Scared of Par 3 's Help!

[roobatooba]

I've been trying to break 100 for quite sometime now  (second season , New York golf season is very limited) and i shot 57 on the front and an even 50 on the back , which is an all time low .(sad but true) Today the frustration came at the par 3's  where  i posted a 7, 6 5 & 6 . In my mind , a par 3 is a chance to scribble down 4 or lower and i squandered those chances . I reached the first one in three after skulling the tee shot and topping the next two .Sucker pin placement and the undulation commenced to befuddle me , and 7 strokes later , i was left scratching my head . I stepped onto the tee box confident that the club i had would get me on the green or close , but i seemed to have a hard time on the short holes .Cumulatively , i shot 24 on the 4 par 3 's and that is pretty brutal , even for me.Out on the fairway i can hit my distances but for some reason a par 3 scares the feces out of me and i hit dribblers , push,  pull skull and everything else i can to add strokes to my score.I need some help maybe a way to mentally 'man up' and prepare myself or just a refocussing . Any ideas?

[phillyk]

  roobatooba said:

Originally Posted by roobatooba

I've been trying to break 100 for quite sometime now  (second season , New York golf season is very limited) and i shot 57 on the front and an even 50 on the back , which is an all time low .(sad but true) Today the frustration came at the par 3's  where  i posted a 7, 6 5 & 6 . In my mind , a par 3 is a chance to scribble down 4 or lower and i squandered those chances . I reached the first one in three after skulling the tee shot and topping the next two .Sucker pin placement and the undulation commenced to befuddle me , and 7 strokes later , i was left scratching my head . I stepped onto the tee box confident that the club i had would get me on the green or close , but i seemed to have a hard time on the short holes .Cumulatively , i shot 24 on the 4 par 3 's and that is pretty brutal , even for me.Out on the fairway i can hit my distances but for some reason a par 3 scares the feces out of me and i hit dribblers , push,  pull skull and everything else i can to add strokes to my score.I need some help maybe a way to mentally 'man up' and prepare myself or just a refocussing . Any ideas?

I'd focus on the basics.  Focus on your set-up and balance first.  Second, in the swing, work on balance and weight shift throughout the swing, and keeping your hands ahead of the club and leading into impact.  Confidence on the tee is good, but don't let that lead to not focusing on the mechanics of the swing.

[saevel25]

I will say the opposite, STOP THINKING.. .you start analysizing how you do on each hole by there par then you develop a mental block. You now are stuck on par 3's, when its not about the par 3's its about the one shot only. Stop thinking and just hit the ball...

[roobatooba]

Thanks phillyk.Another thing i just remembered , whenever i tee the ball on a lower surface than where my feet are planted i feel very uncomfortable and almost always top it , no matter what adjustments i make ( stepping up etc.)  My ultimate goal this summer is to break 100 and hopefully that will open the floodgates and 90 will follow shortly thereafter . I will do everything you mentioned the next time i tee it up at a par 3 and hope for the best .

[phillyk]

  roobatooba said:

Originally Posted by roobatooba

Thanks phillyk.Another thing i just remembered , whenever i tee the ball on a lower surface than where my feet are planted i feel very uncomfortable and almost always top it , no matter what adjustments i make ( stepping up etc.)  My ultimate goal this summer is to break 100 and hopefully that will open the floodgates and 90 will follow shortly thereafter . I will do everything you mentioned the next time i tee it up at a par 3 and hope for the best .

Good luck! I should say, then, that you should try what I said on practice swings, then do as saevel25 mentioned and once you get to the ball, don't think, just swing like the practice swing.  Albeit, that's really hard to do, but that's golf right?

[roobatooba]

You got that right ? On a positive note , i've been working on correcting my slice and today i managed to do so with some success. My short game around the greens could use a lot of work but the old 4 iron chip  got me out of trouble quite a few times .By the way whats  the rule on balls that plug into the ground yet are in play ( not O.B.) ?

[GolfHippy]

If I have a trouble area, I just tend to play it safe until that area starts clicking again.

So maybe play for the centers of the green. Avoid the side with bunkers or other troubles. Feel you are aiming for a LARGE safe area. Forget the position of the flag.

When you feel safer again, then you can start taking a few more risks.

[Kieran123]

Don't worry too much about it, focus on PAR 5's, which are beginners scoring holes.

[roobatooba]

Kieran how do you like the ignite putter ? i have the same one with an orange milled face and i've had good touch with it for the most part . The best part about it for me is the length 35 inches i hate having to stoop down when i putt.

[NI4NI]

What do you mean by the below statement? Are you talking about a downhill lie?  I'm trying to connect this statement with the Par 3 concern.  Most tee boxes for Par 3's will allow for a "perfect lie" with the ball teed just above the grass to simulate a fluffed ball, so I'm missing something.

Quote::

  roobatooba said:

whenever i tee the ball on a lower surface than where my feet are planted i feel very uncomfortable and almost always top it , no matter what adjustments i make ( stepping up etc.)

