How many practice balls to reach scratch

[Large chris]

Hi, new member here. I now some of you might be thinking, dreamer, not realistic, get a lesson etc. But this is a serious question. I am 38, always worked hard at my game, use Tour striker, tour tempo, and my short game including putting is much better this season after a fair bit of practice. Current index 7 but trying to go from "educated flipper" to flat left wrist, and specifically trying to get impact zone working reliably. I have a very nice local grass range, but I also have an opportunity to extend my garage into a space big enough to make full swings into a net, and maybe get a launch monitor as well. I know there are many other elements required to reach scratch, but purely in terms of swing repetitions how many balls a day have forum members hit to reach zero index? Currently hit 9 greens a round, driver swing speed 104 mph. Cheers, Chris

[Large chris]

I'm considering spending 20k here so please some advice?

[Elvisliveson]

Originally Posted by Large chris

I'm considering spending 20k here so please some advice?

Yeah, don't do it. So, you spend $20K and reach scratch by age 40, then what?

[Large chris]

Just to get better, enter a few competitions etc. Some scratch players are hitting hundreds of balls a day, but some say they don't practice at all... So I'm trying to get feel from better players what their regime is like

[newtogolf]

What's the long term goal?  Is $20K a lot of money to you?  It's hard to provide any constructive feedback without more information.

[Large chris]

My immediate goal is to groove a flat left wrist, long term play county level golf. 20k is a fair bit of cash but golf is my main thing so I would use it and I enjoy practice.

[newtogolf]

If you have the money, golf is your passion and don't expect anything crazy like turning pro then why not go for it.  I spend that much on gear, membership, guest fees, cart rentals, etc and I don't expect to ever get close to becoming a scratch golfer.

I would suggest dedicating some of that money to lessons or a swing coach to make sure you get the most out of your practice time and facilities.

[poser]

I would pick up the golf simulator.  The foresight GC2 would be my pick.  For around 10-12 grand you can get it alot of courses to play and everything you need.  Plus you can take it outside and use it on the range.  Buddy of mine has one at his shop and its alot of fun and very accurate.  That way you can practice anytime of the day or night and weather is no issue.  You can always go out on the grass range too.

[Large chris]

Interesting on the GC2 I saw a unit being used at the British Open this year looks very neat, but really need Price to come down a bit.....

[Clambake]

If you're not afraid with shelling out a fairly large chunk of cash (and it sounds like you aren't) to get better, I'd suggest finding a really good coach to work with extensively and a fitness trainer specifically to focus on golf swing fitness.     The launch monitor isn't going to do much to help your chipping, pitching, or putting either.     For $20k you could get 200 hours of personalized 1-on-1 instruction with a $100/hour PGA pro which I think would go a lot farther hitting balls into a net and interpreting the launch monitor.

Or to put it another way, which would you think would have a better result:   three one hour lessons a week for a year with a great PGA pro plus one training session per week focused on the golf muscles, or an expensive box in the garage which tells you where the ball is going but not how you got it there?

[dsc123]

[Harmonious]

Hmmm... You hit 9 greens in regulation.  Let's assume you average par on those holes ( 3-putts equal 1-putts) .  For the other 9 holes, you are more than 9 over par, assuming your 7 cap is accurate.  What's missing?  Either you take a bunch of penalty strokes or your short game really sucks.

Narrow down where you screw up and seek help accordingly.  For $20K you could afford quality time with any golf instructor in the country.

[Large chris]

Hmmm... You hit 9 greens in regulation.  Let's assume you average par on those holes ( 3-putts equal 1-putts) .  For the other 9 holes, you are more than 9 over par, assuming your 7 cap is accurate.  What's missing?  Either you take a bunch of penalty strokes or your short game really sucks. Narrow down where you screw up and seek help accordingly.  For $20K you could afford quality time with any golf instructor in the country.

Er, for the other 9 holes I am 7 over par, so 7 handicap is a gross 78 on a par 71. It is accurate, I play club competitions every week and won club championship a couple of weeks ago but I want to step things up. I appreciate the lessons advice but in the UK we don't have any sort of ranking system of instructors unlike in the US, and I haven't found anyone I'm totally happy with. So I'm still wondering how many balls scratch players hit to reach / maintain that level?

[nevrino]

Originally Posted by Large chris

Er, for the other 9 holes I am 7 over par, so 7 handicap is a gross 78 on a par 71. It is accurate, I play club competitions every week and won club championship a couple of weeks ago but I want to step things up.

I appreciate the lessons advice but in the UK we don't have any sort of ranking system of instructors unlike in the US, and I haven't found anyone I'm totally happy with.

So I'm still wondering how many balls scratch players hit to reach / maintain that level?

I don't think hitting balls help you much more then to train the changes you do in the swing. I've prob hit 10-15k balls this year (have free range balls) and if you never train it probably helps a bit but it's the swing changes that have made the difference to me, i'm not a scratch handicapper however.

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by Large chris

Er, for the other 9 holes I am 7 over par, so 7 handicap is a gross 78 on a par 71. It is accurate, I play club competitions every week and won club championship a couple of weeks ago but I want to step things up.

I appreciate the lessons advice but in the UK we don't have any sort of ranking system of instructors unlike in the US, and I haven't found anyone I'm totally happy with.

So I'm still wondering how many balls scratch players hit to reach / maintain that level?

They must figure handicaps different in the UK, but OK.  Still, if you are hitting 9 greens, you should be closer to a 4, if you have a decent short game. Hit one more green, get your up and down % to 50%, and you should be around scratch.

If you don't feel that instruction is what you might need, then hit thousands of balls and hope you can dig it out of the dirt.  I did it that way, relying on reading books, trial and error, and a helpful lesson every now and then. If I had your willingness to spend $20K, I'd see Bob Torrance. Why not?

Take it for what it's worth, but I don't hit many balls on the range anymore.  Maybe a bucket of 40 balls twice a week. And that's really if something nasty popped up on my last round.

[burner]

Originally Posted by Large chris

I'm considering spending 20k here so please some advice?

Get in touch with this lad and take it forward from there.

http://scratchtoscratch.wordpress.com/about/

[Elvisliveson]

Originally Posted by Large chris

Er, for the other 9 holes I am 7 over par, so 7 handicap is a gross 78 on a par 71. It is accurate, I play club competitions every week and won club championship a couple of weeks ago but I want to step things up.

Well, it's no wonder you've won club championships, you're registered as a 7 handicap when you're really playing off a 4!

[Large chris]

Well, it's no wonder you've won club championships, you're registered as a 7 handicap when you're really playing off a 4!

I have just had to read how a USGA handicap is calculated, blimey that is complicated.... Seems a bit simpler in the UK, a 7 handicap means your par score is about 7 over ( actually normally more like 5 over for most courses) Anyway the Bob Torrance suggestion is interesting, I have great respect for him and his results, but (seriously) have you ever heard him speak? His accent is so strong most Scottish people would struggle to understand it, let alone English or American guys!