"Lowest Score Wins" by Barzeski and Wedzik

[iacas]

15 minutes ago, darthweasel said:

Any specific recommendations for melding the reading and sims? 

I'll let some others answer that, in part because they'll have better experience, and in part because I'm curious what they'll say.

[dennyjones]

I've played on a sim the last two winters.   First and foremost, too much hitting on a mat will hurt either the elbows, shoulders or wrists.   I know, I played 80 times last winter usually about 36 holes / day.    PT at the start of the season and surgery (back) coming up.

Now... My experiences.  

There is no real penalty for anything on a sim except for water.   Hitting the ball into the rough plays the same and sometimes better than the fairway.   Sure distance is king but you really don't have any reason to work on decision zones.  

Distances on the simulator are different than the real world.   "Not always".   If you play on the sim enough, you'll get a real feel for "sim" distance.   "Each" simulator is slightly different.   The place I played had 3 sims and the distances were sometimes off by as much as 10 yards.    The simulators are Full Swing

Forget putting.   Each varies and it doesn't come close to the "real world" putting green.  Although the place I played had a Full Swing Virtual Green which was sweet.

Think of a golf simulator as a good day to swing a club, maybe eat some nachos and drink.   It's a social event.

Now two new courses just installed Trackman simulators and I've yet to try them.   Maybe they will be different because one course was doing club fittings. 

 

This is my experience and that's all I can speak toward.  My advice, go, golf, grab a drink, watch some TV and spend time with good friends. 

 

[StuM]

Cracked open LSW again last night after I got home.  It is an easy ready but I swear I am seeing things in just the 1st few chapters that I simply do not recall from the first two times I read it.  I'm going to make an effort to actually put more of it into practice this year.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, StuM said:

Cracked open LSW again last night after I got home.  It is an easy ready but I swear I am seeing things in just the 1st few chapters that I simply do not recall from the first two times I read it.  I'm going to make an effort to actually put more of it into practice this year.

There's stuff in there I forget writing. It's a fairly "dense" book, IMO.

[WillieT]

1 hour ago, StuM said:

Cracked open LW again last night after I got home.  It is an easy ready but I swear I am seeing things in just the 1st few chapters that I simply do not recall from the first two times I read it.  I'm going to make an effort to actually put more of it into practice this year.

That’s the beauty of works such as LSW, there are nuggets that we uncover as we learn and see the game in a deeper light. 

[billchao]

2 hours ago, StuM said:

Cracked open LSW again last night after I got home.  It is an easy ready but I swear I am seeing things in just the 1st few chapters that I simply do not recall from the first two times I read it.  I'm going to make an effort to actually put more of it into practice this year.

I reread the chapter on tournament prep today to see if there’s anything I needed to do to prepare for my first tournament. Tomorrow morning. I’m clearly taking it very seriously 😃

[StuM]

5 minutes ago, billchao said:

I reread the chapter on tournament prep today to see if there’s anything I needed to do to prepare for my first tournament. Tomorrow morning. I’m clearly taking it very seriously 😃

Good luck tomorrow 

[StuM]

Question of the day, why can I be "Taught" but I can't "Learn".  I've read LSW 3 times.  I understand & agree with the concepts "Play to the center of the green" and "Shot Zones".  So my question is, why do I not USE that knowledge?

In yesterday's round I found myself constantly short of the green on approach (and that is common on most days).  Suddenely I had a epiphany.  If I know my club's shot zone is say 140-160 yards but seldom does it go 165 then WHY am I hitting that club when my SS says the center of the green is 155 away and the back of the green is 165 away.  Sure, my next club up may be a little longer than the center of the green but most likley it will not be long of the green and more likly will be on the green instead of short.  I need to take more club!  Maybe if being long is dangerous (ie water) then being short is better but that is not always the case and was only the case on 3 holes yesterday.  Thus 83% of the time I was selecting the wrong club.  Sure, I may "Connect" and hit a shot much longer than my shot zone on occasion but I doubt that will be a 83% of the time.  (If I am longer than my zone 83% of the time then I need to recalcuate my zones!) 

 

[boogielicious]

36 minutes ago, StuM said:

Question of the day, why can I be "Taught" but I can't "Learn".  I've read LSW 3 times.  I understand & agree with the concepts "Play to the center of the green" and "Shot Zones".  So my question is, why do I not USE that knowledge?

