GolfHippy

I carry a dry towel which works most of the time. I also bring a water bottle (the ones used by Tour de France cyclists - ie they are sealed and you open that seal with your teeth). I use it for drinking, and you can squirt a bit on a corner of the towel without messing up your water bottle, or the rest of the towel.

Sort out a bad putting habit I seem to have picked up over the winter, then improve my GIR+1.

Hi, thanks for the reply. What do you mean by face? Is this the angle of the head of the putter? Is this the angle of my shoulders? Or is it the position of my head? This is such an annoying habbit. I was on the practice green again today for a couple of hours and they all headed right. It is so weird. My putting average for a full round has gone up 5 shots (on a round) since last year probably since I can guarantee none of my mid/long putts will drop. Thanks for the reply again mvmac.

Quote: If you have multiple rounds at the same course the ability to track your scoring average for each hole, par 3s, 4s and 5s for that particular course would be a nice addition. Chart My Golf does this really well.

I have started again this year for about a month. I have picked up an annoying habit of putting to the right. Any ideas what might be causing this? (I have the same putter as last year.)

Keeping stats has definitely helped me and made me enjoy the game more. Keeping stats is more for optimising practice sessions. However, I do agree with the OP that making decisions on a course just to achieve a particular stat is a bad idea. If you are the kind of person that might do that, then keeping stats is probably a bad idea for you. There is only one situation where my stats actively effect my decisions in game. My stats software I use has something called a PSI - Personal Stroke Index. It compares your personal difiiculty ordering of holes with the club's ordering of holes. So when I am in a competative match and I am on a hole I know is in my bottom 3 holes, I play conservatively on that hole (especially in the area that is causing the problem - my software does a PSI for every aspect of my game). I do find that does help. Other than that though, I just use my stats to tell me where it is best to practice. My pro likes it too, because when I get a lesson he can look at my stats too.

I keep my score, fairway hit, greenside chips, bunker shots and putts. From this I can get all the info I need to put into the golf stats package I use. Some of the new graphing features coming soon look great. Can't wait.

They do not seem to have a picture but if you look on the Tabs it says 'Score by Approach'. I like the idea of the mouse hover to explain the stats. I am guessing GIR/FH is Greens in Regulation per Fairway Hit? What is a Greenside Save? Fairway Bunker Save? I like the 3 moving average charts on the same page and we can choose what stats to put on them. They say 25+ choices of stats.

That does seem odd. I do not like freshly cut holes because of my hay-fever.

Re: Do you ever think "I'm always going to suck?" Yes, but who cares if I am having fun. I enjoy keeping my stats. Practicing the areas where things are going wrong. If I became a great golfer overnight I probably would not enjoy it as much.

Yes, I wish they would show a lot more pictures. I do a lot of business travel, also to the UK, and I try to find some courses in the areas I am going. Surely it would not cause a great deal of work for the Pro or staff to go out on his course and take a few photos. 1 per hole at least.

I tend not to play in competitions any more much. I find it too much pressure. I play a lousy game when I play with people I am less farmiliar with. Also when a lot of people are watching me.

I wish I could get a lot more backspin. Having confidence with the ball around the green would help me. If I could stop the ball on a dime I would play a bit more bolder.

Not sure about this. I want to measure myself against the Pros even though I know I am not as good as them.

I tend to practice, even for just 30 minutes a day, lunchtimes at work etc. Whatever my stats program tells me needs work is what I practice on.

Yeah, this annoys me too. But I think the handicapping system is a lot better than other country's so we can't complain.

I not great at distance anyway, so I always go for accuracy.

Yes I agree Lofty Left, your Ballstriking stat is a good idea to keep. I have already started keeping this stat in readiness to pump into the software package I use for the imminent update. They emailed me a picture of the new round input system which caters for it. They do not call it Ballstriking, they call it GIR, GIR+1, GIR+2 etc. The GIR is useful to a point but if you are a bogie golfer the GIR+1 is more useful as a balance point.

ChartMyGolf.com have said they are including handicapping in the Fall update. Nice stats program.

I am a bit annoyed with Jobbs lately. I have been looking into mobiles for the first time and all I can see is the iphone is a proprietry system. Everything, tunes, software the lot seems to be tied into the apple product. So if I ever decided to get another phone at some time, nothing I would have amassed would work on it.

If I have a trouble area, I just tend to play it safe until that area starts clicking again. So maybe play for the centers of the green. Avoid the side with bunkers or other troubles. Feel you are aiming for a LARGE safe area. Forget the position of the flag. When you feel safer again, then you can start taking a few more risks.

Re:...make sure that yours has GPS. Some use cell tower triangulation Thanks, this is really helpful. I am completely in the dark with mobiles. I have never had one, not even the old types. So thanks for this info. Re: Linux. I am not sure about this, I have a pc, but a guy at work has Linux and manages to get Silverlight working with something called Moonlight. I might be wrong about this. I'll ask him when I see him next.

Maybe keep the chemical usage to just the greens and try and let the fairways care for themselves. Maybe that is a compramise?

I stick to a 7 iron for all off green chipping, unless it is completely the wrong thing to use. I find it easier to judge the length of the shot by keeping to the same club. When I used to vary between a 9 and a 7 I was all over the place.

I am on the verge of getting a mobile phone so I can accurately discover my yardages. It will be interesting. The trouble is, will I disapointed? I know I am not a long hitter.