Tell me why I'm a 12 handicap

[dmackenzie]

My ten cents is that it's mental decisions and mind-set that separate low from high handicappers. But this can easily be changed.

Better players are capable of playing more shots, and this is down to positive visualization and feel. You need to get creative in your practice so that you increase your repetoire of shots. This mostly occurs in the short game area and this is where scores are made. Always have a very clear picture of the shot you are about to execute. Commiting to a shot will give you much better chance of executing it. Ben Hogan once said he only hit 3-4 shots a round exactly as he intended. But his commitment to all shots meant his misses were minimal.

I agree with David about chipping choices. If you watch any tour pro they'll pick a club that will get the ball rolling on the green as quickly as possible. This is gives you so much more control and margin for error. It requires hands like Phil Mickelson to hit a 60 (or in his case 64) degree wedge consistently. With the 60 degree it is hard to predict the spin and how the ball will bounce on the green. With a straighter faced club and less spin it is a lot easier to judge.

Course management: better players make better misses. Tour pros talk about a conservative-aggressive strategy, picking conservative lines and making aggressive swings. Always aim towards a spot that will give you the best chance of making an up and down if you miss your target. This will help you rule out the big numbers.

My best advice would be to integrate a solid shot routine into your game. If you watch Tiger, his is exactly the same whatever the situation, even down to the number of glances at the target. This allows you to enter a high concentration zone where you can positively visualize the shot, feel the swing and commit.

[elchene]

My goals for getting to single digits:

1. Maintaining a good attitude (teenagers can be hotheads ). I played 9 holes before at +8 over 5 holes (two triples), stayed patient and calm, and made two birdies coming in to save my score.
2. Getting up and down more often.
3. Playing my cut when it shows up in my swing instead of trying to fix it.
4. Working on a fade as a go to shot to eliminate big numbers

[sonicblue]

Better players are capable of playing more shots, and this is down to positive visualization and feel. You need to get creative in your practice so that you increase your repetoire of shots.

I feel compelled to add my own penny's worth on this topic. VISUALIZING shots is not the same thing as being CREATIVE. You can't make a golf ball do too many different things. When you're driving, sure you have low/high, left/right, fade/draw, etc..., but not all of those are even options on some holes (i.e., you won't fade a dogleg left; if you have to because you hit a consistent fade, then you're not making a decision, either!). On short chips and pitches, it really just comes down to, fly/land vs. bump/roll/see break. That's about it. IMO, when you try to 'create' a shot, is when you get cute, too handsy, and make poor contact.

I would phrase it this way: visualize the simplest shot possible that you can execute, then execute it. Creativity can sometimes lead to the imagination seeing things as possible that are too unlikely to be part of your plan.

[nokmond]

Great thread. One thing i can't agree with is taking one extra club to allow for not a 100% connection tho.

What i mean is if i'm on a 150yd par 3 which is my 8i distance, why on earth would i take a 7i and *hope* to mis-hit it to get me on the green! Knowing that if i cream it i'll be way over.

All the other points yes but if you know your distances then surely you should take the club that if struck sweet will get you spot on.

[billm408]

As a former + golfer now playing to an 8-10 hcp, I can only relate my experiences.

I honestly don't think that there's that much difference between a 12 & 2 hcp when it comes to ball striking- no one hits the ball perfect every time. I'd venture that course management and the mental aspect are the big differences, but short game is the biggest.

A 2 hcpr is able to recover from their mistakes better and largely has a better short game. When I was playing well, I was getting up & down better than 50% of the time within 100 yards of the hole. That's a lot more birdies and, more importantly, a lot of saved pars over the course of a round. Around the green, a 12 hcpr is trying to get it close, a 2 hcpr is trying to jar it.

Statistically 80% of your shots will be w/in 100 yards of the hole. Start tracking your U&D;'s from there and work on that part of your game.

[pittpanther]

Great thread. One thing i can't agree with is taking one extra club to allow for not a 100% connection tho.

AGREED!

I never understood the concept of "assume you're going to mishit." You should assume you're going to hit it reasonably flush. If you don't, so be it. I don't think you should ever take a shot where, if you hit it well, the result will be bad!

[pittpanther]

It's funny - the title of this thread was "Tell me why I'm a 12 handicap." I notice the thread has morphed into "what high-handicappers should do to get better."

Unless I'm mistaken, a 12-handicap is a pretty good golfer - certainly not a high-handicapper.

I know that a handicap is not the same as a person's average. But is the difference between a 12HC and a 5HC that dramatic? Would it be obvious to an observer, that one is so much better than the other?

It just seems like a 7-stroke difference, across 18 holes, would not be particularly obvious. A 5HC and a 12HC are both good. The 12HC misses just a few more shots. Some of the comments on this thread make it seem as if a 12HC has a million miles to go to be a decent player.

[flopdarock]

You hit it less than 230 all the time? Wow. I thought I was a short hitter. I mean my average tee shot is 240, if I really get a hold of one MAYBE 260 (with some wind or a good bounce and run) but you don't hit it over 230? I have to applaud you for being a 10 handicap. I know how much pressure it puts on our short games, believe me. I only hit 3 GIR today!!!

yeah... i dont hit it

less than 230 all the time... when i get ahold of one itll go... but its very rare... im just incredibly inconsistent off the tee with my driver... im pulling 3w alot of the time... heck my 3w off the deck goes farther than my driver... i just get embarassed when old dudes are outdriving me cuz i cant catch it clean... heck ive hit one completely straight and it didnt carry 150... lol... of course ive had super lucky shots out of the blue and pop it out to 280 with a wedge to the green (30mph wind assisted) i just wish i had distance all the time

[CG031]

Is the ball going really low or high or why aren't you hitting the biggest club in your bag solid?

