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To Golfers Who Score in the 70s - What's Your Story?


gr8golf

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(1.) Ball striking. Ball Striking is critical.  You need to be able to keep the ball in play and hit fairways and greens consistently (above 45% on each IMO)... You don't need to be long to break 80.  But you need to be consistent and have tighter dispersion to prevent yourself from hitting into hazards and other junk that causes double bogeys on the card. I hardly practice with my driver... I usually am hitting a lot of irons and focusing on my full swing (5i/6i/7i).  This has helped me learn a swing that can get me around the course and put me in position to score.   If I'm inside 175yds... I really feel like I will have a legit look at birdie.  And at least get it near the hole - or somewhere on the green.   (2.) Short Game. Once you get on or around the green - you need to be able to get the ball into the hole.  Therefore, Pitching / Chipping / Putting aka Short Game is key... Turn Bogeys into Pars with a quality short game by getting up and down.  And I can't tell you how many times I've birdied Par 5's where I was able to get up and down leaning on my short game.  It is a big part of being able to score and prevent bogeys. (3.) Right Mental Attitude. Breaking 80 isn't hard.  But you have to have the right mindset.  Confidence in your game is huge.  Knowing you can hit the shot is one thing.  Doing it is another.  You have to believe in yourself - because really - no one else will on the golf course.  It is in your hands to execute the shot.  And you gotta have the right mind to do it. (4.) Instruction. Get golf instruction.  If you don't know what you are doing... You're going to waste a lot of time working on bad habits.  Or just wasting your precious time and money.  Go and get a lesson from a reliable source that knows the game of golf.  Someone that is recognized within the industry.  Or at least someone that has a list of references and sources that they are a legit instructor.  Once you find that instructor - take their teachings as if it is doctrine.  Live by it. You have to digest it and believe it before you can act. (5.) Hit Balls - Play, Play, Play, Practice, Practice, Practice. You need to hit a lot of golf shots to learn how to score and play.  Go play the course, spend time at the range, or even invest in a home /indoor setup.  The point of the matter is this... You aren't going to get better by sitting on your couch watching TV - or farting around on the web.  Get your hands on a golf club and practice making swings.  Taking divots.  Hitting balls.  A golf swing needs to be fine tuned to where it becomes an unconscious move.  One that you can execute in front of your friends.  One that you can execute in front of strangers.  One that you can execute when skins are on the line.   If you dedicate yourself to the game... Breaking 80 is easy.  The problem with 98% of the world is that they want to take an easy route.  The game of golf has no short cuts.

Great post.

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Originally Posted by gr8golf

1) How long did it take to break 70? If it took you 2 years, was that 2 years from the first time you picked up a golf club, or did you just play around for the first year and then take the second year seriously?

2) What methods did you follow? Did you pick and choose from different instructors, books, DVDs, or even just watching tips on the golf channel? Did you follow a single set method/book/DVD/instructor and follow it like it was your bible?

3) What does it take to score in the 70s consistently (in your opinion of course)? A consistent swing? A good mental game? 70% mechanics 30% mental? Please share.

1)  I quit tennis in 2004 at age 31 and I got hooked on golf.  My scores have slowly decreased over the years and I broke 80 for the first time in 2008, and shot even par for the first time last summer.  I play 40-60 rounds of golf each year.  I practice at home and a rarely go to the range.

2)  I've read close to 30 golf instructional books, taken a handful of lessons, and the golf channel is on my TV everytime I watch TV without my wife.  I watch tour players swings that I like during competitive rounds over and over looking at everything from set-up, takeaway, wrist-set, follow-through, etc.  I did the same thing with tennis when I played at the collegiate level.

3)  The strengths of my game are wedge play and iron/ball striking .

- I hit chip shots with my wedges at home on the carpet probably 4-5 nights per week.  I love practicing chipping and pitch shots more than anything.  I was not a big fan on Dave Pelz Putting Bible, but the Short Game Bible section on wedges and pitch shots helped my overall game.

