I swear I'm improving - but my scores say otherwise!

[klossy]

You do ever feel like you've been improving in leaps and bounds, but your handicap / score doesn't show it like it should?

I've been having this for my last several outings...

I've been playing golf for about a year and a half.  I used to hit the banana ball slices, 180 yards and 50 yards to the right.  I've since ditched the driver, taken a golf lesson to correct my grip, and learned how to swing more on plane vs over the top.

The swing correction has only happened in the past several weeks, and my last 3 scores have been 95, 97, and 95... but I feel like I should be scoring better than this!

Here's how my round today went:

(Started on Hole #10, as there was an outing starting around 10am when I walked on).

#10 154yd Par 3 

Downhill, front pin - pulled a PW left into the rough just past the fringe pin high, chipped on, 2 putt. [Bogey].
I hit the chip where I wanted, but the ball didn't break like I thought it would... not a big deal after a mediocre tee shot.

#11 310yd Par 4

Tight fairway with trees on left and right, but pulled a 5i into the trees left.  Chipped out to 75 yds.  Hit 56* wedge a hair fat, and came up 40 ft from the pin...
3 putt for [Double Bogey]

I'm pretty frustrated now, played smart and walked away with a 6.

The next hole is another narrow Par 4, with a creek before the green.

#12 340yd Par 4

Aimed towards the right side of the fairway expecting another pull, hit a slight draw with a 5i into the right rough, ball beneath my feet. Had about 160yds out, but there was grass between the ball and the club path, so I grabbed a 9i.  ...Pulled it 15 yds left of the green, about 10 yds pin high... chip on, 2 putt [Bogey].

#13 470yd Par 5

This is a short, but extremely narrow, Par 5. The fairway slopes left to right, but there is OB left, and a thicket of trees right of the green starting 100 yds out if you go for it in 2.  I hit 5i again, found the middle of the fairway. 8i to lay up, pulled it left, but hit off the slope before the trees and ran out to the middle of the fairway again. Pulled my 56* wedge, but found the green. 2 putt [Par].

#14 540yd Par 5

Snap hook my 18* hybrid off of a small tree, ball in under a large tree, but has branches overhanging so I can't play a normal shot.  Since I'm pulling all my shots, I put the ball in the back of my stance, grab a 6i, and play for a hook... I hit the perfect low riser shot, hits off the cart path 180 yds out, and bounces into the right rough.  I find the ball in the rough, 171 yds out, and hack a 8i onto the front of the green. 3 putt for [Bogey].

#15 315 yd Par 4

All uphill Par 4, 5i to right side of fairway, 9i to pin high. 2 putt [Par].

#16 310yd Par 4

This is a severe downhill Par4, with a 80 degree dogleg left with a stream running about 100 yds out and lakes left and right.  I hit a knockdown 6i into the right side of the fairway, pull a 9i left and long. Chip on goes a little too long, in the fringe on the other side of the green. Duff the next chip, 2 putt for [Double Bogey].

#17 145yd Par 3

I weaken my grip and PW to the center of the green, but the flag is back left. 2 putt [Par].

#18 400yd Par 4

I stripe my 18* hybrid 250 yds down the center of the fairway, have just under 150 in to the flag.  I duff a PW from the middle of the fairway, leave my chip short. and 2 putt for a SIX [Double Bogey].

#1 360 yd Par 4

45 degree dogleg left, but a lake is 200 yds out straight, a stream runs about 220, and there is a pond short left.  I remember the grip change, but overdo it, and hit a high fade instead of the draw, ball bounces into the edge of the lake.... I take my drop, and pull a 8i long and left... past a tree 20 yds past the green.  I try the hero flop shot over the tree to a downhill green, blade it, and it shoots over the green to the front.  I duff my next chip onto the green, 3 putt for an eight...

#2 145 yd Par 3

Hit another high fade with PW, bounces off of the tree to the right of the green, bounces backwards to 25 yds short of the green.  Duff the 2nd shot, hit the 3rd shot below the hole, 2 putt for [Double Bogey].

#3 300 yd Par 4

Uphill Par 4, decide what the heck, and grab the 18* hybrid, hoping to get it close for a chance for pitch and putt birdie.  Top the ball 90 yds to the rough before the fairway.  210 yds out and very frustrated, grab a 5i, and try to play the slight pull to get the ball close. I instead hit the perfect straight ball, and the rough took some spin off, land to the right of the green but 5 yds short of the pin.  I chip from the rough, ball doesn't check on the narrow green, and run into the fringe on the other side.  Chip to 6" and tap in for [Bogey].

#4 390 yd Par 4

Plays downhill halfway, and uphill the other half to a small green with trees all around. Hit a perfect high draw 5i, 8i to 10 ft, 2 putt [Par].

