Lost Confidence

[achadha7]

Over the last couple of months I have gotten better and gone from shooting 110 ish at my local course to consistently shooting 95-98. Even though I am happy with this improvement the issue is that I have lost all confidence in my bunker shots and pitches any where 65 yards and in. I have no confidence in terms of how much to swing and distance control. This was never an issue earlier when i was hitting my 5 iron abt 170, and scoring 110 ish, now my 5 iron off the tee box always goes 180 + some times crosses the 210 mark ( gps and course marker verified)

What can i do other than go to the range and hit balls? also now the dt solo thati use just hops skips and runs off the green, what ball do you recommend?

example from last round< par 5, about to take my 3rd shot, 100 yard to the pin, pickup the pitching wedge, swing at it, i go over , i mean way over , abt 135is total,  other than practice at the range what can i do, this is hurting my score and i know i can easily get into the 80's if i can get this corrected.

Thanks for reading this rant.

[14ledo81]

Do you have some wedges with lower lofts than your pitching wedge?  I hit my pitching wedge about 115-120, but I have 3 more wedges lower than that.  50 degree = 95-100, 55 degree = 80-85, 60 degree = 70 or less.

[SoundandFury]

Originally Posted by achadha7

Over the last couple of months I have gotten better and gone from shooting 110 ish at my local course to consistently shooting 95-98. Even though I am happy with this improvement the issue is that I have lost all confidence in my bunker shots and pitches any where 65 yards and in. I have no confidence in terms of how much to swing and distance control. This was never an issue earlier when i was hitting my 5 iron abt 170, and scoring 110 ish, now my 5 iron off the tee box always goes 180 + some times crosses the 210 mark ( gps and course marker verified)

What can i do other than go to the range and hit balls? also now the dt solo thati use just hops skips and runs off the green, what ball do you recommend?

example from last round< par 5, about to take my 3rd shot, 100 yard to the pin, pickup the pitching wedge, swing at it, i go over , i mean way over , abt 135is total,  other than practice at the range what can i do, this is hurting my score and i know i can easily get into the 80's if i can get this corrected.

Thanks for reading this rant.

Well, why are you hitting your pitching wedge if you're 100 yards out? I know hit my pitching wedge 135-145, so when I'm 135-145 from the middle of the green, I pull my pw (depending on pin placement).  When I'm 100-110, I pull my sw, because that's what I hit 100-110.  Other than club choice I'm not sure what your problem is...

[Midway]

Yep, sounds like you need some wedges & to know your distances for your clubs?

[SoundandFury]

Also, the range is in fact the best way to work this out.  Whether you're 35 yards long and need to figure out your max/avg distances with each club, or whether it's more subtle like the distance gaps between a 1/2, 3/4, and full sand wedge, there's no magic trick or drill. just hit a bunch of balls.

[achadha7]

Originally Posted by 14ledo81

Do you have some wedges with lower lofts than your pitching wedge?  I hit my pitching wedge about 115-120, but I have 3 more wedges lower than that.  50 degree = 95-100, 55 degree = 80-85, 60 degree = 70 or less.

The sand wedge but the best i have hit that is abt 95 ish

Originally Posted by SoundandFury

Well, why are you hitting your pitching wedge if you're 100 yards out? I know hit my pitching wedge 135-145, so when I'm 135-145 from the middle of the green, I pull my pw (depending on pin placement).  When I'm 100-110, I pull my sw, because that's what I hit 100-110.  Other than club choice I'm not sure what your problem is...

my sw has never gone 100 yds hence the pw, the avg for my pw i from 100- 120 ish

Originally Posted by Midway

Yep, sounds like you need some wedges & to know your distances for your clubs?

what wedges would you recommend?

I am pretty confident with 5 - 9 Iron it is the wedges that are causing me issues, I will def be goig to the range today get 200 balls and figure this out but a 60 degree wedge ? cleveland ? what bounce ?

