can't get out of the mid 90's

[Travis Frost]

Hi everyone, Ive been golfing off and on for around 10 year's or so now and just seems like I 95 is a score im always stuck with . Any tips would be greatly appreciated

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by Travis Frost

Hi everyone,

Ive been golfing off and on for around 10 year's or so now and just seems like I 95 is a score I'm always stuck with . Any tips would be greatly appreciated

Have you taken any lessons?  That's likely a good first step.  Mid-90's is a spot where a lot of self-taught golfers hit a wall and a good pro will be able to help you identify the underlying issues that are keeping you there.  Failing that, keeping track of some basic stats can help you help yourself by understanding where your biggest opportunities lie.  I'd start simple.  Fairways hit, greens in regulation, putts per green in regulation, and putts per missed green in regulation.  That should give you some insight as to where you're losing the highest % of strokes.

You can also post a video of your swing here, under the Member Swings forum:

http://thesandtrap.com/f/4180/member-swings

There are some very knowledgeable instructors on the site, including the site owners, moderators, and forum leaders who can quickly get you pointed in the right direction.  Be sure to read the directions for taking and posting your swing video.

Welcome to the forum!

[arturo28mx]

I am 55 years old and took up golf three years ago. I have reduced my scores from around 120 to mid/low 80's in one year of playing one round every week (feb 2012 to feb 2013). I have not taken lessons and I do not go to the practice range because the ranges are all too far from my home. How did I do it? First, I have studied a lot about the golf swing: I watch golf instruction videos on internet a few minutes every day (yes, every day), I buy all the magazines, and I watch the golf channel almost every day. So by now I understand a lot about what I should do and should not do and why (very important to understand why). Second, I film myself at home about once a month. This allows me to detect basic errors like swaying sideways, or not being on plane on the back swing (making swings in front of a mirror also helps a lot). You don't need any special software to do this, basic errors are very obvious. Third, a lot of discipline. Every time I play a round I make mental notes on what I did wrong and then go think what I should do to correct it.

In few words, dedication and discipline.

I also shoot sporting clays (clay discs with a shotgun). I've been doing it for years. It's similar to golf in that you need a lot of technique on how to hold the gun and how to move. I go to a lot of local tournaments. I believe it was sporting clays that taught me dedication and discipline, and then I just applied them to golf.

Lastly, I should say that many times, when I'm really trying to improve a certain aspect of my game, I prefer to play the round by myself because I can concentrate on what I'm doing. When I play with friends the socialization makes it harder to concentrate and learn.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to score in the 70's. I'm not getting any younger and I don't have time to play or practice more. Shooting low 80's is more than I ever imagined and I'm quite happy with that.

[dave s]

To see any improvement, you have to understand where improvement opportunities exists.  Keep track of key indicators like: a) how many putts during your round? b) how many greens did you miss?  c) How many chip shots did you take? d) How many penalty strokes for lost ball, OB, hazard or otherwise?

If you can compartmentalize areas that cause the 92+ rounds, then you can formulate a strategy to begin working on improving a particular aspect of the game that will lead to reducing strokes.  I would be surprised if a little hard work in two of the above areas didn't result in mid- upper-80s rounds real soon.  I'll also bet that working solely on your short game would shave 4-6 strokes in a few short weeks!

dave

[bradsul]

I was stuck in low 90's for what seemed like ages.  As has been repeated several times now, take basic stats so you have an objective answer as to where you are suffering the most lost strokes.  That will tell you what you need to practice rather than what you think you should practice (not always the same).

For myself, I was hitting fairways but not hitting enough greens.  And when I did hit greens I wasn't getting nearly enough 2 putts.  When I missed the green I was getting too many bogeys.  So for myself I decided to concentrate first on my short game.  I set myself a goal of getting up and down when I was within 30yds of the green.  This covered chipping, pitching and putting.  I decided to treat sand play as a separate area from the short game.  This brought me down into the high 80's surprisingly quickly.  After that I set to work on getting my approaches tucked in nice and tight.  Which is not to say I ignored my full swing during that time, I definitely didn't.  It just wasn't my main focus.

The other thing that could be unknowingly costing you a lot of strokes is going crazy with the driver on every hole that is long enough to hit it.  Take a look at the hole layout, the designer has generally left it pretty obvious where he wants your tee shot to land.  It might be only a hybrid or fairway wood instead of a driver off the tee.  Using the designated landing zone generally takes any trouble out of play and thus fewer recovery shots.  Not as exciting perhaps, but the view from the fairway is nicer than from the trees.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by bradsul

I was stuck in low 90's for what seemed like ages.  As has been repeated several times now, take basic stats so you have an objective answer as to where you are suffering the most lost strokes.  That will tell you what you need to practice rather than what you think you should practice (not always the same).