#5 385 yd Par 4

Plays downhill, but slice a 5i into the other fairway instead of a draw, have 200 yds in with trees in the way.  Figure if I hit a 6i well, I should be close to the front of the green or on.  Hit it in the center of the clubface... and snap hook it 100 yds left back over the fairway into the next under a tree.  Chip a 7i under the branches, onto the green, and it runs over into the rough. Chip it onto the green to 15 ft, 2 putt [Double Bogey].

#6 290 yd Par 4

Driveable, and if I were confident, I would have tried to hit my 18* hybrid close enough for a chip and putt, but decide on the knockdown 6i idea to play it safe. Hit the 6i and it starts fading... hits the fairway, bounces onto the cart path, hit a tree, and lands just behind the tree so I have no shot to the green... I try to play around the tree and hit a 75 yd fade back onto the green, but the ball clips the top limb of the tree and lands short. No problem, I have about 20 yds to a easy pin... duff the chip into the bunker...the sand is much softer than normal, and I hit the next shot fat, doesn't get out of the bunker. 5th shot over the green, next chip is close to the pin, putt for a [triple bogey].  6 shots from 75 yards away. Unreal.

#7 460 Par 5

Another narrow Par 5, with OB left and a group of trees to the right.  I hit 5i to the right side of the fairway, then punch a low 9i that rolls to about 50 yds away from the pin. Hit a soft pitch shot to 15 feet. 3 putt for [Bogey]...

#8 320 Par 4

Uphill slight dogleg Par 4, and the fairway slopes severely from left to right. Try to hit a draw with my 18* hybrid, but hit a high fade that comes to rest in the next fairway 150 yds out. The pin is in the back right side of the green, and I go for it... but hit the shot ever so slightly right, and it bounces from the fringe to 10 ft in the rough to the right of the green. I chip on, but 2 putt for [Bogey].

#9 185 Par 3

This plays downhill, and the gentleman's smartwatch I paired up with said it plays like 177 yds.  Nevertheless, I thought the wind was towards us, so I pulled a 6i and aimed to the middle of the green... hit a beautiful draw that started at the middle and kept going and going... and landed and stopped dead in the further back and left portion of the green.  A GIR, but by inches.  I 3 putt for [Bogey] to end with a 95.

 

I felt as if I hit some good shots, and the pulls and hooks had great contact with the club face, but either my grip starts to get too strong, or I'm stalling with my hips and coming too quickly through with my arms and wrists... it's really frustrating, but I know I can hit the shots if I slow down a little more and think things through.   

Quick stats:

3 putts: 5
Bladed chips: 1
Duffed chips: 5
Severe hooks: 2
Unlucky bounces: 2

Thats 15 strokes right there that I know I'm better than - short game and putting are usually my strengths because up until several weeks ago, my ball-striking was pretty poor, and my distances were at least 10 yards shorter than what they are now!  I'd even take 1/2 of those strokes, say 7 strokes! That would still be an 88, which is decently respectable for someone who has been playing less than 2 years.

Can any of you relate? Tell me your stories and input - does improvement come soon???

[baller7345]

If it truly is just a bad stretch of putting and a small case of the chip yips then you could very well see some really good rounds soon.  I had a major putting breakdown early this year where I carded an 86 with 43 putts, so yes it is possible to just be off in one area and turn in a much better score soon afterwards.  My putting breakdown led to switching putters multiple times before I finally spent a day going over any grip I could think of and picking what felt the most comfortable.  Switching putters did nothing, however once I found a grip that I felt truly comfortable with I started putting better.  That's probably not the smart way to do things, as trying out blind guesses to fix problems in your game is usually an extremely frustrating process that doesn't fix the problem if you aren't told what the problem actually is.

However, with that said you're lack of confidence with your driver and the inconsistency with full shots (you pulled quite a few shots in this round and there are several cases where you're resulting shape was the opposite of what you were playing for) seems to simply point at a deeper problem in your swing.  I won't even begin to try and diagnose it, because first off it's impossible without actually seeing you swing the club and as someone who has bounced around from a 10 to 11.6 handicap for half the year I'm in no position to critique people.

If you believe your lessons aren't actually helping you try something like evolvr or create a myswing thread on here.  If you think the lessons you've had are truly getting you in the right direction, then stick with what you are working on and maybe take another one every now and again to keep things fresh as well as to help you diagnose any bad habits that creep in.

 

Edited October 30, 2016 by baller7345

[iacas]

It's going to be tough to score when you're hitting 5I off the tee of par fours as much as you seem to.

I only got through six holes or so, though, so take that with a grain of salt. But, a small grain, as laying up as often as you do is not the recipe for success.