In yesterday's round I found myself constantly short of the green on approach (and that is common on most days).  Suddenely I had a epiphany.  If I know my club's shot zone is say 140-160 yards but seldom does it go 165 then WHY am I hitting that club when my SS says the center of the green is 155 away and the back of the green is 165 away.  Sure, my next club up may be a little longer than the center of the green but most likley it will not be long of the green and more likly will be on the green instead of short.  I need to take more club!  Maybe if being long is dangerous (ie water) then being short is better but that is not always the case and was only the case on 3 holes yesterday.  Thus 83% of the time I was selecting the wrong club.  Sure, I may "Connect" and hit a shot much longer than my shot zone on occasion but I doubt that will be a 83% of the time.  (If I am longer than my zone 83% of the time then I need to recalcuate my zones!) 

 

I think pride enters into our thinking. Once we can put pride aside, grabbing a longer club is easier. I hit my 7 iron 130-145 yards. If the center of the green is 145, I grab my 6 iron now. 

[billchao]

2 hours ago, StuM said:

Question of the day, why can I be "Taught" but I can't "Learn".  I've read LSW 3 times.  I understand & agree with the concepts "Play to the center of the green" and "Shot Zones".  So my question is, why do I not USE that knowledge?

In yesterday's round I found myself constantly short of the green on approach (and that is common on most days).  Suddenely I had a epiphany.  If I know my club's shot zone is say 140-160 yards but seldom does it go 165 then WHY am I hitting that club when my SS says the center of the green is 155 away and the back of the green is 165 away.  Sure, my next club up may be a little longer than the center of the green but most likley it will not be long of the green and more likly will be on the green instead of short.  I need to take more club!  Maybe if being long is dangerous (ie water) then being short is better but that is not always the case and was only the case on 3 holes yesterday.  Thus 83% of the time I was selecting the wrong club.  Sure, I may "Connect" and hit a shot much longer than my shot zone on occasion but I doubt that will be a 83% of the time.  (If I am longer than my zone 83% of the time then I need to recalcuate my zones!) 

It sounds like you’re starting to realize you have a problem, which is the first step to recovery 😉

I’ve been pretty good at “missing” shots onto the green lately and a lot of it has to do with strategy. From 75-175 yards, I miss 13% long and 15% short in my last 10 rounds. I mentioned it in another thread, but I hit a shot over the weekend to 12’ just right of a front pin. I wasn’t aiming for that pin - it was a miss. Had I hit the shot I wanted to, I would have put it 25’ past the hole.

Don’t worry about the hole location. Aim away from trouble and pick the biggest part of the green as my target. Get the yardage to the front and back of the green. Pick the club that puts me somewhere in between the two most of the time.

I’m still going to mishit it well shorter than expected and sometimes I’ll catch it better than expected and fly the green, but the majority of my standard shots should land within the the length of the green. Think of that once in the lifetime “I hit this so well it flew 10 yards farther than I expected” shot as a miss. It’s an aberration.

And yea, adjust your strategy to account for trouble. If flying the green is dead, absolutely do not do that even if it means missing short.

[Shindig]

4 hours ago, StuM said:

Question of the day, why can I be "Taught" but I can't "Learn".  I've read LSW 3 times.  I understand & agree with the concepts "Play to the center of the green" and "Shot Zones".  So my question is, why do I not USE that knowledge?

What I think really helped me do this was having a plan and deciding to stick to it.  In my club championship last year (3 rounds, with a cut after 36 holes), I had two things I focused on:

* Don't hit into the sand -- I planned every approach around this, and hit zero sand across 54 holes.  Sometimes this meant I had very long birdie putts, and sometimes I 3-putted.  But I didn't have any of the disasters that come with sand.  This goes back to shot zones and planning as if sand were water.

* Have putter in hand for par attempt.  I had 53 par attempts during the tournament (one accidental birdie), 52 of which were made with my putter.  I only made two double bogeys all tournament -- not bad for someone playing in D flight and only five sixes all tournament, with never anything worse than six on any hole.  This all goes back to the key rule for short game shots, described in the book.   On the rare occasion where I missed the green short-sided, I mentally moved the pin back several yards and chipped to that -- sure, I was less likely to make my par putt, but I was also a lot more likely to have a par putt.  I'll take that trade-off for most ways it can happen. 

 

I practiced that strategy for most of the summer leading in, and it helped a lot.  It meant doing things like knowing the shape of my finish patterns and figuring out where I'd maximize the chance of it being on the green while avoiding the sand.   For example, when the pin was forward, I was aiming past the pin:  even with my putting, I'd rather have 30-40 foot putt for birdie than a chip.  

Now I need to get back to that strategy.