Pro Golfers Know Working on Short Game Goes a Long Way [NYT]

[natureboy]

18 hours ago, RandallT said:

If you squint to zone in on the bold red numbers, the top 10 players on this list mostly have separate themselves in the area of full swings.

This would lead me to conclude that generally, pros separate themselves on tour using the full swings.

I agree with this, but the separation with the long game generally how they consistently put themselves up near the top of the field and in consistent position to win.

Then how do they separate themselves from each other? That's where putting and short game matter to winning for them. Short game makes up for loose swings and helps limit big numbers while putting helps you capitalize on the long game skills and be able to go low on a hot putting day.

What's not really addressed is that while long game gains are still likely more potentially significant, perhaps after years of work on the full swing, it's no longer the low hanging fruit to a pro like Jason Day.

He might be as good as he's willing to practice to get with long game and he thinks focus on another area may have better returns on effort. Just because you can potentially gain more strokes in long game doesn't mean you necessarily will with further practice and not linearly either. Every individual is likely different in long-term limits to skill improvement.

Don't you think Jason Dunfer would have become a better putter by now as it's clearly a weakness? I don't think it's like he doesn't want to.

[natureboy]

On 6/8/2016 at 3:26 PM, iacas said:

Feel is a matter of having the proper technique. Everyone has a pretty good sense of touch. Bad mechanics mask it.

 

On 6/8/2016 at 5:56 PM, Hardspoon said:

Agreed on the "art", but it is tough to divorce that from mechanics, isn't it? I think "touch" is the ability to instinctively understand what mechanics are required for a shot (speed, angle of attack, engagement of bounce) and deliver those mechanics without having to think about it. "Touch" is only as valuable as its ability to create the mechanically correct swing.

Like the guy below, I think they are separate skills. Bad technique can mask good touch and bad touch can mask good technique.

 

[Lihu]

20 hours ago, pumaAttack said:

So the answer is none.  0 of your students have won a major.  Yet you know better than a major winner and the worlds best ranked player?  Don't answer that, I already know you think you do...

What's the point of all this arguing?

How does this apply to you personally that you would so strongly argue in favor of practicing mainly short game like Day?

You're welcome to practice like Jason Day and I'll work on my long game. We can see who gets better faster?

[Aflighter]

Bottomline is if you cant hit the greens atleast half the time then you suck.If you cant putt then you suck.Haa.Takes both to play well.Yesterday I hit quite a  few drives over 260 and the putter saved my bacon alot.

[mvmac]

 

“I think I hit five fairways and eight greens, which obviously isn’t going to do anything.” Rory’s 77 ties his worst first-round score in a U.S. Open.

A photo posted by Golf Digest (@golfdigest) on Jun 17, 2016 at 9:18am PDT

[billchao]

45 minutes ago, mvmac said:

Obviously needs to work on his short game more 

[iacas]

Jason's short game work pays off today. He'd have shot 78 without the short game. Instead he shot… 76.

[natureboy]

On 6/17/2016 at 10:50 PM, iacas said:

Jason's short game work pays off today. He'd have shot 78 without the short game. Instead he shot… 76.

Yet overall it's helping keep him in the tournament. http://www.usopen.com/en_US/news/articles/2016-06-19/strokes_gained_lowrys_prowess_on_oakmonts_greens.html

[iacas]

27 minutes ago, natureboy said:

Those are far more misleading this week. I just watched Graeme McDowell take four from just short left of the first green. The error was his approach shot. But he'll lose strokes on his short game and putting.

When greens are severe like this they don't accurately represent "the truth" because the "areas" aren't defined and would have small sample sizes even if you could have small areas.

On greens this severe you're often better off farther away with the easier shot. But you'll lose the shots on your approach.