The Road to 80S

[Roberbober]

All,

Looking for some assistance. I have been golfing off and on now for six years. The last two years of that I was in Turkey with no golf course or practice facility. And the first two years I was just a hack so , I got some lessons, well a lot of lessons. I was living in England at the time so I though that would be the perfect place to learn. I have taken short game lessons, playing lessons and swing lessons. So my current situation is I am in Italy and work across the golf course I am a member of. I have been playing a lot but cannot bust the 90s. I keep a handicap and turn in every score card. So I am tired of shooting in the 90s I want to break into the 80s I would be happy with a 89! So my irons are solid and my driver is pretty solid as well but my putting, chipping,  and pitching suck to the point I turn a GIR birde putt into a bogy. I want to start a training plan, I am going to dedicate 1 hour a day to practice 6 days a week and play one day on the weekend. So my question is what is a good practice routine for only short  game?

[jkelley9]

If you're truly hitting a good number of GIR/nGIR then this shouldn't be too difficult to accomplish.

Now this is just me... but I went from averaging ~2.7 putts per hole to ~1.8 putts per hole by doing 4 things:

1. Working on starting the ball on an intended line without any appreciate "hops" - I did this at home on an old "practice green"

2. Get a steady stroke and work on changing your distance based on how far back you bring the putter head back, that way it's less "feel" - I did this at a local muni practice green after work for a few days, maybe 3 hours total and my putting improved tremendously

3. Work on reads. Same place: muni practice green. I started straight uphills and downhills for speed control and then then moved on to hard breaks. 

4. In my opinion, I practice a lot of 3-5 ft putts. A lot. I would suggest the same.

Maybe 5-6 hours total and my putting dropped down to about ~1.8 putts per hole. It's been steady for months, and I don't practice putting much anymore because I have other SV4/SV3 skills to work on more at the moment.

 

BTW I'm a mid-eighties shooter. I don't keep a handicap. 

 

[sirhacksalot]

I am right there with you but my problem is errant tee shots at the moment.  There are great putting drills on the site and you can see some on youtube.  Don't know the exact number but yesterday I think I had 33-34 putts. Only one or two 3 putts and several chip and a putts. What sorted my putting the most. Was the one foot putting to a coin or tee drill over and over.  Then chumping out and always lag putting to the high side.  The greens are fast with a lot of slope on my home course, i was constantly turning 6 foot putts into 8 foot putts coming back or vice a versa.  Lagging a 4 ft putt to the high side and having an easy tap in, you'll be suprised how many of them will actually go in.

Edited April 18, 2016 by sirhacksalot

[Roberbober]

Thanks for the help Gents, and yes I do hit a good amount of GIR. My irons are hands down my best weapons. Probably because I used to struggle with the driver so much that I would be hitting my second shot that was topped off the tee box 50 yards. Its funny because when I was struggling with my drives I would say " if I could just get this driver down I would shoot a lot better" well that was not the case. I used to have a lot of errant tee shots and probably the #1 thing I learned in all of my lessons was grip/setup position. I am 6'3, 32 and athletic, my problem was trying to crush the ball. One 300 yard bomb down the center of the fairway every 20 drives was just not worth it because the others would be duck hook, topped or OB. So now I am pretty good with my driver average around 220-250 pretty much in play. If I get the smash factor and everything lines up I might squeeze a 270 yarder. But the course I play is short and you could almost use irons off the tee.   

Day one, yesterday I hit two large buckets pitching from about 50 yards with a SW 10* bounce. Today day two I am going to work on putting. I am going to use your guys advice and work on putts from the 3-5-8 foot range. Thanks a lot guys for your help. I will soon be joining you in the 80s......

Bobby  

[dave s]

I like to practice my short game.  Went last evening to a local public course and used the following practice routine.  My short-game practice goals are pitching and chipping to up-and-down situations, (2 shots) and 3 strokes at worst.  Yesterday, I also incorporated lag-putting into the practice session as well.  Routine consisted of this:

Used three balls and two clubs, my 58* (go to wedge) and a PW for longer, roll out shots.

Chose three different hole locations on practice green and hit one ball to each of the three holes.  When I arrived at my first putt, I read it, aligned ball and tried to complete the up and down.  If I missed I holed. out.

When I pulled the ball from the hole, I lag-putted that ball to the next hole.  I made sure the initial hole choices were at at least 20' apart to provide practice on longer putts.  My goal with the lag-putt was a 2-putt each time.

Arrive at second hole, putt out chipped ball and hole lag putt.

Pulled both balls from hole and lagged them toward hole 3.  Same thing, lag putts had to be 2-putt at worst.  Putted out my chipped ball, sunk both lag putts in 2.

I keep track of any 3-putts (after the lag) and what percentage of up-and-down from the chipped, pitched balls.  Up and down percentage is usually around 30%.  I holed two of the shorties and varied the length of all chips from 15 to 75 feet, I'd guess.

Keeping a good short game is my only hope of keeping it under 90 anymore.  Heck, I can roll the ball all day long and still shoot 92.  If ball striking is decent, the short game keeps me in the 83-89 range.

Also believe that short game isn't luck, it's more of a 'been there, done that' a whole bunch of time.  Practice and more practice is the only way to a good short game and definitely the difference between an 88 and a 92.

One more thing I tracked over the years is how many 2- 3- and 5-foot putts we miss over an 18 hole round.  Let's say you miss 3-5 of these in a full round.  If you can eliminate 2 or 3 of those, a 92 can just easily be an 89.  Last thing I do before teeing off each round is take 2 balls from 2, 3 and 5 feet and make those putts from all 4 sides of a hole on the practice green.  This way, when I have that 3 footer for par on the course it goes in.

dave