[klossy]

@iacas You have a good point, but I don't even carry a driver, as I found I can hit my 18* hybrid almost as far, but with much more consistency (230~240 yds).  And yes, I'm laying up on the Par 4 s, but they're relatively short, and a 5i goes 190-210 depending on how hard the fairway is for me, but usually pretty straight - that's just as far as my driver would go several months ago, but with the slice!

I'll post a swing video if the weather stays decent enough to go to the range this year, and see where that goes.

[boogielicious]

1 minute ago, klossy said:

@iacas You have a good point, but I don't even carry a driver, as I found I can hit my 18* hybrid almost as far, but with much more consistency (230~240 yds).  And yes, I'm laying up on the Par 4 s, but they're relatively short, and a 5i goes 190-210 depending on how hard the fairway is for me, but usually pretty straight - that's just as far as my driver would go several months ago, but with the slice!

I'll post a swing video if the weather stays decent enough to go to the range this year, and see where that goes.

Erik's main point is you are not giving yourself the advantage of distance. There are, of course, some holes that require a less than driver club off the tee. But where you can, you should be trying to hit the longest tee shot possible. Being 120 yards out in the rough is better than 150 from the fairway in almost all cases. Your chance of a GIR is higher the closer you are to the hole.

If you are struggling with the driver, 3W-5W, work on that in practice. Film your swing and post it in the Member Swings section. We can help you out.

I also highly recommend reading Lowest Score Wins. It will guide you on scoring better right now as well as what to work on and how to practice to get better.

 

[paininthenuts]

I quite often feel that i have played badly, and get a decent score. On the other hand, sometimes I feel that I played well, but get a poor score. It's how things are

[gregsandiego]

1 hour ago, paininthenuts said:

I quite often feel that i have played badly, and get a decent score. On the other hand, sometimes I feel that I played well, but get a poor score. It's how things are

Same here. There are a lot of permutations and ways to screw up a score. You could par a few then implode a few for example.

 

[No Mulligans]

I've analyzed my rounds before as you did (Game Golf makes it easy to do).  It's surprising to see how many poorly hit shots I make. I've come to the conclusion that to score around a 90 only about 50 to 60% of my shots have to be decent or better. Not great, not good, but decent or better. 

I could certainly look at the top 10% of my best shots and think I should be a scratch player because I can make those shots. But that is faulty logic. The problem is inconsistency.

This inconsistency is why high handicap players are high handicap players. 

[klossy]

2 hours ago, No Mulligans said:

I've analyzed my rounds before as you did (Game Golf makes it easy to do).  It's surprising to see how many poorly hit shots I make. I've come to the conclusion that to score around a 90 only about 50 to 60% of my shots have to be decent or better. Not great, not good, but decent or better. 

I could certainly look at the top 10% of my best shots and think I should be a scratch player because I can make those shots. But that is faulty logic. The problem is inconsistency.

This inconsistency is why high handicap players are high handicap players. 

You hit it on the head here - that's exactly what I'm feeling!  I know I can make the shots, I usually drop a 2nd ball if there's no one behind me to prove it to myself, which kind of makes me more frustrated when I make the shot when it doesn't count.

[Hazsa]

Id prefer to be hitting little wedges or pitch shots into a few of those short par 4s. I'd also be hoping to get on or around the green in 2 on a couple of those par 5s.

[klossy]

59 minutes ago, Hazsa said:

Id prefer to be hitting little wedges or pitch shots into a few of those short par 4s. I'd also be hoping to get on or around the green in 2 on a couple of those par 5s.

I'd prefer that too, but I'd rather be 160 out in the fairway that 100 out in the trees... I play the longest club that I have confidence to put the ball in a place where I should be able to place the ball on the green.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, klossy said:

I'd prefer that too, but I'd rather be 160 out in the fairway that 100 out in the trees... I play the longest club that I have confidence to put the ball in a place where I should be able to place the ball on the green.

If you're a 22, then you shouldn't have any real confidence to place the ball on the green from any yardage outside of about 100 yards.

PGA Tour players don't hit the green from 150-175 yards more than about 64% of the time (median value), and they're hitting a pitching wedge to a 7I from those yardages.

http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.328.2016.html

Hell, the best guy at that range last year did it less than 3 out of 4 times.

[dave s]

Good read.  Unfortunately, it sounds like something bad happened for you on just about every hole.  It happens.  The good news is that the more years you play and the more experience you gain the fewer times things like your described come up and bite you in the behind.  You'll be able to think your way through bad situations and shoot yourself out of disaster holes before they happen with more experience.

Weather was nice enough to play here in NE Ohio yesterday.  I had a pair of disaster holes, one on each nine.  One resulted in a NINE on a par 4 and a triple-bogey on a par 5.  Also mixed in a couple of doubles on the card.  Each disaster and the double bogies ALL began with an ERRANT TEE BALL.

