Aflighter's "Figure Out His Weakness" Thread

[Aflighter]

Have you seen my putting?

Yeah i know exactly what you mean.I have stressed short game is very important but i keep getting told its not.The actual part of putting the ball in the hole is definately the hard part for me too.I saw Palmer shoot 61 yesterday and he had 14 putts.Made me feel lil better because he had 47 shots that were not putts and i generally have 47 or lil less myself but its the 33-36 putts that kill my score.

Mod: Created new thread so we could help him figure out his weakness.

[iacas]

Yeah i know exactly what you mean.I have stressed short game is very important but i keep getting told its not.The actual part of putting the ball in the hole is definately the hard part for me too.I saw Palmer shoot 61 yesterday and he had 14 putts.Made me feel lil better because he had 47 shots that were not putts and i generally have 47 or lil less myself but its the 33-36 putts that kill my score.

It's not, really. How many GIR do you hit each round? nGIR? You may be an exception, but you're probably not.

[Aflighter]

It's not, really. How many GIR do you hit each round? nGIR? You may be an exception, but you're probably not.

Generally i hit between 5-10 greens.nGIRS id say im on or near green atleast 15 times.NGIR  meaning within 10-15 yards from fringe.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iacas

It's not, really. How many GIR do you hit each round? nGIR? You may be an exception, but you're probably not.

Generally i hit between 5-10 greens.nGIRS id say im on or near green atleast 15 times.NGIR  meaning within 10-15 yards from fringe.

That's a pretty difficult thing to do with a 220 yard drive. You have a really impressive iron game. . .

[iacas]

Generally i hit between 5-10 greens.nGIRS id say im on or near green atleast 15 times.NGIR  meaning within 10-15 yards from fringe.

Then your putting is not holding you back too much.

[Aflighter]

That's a pretty difficult thing to do with a 220 yard drive. You have a really impressive iron game. . .

Well thanks but i dont know about that.When my irons are on and im not putting poor i can play with anyone.You really think thats impressive even on a 380 yard hole when i hit green from 160?For me if i can get within 170 yards of green off tee i feel like i can hit green with no problem.Its when im 190 and out where i need to hit my 5 wd or 4wd well which i generally do.

[Aflighter]

Then your putting is not holding you back too much.

I feel like it is because id like to be at 30 or under putts instead of 34-35 putts.

[Lihu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

That's a pretty difficult thing to do with a 220 yard drive. You have a really impressive iron game. . .

Well thanks but i dont know about that.When my irons are on and im not putting poor i can play with anyone.You really think thats impressive even on a 380 yard hole when i hit green from 160?For me if i can get within 170 yards of green off tee i feel like i can hit green with no problem.Its when im 190 and out where i need to hit my 5 wd or 4wd well which i generally do.

Now, I am even more impressed that you can make greens hitting a 4W. I've seen people do it first hand even today, but not every hole.

I'm hoping that when I get used to my new swing that I can hit more greens. It's pretty disheartening when you hit a nice shot and the ball sticks the fringe or other bad things.

[Jakester23]

I feel like it is because id like to be at 30 or under putts instead of 34-35 putts.

The number of putts isn't that great of a stat to judge how good of a putter you are or how good of a golfer you are for that means.  If you hit every GIR and have 34 putts you shot a 70.  If your averaging less then 30 putts per round your either not hitting enough greens or you better than a tour pro at scrambling.

[Aflighter]

The number of putts isn't that great of a stat to judge how good of a putter you are or how good of a golfer you are for that means.  If you hit every GIR and have 34 putts you shot a 70.  If your averaging less then 30 putts per round your either not hitting enough greens or you better than a tour pro at scrambling.

It would be more of not hitting enough greens to have under 30 but thats the prob.Even when i only hit 5 greens or so ill still usually have 33-35 putts and to me that sucks.Too many 2 putting with few 1 putts evening out the 3 putts.

[Dave2512]

That is still less than two putts a hole. To me that says someone is a decent putter. If you hit every GIR, not saying you do, and take 33-35 putts you shot under par. The only time I get into the sub 30 PPR range is when I miss every green. I avg about 33-34 putts so 1.8 per hole and making par better than 50% I have to get up and down a lot. Sure I'd like to eliminate 3 putts but I'm not missing them by a mile. Almost always because I am on a bad spot of the green and the first putt leaves me a tough second putt. Not just short but over the hole or something. I 3 putt par 3's more than anything. Hitting long irons to bigger greens that are often contoured to keep the hole interesting on a muni course that can only play so tough.

My putting performance always ties in with my ball striking. The days I break 80 I hit more GIR and the proximity to the hole better. I don't even practice putts outside of 15-20 feet or so. I do distance drills putting to different evenly spaced targets but never sit on the practice green hitting lag putts. More often than not I am chipping from those distances.

