Breaking Bad Club - A Thread for Golfers Trying to Break 100

[Gipper]

Ahh, ok. I broke 100 twice last year and on Friday I shot a 52 on the front and felt confident that I'd get close to breaking 100. Then I had 5 of the 7 my penalty strokes on the back and blew it up for an overall score of 113.  Not one of my finer moments but I'm still confident this year I'll break 100 again like I did last year.

Where are your extra strokes coming from this year? I have been able to reduce my penalty strokes but am l taking too many shots from the green and around it. For example I have been in thick rough 10 yards from the green on a par 4 sitting only two but then end up taking a 7 on the hole.

[Gipper]

I just shot a 52 walking a course I had never played before. Greens were fast and I struggled to adapt. No penalty strokes or lost balls made me happy. I had a couple mis hits but most of my strokes were around the green. The sand hurt me again. But at the end of the day I was happy with how it turned out for my first time there.

[RFKFREAK]

Where are your extra strokes coming from this year? I have been able to reduce my penalty strokes but am l taking too many shots from the green and around it. For example I have been in thick rough 10 yards from the green on a par 4 sitting only two but then end up taking a 7 on the hole.

I'm not sure where the extra strokes are coming from.  I'm driving the ball further this year and am hitting my irons further, too, but haven't quite figured out the distances with my clubs.

Whereas I had 7 penalty strokes, there were some good things.  My average drive was 227.64 yards with the furthest one going 253 yards.  I hit 6 out of 13 fairways and had 4 one putts (thanks AimPoint!).

Unfortunately, there was more bad than good.  I only had 1 par, had 4 bogeys, 8 double bogeys, and 5 more than double bogeys.  I only had 1 GIR.  I've definitely been struggling there as this year I'm averaging 0.25 GIR per round and last year averaged 1.13 per round.  To go along with my 4 one putts, I had 10 two putts and 4 three or more putts.  That averages out to 2 putts per hole which is what I'm averaging this year.  My lag putting was atrocious on Friday and has been all season.

So, in other words, I have a lot to work on, haha!

[Lihu]

I'm not sure where the extra strokes are coming from.  I'm driving the ball further this year and am hitting my irons further, too, but haven't quite figured out the distances with my clubs.  Whereas I had 7 penalty strokes, there were some good things.  My average drive was 227.64 yards with the furthest one going 253 yards.  I hit 6 out of 13 fairways and had 4 one putts (thanks AimPoint!).   Unfortunately, there was more bad than good.  I only had 1 par, had 4 bogeys, 8 double bogeys, and 5 more than double bogeys.  I only had 1 GIR.  I've definitely been struggling there as this year I'm averaging 0.25 GIR per round and last year averaged 1.13 per round.  To go along with my 4 one putts, I had 10 two putts and 4 three or more putts.  That averages out to 2 putts per hole which is what I'm averaging this year.  My lag putting was atrocious on Friday and has been all season. So, in other words, I have a lot to work on, haha!

Yup, hitting farther but still getting the same number of strokes? Welcome to the club, but take heart you're getting closer to breaking 100 and shooting in the low 90s than you think. ;-)

[RFKFREAK]

Yup, hitting farther but still getting the same number of strokes? Welcome to the club, but take heart you're getting closer to breaking 100 and shooting in the low 90s than you think. ;-)

Yeah, and I'm going to start implementing what I read in LSW. The book inspired me to purchase a range finder which is supposed to arrive on Tuesday to do what chapter 19 page 149 suggests but I think I'm going to do it with all my clubs. I'm also going to do chapter 7, too. :)

[scorpion12]

I'm a lefty so there's that... I'll drop in here because it's my goal to break 100 sometime before I die. I guess that would be on my bucket list...

I played last Wednesday... only 9 holes but I'm fairly confident that I would have broken 50 had I not lost 2 balls in the woods and 1 ball in the water. It also didn't help matters that I 3 and 4 putted every green I played. (The greens were aerated at the end of June and were still in pretty rough shape)... it's ok though, I know I suck at golf.

I figure I've gotten a handle on my slice or at least mitigated it a lot more than it was. Thanks to the thread by MVMAC on how a golf grip should be, I was gripping my clubs wrongly and this was contributing to my slice. Having the ball go more straight off the tee is a good feeling. Even though it's only going 180-200 yards, it's still closer to the hole and on the right side of the fairway... (still getting used to NOT aiming to the left to compensate for my slice)

I'll say I'm close to having my driver dialed in, as well as my fairway woods... I'm getting more consistent contact with them and my swing feels good when I make solid contact. The thing I'm not doing well at is getting consistent contact with my irons but they're a work in progress.

Around the green my chipping and pitching isn't bad and my putting is better (or I imagine it would be on greens in better shape)...

In general I'm trying not to make a "hero" shot and try to put the ball where I'm just not able to. I'm trying to play the holes conservatively and keep the ball in the center of the fairway. I'll "reverse-engineer" the holes when I'm more comfortable in knowing my distances with each club and begin playing to them from the tee.

I think I might break 50 soon when playing 9 and, even though I'd almost certainly have a blow up hole on the other 9 holes, I'll consider it a success, fool myself and say I would have shot the same score on the other 9 holes and that I would have broken 100 had I played 18.

Using the swing by swing app, it says I've got a handicap of 29 right now. I'll continue using it and hopefully I'll see that number go down steadily in the future.

[RFKFREAK]

So pretty! Of course it's raining and there are flood warnings. *sigh*

[RFKFREAK]

So pretty! Of course it's raining and there are flood warnings. *sigh*

Oops, wrong thread.