I was having an issue hitting it solid because I was hitting it just above the sweet spot, too high on the face...it was just simply because I was teeing it too high. Maybe your doing that or teeing it too low?

[flopdarock]

You and me should play one time. I'm in the same boat. It's just something about the teebox that throws me off. Distance wasn't always an enemy..... but one day it just disappeared. And I'm just not mentally strong enough to deal with that much pressure on my shortgame a whole round.

ill buy the first round at the 19th hole

[Bauer]

I shot an 88 yesterday. 44 on the front and 44 on the back. It's a 9 hole course unfortunately. I had 2 GIR's on each 9, out of those 4 GIR all were pars. I made 0 pars on everyone else and a couple doubles. I know a big thing, as Erik said, is to play to your swing. However, with my driver I am trying to tweak it because I hate slicing and I hate mild duck hooks (aka don't go OB or in deep rough). My biggest problem is my short game. My approach shots from 120 and in are pretty decent and I am very comfortable with those but I obviously miss the green with only 4/18 GIR. That many GIR is also due to just missing the green and the obviously muffed shot that comes from a handicapper of my number.

[c4m]

my biggest problems are putting, misjudging distances (overshooting/undershooting greens because I pick the wrong club) and the 4 or 5 "what the hell was that?" swings I have per round.

[Sandwedge74]

I really have to agree with what Eric said as well as the other fella with the three points.
I'm a 14 capper - I have been playing for two years last year I broke 100 then 90 - I just started the season again and I have about 6 rounds in - all in the mid and high 80's. Because it snows here in NY we have all winter to practice in our living rooms and and read golf books. so I did just that - I bought a weighted training club and learned proper weight transfer as well as release and read a few books. One of them was called - how to break 90 - it really helped and is a much more elaborate version of exactly what Eric and some folks have said. I highly recommend it in addition to listening to all the sound advice being offered up here.

on another note- I am moving to Napa Valley, California in august so no more snow and year round golf for me!

[zeg]

Great thread. One thing i can't agree with is taking one extra club to allow for not a 100% connection tho.

All else being equal, when you're playing for score, you want to play for the best odds of putting the ball where you want. If you hit slightly fat 4 out of 5 times and your 8I goes 130 yds on thoseand the 1 pure hit out of 5 goes 150 yds, you don't have a 150 yd 8I. On average, your 8I will give you 134 yds. If you plan your shot around the pure shot, you are going to be 16 yards short on average and 20 yards short 80% of the time! On the other hand, you'll only be long 20% of the time if you play for your average distance. "Knowing your distances" has to account for the probability that you cream it as well as the probability that you shank it. Unless you're a tour pro, your club distance is not well described by how far it goes when you make absolutely perfect contact.

Note that by "all else being equal" I mean you're being smart about trouble. If there's water just past the hole, then you would rather be 20 yards short than 16 yards long so you'd club down. Otherwise there's no particular reason to prefer being short to being long.

[Kingfisher]

AGREED!

I disagree, and as a high handicapper, I'll bet you mishit (fat, thin, toe, heel)the ball more often than you flush it! Something we're all guilty of is assuming our iron shots are always going to fly the optimal distance. Most amateur misses are on the short side, rather than flying the green and if your ball can't even reach the green....it's like putting, if you leave your ball short of the hole, it'll never go in the hole - never up never in.

[Leftygolfer]

Is the ball going really low or high or why aren't you hitting the biggest club in your bag solid?

Correct me if I am wrong, but with these new drivers isn't the sweet spot high on the face? I am pretty sure I have read that and noticed it myself. It launches higher with less spin, AKA more distance.

[nokmond]

All else being equal, when you're playing for score, you want to play for the best odds of putting the ball where you want. If you hit slightly fat 4 out of 5 times and your 8I goes 130 yds on thoseand the 1 pure hit out of 5 goes 150 yds, you don't have a 150 yd 8I. On average, your 8I will give you 134 yds. If you plan your shot around the pure shot, you are going to be 16 yards short on average and 20 yards short 80% of the time! On the other hand, you'll only be long 20% of the time if you play for your average distance. "Knowing your distances" has to account for the probability that you cream it as well as the probability that you shank it. Unless you're a tour pro, your club distance is not well described by how far it goes when you make absolutely perfect contact.

I don't hit 4/5 of my iron shots fat tho! Maybe 1/5 at the most. As a 16hcp i'm pretty consistent with my irons, its my short game thats poor, so thats why i would never advise a 12hcp (thats what this thread is about) to take a club more and hope to miss hit it!

For a 36hcp then yes - take an extra club because you will probably not cream it. For a 12hcp, no.

[David in FL]

I don't hit 4/5 of my iron shots fat tho! Maybe 1/5 at the most. As a 16hcp i'm pretty consistent with my irons, its my short game thats poor, so thats why i would never advise a 12hcp (thats what this thread is about) to take a club more and hope to miss hit it!

Big difference between hitting if "fat" and hitting it perfect.

Most 12's prob hit it "perfect" one time in 5. Unfortunately, that's often enough that they actually have a reasonable expectation of doing so and as a result, they tend to play for that. Unfortunately, it also means that 80% of the time they're just a bit off. Not much, maybe 10 or 15 yards......about the distance that one more club would have covered. Playing smart isn't the same as hoping for a miss. FWIW, as a 5, I also only hit it perfect 25% of the time or so and prob don't strike the ball much better than a solid 10 or 12 does. I'm a 5 because I know when to allow for that 75% and know how to manage the misses, not hide from them and hope they don't happen.