What I know MOST about controlling score, (or having a blowup hole) is that your tee shot dictates how the rest of the hole CAN be played.  You HAVE to put a tee shot in play on the long holes and hit par-3 greens or green side at worst to score reasonably well over an entire round.

dave

[Rainmaker]

Short answer - yes, all the time! 

Longer answer . . .being good at the golf swing, while directly related to being good at golf, is not the same thing.  I work 100% of the time on improving my swing . .and I have greatly improved my swing.  I spend 0% of the time working on "playing the game of golf" . .and it shows, lol.  My scores have improved . . but I bet I could knock a few more strokes off, easily, by playing more, having better touch, making smarter decisions, etc.  All I'm really concerned about on the course is striking it well.  If I gave equal emphasis on getting it in the hole - my scores would surely improve. 

[klossy]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

If you're a 22, then you shouldn't have any real confidence to place the ball on the green from any yardage outside of about 100 yards.

PGA Tour players don't hit the green from 150-175 yards more than about 64% of the time (median value), and they're hitting a pitching wedge to a 7I from those yardages.

http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.328.2016.html

Hell, the best guy at that range last year did it less than 3 out of 4 times.

True - I'm not 100% confident I can place the ball on the green, but I know with a decent swing, it should be either on the green, or close enough to give myself a chance at Par or Bogey.  The greens at the course I play at are pretty soft - if you hit the green, it's usually going to leave a big pitch mark and stay there.  As a 22 hc, I'm honestly not playing for birdies.  If I manage one, great!

The few times I've used the longer club off the tee has been for the larger fairways, or the longer Par 4s and Par 5s.  

 

1 hour ago, dave s said:

Good read.  Unfortunately, it sounds like something bad happened for you on just about every hole.  It happens.  The good news is that the more years you play and the more experience you gain the fewer times things like your described come up and bite you in the behind.  You'll be able to think your way through bad situations and shoot yourself out of disaster holes before they happen with more experience.

Weather was nice enough to play here in NE Ohio yesterday.  I had a pair of disaster holes, one on each nine.  One resulted in a NINE on a par 4 and a triple-bogey on a par 5.  Also mixed in a couple of doubles on the card.  Each disaster and the double bogies ALL began with an ERRANT TEE BALL.

What I know MOST about controlling score, (or having a blowup hole) is that your tee shot dictates how the rest of the hole CAN be played.  You HAVE to put a tee shot in play on the long holes and hit par-3 greens or green side at worst to score reasonably well over an entire round.

dave

 

You're absolutely right - the most frustrating thing is putting the ball in play off the tee, but then hitting a poor 2nd shot, or even worse, 3 putting the few GIRs you hit.

Either way, that's what I love about this game - no matter how much you may improve, you're never satisfied!  There's always going to be those few shots that you could have hit better, or a decision that could have saved you a stroke here or there.

I'm realizing more than even professional golfers don't hit the shot they want to all the time, @iacas says PGA Tour players only hit the green 64% of the time from 150-175 yds, and they're the best in the world at playing golf. 

[baller7345]

13 minutes ago, klossy said:

I'm realizing more than even professional golfers don't hit the shot they want to all the time, @iacas says PGA Tour players only hit the green 64% of the time from 150-175 yds, and they're the best in the world at playing golf. 

It can help a lot if you can keep this in mind.  Some of my best rounds had some awful shots that I managed to save by making a good shot afterward or managed to limit the damage.  My worst rounds tend to be when I let myself doubt everything and go into shots expecting a bad result.  Of course that doesn't fix everything, but turning a few awful shots into good scores does a ton for your confidence. 

[Buckeyebowman]

6 hours ago, klossy said:

You hit it on the head here - that's exactly what I'm feeling!  I know I can make the shots, I usually drop a 2nd ball if there's no one behind me to prove it to myself, which kind of makes me more frustrated when I make the shot when it doesn't count.

Prove WHAT to yourself? That you can do it when it doesn't count? I've never understood the "tin cuppers" who drop another ball. It doesn't matter! It's the first shot that counts!

[klossy]

8 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Prove WHAT to yourself? That you can do it when it doesn't count? I've never understood the "tin cuppers" who drop another ball. It doesn't matter! It's the first shot that counts!

Prove that you can hit the shot as intended, yes, when it doesn't "count" - the only difference is the mental game at that point: same conditions, same shot, etc.  

Think about any other sport - take basketball, for example:  4th quarter, you pull up for the elbow jumper, ... and miss it.  What will you most likely do after the game?  

... You go practice that shot until you can make it 10 times in a row! Sure, it doesn't "count", since the game is over, but it instills mental confidence and experience so that the next time you're in that situation, you give yourself the best possible chance of making the shot.  

That IS the whole point of practice - whether it's on the driving range, putting green, or the 2nd shot into a green...