[SoundandFury]

You said your pw went 135. Was that with clean contact or did you thin it? Makes a huge difference. If I thin my pw it goes 150, but I know that's not my true distance. 100-120 is a big gap. You need to figure out what your distance is within 5-10 when you hit the ball clean. If you don't make consistent contact more often than not that's a different thread. If you hit your pw 110 more often than 120, and your sw is 95, that's not a terrible gap. But if its more like 120/90, it's time to invest in a gap wedge. Personally, I have my pw (44*), gw (50*), sw (56*), and lw (60*), which I hit 135-140, 115-120, 100-110, and 85-95 respectively. In general you want around 10 yard gaps btw wedges. Don't quote me on that though. Finally, brand and bounce and personal. I love my vokeys. Other people love their Cleveland's. I think a high bounce sw and low bounce lw is best, but others may disagree.

[achadha7]

T[quote name="SoundandFury" url="/t/66022/lost-confidence/0_100#post_828548"]You said your pw went 135. Was that with clean contact or did you thin it? Makes a huge difference. If I thin my pw it goes 150, but I know that's not my true distance. 100-120 is a big gap. You need to figure out what your distance is within 5-10 when you hit the ball clean. If you don't make consistent contact more often than not that's a different thread. If you hit your pw 110 more often than 120, and your sw is 95, that's not a terrible gap. But if its more like 120/90, it's time to invest in a gap wedge. Personally, I have my pw (44*), gw (50*), sw (56*), and lw (60*), which I hit 135-140, 115-120, 100-110, and 85-95 respectively. In general you want around 10 yard gaps btw wedges. Don't quote me on that though. Finally, brand and bounce and personal. I love my vokeys. Other people love their Cleveland's. I think a high bounce sw and low bounce lw is best, but others may disagree.[/quote] Thank you, The 135 was pure solid contact, never hit the pw that far, 120 ish is more of what i hit, i guess more flexibility, better swing adjustments to stance n grip has made me gain distance, i guess time to go to the range and see what my distances are now with each club. Most of the issues i am facing are 60 yards in where i cant figure out how much to hit, what does a decent low bounce 60 deg wedge for a high hcp player go ? As for bounce, from what i have read , a low bounce is what i need coz i am rarely in the sand maybe 1 or 2 holes tge entire round

[SoundandFury]

Originally Posted by achadha7

T

Thank you,

The 135 was pure solid contact, never hit the pw that far, 120 ish is more of what i hit, i guess more flexibility, better swing adjustments to stance n grip has made me gain distance, i guess time to go to the range and see what my distances are now with each club.

Most of the issues i am facing are 60 yards in where i cant figure out how much to hit, what does a decent low bounce 60 deg wedge for a high hcp player go ?

As for bounce, from what i have read , a low bounce is what i need coz i am rarely in the sand maybe 1 or 2 holes tge entire round

Different for everyone.  You might think higher cappers hit shorter than low, but that's not always true.  When I first got my 60* I hit it about 70-80.  As I've improved it's gone up.  One thing about the wedges though, they aren't supposed to be distance clubs, they're scoring clubs.  You might be able to stomp on a lw and get it 90 yds, but that's no good if you're 30 ft from the pin.  Focus on distance gaps, not distance (for now).

[achadha7]

Different for everyone.  You might think higher cappers hit shorter than low, but that's not always true.  When I first got my 60* I hit it about 70-80.  As I've improved it's gone up.  One thing about the wedges though, they aren't supposed to be distance clubs, they're scoring clubs.  You might be able to stomp on a lw and get it 90 yds, but that's no good if you're 30 ft from the pin.  Focus on distance gaps, not distance (for now).

Distance gaps meaning, distances between the different clubs rite, I am thinking of a 60 deg as a club for 60 -70 yds and in to get me as close to the hole as possible

[Mac62]

Originally Posted by achadha7

What can i do other than go to the range and hit balls?...

One caveat about beating range balls to establish your club distances - some driving ranges use limited flight balls, which aren't going to fly nearly as far as your 'gamer' ball.  If your range uses them and you establish 85 yards as your 'range distance' for a sand wedge (or whichever club), you may be in for a rude surprise when you're out on the course and suddenly discover that it actually goes 110 yards when you're hitting a decent ball.

[achadha7]

One caveat about beating range balls to establish your club distances - some driving ranges use limited flight balls, which aren't going to fly nearly as far as your 'gamer' ball.  If your range uses them and you establish 85 yards as your 'range distance' for a sand wedge (or whichever club), you may be in for a rude surprise when you're out on the course and suddenly discover that it actually goes 110 yards when you're hitting a decent ball.

That is an issue here, and most if not all range balls are pretty beat up so lets see what the range reveals