[roobatooba]

Most but probably not all. I can name a few courses in central new york whose par 3 tee boxes are not quite even .I find some of them to actually have a bowl-like feeling to them and when my feet are on the outer edges of the '' bowl ''  with my club in the middle , i tend to get the feeling of hitting onto a lower level. The problem is probably not the tee box but how my mind perceives this simple challenge and further complicates it so that i get intimidated . I've been trying more positive self talk and it seems to have a calming effect .Until i mess up the shot !

[NI4NI]

The mental part of the game can make it tough.

Some popular sayings on this:

Golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course - the distance between your ears.  ~Bobby Jones

I'm about five inches from being an outstanding golfer.  That's the distance my left ear is from my right.  ~Ben Crenshaw

You need to find a relaxation method that works for you.  I have a pre-shot routine that I have been using for over one season, and it really helps me to stay focused, and to keep things in control.

Find your "happy place".

[meenman]

I am not going to say that I fear par 3s, but at my home course, for a long period of time I scored lower on the 4 par 5s than i did on the 3s. Now I seem to be able to par one of the 3s constantly and bogey 2 out of the other 3 on a regular basis. My strategy has been to club up 1 and take an easier swing. If I hit it straight and am short of the green I am better off than being pin high and right or left of the pin and in a bunker.

It may not be a bad idea to play some rounds at an executive course to give you some repetition on par 3s.

[the19thhole]

Know the distance to the back of the green and pick a club for this. Relax then step up and just hit it aiming for the centre of the green or away from all the trouble. Your thinking too much about how these are the holes you should be scoring on. Actually you're thinking too much. I agree with poster that you score better if you get the par 5's nailed.

[gjsuicide]

I dont understand the thought process behind par 5s being easier for a beginner.  Par for us is a great score.  Bogey is what we strive for.  In that case it takes 5 or 6 decent shots on a par 5 to get what we want, and only 3 or 4 on a par 3.  Not only that but par 3s are short, where the situation calls for the easier clubs to use.  I thought that par 5s are easier for pros because they are trying to get below par, and they can consistantly reach the greens in two shots.

[Shindig]

  gjsuicide said:

I dont understand the thought process behind par 5s being easier for a beginner.  Par for us is a great score.  Bogey is what we strive for.  In that case it takes 5 or 6 decent shots on a par 5 to get what we want, and only 3 or 4 on a par 3.  Not only that but par 3s are short, where the situation calls for the easier clubs to use.  I thought that par 5s are easier for pros because they are trying to get below par, and they can consistantly reach the greens in two shots.

Here's why: on a par-5, you don't need to hit a great shot for a good score. The part of the fairway that's typically the most defended on par-5s is where a better player is going to hit his tee shot if he's going to go for it in two. The greens are typically more defended against the second shot of a great player than they are against a short shot from any sort of player. Before I could break 100, there was a par-5 that used to give me a snowman every time I played it. So I started hitting four 7-irons to reach it. After a great many 6s (and not many worse), I went to hybrid off the tee, followed by two 7-irons, and then a wedge. My average probably dropped slightly. But I kept the huge numbers off the scorecard, made an occasional par, and took all the risk out of play. And I got good practice at hitting wedges into green, something that has served me well.

[gjsuicide]

  Shindig said:

Originally Posted by Shindig

Quote:

Originally Posted by gjsuicide

I dont understand the thought process behind par 5s being easier for a beginner.  Par for us is a great score.  Bogey is what we strive for.  In that case it takes 5 or 6 decent shots on a par 5 to get what we want, and only 3 or 4 on a par 3.  Not only that but par 3s are short, where the situation calls for the easier clubs to use.  I thought that par 5s are easier for pros because they are trying to get below par, and they can consistantly reach the greens in two shots.

Here's why: on a par-5, you don't need to hit a great shot for a good score.

The part of the fairway that's typically the most defended on par-5s is where a better player is going to hit his tee shot if he's going to go for it in two. The greens are typically more defended against the second shot of a great player than they are against a short shot from any sort of player.

Before I could break 100, there was a par-5 that used to give me a snowman every time I played it. So I started hitting four 7-irons to reach it. After a great many 6s (and not many worse), I went to hybrid off the tee, followed by two 7-irons, and then a wedge. My average probably dropped slightly. But I kept the huge numbers off the scorecard, made an occasional par, and took all the risk out of play. And I got good practice at hitting wedges into green, something that has served me well.

So you hit three shots, and then an approach shot?  When all you would need on a par 3 is the approach shot and putts?  Or even if the approach missed you could still be a chip and a few puts from bogey.

[anotherday]

One thing that helped me was something I read on one of these forums or heard on the Golf Channel.. Par 3's are not scoring holes. You should be fine with getting out of there with a par. Now, you're like me where I'm perfectly happy with Bogey or Double Bogey sometimes.

What helped me was to calm down a bit on the tee.. don't worry about getting to any particular spot on the green. Just know your yardage, trust your yardage, and swing easy .

Good luck!