- Putting was never my strength, but I putt on the carpet at home to get comfortable with my stroke and develop feel.  I really work hard at pace of putts.  I do not try to drain putts as much as I try to eliminate 3 putts.  Learning how to putt when just off the green and/or consistently chipping the ball within 2-3 feet of the cup instills a lot of confidence with the rest of your game.  Not to mention it is a fast way to lower your scores.

- I learned to hit my 3 wood off the tee and prefer it over my driver unless the fairway is wide open.  Hitting fairways is more important to me than the 10-15 yards I might gain with my driver.  You will not miss the 10 yards if you are confident in your iron/wedge play.

- Course management is a must and should not be overlooked.  A lot of it will come with experience, but watching the golf channel for tips and watching what the pro's due in certain situations is very helpful.  Hitting a certain club over another to take trouble out of play, avoiding sucker pins, aiming at the middle of the green unless you are inside 150 yards, etc.

- Know your yardages carry and full distance with each club.  Use the same make/model golf ball as much as you can to keep your yardages consistent.

This works for me.  I wish I had more time to go to the range, but my practice routine at home seems to work fairly well.

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I never played golf regularly for more than 5-6 months or so (a stretch in high school, after college, and then after the police academy).  My dad's an avid golfer and I would usually break 90 with the occasional round in the lower 80's.  I played a round in January 2009 after not picking up my clubs for 19 months and inexplicably broke 80 for the first time (76).  I was hooked, and as soon as Spring showed up in 2009 I got into golf avidly for the first time in my life.  Tried to play every week, hit the range when possible, practice putting regularly.  I'm no great shakes, but it's gotten me to the point where I have a good shot at breaking 80 if I keep all my tee shots in play.

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  • 9 months later...


Getting better at golf is a journey similar to climbing Everest. You can have all sorts of ideas and advice but to truly do it you dont conquer the mountain, you conquer yourself...

When you are truly ready to get better there is just 1 thing that you need to do...

Be brutally honest with yourself!

Watch your swing on tape...look at your misses...look at where you really are and then you can truly improve.

Everyone focuses on their swing but there is much more to it than that. Golf has 6 games.

1. Power(full swing)

2. Short(chips, pitches, finesse)

3. Mental( anger,fear, disappointment, confidence etc.)

4. Fitness

5. Putting

6. Management

Work on these with regards to yourself and you can start to take steps toward lower scores.

Some lessons that I have learned are

1. Be careful who you take advice from. Find teachers and leaders who think similar to you but are more advanced.

2. Have the right tools(clubs should fit, grips, wedges, putter)

3. Make practice uncomfortable..always work on something scary or odd not just shots you feel good about.

4. Build a shot library. Game changer here! Lets say it is a long par 4 with water left and you have a natural draw. Do you have a shot that can eliminate the left side? You should! Learn a very specific set of shots that can turn your round killers into just another shot.

5. Keep good notes...either mentally or literally...get feedback in anyway you can and keep it.

6. You are only as good as your worst shot. Always make your misses just a little better. If you get a little better everyday then there you go.

7. Master a pre and post shot routine...as specific as possible...timing(literally time it!), breathing, posture, vision etc. Make it the same every time and make it positive.

Brief history of my game....played since I was13 so about 25 years. Got serious about 3 years ago. Read every book I could and watched tons of DVDs. My true improvement didn't start until I REALLY started to look at where I was and what I was doing. I started video recording and keeping a journal which changed my game drastically. Some books that have shaped my game are Dave Pelz short game and putting bibles, and anything from Leadbetter(especially his interactive dvds about the full swing). I had always tried to play the way my brother played which was more of a feel player and never really improved until I realized that I am far too technical for that. There is no right or wrong way when you think about it. On the PGA tour their yardage books are precise down to inches with slopes and miss options etc. so my point is if you are a feel player or more technical or somewhere in between It doesnt matter. The advice is the same, CONQUER YOURSELF

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I started playing at 20.  Now 44.  I'm not sure exactly how long it took because the first couple years I played "big" courses and then got turned on to a little 9 hole course you had to walk.  Got into regular matches there with regular groups and had a blast.  Tough little course of 5 par 3s and 4 par 4s.  Hilly, tiny fast sloping greens, a lot of hard pan, and tree-lined.  I thought I was terrible at golf playing there for years.

