How good are your good shots?

[Shorty]

  Open-Faced Club Sandwedge said:

Wow, a lot of people seem to think I said something other than what I actually said. Oh, the internet. Long on opinions, short on reading comprehension.

They read you perfectly well.

The point is, if you CAN'T hit two wedges in a row properly, you would do well do consider another sport, rather than think that it is an indicator of potential. The fact that you said that you doubt whether Woods could have hit these shots better or says a fair bit about you comprehension of the game itself. What the hell is "perfect ball flight" for a wedge? The wedge is a versatile club that should be hit high or low, depending on circumstances.

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

  Shorty said:

They read you perfectly well.

Well, as some have pointed out, my PW is really a short iron. Perfect ball flight, for ME at this point in the development of my game, is very high, very straight, very long, and very on-target.

And yes, my knowledge of the pro game is way short of comprehensive, or even expert. But let me ask you: if Tiger showed up at the course last night, and decided he wanted to hit my pitching wedge high and straight, and put his swing and all his pro juju on that ball off that tee, how far do you think it would go? How straight? How high? My point is not that my skills are in ANY way comparable to his, my point is that I don't see how his ball would look all that different from those 2 shots I hit yesterday. Obviously I realize the significance of the fact that he can do it at will, and I can only do it inconsistently. But for that one shot, I mean what I said: I doubt, given Tiger Woods stepping up and hitting the same club down the same fairway, that his shot would be any better. -Andrew

[adamgoodman]

  Open-Faced Club Sandwedge said:

Well, as some have pointed out, my PW is really a short iron. Perfect ball flight, for ME at this point in the development of my game, is very high, very straight, very long, and very on-target.

You were being completely reasonable and valid in your original post until you started claiming your good shots were as good as Tiger Woods'. That's just quite the pompous attitude for a double-bogey golfer to have, and especially to post publicly. And once again it really has nothing to do with your potential as a golfer being something exceptional, even though I don't exactly want to burst your bubble, it's the truth.

[chilly]

I believe I know what you're asking. You're saying that because you can hit a jacked up PW 147yds, with a little draw and some spin, that you have some potential as a golfer. Yes, it shows you have some swing speed, but that's about it. I'd say if a guy goes out there and can hit that PW 120yds to the pin 8/10 times, he shows as much if not more "potential". Distance alone, or trajectory, or shot shape...they don't tell the whole story. Otherwise, every long drive champion would be on the tour.

I think guys are just jumping on the fact that you said you can hit the PW as well as Tiger, I understand you're just making the comparison, it's just a little over the top. Yes, if you can swing as fast as a pro, you can hit one like a pro...it's physics. The consistency and control are the real difference. I believe Tiger hit an 8iron over 180 last year, as well as that 6i he hit out of a bunker to 206yds at the Canadian in '00...so he could probably hit a 44* club around 160 or better if he really needed to. But that said, you can probably hit that thing as far as Zach Johnson ever could.

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

  adamgoodman said:

And once again it really has nothing to do with your potential as a golfer being something exceptional, even though I don't exactly want to burst your bubble, it's the truth.

That's fine, I respect that opinion.

  adamgoodman said:

You were being completely reasonable and valid in your original post until you started claiming your good shots were as good as Tiger Woods'. That's just quite the pompous attitude for a double-bogey golfer to have, and especially to post publicly.

So, how good are Tiger's? What are his lengths per club, on the short end? I know he hits his driver WAY further than I can, including my best drives. But how far does he hit his 9i and PW (when he decides he's going to hit a long high straight kind of shot)? Clearly I was wrong on this, according to quite a number of people who have posted in this thread, so I'm asking for someone to clue me in to the truth of the matter.

-Andrew

[adamgoodman]

  Open-Faced Club Sandwedge said:

So, how good are Tiger's? What are his lengths per club, on the short end? I know he hits his driver WAY further than I can, including my best drives. But how far does he hit his 9i and PW (when he decides he's going to hit a long high straight kind of shot)? Clearly I was wrong on this, according to quite a number of people who have posted in this thread, so I'm asking for someone to clue me in to the truth of the matter.

I believe that Tiger Woods' pitching wedge carry actually varies from 130-150 yards depending on what he wants to do with it... With all the conditions and shot shaping and etc, it's hard to get a solid guage of what his carry would be if he just teed it up and fired away.

But ya know, distance isn't everything.

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

  chilly said:

I believe I know what you're asking. You're saying that because you can hit a jacked up PW 147yds, with a little draw and some spin, that you have some potential as a golfer. Yes, it shows you have some swing speed, but that's about it. I'd say if a guy goes out there and can hit that PW 120yds to the pin 8/10 times, he shows as much if not more "potential". Distance alone, or trajectory, or shot shape...they don't tell the whole story. Otherwise, every long drive champion would be on the tour.