For myself, I was hitting fairways but not hitting enough greens.  And when I did hit greens I wasn't getting nearly enough 2 putts.  When I missed the green I was getting too many bogeys.  So for myself I decided to concentrate first on my short game.  I set myself a goal of getting up and down when I was within 30yds of the green.  This covered chipping, pitching and putting.  I decided to treat sand play as a separate area from the short game.  This brought me down into the high 80's surprisingly quickly.  After that I set to work on getting my approaches tucked in nice and tight.  Which is not to say I ignored my full swing during that time, I definitely didn't.  It just wasn't my main focus.

The other thing that could be unknowingly costing you a lot of strokes is going crazy with the driver on every hole that is long enough to hit it.  Take a look at the hole layout, the designer has generally left it pretty obvious where he wants your tee shot to land.  It might be only a hybrid or fairway wood instead of a driver off the tee.  Using the designated landing zone generally takes any trouble out of play and thus fewer recovery shots.  Not as exciting perhaps, but the view from the fairway is nicer than from the trees.

Very good points, especially the last paragraph.

This doesn't just apply to medium and short par 4's either.  I've been applying this philosophy lately on par 5's too.  Assuming flat hole and no wind, my absolute perfect drive is 280-290, and my absolute perfect 3 wood off the deck is 240 tops.  That's 530 yards right there, so anything over that, I ain't getting home in two no matter what, so there is really no point in hitting a driver off the tee.  A nice 3 wood and 4 iron will put me within 100 yards of the green, and should set up a pretty routine par, and perhaps birdie.  If it's a tight fairway, worry about getting it in the fairway first, not down the fairway.

[Yukari]

As people have said above, first thing is to improve your short game and your course management.  Once I started practicing chipping and putting, it went from 90's to 80's in less than a month.  I have always had a relatively good course management, so that wasn't this issue.  It was not being able to get up and down when I miss the green that was costing me a lot of strokes.  Once I improved in that area, I was shooting in low 80's and sometimes high 70's often.  But to go from there to regularly in the 70's is another matter....

[stoverny]

I don't really think it's strategy or course management that is the problem for most golfers stuck in the 90s.  For most that I've seen, it is ball-striking plain and simple.

Yes they may have lousy short games also, but for the most part I see too many completely wasted shots... fat, duffs, shanks, lost balls, etc.  If a player has a reasonably reliable full swing, they will start working on the short game.  Until then, the short game always seems secondary.

In my humble opinion I think that for many golfers, the weight shift/pivot is very difficult to learn. That is the heart of the problem.  It is one of those things that seems easy to those who can do it, and incredibly difficult to those who can't.  That is not to say it cannot be learned with enough effort and practice - only that it is difficult and often frustrating because occasionally perfect shots are followed up with complete mishits.

I would advise the OP (if ball-striking is in fact his problem which I suspect it is), to start focusing on an approach that minimizes the #1 problem which is usually the weight shift/pivot.  That would mean something like Stack and Tilt, but there are other alternative methods out there that minimize movement and lead to more consistent striking of the golf ball.

And yes instruction can help but I think instruction in a method that will make ball striking easier would make more sense if you have been stuck in the 90s for so long.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by stoverny

I don't really think it's strategy or course management that is the problem for most golfers stuck in the 90s.  For most that I've seen, it is ball-striking plain and simple.

Yes they may have lousy short games also, but for the most part I see too many completely wasted shots... fat, duffs, shanks, lost balls, etc.  If a player has a reasonably reliable full swing, they will start working on the short game.  Until then, the short game always seems secondary.

In my humble opinion I think that for many golfers, the weight shift/pivot is very difficult to learn. That is the heart of the problem.  It is one of those things that seems easy to those who can do it, and incredibly difficult to those who can't.  That is not to say it cannot be learned with enough effort and practice - only that it is difficult and often frustrating because occasionally perfect shots are followed up with complete mishits.

I would advise the OP (if ball-striking is in fact his problem which I suspect it is), to start focusing on an approach that minimizes the #1 problem which is usually the weight shift/pivot.  That would mean something like Stack and Tilt, but there are other alternative methods out there that minimize movement and lead to more consistent striking of the golf ball.

And yes instruction can help but I think instruction in a method that will make ball striking easier would make more sense if you have been stuck in the 90s for so long.