When I started going back out to "big" courses I noticed something strange.  I was suddenly shooting GREAT scores.  It was because what others thought were tight holes looked wide open to me.  The greens seemed huge and flat, and my short game had gotten great.

So, I'm not sure how long it took me (5 years or so) but to me there are a few keys I've found to staying there consistently:

1)  Short game.  Pitch, chip, and putt.  This is where the majority of your practice time should be.  Have fun with the creativity you have with pitches and chipping.  I like low spinning wedge shots from 100 and in.

2)  Be able to eliminate one side of the course.  You don't have to work the ball on every shot, but when there is trouble on one side you have to know you can take it out of play.

3)  Play smart.  Eliminate the double bogies.  You don't have to make up a bad shot by trying to pull off the miracle shot.  You can make up a stroke on later holes.  Know when you have to stay below the hole.  Knowing the smart place to miss to if you miss shaves strokes.

4)  Practice 5 foot putts over and over.  I had a matt with 10 balls and a putter in my garage and I would hit 100 each night from 5 feet.  Robo-putting.

5)  Range time.  For me, I do better hitting fewer balls per session more days per week and finish each session with chipping and putting.  20 balls per session 4 times per week is better for me than 80 balls once per week.  I pick 2 or 3 clubs and work on them.  Different clubs next time.

  • Upvote 1

The most difficult distance in golf is the six inches between your ears.

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Originally Posted by Fourputt

Important advice here - being able to move beyond a bad hole and salvage a round.  I've started at 6 over in the first 3 holes with a quad bogey 8 on the 3rd, then played the next 15 holes in 2 over to card an 80.  I've also shot 104 when carrying a 10 handicap. The most difficult thing in the world is to keep playing and finish when you are a hopeless basket case (it was the first round of the 1992 club championship - the second weekend that year I carded both rounds in the 70's).


I'm not the best example for this thread as the times I've shot in the 70s is still under 10, handicap showing at a 9.4 right now, but I have a good example like this. +7 through 6 holes including the double bogey coming on hole 6 and admittedly was reaching the point of frustration there. Got my composure back though and played the final 12 holes in -1 for a 76 (+6).

I've been playing golf since I was about 10 and I'm 24 now. Played in high school, but none of that is as important as just good practice in my opinion. I don't play as much now as I did in high school, but I do play better. Getting a little stronger, committing to good practice (not just aimlessly hitting at the range), contributed to the rounds in the 70s coming more frequently including my low round 76 (+4) towards the end of last year. Course management has been big too, avoiding the blowup holes and playing smart. It's no coincidence that my scores went down when the double bogeys became further between. On a par 4 if I have a short sided chip or a tough 30 yard lob, something tricky and I already lie two, I've found it important to tell myself as I plan the shot that I just need to get the ball on the green somewhere. I was always guilty of trying to do too much in those spots hit the short sided chip too delicate and not reach the green at all hoping to get up and down, etc. I've done a lot better by looking at those situations as, lets give myself some kind of par putt (maybe I'll still make it anyway) and probably have a safe two-putt for bogey. There are times to be aggressive and try to get up and down, but you can't be a hero on every shot.

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My father put a golf club in my hand when I was 5 and sent me to a pro when I was 7.  Hockey was my main love and I played from the time I was 4 all the way through college.  Golf was just something I did to spend time with my father and as I got older (teen years) I lost interest.  Wasn’t until I turned 30 that I truly fell in love with the game.  I don’t read “How To” manuals nor do I care about Ben Hogan’s life story but I am very cerebral and understand simple swing mechanics.  Repetition and rhythm are the two most important elements to my game.  I am completely obsessed with ball striking and pure contact.  Once I “out grew” my distance obsession I became a much better golfer and my scores dropped drastically.  Think its time to focus on putting now and my 29.2 putts per round coupled with a 72.26 scoring average quantity that!

