Improving my High Handicap

[lee34]

Been back into golf for the last 6 weeks and have got the bug back big time. I play and practice at least once a week.

I am 36 years old and playing off a miserable 27.1 handicap (uk). I've played rounds with a few recently and all have said there is no way you are that handicap. However I am and quite often score to (93 is my best round) high 90s and low 100's. Which is what a 27 handicapper should score.

I am constantly trying to improve and track my stats using Golfshake current course stats are......

Average score - 98.5

FIR - 14%

GIR - 8%

SCM - 9%

Putts - 34

So just looking at the above stats and its pretty clear all of my game needs work. I dropped the driver for my 6 iron off the tee to try and cut down on penaltys and trouble my tee shots get me into. This has improved slightly but my stats or score haven't really improved.

I know putting is a problem and am going to see a Edel fitter for a lesson in the next few weeks. I regularly miss 3 footers.

I am getting Lowest Score Wins for xmas which I'm hoping will help. In the last 6 weeks I have had about 6 lessons. I'm getting a hybrid at xmas to help off the tee until I can consistently hit driver off tee a bit better. This should gain more yardage off the tee than my 6 iron and should help with accuracy.

Im thinking of game golf to analyse my game a bit more in detail. 

I had a lesson a couple weeks ago where using a launch monitor on the range I got my yardages done for every club to help with club selection on the course. This has definitely helped me but once again my scores dont show this.

I was hoping that my handicap would come tumbling down and was only a matter of time however this just hasn't happened. In fact my handicap went up yesterday to 27.1

I just don't get why my scores are not coming down unless I just have to accept that I am a 27 handicapper and am kidding myself to think otherwise.  I played against a mate the other day that plays off 15 and matched him shot for shot until I took a 14 on one hole and he ended up beating me by only 4 shots, so I know somewhere in me there is a half decent golfer.

Anyone got any ideas or suggestions, have been looking at game golf but have thought this would be more beneficial for a mid to low handicapper than myself.

Many thanks

Lee

Edited December 12, 2016 by lee34

[woodzie264]

LSW will help quite a bit. The 5SK's contained therein have been a huge help to me giving me some sound foundation on which to build my swing in the future. 

[RandallT]

Forgive me for promoting my own article, but you might find this deep dive article interesting, as @Fairway_CY's scores are similar to your own. Here's the article: https://thesandtrap.com/b/the_numbers_game/deep_dive_analysis_cy

From the article, his GAME GOLF header line:

Yours:

Handicap: 27.1 (you are 7.4 higher)

Avg Score: 98.5 (you are 0.9 higher)

F'way Accuracy: 14% (you are 20% lower)

GIR: 8% (you are 15% lower)

Putts: 1.9/hole (same)

Scrambling: 9% (you are 4% lower)

 

The article goes into depth beyond these measures, and essentially uses the proximity of the ball before and after each shot to see how effective you are at each shot. It also uses various benchmarks in LSW (which I see you have a copy) to help hone in on where he should look to improve.

If you're serious about wanting to know where exactly to improve, you could volunteer for a future analysis in the series of articles. I have a couple volunteers already who may be ahead of you, however.

If I were to guess based on what you've written, the biggest problem you have is getting a consistent swing where you feel confident that it will go generally where you want it to go.  Your fairway and GIR percentage are low. In my experience, confidence (and FUN) in golf comes from getting a larger fraction of your tee shots in play, in the short grass, and a significant way down the course (I'd recommend fixing your driver, rather than dropping to 6-iron, by the way).

Focus on the fundamentals of a solid, repeatable swing: steady head, centered hip turn, and try to get to a repeatable position at the top- one where you see the instructors here advocate (and one you can confidently get to, again and again). Of course, start with a good grip and posture.  It takes discipline. This thread helps (tons of off-shoots): 

 

Regarding your analysis, I'm not particularly married to GAME GOLF, but if you purchase it and get even a few rounds under your belt with it, I'd be happy to take a decent look at your shots and spit them into my little analysis tool- short of the full analysis discussed above. Every shot must be accurately portrayed, as I describe here:

Since you have LSW, you'll see how the analysis aligns with the benchmarks there and you can go to those practice sections in the book and get to work.