That's your cue Logman

[bubble]

have you ever tried not going all the way to the green from over 100 yards to the pin ?

great challenge.

the idea is to play GIR + 1 and maximum 2 putts.

knowing that on certain tee shots you will never get to 100 yards to the pin you may play a short club for your first shot;

usually scores drop under 90 with this game if you practice short game (wedging a lot) a minimum.

[logman]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

That's your cue Logman

Thanks Erny....I wasn't paying attention.

The traditional golf swing is hard to learn, hard to maintain, and hard to correct.

I'm convinced that the swing method promoted here and by most of the teachers on the planet is the wrong swing for most golfers.

There!

[iacas]

Originally Posted by logman

The traditional golf swing is hard to learn, hard to maintain, and hard to correct.

I'm convinced that the swing method promoted here and by most of the teachers on the planet is the wrong swing for most golfers.

And you're as wrong and misguided now as you've always been.

[Ernest Jones]

Thanks Erny....I wasn't paying attention.

No problem, you can't be everywhere.

[logman]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

No problem, you can't be everywhere.

Can you refute my claim?  mmm, I didn't think so.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by logman

Can you refute my claim?  mmm, I didn't think so.

Wouldn't dream of it.

[Jmdmbike]

Agree that keeping stats will help you figure out what to focus on. I started keeping a couple key stats last year, and my biggest issue is not hitting greens on approach shots, and always having to get up and down for par. When I hit a GIR, I made par about 3/4 of the time. When I missed GIR, I rarely got up and down for par. So, more putting practice to try and reduce those 3 putts, and I really need to improve the short game to give myself more realistic looks at par when I miss greens. I knew my short game was holding me back, like a lot of people, but I have a much better understanding of the impact on score and what I need to fous on to try and improve scores. We'll see how it goes.

[oregongolfguy]

As someone who is relatively similiar to the OP........

I don't get to play or practice much at all, but I love the game.  This obviously puts me at a big disadvantage right from the get go, its hard to strike the ball consistantly when you don't hit balls very often....I have taken a couple of lessons and it helped alot, and to my suprise we didn't work on any big changes, it was just a few little things, grip, stance,alignment, and a couple swing thoughts to help me get the club where it needs to be....

As others have said knowing your own game is important, play to your relative strengths.  Personally i have found that the worst part of my game is my short game, by short i mean around and on the greens.  I had way way too many 3 putts on the greens, and i have a very hard time chipping/pitching around the greens.  I tend to either hit ball thin and shoot ball across green or hit it fat and go know where around the greens with high lofted clubs.....I know play the lowest lofted club i can around the greens and try to get the ball on the surface rolling as quickly as possible, this has eliminated the shanked chip for me for the most part.  I practice putting a fair amount, i concentrate on speed....trying to get the ball within a few feet of the cup instead of trying to hole it from further then 10ft or so away, setting up for a 2 putt basically....

Course management is huge.....I feel fairly confident from 8i down to be able to hit the green.  So i try to take the easiest to hit club possible to put me in position to hit GIR with 8i or less.  This may mean hitting a 3 wood or 5 wood of the tee on long par 4's or par 5's that don't suite my driver eye....shorter par 4's may just be a mid iron off the tee...  Know were to miss....some greens its easier to get up and down from the front, others from the back....My home course most of the greens slope back to front, and most of them have a collection area off the backside....Knowing that i am horrible trying to pitch the ball up in the air on short shots going long is BIG trouble for me...But short of the green i can probably get up and down by hitting a bump and run 7i...or at least my percentage of up and down is alot better...So if between clubs i will opt short and play the percentages....

Tee it forward......I don't have the distances of pro players, or good AM players....So i personally enjoy a shorter course where its managable distances for me to hit.

[DonaldStewart]

Im supprised at the lack of focus on putting. My only lesson (due to the cost of them) was one in putting. I did the keeping track of stats of fairways hit, greens hit etc but not counting putts because they are easy aren't they? Until I caught up with an old sage on the course who said to me...."Do you realise you hit 12 more putts than I did on that round" penny dropping time for me and my initial scores of 108-112 dropped to high 90's after a good lesson. Now im regularly taking around 32 putts per round. If I can get that number down, its an easy way to cut my shots per round....practicing putting is not as much fun as banging ball after ball at the range but three or four one putts and the rest two putts will get me to my low mid 90's goal quickly this year....famous last words maybe but time will tell..that and a lot of work on keeping the ball in the short stuff