Callaway X-Hot Tour GD Tour AD DI-7 Sonartec SS-3.5 16* FTP-X Adams Idea Super S 19* Matrix Kujoh
Bridgestone J33B DG X100 Mizuno MP 53*6 Mizuno MP 56*10 WRX Sq. Gr. GTO Ported
Mizuno MP 60*6 WRX Sq. Gr. GTO Ported Odyssey White Hot Tour #5 Callaway Tourix

GHIN: 10436305

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  • 5 months later...
I hit balls with my dad when I was really young, but I never played it seriously or practiced. I started to take it seriously my senior year in highschool, the coach gave me a chance so I practiced from the fall to spring at least 5 days of the week for 2 hours or more. Before joining the golf team I had played a few rounds, after around my 5th to 7th round I broke 100, by the end of the year I shot in the 80s and stayed there pretty much until the summer started. In April I had got a job at my local country club so I could play and practice for free, so I took advantage of that, by the end of June I was shooting 70s. Somewhere in between July and September, I broke 70 which is the course par. I still have the scored card and it was a 69 and have never gone lower than that, since I play there almost every day I have not shot in the 80s for a while. I just wish I can shoot under more consistently and I always work on my game, I feel it might be a mental problem because in the front I can come out at 2 or 3 under but in the back I shot 4 or 5 over and end up shooting a round of 72 or 75. I am definitely not disappointed with these scores I just would like to minimize my mistake more often and, I do do a little worse in tournamemts but I still end up shooting 70s or low 80s. So by now it's been a little over a year and you can say golf has come naturally, but I have never had a lesson from a pro, just online stuff I look up, studying the pros and help from my dad, I am currently a freshman in college and I am going to try out my sophomore year and by next august I will be shooting under par more consistently. Thank you for your time.
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I usually only break 80 every 5 rounds or so but I'm also playing at 137-142 slope most of the time. I think if I was playing courses with slopes in the teens or twenties I would be there well over half the time.You can usually break 80 with just good ball striking and adequate putting especially on some of the easier courses with flat and mild speed greens.

Rich C.

Driver Titleist 915 D3  9.5*
3 Wood TM RBZ stage 2 tour  14.5*
2 Hybrid Cobra baffler 17*
4Hybrid Adams 23*
Irons Adams CB2's 5-GW
Wedges 54* and 58* Titleist vokey
Putter Scotty Cameron square back 2014
Ball Srixon Zstar optic yellow
bushnell V2 slope edition

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For me it was probably a little bit of natural co-ordination and lots of practice. I've had three lessons in my golfing life but I know my swing so well these days that its usually only minor tweaks to get it back on track. That said, it can take me a few practice sesssions to find the right tweak! I suppose everyone learns differently but I find it so much easier these days now that I can video and review my swing and then compare it to other swings to see where I may be going wrong. If i don't score in the 70's these days I'm disappointed but apart from the in-depth knowledge of my game and practice in years gone by, I couldnt put my finger on why I can do that and others can't. Probably the same reason pro's can shoot in the 60's regularly and I can't.
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Hello,

I am very interested in golfers who score in the 70s. How did they get to that point?

If you score in the 70s, can you please share your story? I would greatly appreciate any post at all explaining your path to breaking and consistently scoring in the 70s, but if you want some ideas, this is what I'm particularly interested in:

1) How long did it take to break 70? If it took you 2 years, was that 2 years from the first time you picked up a golf club, or did you just play around for the first year and then take the second year seriously?

2) What methods did you follow? Did you pick and choose from different instructors, books, DVDs, or even just watching tips on the golf channel? Did you follow a single set method/book/DVD/instructor and follow it like it was your bible?

3) What does it take to score in the 70s consistently (in your opinion of course)? A consistent swing? A good mental game? 70% mechanics 30% mental? Please share.

Thanks!


1) I had been playing since I was 9 or 10, but I did not break 70 on a regular basis until I took lessons at a Golf Digest school at age 25 (1975). The instructor at the school whom I worked with most was Peter Kostis, (believe it or not), who has been an analyst on CBS since 1992. This year, at age 63, I've played 40 rounds and scored in the 70's 12 times. My average score for the year is 81.7.

2) I was able to take the swing of Al Geiberger as my model, and use the teachings of Peter Kostis as my vehicle for consistency. In addition, I hit a lot of balls.