Also, there are some proprietary charts in my tool that I'm not going to publicly expose, but I'm happy to send to people with LSW that document all of their data in one big chart to see how every category of shot in LSW stands up to the benchmarks in the book. You can consider it a personal guide to the book, in one glance. I actually think it's extremely cool.

 

Edited December 12, 2016 by RandallT
added missing link. ooops

[chilepepper]

Id concur with getting a repeatable swing and work on that first. I'm certainly not knocking game golf but sometimes too much additional info I early on just clutters your head with more  stuff

[Club Rat]

4 minutes ago, RandallT said:

Handicap: 27.1 (you are 7.4 higher)

Avg Score: 98.5 (you are 0.9 higher)

The numbers are out of wack... And most likely out of date per-say given a handicap uses recent rounds and average scores in GG do not reflect ESC and a score history that dates back to the first round a user has entered unless they do not trash rounds/data of GG

[lee34]

5 hours ago, RandallT said:

Forgive me for promoting my own article, but you might find this deep dive article interesting, as @Fairway_CY's scores are similar to your own. Here's the article: https://thesandtrap.com/b/the_numbers_game/deep_dive_analysis_cy

From the article, his GAME GOLF header line:

Yours:

Handicap: 27.1 (you are 7.4 higher)

Avg Score: 98.5 (you are 0.9 higher)

F'way Accuracy: 14% (you are 20% lower)

GIR: 8% (you are 15% lower)

Putts: 1.9/hole (same)

Scrambling: 9% (you are 4% lower)

 

The article goes into depth beyond these measures, and essentially uses the proximity of the ball before and after each shot to see how effective you are at each shot. It also uses various benchmarks in LSW (which I see you have a copy) to help hone in on where he should look to improve.

If you're serious about wanting to know where exactly to improve, you could volunteer for a future analysis in the series of articles. I have a couple volunteers already who may be ahead of you, however.

If I were to guess based on what you've written, the biggest problem you have is getting a consistent swing where you feel confident that it will go generally where you want it to go.  Your fairway and GIR percentage are low. In my experience, confidence (and FUN) in golf comes from getting a larger fraction of your tee shots in play, in the short grass, and a significant way down the course (I'd recommend fixing your driver, rather than dropping to 6-iron, by the way).

Focus on the fundamentals of a solid, repeatable swing: steady head, centered hip turn, and try to get to a repeatable position at the top- one where you see the instructors here advocate (and one you can confidently get to, again and again). Of course, start with a good grip and posture.  It takes discipline. This thread helps (tons of off-shoots): 

 

Regarding your analysis, I'm not particularly married to GAME GOLF, but if you purchase it and get even a few rounds under your belt with it, I'd be happy to take a decent look at your shots and spit them into my little analysis tool- short of the full analysis discussed above. Every shot must be accurately portrayed, as I describe here:

Since you have LSW, you'll see how the analysis aligns with the benchmarks there and you can go to those practice sections in the book and get to work.

Also, there are some proprietary charts in my tool that I'm not going to publicly expose, but I'm happy to send to people with LSW that document all of their data in one big chart to see how every category of shot in LSW stands up to the benchmarks in the book. You can consider it a personal guide to the book, in one glance. I actually think it's extremely cool.

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply....

I would definitely volunteer for some stats analysis, however with 2 young kids I don't have the time to really dive into golf into that much detail. Once they are at school I will definitely be having more time to indulge into golf and analysis.

In regards to the driver, the course I play is easy SSS - 65. Its a fairly short course also, however there are several OOB and the driver has been killing me with penalty shots. As you can see, my FIR & GIR are disgraceful so ive been going to 6 iron to try and hit more fairways which in turn should hit more greens.

In regards to Game Golf, how does it work, is it time consuming on the course to input all your shots etc.

