What is the most important aspect of golf that you think can improve your score?

[bste]

For me it's distance. I'm your scenario two. Driver off the tee I'm playing a push fade, aim feet approximately 20 degrees left of target, ball will start curving right about 50 yards along the left tree line and end up on left/middle fairway, maybe 210 at best.

Longest iron 3 150 yards no curve/slight fade.

Around the green I'm spot on.

I know my hybrid and iron distances, have a GPS, so I know what club to use. But that driver...

Par fours over 400 yards and I'm scramblin'

[ay33660]

Probably going to cause a sh** storm here.

I think if you are a 30+ handicapper trying to get to a 20 handicapper then overall accuracy is more important than overall distance.

When I was a 20+ handicapper I had a massive slice. I was rarely in the fairway and took lots of lost balls and penalties.

My drop down to 20 was mainly due to the correction of my slice and a massive improvement in my handicap was due mainly to keeping the ball on the fairway or at least out of the woods.

The past year I have been trying to drop from a 17 down to a single hopefully.

I have dropped 6 strokes over this summer and the vast majority of that is being able to hit the ball farther.

Because I have corrected my slice (my miss is now a hook) my accuracy has not changed with hitting it further.

Instead of being 180 to 160 yards out on a 380+ par four I am now 150 to 130 out.

This means that my misses are mostly just off the green instead of 30 yards away.

My short game has not really improved except that if I am just off the green I can get a putter on it instead of having to pitch or chip.

My game plan is to now work on my short game because I feel that is where I need to improve to get down to a single.

[Lihu]

Probably going to cause a sh** storm here.

I think if you are a 30+ handicapper trying to get to a 20 handicapper then overall accuracy is more important than overall distance.

When I was a 20+ handicapper I had a massive slice. I was rarely in the fairway and took lots of lost balls and penalties.

My drop down to 20 was mainly due to the correction of my slice and a massive improvement in my handicap was due mainly to keeping the ball on the fairway or at least out of the woods.

The past year I have been trying to drop from a 17 down to a single hopefully.

I have dropped 6 strokes over this summer and the vast majority of that is being able to hit the ball farther.

Because I have corrected my slice (my miss is now a hook) my accuracy has not changed with hitting it further.

Instead of being 180 to 160 yards out on a 380+ par four I am now 150 to 130 out.

This means that my misses are mostly just off the green instead of 30 yards away.

My short game has not really improved except that if I am just off the green I can get a putter on it instead of having to pitch or chip.

My game plan is to now work on my short game because I feel that is where I need to improve to get down to a single.

Nope. You're giving pretty decent reasons to make your case, and it makes some sense.

So, this is my question. Did your initial improvement in accuracy come from better swing mechanics? The fact that your length increased subsequently seems to support better swing mechanics which initially improved your accuracy, and given enough time and practice became more natural and consequently increased your distance?

[bste]

Nope. You're giving pretty decent reasons to make your case, and it makes some sense.

So, this is my question. Did your initial improvement in accuracy come from better swing mechanics? The fact that your length increased subsequently seems to support better swing mechanics which initially improved your accuracy, and given enough time and practice became more natural and consequently increased your distance?

@Lihu I meant to say scenario one.

@ay33660 I'd like to know where you started. I can play the push/ fade, it's reliable.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

Nope. You're giving pretty decent reasons to make your case, and it makes some sense.

So, this is my question. Did your initial improvement in accuracy come from better swing mechanics? The fact that your length increased subsequently seems to support better swing mechanics which initially improved your accuracy, and given enough time and practice became more natural and consequently increased your distance?

@Lihu I meant to say scenario one.

I'd like to know where you started. I can play the push/ fade, it's reliable.

I don't really know what advantage it is to start off right and end up more right?

Do you have an in to out swing with the face more open? It seems like if you turn the face in a bit you can turn it into a push-draw pretty readily?

[bste]

I don't really know what advantage it is to start off right and end up more right?

Do you have an in to out swing with the face more open? It seems like if you turn the face in a bit you can turn it into a push-draw pretty readily?

I started this long spiel, and after reading it couldn't convince myself. So I'm playing what I've got till I can improve. Working on steady head.

Trying not to confuse myself with to many swing thoughts, Driver, quit slicing thread. So much information so little time.

Gotta run

Brian

[vangator]

I need to make more putts from 15 feet and in. I also need to start lifting weight again. My shoulders need strengthening after my bout with rotator cuff.

[NJpatbee]

For me, I am very happy with my distance for 63 year old (thank you Ping G15 and Callaway SS).  I do need to eliminate the 1 or 2 drives that are dead pulled or sliced into oblivion typically resulting in a tripe bogey or worse.  Next for me it is the wedge game, 100 yards and in.  For an 18 hole round I will typically miss at least one green from 70 yards out by 20 yards to the left (bunker, hazard, who knows).  I will also hit the ball fat chipping from just off the green, and the last few times I played this past season, I would suddenly shank at least 1 chip.  And to top it off I will occasionally 3 putt from 25 feet.  I have no idea if it is lack of concentration or a flaw that creeps in and then goes away.  Losing 4 strokes at least from 2 bad drives, and then just giving away another 8-12 strokes on the short game are the reasons that I am an 18 handicap and not an 8.