3) In my opinion, to score consistently in the 70's takes several factors:

- a solid, repeating swing

- a good short game

- the ability to avoid the dreaded three putt

- as for mechanics vs mental, the better your mechanics the less it becomes mental

Drivers: Bag 1 - TM R11 (10.5°); Bag 2 - Ping G5 (9°),
Fairway woods: #1 - TM RBZ Tour (14.5°) & TM System 2 Raylor (17°); #2 - TM Burner (15°) & TM V-Steel (18°)
Hybrid: #1 - TM Rocketballz (19°); #2 - Ping G5 (19°)
Irons: #1 - Ping i3+; #2 - Hogan Edge  (both 4-pw, +1" shaft)
Wedges: #1 - Ping i3+ U wedge (52°) & Ping Eye 2+ BeCu (60°); #2 - Ping ISI Sand BeCu (52°) & Cleveland CG11 lob (60°)
Putters: Ping B60i & Anser 2, Odyssey White Steel 2-Ball & White Hot XG #9, Lamkim Jumbp grips
Golf Balls: Titleist Pro V1, Bridgestone B330, Callaway SR1, Slazenger Grips: Lamkin Crossline
Golf Shoes: Footjoy & Adidas; Golf Glove: Footjoy StaSof®; Golf Bag: Ping Hoofer
I love this game! :-D

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Background: Took the game up as a 12/13 y/o when my dad retired from rugby and got my brother and me into the game. Didn't take it that seriously (actually, never taken it that seriously) until reached about 15 y/o when a number of factors clicked. Reached a 4 hcp at about 16/17 y/o but then went to University and essentially left the game until my mid-20s. Started playing occasionally with friends and kept that up until 7/8 years ago (I'm now 47) when I joined a club full-time again. Kept a sub-5 hcp all along and now am the lowest I've ever been at 3. I've always been pretty good at any sport that involves hitting a ball/shuttlecock with a racket/bat so I think I have decent hand/eye co-ordination.

1) Not sure when I first broke 70, but would have been around the 15 y/o mark, so about 3-4 years after taking the game up. As for breaking it regularly, definitely the Summer of '82 as a 16 y/o.

2) I only ever had about 3-4 lessons when starting out. I've always felt I'm a reasonable student of the game/swing so I like to read about the swing and also watch what the best players do. As a junior, my friends and I used to idolise Nicklaus and I can remember reading/discussing/practicing based on his "Golf - My Way" book. I was lucky in that there were about 8 or so friends from the same school all learning at the same time - we used to play from dawn 'till dusk and practice like it was going out of fashion . I still really get a kick out of the feeling that a swing is nailed on as I go through impact and that lovely lush feeling of a flushed iron, particularly a long iron. We used to analyse each others swings a lot and discuss lots of stuff. Just used to bounce off one another - when someone cracked something, we'd all be asking what the secret was etc. I think I have a pretty 'classic' sort of swing and it's been grooved over all that practice as a junior - even when I wasn't playing/practicing regularly not so long ago, as long as I had a 5 minute warm up, I didn't have any nightmares.

3) Unless someone is a golfing phenomenon, this is a game/sport that requires practice, a lot of it, if someone wants to score in the 70s consistently and by that I read it to be 'all the time'. Providing one is practicing good fundamentals, it's about grooving a swing that repeats under all conditions and pressures. There are many ways to do it (look up any video of Eamonn Darcy's swing for example!), but consistency comes from repetition and that means practice. If you can trust your swing, you're a long way there. For me it's maybe 70% mechanics and 30% mental and the mental side is more about playing golf that you know is within your capabilities. Playing sensible golf. Course management comes into the mental side of it as well and that's an essential I think many people learn late on.

Home Course: Wollaton Park GC, Nottingham, U.K.

Ping G400, 9°, Alta CB 55S | Ping G400, 14°, Alta CB 65S | Adams Pro Dhy 18°, 21°, 24°, KBS Hybrid S | Ping S55 5-PW, TT DGS300 | Vokey 252-08, DGS200 | Vokey 256-10 (bent to 58°), DGS200 | Ping Sigma G Anser, 34" | Vice Pro Plus

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1) How long did it take to break 70? If it took you 2 years, was that 2 years from the first time you picked up a golf club, or did you just play around for the first year and then take the second year seriously?