Thanks

Lee

[uitar9]

Been at it 5 years and only the last two have seen what I want to see; lowering HC

Lessons: for sure

getting fitted for irons and wedges: for sure

Whats helped me the most: spending 90% of my practice time around/on the green, eliminating hero shots, laying up, knowing how far a ball carries, aiming for the largest part of the green I can see.

Im a hacker-I have no control

 

[Kalnoky]

Hi Lee

Stick w/ the lessons, they take a while to set it in, it's more like being trained by Yoda to use The Force than anything. If you practice what the instructor tells you without trying to shortcut his/her advice, you will get better. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes many lessons and lots of time for this stuff to get inside your head. Then one day you realize you're hitting the same wedge 20 yards further. Expect to feel frustrated. I'd almost say if you don't feel frustrated you haven't learned anything.

Just my novice opinion but this game is about consistent ball striking. That's the hardest part. You can learn to 2-putt pretty easily, if you practice. But if you cannot consistently advance the ball through the air, it is hard to lower your scores. 

Edited December 13, 2016 by Kalnoky

[No Mulligans]

10 hours ago, Club Rat said:

The numbers are out of wack... And most likely out of date per-say given a handicap uses recent rounds and average scores in GG do not reflect ESC and a score history that dates back to the first round a user has entered unless they do not trash rounds/data of GG

I don't think GG uses all of ones data to compute the GameGolf Handicap or average score.  I just sent them an email to clarify this and will report back if I get a reply.

I have 135 rounds and my home page screen looks like the image below.  Note that it says "Last 20 rounds".  Also note that I've seen my longest drive stat drop before (implying that a long drive from a round, probably 21 rounds ago, has dropped off).  For me ESC would hardly change my handicap.

 

 

[Club Rat]

Thanks Frank. Another thought, several of your rounds are played at Cimarron Golf Resort Pebble Course, a par 3 course.
These courses would not qualify for GHin posting. It may also influence the score average possibly to be lower? Just guessing.

[Vinny Cap]

Some good info from other above!  You say you have only been back into golf for 6 weeks, give it more time and don't get frustrated.

I am no pro but a couple things that have helped me knock strokes off my game.  Grab a 3W for the Tee shots.  A wayward driver will cost you strokes but a 6i off the tee doesn't put you in the scoring zone.  Keep practicing your driver at the range till you can get it under control.

No hero or stupid shots.  Take your medicine and put it back in the fairway and only loose 1 shot not 2, 3 or more shots trying dumb stuff.  (This one really helped me)

Learn 1/2 & 3/4 shots for your clubs.  The bump n run with a 7i might get you there when you would come up short with the wedge.

Practice putting the night before.  I spend an hour with 2, 4, 6 & 8' putts and when I do that, I usually have a good round of putting.

Not saying any of this will make you drop shots off your score but these have helped me out.

 

[Lazarus]

You seem to be doing everything else to help yourself but obviously getting a reliable repeatable swing is and will always remain the main thing. If you can get off the tee into playable positions a majority of the time all the other things will help further. Maybe a lesson a week is too many. Others will probably mention that. A priority piece is probably one that gets you playing straighter and more consistently and it can take more than a few reps to get that working in game conditions, so maybe cut back, work on your big miss and then you move to the next one. 

[Club Rat]

On ‎12‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 6:34 AM, lee34 said:

I dropped the driver for my 6 iron off the tee

This will be beneficial in several matters.
A. You will be more likely to "relaxed" on the tee
B. You should develop a better tempo
C. It will build confidence
D. When you progress and become comfortable, step up with a longer iron.

Building a platform for progression will help you identify your strengths which trend to other aspects of the game.

[No Mulligans]

16 hours ago, Club Rat said:

Thanks Frank. Another thought, several of your rounds are played at Cimarron Golf Resort Pebble Course, a par 3 course.
These courses would not qualify for GHin posting. It may also influence the score average possibly to be lower? Just guessing.

