65/20/15 Practice Ratios: Where to Devote Your Practice Time

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

So, as long as the strokes gained in the "Approach" category put you in a position for either a GIR or an up and down by 4 strokes gained per round it will move you from a 90 player to an 80 player?

a) remember, it's just an average of 80-golfers and 90-golfers and where they lose/gain shots relative to the other group

b) yes… but you have to do the other things too, or else you'll only gain 4 shots.

Thanks for the clarification.

Yes, my putting and chipping need a lot more practice (at least 35%).

[The Recreational Golfer]

Sometimes I make a shot-by-shot record of a round I just played. I dug into those sheets and found four complete rounds and a nine-holer from about ten years ago that averaged 90 (93, 87, 88, 91, 46). These are the average numbers of long shots, short shots and putts in those rounds (there were also four penalty strokes).

Long - 34.7; Short - 21.8; Putts - 32.7

Then I found notes on 45 holes where I averaged 79 (80, 76, 41), from seven years later.

Long - 36.0; Short - 12.0; Putts - 30.8

This is a small sample, and you could put +/- a stroke or two behind each one.

The biggest change by far is the number of short shots, dropping by almost ten strokes.  The reason why is the improvement in my swing, which led to more greens hit, and, therefore, no short shots on those holes. I hit about the same number of long shots, but they were better shots.

There was a contribution due to short game improvement in that I would not take more than one short shot to get the ball on the green so often. But most of that ten-shot difference is swing improvement.

Heck, a few weeks a go, I played nine holes and on the last four, hit every fairway and every green and got four pars. Who needs a short game when you hit it that straight? (And yes, I know you don’t always hit it that straight. Just sayin’.)

[iacas]

Given the data we've found and the recommendations we are making in Lowest Score Wins , Dave and I have decided to rename this thread and thus to alter the recommended practice ratios to 65/20/15 .

[billchao]

Given the data we've found and the recommendations we are making in [URL=https://www.facebook.com/groups/lowestscorewins/]Lowest Score Wins[/URL], Dave and I have decided to rename this thread and thus to alter the recommended practice ratios to 65/20/15 .

I like that. What's good chipping worth if you can't sink the subsequent short putt? Or does this have more to do with the fact that we need to be better putters due to all the GIR we're hitting by aiming for the center of the green? ;-)

[iacas]

Or does this have more to do with the fact that we need to be better putters due to all the GIR we're hitting by aiming for the center of the green?

To be honest, I under-valued putting slightly because I'm a pretty good putter. I can go a month without hitting a putt, literally, and kick someone's butt in a putting contest right away.

Though the putting motion is still so much simpler than even the short game, it requires a bit more accuracy and consistency than the short game, which bumps its difficulty up just a little.

So, it's a combination of the two (which are in themselves pretty similar, I guess). I can't say more without giving away parts of the book, so I'll leave it at that.

[saevel25]

To be honest, I under-valued putting slightly because I'm a pretty good putter. I can go a month without hitting a putt, literally, and kick someone's butt in a putting contest right away.

Though the putting motion is still so much simpler than even the short game, it requires a bit more accuracy and consistency than the short game, which bumps its difficulty up just a little.

So, it's a combination of the two (which are in themselves pretty similar, I guess). I can't say more without giving away parts of the book, so I'll leave it at that.

You kicked our asses up in Erie last month

[iacas]

You kicked our asses up in Erie last month

Easy pickin's.

[Lihu]

To be honest, I under-valued putting slightly because I'm a pretty good putter. I can go a month without hitting a putt, literally, and kick someone's butt in a putting contest right away. Though the putting motion is still so much simpler than even the short game, it requires a bit more accuracy and consistency than the short game, which bumps its difficulty up just a little. So, it's a combination of the two (which are in themselves pretty similar, I guess). I can't say more without giving away parts of the book, so I'll leave it at that.

I got two apps, one called "Putt Reader" and "Aimpoint" for my cell phone. The free Putt Reader application helped me get 3 twenty foot putts in a row. I'm looking at the Aimpoint app next. Problem solved. I just have to pretend to "drop" my phone 3 times per hole to putt better. No need for me to practice putting. :-) Seriously, I do need to learn to putt. I think it costs me almost 10 strokes per round.

[iacas]

I got two apps, one called "Putt Reader" and "Aimpoint" for my cell phone. The free Putt Reader application helped me get 3 twenty foot putts in a row. I'm looking at the Aimpoint app next.