I like Unforgiven93 took up golf after quitting baseball after my Freshman year in High School.  Had a knack for swinging correctly right off the bat.  Broke 100 the first time I played, shot 94.  Played throughout the rest of high school and got down to a 9 handicap.  Went into the military and that's when i got my handicap low, was stationed in nothing but warm places and played pretty much all year round for about 5 years, left the military with a 2 handicap and have been hovering around that ever since. with low being a 0.9.  I always have 1 or 2 holes where I just lose my swing or just can't seem to make enough putts, or would probably be a scratch golfer

2) What methods did you follow? Did you pick and choose from different instructors, books, DVDs, or even just watching tips on the golf channel? Did you follow a single set method/book/DVD/instructor and follow it like it was your bible?

Totally self-taught, never took a formal lesson.  Have had people teach me how to chip but that was it.  I read some things in golf magazines on how to hit flop shots, out of the sand

3) What does it take to score in the 70s consistently (in your opinion of course)? A consistent swing? A good mental game? 70% mechanics 30% mental? Please share.

I think having a consistent swing during a normal round and then one that can hold up under pressure.  And the short game can save many, many strokes, this is probably the most important to higher handicaps, I save par a lot when I miss greens, it's the score saver when you are not totally on.  For me, playing smart  helps, now that I'm 49 and don't hit the ball quite as far as I did when i was younger, I've stopped trying to hit every par 5 in two and more than likely will lay up to 100 yards or less.  Made way more birdies and way less big numbers by not trying to go for everything.

-Jerry

Driver: Titleist 913 D3 (9.5 degree) – Aldila RIP 60-2.9-Stiff; Callaway Mini-Driver Kura Kage 60g shaft - 12 degree Hybrids: Callway X2 Hot Pro - 16 degree & 23 degree – Pro-Shaft; Callway X2 Hot – 5H & 6H Irons: Titleist 714 AP2 7 thru AW with S300 Dynamic Gold Wedges: Titleist Vokey GW (54 degree), Callaway MackDaddy PM Grind SW (58 degree) Putter: Ping Cadence TR Ketsch Heavy Balls: Titleist Pro V1x & Snell MyTourBall

"Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots but you have to play the ball where it lies."- Bobby Jones

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there you have it - about 30 posts (not counting replies, etc) and 30 different paths

I play a lot, took a couple lessons on basics, like to hit even at the range, love the Trackman feedback, understand the physics of it, and am able to put it in practice - after a couple years hitting now upper 70's and lower 80's (on days where I'm not just melting down - we don't talk about those days).

Hit the fairways

Hit the greens

Make the putts

Chip and pitch good when you have to

(in other words, whatever you are worst at, get better at it - if you can do it yourself, great, else lessons are a good idea)

don't let the bad stuff get in your brain

either that, or "hit it as hard are you can" ---- I forget which is the trick

Bill - 

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Hello,

I am very interested in golfers who score in the 70s. How did they get to that point?

If you score in the 70s, can you please share your story? I would greatly appreciate any post at all explaining your path to breaking and consistently scoring in the 70s, but if you want some ideas, this is what I'm particularly interested in:

1) How long did it take to break 70? If it took you 2 years, was that 2 years from the first time you picked up a golf club, or did you just play around for the first year and then take the second year seriously?

2) What methods did you follow? Did you pick and choose from different instructors, books, DVDs, or even just watching tips on the golf channel? Did you follow a single set method/book/DVD/instructor and follow it like it was your bible?

3) What does it take to score in the 70s consistently (in your opinion of course)? A consistent swing? A good mental game? 70% mechanics 30% mental? Please share.

Thanks!

I tend to hit more greens than I miss and I do a decent job with Keys 1-3 :-) Good mechanics are more important than a good mental game to shoot in the 70's.  Not saying mental game has zero importance but if you swing like Mrs. Haverkamp, I don't care if you have the mental game of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Wood combined, you ain't breaking 80.

Took me about four years to break 70, started when I was 13.