Well sure, there's way more to golf than swing. Some of the long-drive guys probably aren't really very good at the actual game of golf. But on the other hand, you can't be a very good golfer without striking the ball very well. What I'm getting at is I really want to believe that these shots, when they happen, prove that there are some important things that I'm doing right in my golf swing.

Also, for the record, these were not "jacked-up" pitching wedge shots, unless I'm misunderstanding how you're using the term. I just concentrated on trying to execute a fundamentally sound swing, definitely not consciously trying to put anything extra on it.

  chilly said:

I think guys are just jumping on the fact that you said you can hit the PW as well as Tiger, I understand you're just making the comparison, it's just a little over the top. Yes, if you can swing as fast as a pro, you can hit one like a pro...it's physics. The consistency and control are the real difference.

I agree. Also in my defense, I didn't say, nor did I ever think, that I "can hit the PW as well as Tiger." What I meant was that I thought those 2 isolated shots were as good as 2 of Tiger's shots.

-Andrew

[Open-Faced Club Sandwedge]

  adamgoodman said:

But ya know, distance isn't everything.

Entirely true. But for me, at this point in my game, for my short irons, distance + trajectory + accuracy, is kind of everything. And these were exactly the trajectory I'm trying to cultivate, and dead on-line.

-Andrew

[chilly]

I said "jacked up" PW, because it's a 9i loft. Didn't mean anything about how hard you were trying to hit it, it's a good distance even as a 9i. What I, and I think everyone else is saying, is that hitting the PW 147 with a nice draw does not really prove that you have anything going on in the swing that makes it exceptional, it just means you can swing it pretty fast. I'm NOT saying that your swing doesn't have good points as I've never seen it, just saying you can't really make the leap.

[sean_miller]

  3 wiggle said:

I think the difference is that when the pros do it...its on purpose and they know why!

HAHA - that's as far as I have to read!

My good shots are so good they almost make up for the rest of my shots and that's saying something!

[armandoartist]

I think Tiger could hit his PW about 175 yards in a non competition event. just for the heck of it.
seriously. I'll google it to confirm later.

[sean_miller]

  armandoartist said:

I think Tiger could hit his PW about 175 yards in a non competition event. just for the heck of it.

I've hit a 180 yard 9 iron more than once. Sure I was 45 yards past the pin, but it's just more evidence of how totally friggin' awesome my good shots are.

[Wildcat]

  None said:

when I don't shank it, top it, or hit it fat, I get these gorgeous ball flights more and more often.

  Open-Faced Club Sandwedge said:

What I'm getting at is I really want to believe that these shots, when they happen, prove that there are some important things that I'm doing right in my golf swing.

So when you don't hit it poorly, you sometimes hit it well?

If you're shanking it, or topping it, or hitting it fat consistently, then there are issues with your swing. Some of your swing components may be fine right now, but at the end of the day the idea is not to see how pretty you can hit a ball, but how few shots it takes you to get the ball into the cup. The trick is for you to identify what you're doing right and what you're not and adjust accordingly. You may be doing some things right that allow you to hit the occasional shot that looks fabulous. But this doesn't necessarily mean you're any closer to having a solid game than someone who pulls every ball 20 yards left. His problem may only be that he need to open up his grip a little. Your shanks, tops, etc., may be indicative of several different components that need to be adjusted...and once you've adjusted those, you may find that you're having trouble getting back that "perfect" ball flight. That being said, you should be encouraged by your positive results. The trick is to find ways to replicate them more often, and not to let your quest for the "perfect" shot get in your way of posting the lowest score. You can often tell a lot more about a golfer's ability by how bad his worst shots are than by how good his best shots are.

[bplewis24]

  Open-Faced Club Sandwedge said:

I think my swing itself really shows promise, in that the head of the club is going through impact straight along the target line, hitting downward, and with a ton of speed.

It could very well be a nice swing with lots of potential. You should post it. I did. Some guys here said I have good potential. However, I'm still struggling with the same poor swing mechanics that I had when I posted the vid over a month ago. I'll need lessons at some point. There is a reason why the majority of our shots are still less than stellar, even if some of them are pretty damn good.

Brandon

[c. lassiter]

An excellent 9 iron could mean that you have a very good swing and a lot of potential, or it could mean that you took a crazy hack at it, caught it just right and hit a lucky shot (twice).

My good shots (like most of the guys in here) are pretty darn good - but more often than not they come when I am hitting shorter irons that are easier to hit. I've had my occasional good shot with a 4 iron or other longer iron, but not nearly as often.

[James_Black]

I was practising with a blade 1 iron today.
A few went straight with a slight fade, I was pretty happy.

A good shot is close to the pin, i'd call them more "lucky" though than a "good shot".

[Fat Slice]

Talk is cheap - both ways. Report your progress, Andrew. We'll be cheering for you.

I, for one, want to be on the good side of the next Tiger!

[Frito]

This kid hits his PW far , look out tiger!