The AimPoint app won't do you any good until you take the class. Since you're scientifically minded, you could probably do the full MidPoint, but you may still not want to.

Anyway, let's keep this mostly on topic. :)

[boogielicious]

Given the data we've found and the recommendations we are making in Lowest Score Wins, Dave and I have decided to rename this thread and thus to alter the recommended practice ratios to 65/20/15.

And I am assuming you have edited all your posts too!  I can't remember what it was, 65/25/10?

[iacas]

And I am assuming you have edited all your posts too!  I can't remember what it was, 65/25/10?

Just the first one. And I put in an "edited" note at the bottom.

[natureboy]

Unless you have a glaring weakness or a facet of your game which far outshines the others, you should spend 65% of your time practicing the full swing, 20% of your time practicing the short game, and 15% of your time practicing putting.

There's a reason there's a formula out there that approximates your score by taking 95 - (2 x GIR). Hitting greens is the single biggest correlation to scoring well, and the only way to hit greens is to have a full swing that works - twice on average. The full swing is also orders of magnitude more complex and difficult to master than a putting stroke or a pitching motion.

Good info. Backed by Brodie's book too.

Glaring weakness: short game

Last full round I hit 28% fairways (bad driving day - usually around 50% - and intentionally hitting driver on some holes I could play an iron to transfer range confidence to the course).

Hit 7 GIR / 9 GoFIRs. Shot 92. Chip & 2-putts / 3-putts killed me.

I know, I know...AimPoint Express.

[iacas]

Good info. Backed by Brodie's book too.

Backed by my book too. ;-)

[natureboy]

Backed by my book too.

That's why I wrote "too".

[iacas]

That's why I wrote "too".

I read "too" as referring to my quoted text. :-)

[natureboy]

Glaring weakness: short game & driving consistency / accuracy

Last full round I hit 23% fairways (bad driving day - usually avg 40%).

Hit 7 GIR / 9 GoFIRs. Shot 92. Chip & 2-putts (6) / 3-putts (6) killed me.

Corrected (spreadsheet counted par-3s in Fwy%).

The stat about potential score based on GIR is encouraging at least if I can drop some short game shots (at least 5-6) and put it in the fairway more.

[Jameson]

Wow ! I´m going to put in practice all these stuff from now on... However, I think that mi problem is to hit from the tee, basically with the Driver... I do not play bad from 150 yards to the green, but it´s really dificult for me to place the ball in the fairway...with my driver. When I do, it doesn´t go any further. So maybe it´s the strike which I should practice more... Maybe, 75/15/10... Maybe these can change when I make progress with my driver...

[natureboy]

Here are stats for most of my non-practice rounds since I started playing a few years ago. My basic take is that I am dropping most shots on poor short-game touch 60 yards & in and lost balls off the tee with driver. If the more experienced might have some other / better insights, I would appreciate it. I seem to be a few elusive shots away from my goal of breaking 90.

If the stats seem odd, it's because I decided to start learning more on the range than the course. I didn't want to waste money (and other people's time) hitting lots of frustrating shots on the course. Intuitively it struck me early that I had to get a decent full swing. Consequently, my short game skills relative to someone playing as many rounds are likely lacking. My practice ratio so far has probably been closer to 80/10/10 with probably half of the short game time spent in the practice bunker.

What would be a good ratio to maintain the full iron swing while working out the bugs (mostly tension on the tee and sometimes not adjusting to the lie angle of tee box) on driver and catching up on short game touch? Or from the stats do you have other recommendations?

Sample: 1409 strokes     Course is a par 71 rated at 67.5 with slope of 120 from the whites (regular)

Birdie%: 1.5     Par%: 19.4     Bogey%: 42.5     Double%: 23.5     Triple/+%: 13.1

Fwy%: 38 (best days 50-60)

GoFIR%: 35 (recent - 37) ~ 6.31 GoF / round     GIR%: 22

PPGIR: 2.41 (recent - 2.32)     PPmGIR: 1.86 (recent - 1.30)     PPR: 35.7

Scramble%: 11     Bogey Scramble%: 9     Total +Scramble%: 20

% all shots lost / OB: 1.8

% all shots hit to rough: 18.9

% all shots hit to sand / hazard: 5.0

% all shots hit from rough / sand / hazard not back to fwy or green: 6.9    (dropped significantly lately due to good advice from forums here )