Stubbornness on Short Game vs Long Game

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

1 - The old guy who just can't hit bombs any more. The guy will say something like "Sure, you hit it much farther than me, but the short game is where it's at." ... I can forgive these guys. My guess is these fellas have lost their distance, or at least a lot of it, and are trying to make lemonade out of life's lemons. 

2 - The delusional guy. This guy says something like "I could hit it 300 off the tee if I wanted to, but I like to put a premium on accuracy." ... Or ... "300 yards into the woods doesn't do you any good." Sometimes this guy will even reference a cousin or nephew or something. "I have a nephew who can hit it 350 yards off the tee, but he's a 36 handicap."

You forgot the fourth guy - the one who thinks we’re talking about distance alone in saying “long game.” Often his name is Chet, too. 😀

”The long game” just refers to everything outside the short game and how proficient you are at that. So if you hit your seven iron 150 but you hit it on the green a lot more often than others, you’re still good at approach shots. If you hit your driver 240 but you hit a ton of fairways, you’re still gaining strokes.

[ChetlovesMer]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

You forgot the fourth guy - the one who thinks we’re talking about distance alone in saying “long game.” Often his name is Chet, too. 😀

”The long game” just refers to everything outside the short game and how proficient you are at that. So if you hit your seven iron 150 but you hit it on the green a lot more often than others, you’re still good at approach shots. If you hit your driver 240 but you hit a ton of fairways, you’re still gaining strokes.

If you encounter a Chet at your driving range you are truly blessed. 

Seriously, yeah, of course I know there's more to the long game than just distance alone. If there's one thing I've learned it's GIR's are King. 

I just find it really interesting the number of people I still encounter that think:

• Gaining distance automatically means losing accuracy
• The closer you get to the hole the more important the shot becomes
• The greatest difference between themselves and a scratch player is their putting 

I don't think any of those things are true. Yet, I hear that all the time. 

 

[jfrain2004]

Another thing I think that makes guys think its all about the short game is they see the pros make it look so easy that they themselves ( My bro included ) think that they can put it inside 20ft from 100 yrds out if they just had time to " practice a bit more ".  Now if I could just get it on the fairway,  even if its only a 150yrds drive,  then my great short game will see me putting for birdie.  No one looking at the build and swing of Jon Rahm on a par 5 is going to go home, start benching 100kg, dead lifting 200kgcause tjhey think they going to drive the ball the way he does.  But they far more likely to look at him 60 yrds out,  stopping her dead 6ft from the hole,  and think,  yea,  I could do that.

[billchao]

50 minutes ago, jfrain2004 said:

Another thing I think that makes guys think its all about the short game is they see the pros make it look so easy that they themselves ( My bro included ) think that they can put it inside 20ft from 100 yrds out if they just had time to " practice a bit more ".

I always like to tell people that the pros practice a lot to be as good as they are, but the truth of it is they’re also extremely talented. There are plenty of high level golfers who play professionally that can’t get a PGA Tour card.

52 minutes ago, jfrain2004 said:

Now if I could just get it on the fairway,  even if its only a 150yrds drive,  then my great short game will see me putting for birdie.

250 yards would be a really short par 4. And a 100 yard wedge shot is really full swing mechanics which we define here as long game anyway.

[GolfLug]

In my observation a good portion of the lowish-mid cappers are the most delusional. They have a lot of conviction in their belief (and hence the stubbornness) about where their game is being golfers of fairly good experience but are also bad just enough to need a lot of short shots to save par or or end up with bogey. In their mind the 'art of up and down' is the only thing standing in between a 'par game' and the 7-handicap game they have worked themselves down to.  

Except for a few total dumbasses most high handicappers don't think that the short game is 'where it's at'. The one's I play with usually don't even worry about finishing the hole after losing a ball or two and dribbling one or two shots every hole before they ever get to around the green. May be throw a ball on the green and putt for fun. They get it.   

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by GolfLug

[NZ Golfer]

I know it's my short game 9 out of 10 times costing me easy shots over a round.. a poor round 82-85 etc

 

I'm averaging mid 30's putts 

 

hitting least 2-3 darts at the flag a round from the tee or 130yds+ (=easy putt)

 

I did get to play with an Aus pro last year over 9 holes (he was in town trying to Qualify for the NZ Open his first round on the course)

The majority of my shots of the tee were as good if not better(I'm sure he had some jet lag etc)  ... but when it came to the short game the guy had some insane skills spinning his ball towards the hole / solid putting etc .. 

 

...  recently had our yearly Top 3 Putters of the Year award for the monthly medal .. guys with higher HC than me av 27 putts over the year 12 max medal rounds etc.. as low as 25 for a round ..

 

 

 

 

[iacas]

Counting putts is a bad way to do it.

[jfrain2004]

As my coach says don't guess what you can measure. Get yourself shotscope and then you'll see where you are really coughing up the shots against golfers of similar abilities. Them darts over the green that you blame on your short game might not be an issue with better approach shots or more distance off the tee. 

[Clemsonfan]

Saturday Stats yesterday on the Hack it Out podcast was fascinating to me. Lou Stagner compared Arccos data for 10 handicaps in 2 disciplines- putting and approach shots.

For putting, there was a 6.16 shot difference between the best to worst in putting, and 4.34 for approach. 
 

If the worst putter losing 6.16 shots in skill difference could somehow become the best putter, they would become a 4-handicap. The real key is measuring how you fare in each discipline. Not all 10-handicaps lose strokes in the same way.

[CrashTestDummy]

I think it is outdated thinking. To be a great golfer, you can't really have any weaknesses. However that being said, if you could only have one strong category (ball striking, short game, putting) and the other two average, I would want strong ball striking. With strong ball striking, scores are much more consistent. When you miss fairways and greens, it is very hard to score.  

Edited January 30 by CrashTestDummy