an amateur golfer (+4 handicap) and last year he qualified for the Walker Cup. The only difference in his game that year to the 10 years before was that he hit 1 less putt per round. Short game is where the scoring is at and it doesn't take years to become really good. It does take years for people who give up and change their clubs every week and don't learn how to feel the shot... I used a 2nd hand club that was about 20 years old for the first 5 years of my practicing. And i only changed the club because i dented the face after catching a stone...

Other things you should probably practice are Balance (hit shots with your feet together & try to hold the position when you finish). Rhythm (hard to explain but you could try something like counting "1 & 2").

Things to Remember:
. Changing your clubs won't improve your golf. Practice will give you confidence and that will certainly improve your golf.
. Hitting the ball harder with your driver doesn't make it go further. Usually you will lose balance and it will go a short distance!
. If you want to hit the ball straight and a long way, get your balance right. Your weight should be on your left leg when you finish the swing (right handed player).
. Nice and smooth is the key.

[fatmouse]

Here are some things that helped me a lot.

this is exactly what took me into shooting in the 70's. I was stuck in the 80's until I started heavily practicing 20-50 yard pitches.

now if i could just figure out my driver I'd be scaring par more often

[Brakkus]

I'm basically trying all this advice and bar 2 blow up holes of a 9 and an 8 I was close to shooting in the 90's last time out.I have ditched the driver from my bag,anyway I have a 16" hybrid that I can hit 250 if needed,most of the time I go with a 20" hybrid on all the par 4's.

My putting is improving,as is wedge play and due to a change in irons for the first time I was hitting bump and runs with the PW,9,8,and the seven in one round.

Like someone said earlier I'm shooting 100 because I don't hit any one part of the game consistently enough.The approach is correct,but the execution is lacking but my confidence grows because I'm becoming more competent.

[Carolinahooker]

I am just coming back to the game after about a five year absence. Kids will do that. Everyone pointing to the short game is dead on.

I have really worked to improve my game. I am a 16 right now after a lot of improvement. My driver use to be my weakness but now I am great off the tee. The thing stopping me from scoring low is my short game. Those chips around the green and 50 yrd shots are killing me as is my putter. A lot of those shots are tough to practice. You really only get better at them by playing a round.

Going out tomorrow afternoon with good thoughts :)

[Damien45]

I'm basically trying all this advice and bar 2 blow up holes of a 9 and an 8 I was close to shooting in the 90's last time out.I have ditched the driver from my bag,anyway I have a 16" hybrid that I can hit 250 if needed,most of the time I go with a 20" hybrid on all the par 4's.

That is great to hear! Glad everyone helped.

Is this a course you play frequently? If it is, and you have: 1) a scorecard handy / Course Layout Book 2) a good idea of your club distance 3) a little time Sit down and start to plan out each hole. Know what your "on the green from" distance is (like 90 or 100 yrds for example). Use your average tee distance, less your (approach if necessary), to figure what clubs to use for each hole. On the long Par 4's go ahead and plan for a bogey. Look at it this way, if you are shooting in the 100's on a Par 72. You want to break 90. If you plan the course prior to going you can do it (72+18=90). The idea behind planning is to make it to the green in regulation (+1 if necessary). I do not count putts in my planning. I assume 2 putts every time. For me, I am attempting to be within a certain distance to 2 putt at most. The Course Layout will help you plan your strengths against the course's weaknesses (dogleggs, elevation changes, wind will be a factor). In the end, you will be able to build confidence as you navigate around the traps while keeping your ball in play!

[Brakkus]

That is great to hear! Glad everyone helped.

My one weakness is planning around the course and not taking the medicine sometimes.2 of the holes were wide fairways and I went for length lost balls on both,they were not badly hit but they left the course and were not in the fairway.So that's 2 holes where I lost 4 shots to penalties. Also on the 18th I hit a great first shot up the right side.I got greedy as I thought I could reach the green in 2 if I hit a 4 iron.About 50 yds away there was a tree just edging into the fairway.I should of clubbed right down to a 8 or 9 and hit high to the other side of the fairway,but went ahead and hit the tree and it went sideways into the tree line.Took another shot to get out then hit it in the bunker,shot out,couple of putts and I ended up with an 8. Sometimes I just need to take the easy shot out.The other thing is that my regular playing partner and I meet at a few courses so I'm not seeing enough of a certain course to really plan properly but the course I played at last week I first shot 121,105,and now 102 so progress,but I like the idea of thinking 90,then that allows me 10 absolute duff shots for 100,but if I stick with the 3 shot strtegy then I will be playing smaller shots less club and will probably make less mistakes than that.

[Damien45]

My one weakness is planning around the course and not taking the medicine sometimes.2 of the holes were wide fairways and I went for length lost balls on both,they were not badly hit but they left the course and were not in the fairway.So that's 2 holes where I lost 4 shots to penalties.

I am playing a course on Friday that I have never played. I went online and took their course tour (scorecard) and made a plan off that. Since I have never played there, I am certain there will be some adjustments. I will let you know how it goes.

Since there are a couple courses you play semi regularly, plan them and try it out. Adjustments will be made during the round, but it helps you focus on aim, consistancy and builds confidence. Last week I played a course with a friend. He usually beats me (his ettigue aside we would be fairly matched). I tried my plan for the course and beat him by 2 for the 9 we played.

[san-pancho-mex]

so it's really a matter of controlling the desire to do well so it doesn't spoil the enjoyment

well said