Mike McLoughlin

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True everyone has taken many different pathways to becoming a single digit handicap or 70's shooter. If anything I guess it shows there is no right or wrong way but it's a matter of finding the best way for you as an individual.

My story is similar to others that started this game as a junior with the exception that no one in my immediate family played golf and I actually got my Dad into the game when he realized how golf obsessed I really was. I started at age 10 back in 1975 and broke 80 by age 13. By todays standards I definitely did it the hard way but there were nowhere near the tools at hand like there are today. There were no junior clinics to be found in my home town and lugging a 8mm film camera to a practice range was unheard of,lol!

So I read every golf book and magazine I could get my hands on and spent hours on the course and in front of a mirror practicing my swing. But just like today many guru's/instructors have their own theories and at some point you have to choose a path and believe in it unconditionally. Since I was a huge Jack Nicklaus fan, "Golf My Way" had the most influence on me at that time. I also had a copy of Hogan's "Power Golf" and those two books were my guide and my bible. Someone mentioned it earlier in this thread that golf is a journey and that is so true. If you play long enough and want to continue to improve then your own theories on the golf swing and how it works for you will likely change over time just as mine have.

Anyhow, starting out as a junior player my strategy for shooting lower scores was pretty simple, hit the green in regulation and two putt. Nothing earth shattering about it, and from a child's perspective it just made sense that it was the easiest way to shoot lower scores. So early in my development I put a lot of focus on two things, my iron game and my lag putting. That doesn't mean I didn't put a lot of time into chipping, pitching, or short putts. We had a big yard growing up and I had a make shift green in the back yard I spent countless hours hitting to but my main focus and study was primarily put into my full swing to improve my iron game and long distance putting.

By age 14 and High School I was a consistent 70's shooter and was easily the most overall consistent player on our team. You could set your watch on what I shot, the coach called me the rock of the team because he could count on my score not varying by more than a shot or two day in and day out. The fact was my game was pretty boring back in High School. I was a mid 70's shooter that hit a lot of greens and made a lot of pars but struggled to get up and down on the few I did miss and didn't make enough birdies to compensate for the bogey's. By age 18 I started to put more work into my chipping and mid-range putting and worked my way to a scratch player.

But this thread isn't about how to shoot or break par and I wouldn't have done much different if I had to start from scratch today. I would still have put the majority of my time on the full swing and hitting greens in regulation and lag putting but would have also tried to squeeze in a little more time on the short game and mid-range putting. In today's world there are so many great tools out there to help a golfer improve. Video cameras alone are like going from a horse and buggy to a space ship compared to spending countless hours in front of a mirror checking your swing positions. Between Trackman, fitting options, and more and better instruction available, building a golf game to consistently break 80 is much more easily obtainable in today's world in my opinion.

In My Bag:
Driver: :Cobra Amp Cell Pro 9.5*, Stock X-Flex

3 Wood: :Cobra Bio Cell 16*, Stock X-Flex

5 Wood: Cobra Bio Cell 20*, Stock S-Flex
Irons: Bridgestone J40-CB 3-PW, Project-X 6.0

Gap Wedge::Vokey: 52* CNC  

Sand Wedge: :Vokey: 58* CNC  

Putters: Scotty Cameron Newport II 

Ball: Bridgestone 330-S(2014)

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1) it only took a couple of years, after I realized that I was getting better. I had been shooting around 85 for decades it seemed. I figured it out after reading an article on an air plane by Sergio Garcia of all people. I needed to slow down and lag all my swings, I was swinging to hard and to fast. 2) I am self taught and I have never had a lesson. I am one of those athletes though that cold pick up any sport pretty quickly. Tennis was a good example a neighbor who taught tennis needed some one to basically shag balls and/or hit them back to him. I Mimicked him and used my athleticism, before long I could stay right with him, made the team in HS etc. 3) a repetitive swing - identical e day in and day out. By doing so you understand yardages and what the ball does. Can hit my 5 iron 200 yards and 140 yards just by changing a few things, but the swing remains the same. A swing vocabulary. You must be able to see and execute all types of shots, especially trouble shots
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