What do you need to play par?

[birlyshirly]

I have a couple of fundamental issues with the OP.

First and foremost, I think that most people, especially beginners, when they hear the message "Don't worry about distance, focus on accuracy" they're going to end up with a choked-off, nervous, steer of a swing that isn't going to generate the clubhead speed they're really capable of, and probably isn't going to deliver great ballstriking or accuracy either. That's just one of the paradoxes of golf, that you need to give up the sense of control, in order to gain control. I've lost count of the number of rounds where I've scored worse on the front nine trying to play cautiously and avoid trainwrecks, and then improved on the back nine by relaxing and swinging more positively, even aggressively.

Second, he talks about driving 240 consistently in the fairway as if this was something that any beginner could aspire to in the near term. In my world, anyone who is driving 240 and hitting say 70% of fairways isn't a novice with a smart strategy, they're a solid golfer, probably in single-digits and capable of hitting the other clubs in their bag, including the sand wedge. Hitting the driver like that isn't a choice for most people, it's something to be earned.

In other words, nice theory but easier said than done.

[pipergsm]

A small example from Belgium, my native land.

In the 80's and 90's, the national judo team won many international and Olympic medals.

Their successes were attributed to their coach, who himself had never been able to win any international title, but possessed the gift of teaching and coaching!

[birlyshirly]

Barring issues of age or physical incapacity, I'd expect any coach or teacher to be able to demonstrate the fundamentals of their discipline. That doesn't mean that they should be, or have been, world class performers - but if they can't implement the basics in their own practice, I'd have to doubt their ability to implement the same basics in mine.

As an aside, I'd observe that in most fields of sport or performance that I've seen - a solid mastery of the basics will put the owner well ahead of the vast majority of players.

It's simple, but not easy.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by pipergsm

A small example from Belgium, my native land.

In the 80's and 90's, the national judo team won many international and Olympic medals.

Their successes were attributed to their coach, who himself had never been able to win any international title, but possessed the gift of teaching and coaching!

And he only only practiced the sport for about a year before coaching those teams?

I'm guessing he had SOME successes as a judoist prior to coaching.

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by pipergsm

A small example from Belgium, my native land.

In the 80's and 90's, the national judo team won many international and Olympic medals.

Their successes were attributed to their coach, who himself had never been able to win any international title, but possessed the gift of teaching and coaching!

I appreciate that you mean well and are excited by your recent success but put the pipe down, seriously, put it down.

[tomvk77]

You are so right about your post.

BUT

This just can't be done.

this is just based on book knowledge!

No player in the world can hit 6 iron's straight every time.

NOT POSSIBLE.

And 6 iron 160 in heavy wind? can get hard.

I play on a short course measures only 6200 yards but

at 3 of the 5 par 3's i need more than 6 iron to get on or near.

There are so much things you need to think off. ball above feet, bellow feet.

Higher green, lower green. wind directions

[bjwestner]

I just lost 15 minutes of my life that I will never get back after reading this thread.  Sounds like the OP, who admits that he has not shot even par, yet somehow knows how to do it though had one of those great range sessions where your game makes sense for a short while and while "drunk" off of that feeling decided to tell the world how to shoot par.

[indyvai]

I think the OP can be cut a little slack. I think we all hypothesize about golf like this in one form or another... we just don't create a revelation thread about it. My pondering always leads to up and downs as the key to good scoring. You can hit subpar shots all day, but if you get up and down from everything green side, you score well.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by bjwestner

I just lost 15 minutes of my life that I will never get back after reading this thread.  Sounds like the OP, who admits that he has not shot even par, yet somehow knows how to do it though had one of those great range sessions where your game makes sense for a short while and while "drunk" off of that feeling decided to tell the world how to shoot par.

Kudos, sir.  I think you have inspired a new phrase we will call, Range Drunk.

Doesn't quite have a ring to it.  Can anybody think of something with a bit more pizzazz?

[BostonBrew]

Golfer's High (akin to Runner's High) - the euphoric feeling that results from striking the ball well on the range.

[indyvai]

Kudos, sir.  I think you have inspired a new phrase we will call, Range Drunk. Doesn't quite have a ring to it.  Can anybody think of something with a bit more pizzazz?

A Pipergasm?

[JonMA1]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Doesn't quite have a ring to it.  Can anybody think of something with a bit more pizzazz?

Delusions of grandeur?

Sorry piper, I couldn't resist. I still hope you shoot for par at some point. Either way, you'll have to post your best (honest) round of 18 by the end of the year.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by BostonBrew

Golfer's High (akin to Runner's High) - the euphoric feeling that results from striking the ball well on the range.

That's a good one.

Originally Posted by indyvai

A Pipergasm?

lol.

[JonMA1]

Originally Posted by indyvai

A Pipergasm?

Winner!

[Motley01]

Where's Shorty when you need him?

[Ernest Jones]

Where's Shorty when you need him?

There are at least three threads right now that are in serious need of a Shorty intervention. I hope he is ok and making a recovery and return to action in the near future. I will promise to never use the phrases, "I, personally" and "moving forward" on this forum ever again if that helps. I may, however, use them in other aspects of my life as some of the douches I deal with only speak biz-talk. That's probably why I spend so many of my salaried working hours here!

[thegr8bambino86]

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

That's probably why I spend so many of my salaried working hours here!

Can I get an AMEN!

[pipergsm]

Originally Posted by bjwestner

I just lost 15 minutes of my life that I will never get back after reading this thread.  Sounds like the OP, who admits that he has not shot even par, yet somehow knows how to do it though had one of those great range sessions where your game makes sense for a short while and while "drunk" off of that feeling decided to tell the world how to shoot par.

Originally Posted by iacas

And he only only practiced the sport for about a year before coaching those teams?

I'm guessing he had SOME successes as a judoist prior to coaching.

There are 2 aspects here, that in my opinion can exist independently from each-other

1)   being able to play good golf (par or better):                          I never said I'm there already, but I'll get there soon, mark my words!

2)   understanding what is needed to become a good golfer        Granted, I may underestimate certain aspects of the game, due to a lack of experience, but overall, I believe to have a good understanding of what is necessary to become a good golfer.

In my opinion, it's perfectly possible to "see the right path", without being accomplished already, or without having played for many years.

A good range session for a short while???

I've been having good range sessions for over half a year, but for some reason I wasn't able to transfer it to the course, until I recently found out what I was doing differently (and wrong) on the course.

It took me a lot of hard work and self-analysis before I was able to do what I'm doing right now, but I did it, and it seems like I did it in a shorter time span than most other golfers (sorry for that!)

You see, aside from my range sessions, I spend up until 12 hours a day thinking about every aspect of my game and analyzing it, in order to find ways to become a better player.

Until 3 weeks ago, my best score ever on the 9-hole, par 36, was 50, but add to that at least 5 strokes for cheating (OB penalties etc.), making it 55+, and my average score was rather 60+.

Now that my work finally starts to pay off, in just 2 weeks time, the scores have dropped to 43 (hardly any cheating), and I'm convinced they will continue to drop in the following weeks.

I know very well that mastering the driver is more difficult than it seems.

However, I can honestly say that, after lots of experimenting with different swings and different body postures, I found a swing that allows me to hit more than 80% of my drives straight.

Maybe I evolve more quickly than the average golfer, I don't know.

All I know is that my way of practicing is really working for me, and I believe other people could benefit from it too.

I will certainly keep you up to date, and I dare to predict that I will be able to play par on my local course before the end of this year.

Granted, it's a short one (only 3000 yards for 9 holes), slope 113, but I have to start somewhere.