Shot Timing

[fishgolf]

One of the guys in the pool of players we play with takes a really long time (IMHO) setting up/addressing and hitting the ball.  Except for cases where it starts holding up the groups behind, I just take a deep breath, remember that I'm now retired, and go with it.  But, it got me to thinking about my own shot time and whether my sequence bothers others.  I timed myself at the range going through my normal routine on the tee box and it averaged about 27 seconds from tee-up to tee pick up.  Fairway shots about 20 seconds. This compared to ~55 seconds the guy in the group takes.  I should probably note that I like to play fast and have always been a bit sub conscious about not wanting to be a slow poke .

[Piz]

I am the least deliberate golfer I know; but I make up my mind before I set up to the ball.  When my turn comes around; there isn't anything left to think about other than making a good pass.  

[shanksalot]

I wish others would also look at the time they take to hit when it is their turn. This game can be less than 4 hours if everyone played ready golf and hit the ball when it was their turn in less the 45 seconds. It is not hard to do and I know most people try to keep up with the group in front of them, yet most weekends it takes  more than four hours. I played in a senior tournament every Monday at my course and it took 5/5 1/2 hours for a round. After putting up with that for over a year I quit and moved to another course. So far every round has been under four hours. 

[Patch]

We figured this out the other day. From start of pre-shot to the finish of the follow through, and 85 strokes, it averages out to under 60 minutes of actual golf. 

What happens the the other 3-4 hours is beyond our control. 

[cooke119]

One of my playing partners addresses the ball then spends at least 30 seconds thinking about his shot waggling his club. This is on drives, fairway woods, irons, no matter what. I've asked him what he is thinking about and he says the shot. By the way once he hits his shot he usually screws it up, I think it is because he is thinking too much. But I can't break him of the habit, very frustrating.

[iacas]

55 seconds or so is probably far too long.

When I last timed my routine it was about 25 seconds.

[saevel25]

Yea, 55 seconds is a long time. I am around the 25-30 second mark. 

[billchao]

Routine? What's that? 

I might take all of 10 seconds to hit a ball.

[lastings]

To put that in perspective.  (assuming he shoots 90), one guy in your group is using up 80 minutes of a 4 hour round on just his set-up and swings.   

[iacas]

15 minutes ago, lastings said:

To put that in perspective.  (assuming he shoots 90), one guy in your group is using up 80 minutes of a 4 hour round on just his set-up and swings.   

Not quite. I'm sure he doesn't take 50 seconds for his 8-11 tap-ins.

[NM Golf]

How long have you been playing with J.B. Holmes? 

Anywho, I take about 20-25 seconds from the time I pull the club until I pull the trigger. 

[HJJ003]

I need to slow down. I take probably 10 seconds and could stand to take about 30. 

[Moxley]

I generally take too long, and it's the lack of a good pre-shot routine. It's something I need to work on - if I could set myself properly, and I'm sure I'd be able to just pull the trigger. 

[jkelley9]

I don't know how long I take. But I can tell you I'm probably one of the shortest shot routine people out there. I grab my club, address, look up one time, and swing. No real waggle, zero practice swings. Just step up and hit. I started enjoying golf a lot more when I stopped taking practice swings and waggling and crap. Been doing it this way for a couple years now, probably.

[DeadMan]

Watching someone take 55 seconds to hit a shot is like water torture. I think it should take you less than 30 seconds to hit a shot, and some of that time should be during other people's swing/ball flight. When it's your turn to hit, you should be addressing the ball and ready to pull the trigger in my book.

I just watched a tee shot on my Newport Cup video, and it took me 15 seconds from hitting record to hitting the shot. That's with two practice swings and taking a couple of seconds to pick out my line.

[The Hook Meister]

I take about 25 to 30 seconds or so. If I am on a course I don't know real well I might take a little longer.

[Fourputt]

22 hours ago, DeadMan said:

Watching someone take 55 seconds to hit a shot is like water torture. I think it should take you less than 30 seconds to hit a shot, and some of that time should be during other people's swing/ball flight. When it's your turn to hit, you should be addressing the ball and ready to pull the trigger in my book.

I just watched a tee shot on my Newport Cup video, and it took me 15 seconds from hitting record to hitting the shot. That's with two practice swings and taking a couple of seconds to pick out my line.

This^^.  Unless my ball is in another player's line of play, I will have picked my aiming point and be setting up to the ball while his shot is still in the air.  In something like 5-10 seconds after he hits, my ball is on the way. 

Even if I can't actually be going through my full routine while he plays, I'll still try to get my distance, pick a club, note the wind and lie, and generally be ready to walk up to my ball and hit as soon as he plays.  I can't imagine taking more than 30 seconds for the whole procedure. 

One comment - I don't have to be standing over my ball to get a good distance check.  I can easily estimate 5-10 yards (and none of us needs to know it closer than 1 or 2 yards anyway), so I can stay back even with him and still have my distance and pull a club ahead of time without being his way.  A few seconds saved here and there by each player adds up over 18 holes.

[iacas]

5 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

This^^.  Unless my ball is in another player's line of play, I will have picked my aiming point and be setting up to the ball while his shot is still in the air.  In something like 5-10 seconds after he hits, my ball is on the way.

If true, that's ridiculously fast yes.

In theory, cool. In practice, though, my pre-shot routine takes 25 seconds or so, and starts after I've identified that their shot - which I'm watching as a dutiful and respectful playing partner - is going to be okay.

When I was a kid we'd often have two balls in the air at the same time in a group, we'd hit so quickly after another player hit. But as an adult, I watch the balls of other players, then start my pre-shot routine. It's not long, but there's no way that I could ever hit five seconds after someone else has hit. I'm watching their shot to help them out. Even if they stripe it, it takes two seconds to recognize that, then the pre-shot routine.