[DrvFrShow]

I average 35 putts per round. If my short game (approach shots < 100 yds) leaves me 8-35 feet from the hole it's down in two. If it leaves me closer, it could be down in one. Sometimes I'll get hot and I'll start sinking 15 footers, but I can't count on those - no one can. But you have to be able to count on those 3 footers. Look at putting statistics among PGA tour players from various distances. Mickelson gives the distance drop off on his DVD set. These are pros. We're amateurs. How much time do you want to spend here? Diminishing returns. 3 footers should be automatic.

The tracer numbers could be accurate on distance but what about accuracy? What's his +/- yds from target? I'm betting that accounts for his handicap. That and some misses on his shots that aren't included because with those numbers he could be on the tour.

It could be like my numbers. LPGA tour distance numbers, but instead of +/- 10 yds from center (occasional +/- 15 driver) with long and +/- 3 yds with short, I'm +/- 15 to 25 (driver) yds from center with the long clubs and +/- 10 yds from center with my short irons . Then there's the outright misses when my tempo gets off which I don't include in the averages because I can't when I pull a club from my bag. When you hit long a little error gets multiplied.

When my handicap gets down to 12, I'll focus more on my putting.

But does it help fixing that error with a club that generates 5000 rpm backspin? Naturally you'll hit it straight. 9 iron goes where I'm aimed. It's my aim (shoulder alignment usually) that gets off a little.

[iacas]

It would be more of not hitting enough greens to have under 30 but thats the prob.Even when i only hit 5 greens or so ill still usually have 33-35 putts and to me that sucks.Too many 2 putting with few 1 putts evening out the 3 putts.

You can't reasonably expect to make many putts outside of about eight feet.

A general formula: 95-(2 x GIR) = your score. 95-(2*5) = 85. That's a pretty typical score for an 8.5 handicapper. 95-20 = 75, which I'm assuming is on the better end of things, but you probably also play tees rated closer to 68 or so given your distances.

So, more details are needed before you can truly know what's weak about your game. Though, still, in my mind if you're hitting 5-7 GIR, your putting is not what's lacking. I'd be more inclined to say your short game ("The Longest Yard" chapter in Lowest Score Wins ) needs work over your putting.

[Aflighter]

You can't reasonably expect to make many putts outside of about eight feet.

A general formula: 95-(2 x GIR) = your score. 95-(2*5) = 85. That's a pretty typical score for an 8.5 handicapper. 95-20 = 75, which I'm assuming is on the better end of things, but you probably also play tees rated closer to 68 or so given your distances.

So, more details are needed before you can truly know what's weak about your game. Though, still, in my mind if you're hitting 5-7 GIR, your putting is not what's lacking. I'd be more inclined to say your short game ("The Longest Yard" chapter in Lowest Score Wins) needs work over your putting.

Yeah i definately need to chip or pitch better and getting within a 5 foot circle of hole to give myself realistic chance at par.No afraid i hardly ever play any tees rated 68.Most of the time the rating is atleast 70.5-72.5 with slopes ranging from 125-140.Dont get to play any easy courses  really.

[Aflighter]

Going to play tomorrow and ill keep my stats and other info and post so i can get a idea of what you guys think are my problems.

[Golfingdad]

I feel like it is because id like to be at 30 or under putts instead of 34-35 putts.

If I changed nothing else about my game but had 34-35 putts, then I'd be an 8 or 9 cap as well.  So I suggest:

Learn Aimpoint and how to putt like this: http://thesandtrap.com/t/74295/putting-do-not-accelerate-through-the-ball/0_30  (especially for longer lag putts) then learn how to pitch like this: http://thesandtrap.com/t/39411/quickie-pitching-video-golf-pitch-shot-technique/0_30 and you can probably lop off those putts.

Get those 3-4 shots out of the way - should be easy - and then concentrate on your long game!!!

[Aflighter]

Played today on relatively short course 6000 yards from white tees.68.6 RATING 124 SLOPE.About 45 degrees lil windy and lil bit of sleet falling for a hole.Shot 81.Had 35 putts and hit 7 greens.I guess only prob i had was couple fat shots since ground was lil wet and didnt hit my chips close enough for short par putts.No doubles and hit every fairway with driver.3 over on the par 3s.1 over on the par 5s and 5 over on the par 4s.All in all i did fairly good considering the conditions but think i gotta get my chips within that 6 foot circle.

[Jakester23]

Played today on relatively short course 6000 yards from white tees.68.6 RATING 124 SLOPE.About 45 degrees lil windy and lil bit of sleet falling for a hole.Shot 81.Had 35 putts and hit 7 greens.I guess only prob i had was couple fat shots since ground was lil wet and didnt hit my chips close enough for short par putts.No doubles and hit every fairway with driver.3 over on the par 3s.1 over on the par 5s and 5 over on the par 4s.All in all i did fairly good considering the conditions but think i gotta get my chips within that 6 foot circle.

Id change that to I gotta get better at chipping.  Sometimes a 6ft circle is unrealistic depending on the situation.  What technique/techniques do you use around the greens?  Maybe you could change how you attack those shots or add a new shot for some of those situations.