[ay33660]

Nope. You're giving pretty decent reasons to make your case, and it makes some sense.

So, this is my question. Did your initial improvement in accuracy come from better swing mechanics? The fact that your length increased subsequently seems to support better swing mechanics which initially improved your accuracy, and given enough time and practice became more natural and consequently increased your distance?

Nope. You're giving pretty decent reasons to make your case, and it makes some sense.

So, this is my question. Did your initial improvement in accuracy come from better swing mechanics? The fact that your length increased subsequently seems to support better swing mechanics which initially improved your accuracy, and given enough time and practice became more natural and consequently increased your distance?

Absolutely correct. My first instructor was all about the perfect PGA swing. He wanted me to swing just like a Pro and he did not take into account that I had neither the flexibility nor height of the average Pro. After 5 or 6 lessons I did not see any improvement so I stopped going to see him.

A few years later my girlfriend wanted to start golfing so she was introduced to a lady Pro. I watch a few of the lessons and I really liked how the Pro was working to develop a consistent swing but wasn't trying to emulate a Pro's swing. She concentrated on where the club was just before impact and more importantly what the follow thru looked like.

I started to take lessons from her also. Within 5 lessons I stopped hitting a huge banana slice and had a small draw or pull draw most of the time. In time of course I over did the good thing and started to come from way inside and started to hit snap hooks but that is another story.

I stopped seeing a Pro for about 10 years but I had a rotator cuff injury four years ago that caused me to lose all my distance. I started to see a Pro a couple of years ago and he fixed a couple of things in my swing (mainly that I had developed a bad sway in the swing). Now my Pro has me taking the club back to only 3/4 and really accelerating thru the ball while making sure that I do not sway. He also has me do a full and complete follow thru. Those adjustments have added 30 yards to my drive.

I have also notice that because I know I have gained distance I am more comfortable with a slower more controlled with tempo swing and stay behind the ball much better. This had also added even more distance to my drives.

@Lihu I meant to say scenario one.

@ay33660 I'd like to know where you started. I can play the push/ fade, it's reliable.

I started with a really bad banana slice for about the first 5 years of golfing. The driver is the best club in my bag. For a double digit handicapper I can actually hit either a draw or fade on purpose 2/3 of the time. The other 1/3 of the time I will usually hit a double cross. My go to flight is a draw. It take quite an effort to hit a fade.

[DrvFrShow]

Right now, consistency with all clubs in the bag. I'm hitting them far enough.

1) reduce the number of mishits per hundred - this is happening. I'm seeing improvement.

2) improve accuracy. The ball spray is no where near as bad as it was. The hooks are not as bad, and the blocks are not as bad. The pattern is tightening. If I was hitting from a fairway, the results while not perfect, would be "playable" now.

I still have to work with my driver and fairway wood off the tee.

[iacas]

Probably going to cause a sh** storm here.

I think if you are a 30+ handicapper trying to get to a 20 handicapper then overall accuracy is more important than overall distance.

When I was a 20+ handicapper I had a massive slice. I was rarely in the fairway and took lots of lost balls and penalties.

People with the stats disagree.

You may be placing too much emphasis on your own experiences.

Plus, you likely gained distance when you straightened out your ball flight. Any spin on a ball is a glancing blow, so a slice is a more glancing blow than a straighter ball and goes farther at the same clubhead speed.

[Golfingdad]

2-3 foot putts.

[k-troop]

2-3 foot putts.

Ban him!!!

[Ernest Jones]

2-3 foot putts.

You mean gimmies?

[Lihu]

2-3 foot putts.

You mean making more of these will help me, right?

[Golfingdad]

You mean making more of these will help me, right? :-D

Sometimes.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

You mean making more of these will help me, right?

Sometimes.

My son and @hacker101 still haven't really forgiven me for missing that 3 foot birdie putt which subsequently turned into a double.

[billchao]

Do you have a tighter breakdown? 150-175 yards is a pretty large range of distances.

No. GameGolf does the same breakdown per club, but it will lump my full swing 7i shots together with my partial 7i shots. So, unless I wanted to do it all myself (which I don't, at least not until the dead of winter when I'm really bored), I don't have it.

Plus, I rarely deviate from my stock shots.

You just adjust your club selection per conditions, then?

There are many reasons I may make minor adjustments. If I'm not quite feeling my full swing that day, I'll take an extra or two club and swing easier. Then there's wind, elevation changes, forced carries, etc. Sometimes I have to hit over or under tree branches. Lie conditions will affect my decision, too (caught a flier lie the other day and launched my 8i over the green into the pond. Didn't make that same mistake the second time around). Sometimes I'll hit SW to a 100 yard pin and sometimes I'll hit GW. Actually I've even hit 9i that distance on occasion.

It's really not a lot of deviation from my stock swing. Move the ball forward or backward a hair, choke down a little, or hit 1/2 or 3/4 swings. Remember, my tendency is to overswing, so I really should be hitting what feel like 3/4 swings all day to begin with.

I've gotten better since I stopped trying to take a full swing at everything.