[PJCdude]

Had a 78 with 4 holes left (3 par 4s and a par 3) I usually bogey these holes easily....totally meltdown and end up with 105. 37 putts 2 GIR 7 penalty strokes. Same course again Thursday, back to the drawing board.

[EZPZ]

I'm curious, how many guys here have a routine to set up to the ball on all their shots and putts?

[RFKFREAK]

I'm curious, how many guys here have a routine to set up to the ball on all their shots and putts?

I usually do two practice swings (three if I don't feel comfortable with the practice swing I just made) and then step to the ball.

For putting, I do a few practice swings, no set number, though, to feel as though it's a good stroke before stepping to the ball.

[EZPZ]

I usually do two practice swings (three if I don't feel comfortable with the practice swing I just made) and then step to the ball. For putting, I do a few practice swings, no set number, though, to feel as though it's a good stroke before stepping to the ball.

What steps do you take to address the ball and aim at your target?

[RFKFREAK]

What steps do you take to address the ball and aim at your target?

Umm, I'm not sure I can answer this to a technical level but I look I step up to the ball, look at my target, look at the ball, look at the target again, look at the ball again and concentrate on making a good backswing and then getting my weight forward.

Is that what you're asking?

[EZPZ]

Picture this: you know your yardage, you picked your club and your shot, now you're standing there holding your club. Describe, in detail, the steps you take to align yourself to target, take your stance, and address the ball.

[RFKFREAK]

Picture this: you know your yardage, you picked your club and your shot, now you're standing there holding your club. Describe, in detail, the steps you take to align yourself to target, take your stance, and address the ball.

I thought I did that in the above post.

I step up to the ball, make sure my grip is good, that my feet are set correctly and that I'm aiming where I want to hit the ball.  I go through a mental checklist of how I want to take the club back and deliver the ball which, for me, right now, is a smooth takeaway, trying to keep my right elbow close to my ribs at the top of my backswing and making sure I shift my weight forward.

I don't know if that answers your question.

Would you please describe how you go about it?  Maybe I'll better understand your question.

[EZPZ]

Sorry if i'm not being clear. I apologize. I start by walking up from behind the ball and making a quick setup to make sure i'm in the ball park for my process. I start by placing my feet together and stand at attention, upright. The ball position is right in the middle of my two feet. I then turn my head and only my head left to check if my shoulders and feet are aiming down my start line. I'll sometimes check my alignment by placing my club across my chest to see where the grip is aiming. When i'm happy with my feet/shoulder alignment, i begin step 2. Standing perfectly relaxed, still upright, i take my grip and fully extend my arms. When my arms are extended, my hands are in a relaxed position directly in front of my belt buckle. At this point, the club is parallel with the ground. Step 3, I "bow" to the ball. I slightly bend my knees and bend over until the club is grounded. This is a comfortable, balanced position for me. If i'm too far away from or too close to the ball, I scooch my feet forward or back to get the face where i want it behind the ball WITHOUT changing anything else in my set up. I then take a half step out with my left foot, followed by my right foot, to get them one shoulder width apart (more or less depending upon the shot i'm hitting). I am now ready to begin my backswing. Its the same sequence every time I hit the ball. For drives, pitches, punches, chips, everything. It takes about 10-15 seconds to go through. Since i've started doing this, my ball striking is much more consistent and predictable. I almost always start the ball down the line I want doing this and my poor shots are a result of my swing, not a defect in my setup. Without a definite process and pre-shot routine, there may be variances in your setup that you don't notice. That can result in starting the ball off line or creating a strange shot shape by trying to compensate. Some people start changing their swing to fix a problem that their setup helped create for them. Thats the point i'm trying to make i guess.

[mburton]

i'm currently hovering right above the 100 mark and trying to get consistently under it.  really gonna work on intelligent shot selection over the next month and see where that leaves me, i've got a tendency to try and make up for bad shots with "hero shots" that end up costing me more strokes.  also gonna try to cut down on the OB penalties.

[RFKFREAK]

Sorry if i'm not being clear. I apologize. I start by walking up from behind the ball and making a quick setup to make sure i'm in the ball park for my process. I start by placing my feet together and stand at attention, upright. The ball position is right in the middle of my two feet. I then turn my head and only my head left to check if my shoulders and feet are aiming down my start line. I'll sometimes check my alignment by placing my club across my chest to see where the grip is aiming. When i'm happy with my feet/shoulder alignment, i begin step 2. Standing perfectly relaxed, still upright, i take my grip and fully extend my arms. When my arms are extended, my hands are in a relaxed position directly in front of my belt buckle. At this point, the club is parallel with the ground. Step 3, I "bow" to the ball. I slightly bend my knees and bend over until the club is grounded. This is a comfortable, balanced position for me. If i'm too far away from or too close to the ball, I scooch my feet forward or back to get the face where i want it behind the ball WITHOUT changing anything else in my set up. I then take a half step out with my left foot, followed by my right foot, to get them one shoulder width apart (more or less depending upon the shot i'm hitting). I am now ready to begin my backswing. Its the same sequence every time I hit the ball. For drives, pitches, punches, chips, everything. It takes about 10-15 seconds to go through. Since i've started doing this, my ball striking is much more consistent and predictable. I almost always start the ball down the line I want doing this and my poor shots are a result of my swing, not a defect in my setup. Without a definite process and pre-shot routine, there may be variances in your setup that you don't notice. That can result in starting the ball off line or creating a strange shot shape by trying to compensate. Some people start changing their swing to fix a problem that their setup helped create for them. Thats the point i'm trying to make i guess.

Wow, yeah, you do way more than I do. I would say I do a quick check. Yours is way more extensive.