What are your "Golf" rules?

[MissouriHack]

What are the rules that you set for yourself that help you too go low in a round? Were do you apply them? What happens if you break them?

My rules:

You here to have fun.

I can get a little too serious sometimes.

You not a professional golfer

This helps me keep things in perspective. I should try and shoot an 88 not a 68.

If you don't need the driver don't use it.

The weakest club in my back. My 3wood will get me around most courses just fine.

Aim for the middle of the green dummy, don't chase pins unless you can use a wedge.

I was shooting for the pins from everywhere lol

The ball is your friend, don't hit it like you just caught it trying to steal your T.V.

Slow and smooth like Freddy

Birdie putts have to get there to go in. Don't leave them short.

On the rare occasions that I do see a birdie putt I tend to not to hit them. Don't ask why.

No, and I mean NO hero shots ( see rule 2) take your medicine if you don't it will cost you more than one stroke.

self explanatory

Uphill putts don't break as much as down hill putts.

Its better to be short than long (most of the time)

I would love to hear any gems that you guys have. Not aiming at the pins seems like its a no brainer but it really helped me out.

cheers

[Hardballs]

Loosen grip, Swing easy, Forget score, It's 18 x1 hole courses,

[boogielicious]

Play to your strengths.  Practice your weaknesses.

[MS256]

Let the lie dictate what shot to hit and which club to hit it with instead of picking the club I want to hit and trying to make it work for the lie.

Sounds like a no-brainer but I mess up and break that rule fairly often and see other players mess it up even more than I do. Comes into play mostly from 50 yards and in. I usually break that rule when I think I am playing well enough to do whatever I want to do (only to find out I wasn't).

[Teamanglerx]

One of the key ones I have been using is "Every shot is playable".  I have been in this mode where I have mentally put pressure on myself to force shots and make them instead of letting the shot happen naturally (which has more success).  It also keeps my frustration level down when I make a bad shot because I know that even if it is not the best situation, the shot is still playable.

[turtleback]

If you find yourself in trouble, make sure you are NOT in trouble on your next shot.

[phan52]

Originally Posted by MissouriHack

What are the rules that you set for yourself that help you too go low in a round? Were do you apply them? What happens if you break them?

Uphill putts don't break as much as down hill putts.

Actually that is incorrect, from my experience. As uphill putts die, they will break significantly more than dying downhill putts. I just try to get a downhill putt in line, while uphill putts require more of an understanding of the necessary pace because they WILL break without it.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by phan52

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissouriHack

What are the rules that you set for yourself that help you too go low in a round? Were do you apply them? What happens if you break them?

Uphill putts don't break as much as down hill putts.

Actually that is incorrect, from my experience. As uphill putts die, they will break significantly more than dying downhill putts. I just try to get a downhill putt in line, while uphill putts require more of an understanding of the necessary pace because they WILL break without it.

Yep.  This is a common misconception.  Up hill breaking putts will break dramatically as they die.  How much break you play depends on how aggressively you hit the ball.

[zipazoid]

Your best chip is your worst putt - When deciding what to do when just off the green. Putt it.

Every putt has break - While not technically true, I try to discern 'some' kind of break in every putt so I have more of the hole to work with.

When in doubt, overplay the break - A putt that breaks below the hole never goes in.

Don't fall in love with the line - Once you got the line, forget it. Concentrate on the stroke.

[David in FL]

If you find yourself in trouble, make sure you are NOT in trouble on your next shot.

Similar to this...... Don't follow a bad shot with a stupid shot!

[hammerhead]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

Your best chip is your worst putt - When deciding what to do when just off the green. Putt it.

Every putt has break - While not technically true, I try to discern 'some' kind of break in every putt so I have more of the hole to work with.

When in doubt, overplay the break - A putt that breaks below the hole never goes in.

Don't fall in love with the line - Once you got the line, forget it. Concentrate on the stroke.

But it can lead to a side hill putt for par.If it is below the hole you usually have a straight uphill putt left.

[MissouriHack]

Originally Posted by phan52

Actually that is incorrect, from my experience. As uphill putts die, they will break significantly more than dying downhill putts. I just try to get a downhill putt in line, while uphill putts require more of an understanding of the necessary pace because they WILL break without it.

around 2:30, just in case you don't want to watch the hole thing.

[boil3rmak3r]

- Have a consistent and quick preshot routine which includes visualizing your shot. Do this EVERY time. - Hit it and forget it. I find that I play better if I don't think about my last shot or my next shot until I walk up to my ball. - On missed GIR's, have confidence and an expectation that you can get it up and down. Short game practice is critical... If you hit enough pitches, chips, and sub-six footers while you practice, getting up and down often should become an expectation. - Don't dwell on your score. Play one shot at a time. I've gotten better at this the last few years. If I had an early double or a string of bogies, I used to almost shut down and go through the motions, not caring, the rest of the round. It is a natural tendency that I have worked to try to get away from.

[phan52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phan52

Actually that is incorrect, from my experience. As uphill putts die, they will break significantly more than dying downhill putts. I just try to get a downhill putt in line, while uphill putts require more of an understanding of the necessary pace because they WILL break without it.

Originally Posted by MissouriHack

around 2:30, just in case you don't want to watch the hole thing.

That makes no sense. As he said, "uphill, my speed is really important." Why? Because without the proper speed, the ball will break too much (or not enough).

I can go to the fastest green on my golf course and I can putt a ball 10 feet downhill and 10 feet uphill. The green has a slight bias to the right on the uphill putt, and I have to play the ball a good cup to the left of the hole. If it misses the hole, it will invariably end up on the other side of the hole because of the break when the ball slows down. On the downhill putt, If I play it more than on the edge, no matter how hard I hit it, it has no chance of going in the hole and it will never get to the other side of the hole at any point.

This guy is talking about variables like "imperfections in the green". Well, the number one variable is the speed. There is far more variables of speed on the uphill putt. You just have to get the downhill putt moving on the proper line and the line is much easier to discern. It is just gravity.

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by hammerhead

But it can lead to a side hill putt for par.If it is below the hole you usually have a straight uphill putt left.

True.

So if your intent on the putt is to make the next one easier then your point is valid.

If, however, you're trying the make the putt, I like my strategy.

[phan52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammerhead

But it can lead to a side hill putt for par.If it is below the hole you usually have a straight uphill putt left.

Originally Posted by zipazoid

True.

So if your intent on the putt is to make the next one easier then your point is valid.

If, however, you're trying the make the putt, I like my strategy.

I was playing with a +2 handicapper a few weeks ago and I hit a difficult sidehill putt that broke below the hole, and I noted that I was relieved that it stopped and left me about a four foot, straight, uphill putt. He laughed and said, "weren't you trying to make it?"

[boogielicious]

Originally Posted by phan52

Actually that is incorrect, from my experience. As uphill putts die, they will break significantly more than dying downhill putts. I just try to get a downhill putt in line, while uphill putts require more of an understanding of the necessary pace because they WILL break without it.

Are you talking straight up and straight down?  If you are talking at some angle to the slope, 30, 45, 60 degrees for example, the downhill putt will have an overall break of much more than the same uphill putt with the same angle to the slope.  It will start breaking right away.

[dbuck]

Any putt will break more as it loses speed, uphill or down. Thing with a true uphill putt and especially a short one, is that the back of the cup is higher than the front, and you can hit the putt a little firmer, taking out some of the break. The higher back lip acts as a backstop. On a downhill putt, the opposite is true--the back of the lip is lower than the front. Absent the "backstop", the downhill putt must not carry as much speed at the hole and thereby breaks more because it must be struck a little less firm.