Question for the ballstrikers

[deronsizemore]

Before people wouldn't give me the time of the day at the range. Now I get a mixture of casual conversation and the occasional range attendant with an axe to grind for anyone better than him.

You should feel lucky that no one used to bother you. I can't stand people to strike up a conversation while I'm on the range (unless I know them).

[bunkerputt]

You should feel lucky that no one used to bother you. I can't stand people to strike up a conversation while I'm on the range (unless I know them).

Used to , being the operative phrase. Before, I was a sweaty big dude swinging hard, getting visibly frustrated, and mumbling under my breath about things. Not very approachable. Now, I'm more in control of my game, swinging easily, hitting it a ton with a smile. I'd rather be the latter, though the former made it easier to practice my crappy swing. The reality is, we could all improve if we would let others coach us in the areas where they are better and stronger players than we are. Good teachers are few and far between, though, and most people like to give advice just to show you how much they know and not for your benefit. That can be frustrating. I was hitting at the range yesterday and there were a lot of spots open. Someone picked the one immediately behind me, and I could feel frustration coming along. I got it under control because, in reality, I don't know why he picked that spot. Maybe the grass was better, maybe he wanted a better angle on the targets, who knows. I went back to focusing. At one point, after getting pelted by some debris by a big 'ol chunk, I turned around to take a look at his swing. From what I could tell without a camera, his fundamentals were pretty sound: good address, neutral grip, no reverse pivot, hips through early, full finish. It looked like he might be having some sequencing problems causing him to catch a few thin or fat. I told him he had a good swing just to be courteous. He said he had just come off of a 5 month layoff. I tended to believe him and said he probably hit it really well in the past, and so it must be frustrating losing some of that, but to keep at it and he'd get it back. I think he appreciated the encouragement. I didn't try to correct him, just encourage him. Most people, myself included welcome that kind of thing. We said see-ya-later and that was the end of that. I don't mind that kind of stuff if it's courteous and respectful.

[deronsizemore]

I told him he had a good swing just to be courteous. He said he had just come off of a 5 month layoff. I tended to believe him and said he probably hit it really well in the past, and so it must be frustrating losing some of that, but to keep at it and he'd get it back. I think he appreciated the encouragement. I didn't try to correct him, just encourage him. Most people, myself included welcome that kind of thing.

I don't mind that. I thought you were referring too those people that start talking and seem to never want to shut up or want to talk to you about any and everything. If someone just compliments my swing or something, no big deal. I just don't want someone to come up and just start blabbing about nothing for the next 15 minutes while I'm hitting.

[misty_mountainhop]

When you see a noticeable dime-size wear mark on the center of your irons, you're a ball striker.

Indeed. In other words, a good, repeatable, dependable swing.

80-85 perfect, 3.0 handicap. are you sure? that might be more than a tour pro.

Jack Nicklaus used to say the same thing and I don't think their feeling for a pure strike is much different from a decent single figure golfer. I've hit some striped long irons over the years that are as pure as pure can be, absolutely flush.....but were some way off target (

) - I don't think ball striking per se equates to a "good" shot.

When you dont have to ask if your a ballstriker

Lol. Good point.

[James_Black]

I'm a terrible ball striker.

out of 100 shots
Maybe 5-10 perfect shots. That is they go long and straight
60 good shots. they go long but with either a pull or push
10-15 bad shots. they have a big fade or draw
5 0B's
5-10 S shots.

[dummyisdumb]

Some of the posts in this thread! Did I really see 80-85% perfect. Perfect? Is this a joke? Perfect means literally the sweet spot of the club. That can't be more than 5% .

Maybe a better word would have been 'fine'.

[flatom]

I am not a big talker at best but at the range I will not speak more than hello. It gripes me to see folks come to the range and carry on conversations next to me or begin taking cell phone calls.

[wubskis]

I concur with the point of people making around 5 or 6 'perfect' shots per game. This spans the skill levels. Tiger's 6 perfect shots will be unreachable my most, whereas his bad shots will constitute someone of my calibre's perfect shots. To think that more than even 10% of your shots are perfect is ludicrous~

[sean_miller]

I concur with the point of people making around 5 or 6 'perfect' shots per game. This spans the skill levels. Tiger's 6 perfect shots will be unreachable my most, whereas his bad shots will constitute someone of my calibre's perfect shots. To think that more than even 10% of your shots are perfect is ludicrous~

What is a perfect shot? A hole out? A pured iron - stuck with great force right on the COG? A shot that ends up great regardless of how it felt, or a shot that felt perfect regardless of the result?

[WUTiger]

The old timers used to say that PGA tour pros hit only 4 to 6 "perfect" shots per round.

So, we're dealing with the quality falloff of your less than perfect shots. One old adage is to "miss 'em straight." If the ball doesn't go too far off line, you can still recover.

Swing tempo helps on this. If I swing smoothly, my misses generally don't hurt too bad and I will break 90. If I swing choppy or too hard, the scorecard gets ugly.

Basically, chart your shots during a round. Driving range is a useful, but artificial, situation. Find out the most common type of miss you're having, and work to eliminate the problem. Then, look to the next most common miss. This is basic Pareto Analysis , a manufacturing quality control technique developed in the 1800s and still useful today.

And, don't forget that excellent ball strikers have bad days too.

[dummyisdumb]

What is a perfect shot? A hole out? A pured iron - stuck with great force right on the COG? A shot that ends up great regardless of how it felt, or a shot that felt perfect regardless of the result?

A perfect shot is a shot hit on the sweet spot.

[sean_miller]

A perfect shot is a shot hit on the sweet spot.

Even if it lands out of bounds?

[dummyisdumb]

Even if it lands out of bounds?

Maybe I shouldn't have said perfect shot, but perfect contact.

[Williamevanl]

I would argue that anyone who said they hit a perfect shots more than 5% of time doesn't know what a perfect shot is.

And the people near the 5% should be scratch or less on a real course.

[CalBoomer]

Obviously there are a lot of different ideas here about what "perfect" ballstriking means. Consider Ben Hogan. He claimed he hit about 2 or 3 perfect shots a round. When an other pro asked him once where he hit the ball on his irons, he replied, "the second groove." I suspect the balls he hit on some of the other grooves would have been just fine by me--and most of you too.