I have a different theory, I think it's because I frequently play courses with low slope ratings.  Tecolote, my home course, probably has a low slope because it is a short course (an executive).  But it's narrow with hazards or OB running on both sides of every hole and has slopes that often move your ball towards the hazards.  In addition, it's a bit ragged with occasional poor/thin/dirt lies in the middle of the fairways. For me it plays harder than it's slope, imo.  GameGolf doesn't use course ratings or slope.

Game Golf did get back to me, 

Quote

Hi Frank,

The handicap is calculated looking at the last 20 rounds, but this can vary depending on whether they are nine or eighteen hole rounds.

Please see this article for more handicap details. 
http://support.gamegolf.com/customer/portal/articles/1929900-handicap-everything-to-kno

Ironically that link is not everything you need to know.  I couldn't find anything in the article about GG using 20 rounds.  I suppose it almost goes without saying?  Regardless, they confirmed in the email that is the case.

And, Cimarron Pebble does have a rating and I did post my scores from there (only the black tees have a rating, I played from there.. it's a short course)

 

A par 55 with a rating/slope of 53.4/78... and they have their longest par 3s at 195, 183, 228, 213, and 203.  Another course where I'm surprised that it has such a low rating/slope.  What makes this course easier for me is it's in "country club" shape, every lie seems perfect.

[Club Rat]

13 minutes ago, No Mulligans said:

GameGolf doesn't use course ratings or slope.

I believe they have the data base. When I review a round, there is an option to view scorecard.
Also when editing a round there is an option to select the tee's which are played.

39 minutes ago, No Mulligans said:

And, Cimarron Pebble does have a rating

That's a new one on me. I had to lookup the explanation and discovered USGA has indeed made changes, partially for "Tee it Forward" and Family Tees to have ratings.
Short Course Handicap

I'm still puzzled how GG treats "scoring average" in circumstances when Par is 59 such as Cimarron Pebble?

Playing short courses has many advantages. Less - cost, time, crowds, lost balls, etc. More - fun, great for betting games, levels the playing field (for some) and a great place to improve aspects of the game.

We vaca often at the RTJ trail courses and most courses have spectacular Par 3 courses.

Well, another day, another lesson learned.
Thanks Frank for the info.

[No Mulligans]

Spoiler

It's not a short Course handicap for pebble.  The course is over 3,000 yards which is the cut-off.  Short Course handicaps are for courses less than 3,000 yards.  From the link you sent re: Short Course Handicap:

Quote

With this new set of procedures, the USGA erases a long-standing gap in the handicap system that did not allow for handicaps at courses less than 3,000 yards. 

Off topic re: @Club Rat post above

[CptShankapotamus]

I think the first thing is focusing on just playing the game before focusing on the numbers. Its not a cop-out answer and here's why:

I understand the importance of the stats and analytical take on everything but really anything above a 10ish handicap can most benefit from having a positive mentality toward the performance on and off the course. Golf is 98% mental and recognizing that you're playing at "a miserable handicap" is really something that is already working against you.

Looking at the numbers and wanting them to drop after analyzing and changing your approach to the game simply is not something that will benefit you at a high handicap. I understand no golfer is the same, but the best thing you can do is to study yourself and the input and output you see in the ball at the range, course, or backyard. Numbers are great and all when you are really at the precision of taking analytics into your play but if I were to give you a tip it would just be to play the game, feel your swing, and watch your ball. Forget the numbers because they set this mentality of minimal improvement despite immediate changes. Focus on the input you put into your swing, feel every angle your arms take and every shift in weight through your legs, and watch the output in the ball flight. 

Personally, I've deleted the slo-mo swing apps and stat trackers I have and simply feel my swing, hear/feel the contact, and watch the ball. By doing that and just playing more, I improved from a 18ish handicap to an 11 in about a year. 

[Hategolf]

2 minutes ago, CptShankapotamus said:

Looking at the numbers and wanting them to drop after analyzing and changing your approach to the game simply is not something that will benefit you at a high handicap.

I agree..

I feel like my only job on the course is to make the best swing I can every time. I try not to worry about anything other than making a good swings and course management.

Good swings, combined with a fair short game and fair putting...the scores should drop fast.