lee34

Thanks for all your replies. As a 24 handicapper it's mainly gonna be a tool to see where I can improve etc. So from now on I'm basically going to count a FIR as a drive I'm happy with. It won't be comparable with others etc as I realise that it isn't entirely accurate but will help show me where I need to spend more practice time etc. There have been several times I've hit a great drive but because it's trickled off the fairway I haven't counted it. IMO this is wrong as an amateur because I've done what I wanted to do. Significantly shortened the hole and given myself a good chance of hitting a GIR.

Good reply

So for my stats I always count FIR, GIRs and number of putts. However recently I've been considering being more lenient with my FIRs a bit like NGIRs if you will. Normally I'm strict so if the ball isn't sat on the fairway it gets an X rather than a tick. As a 24 handicapper I'm wondering whether I should put a tick in my FIR box if I'm happy with my drive. So it may be in light rough just off the fairway but it was a good drive and I'm happy with it. what are your thoughts on this ?

90 today beat my best round by 3 shots. 46-44 at Wexham Park 3 birdies handicap cut from 25.9 to 24.3. Very pleased with that. Steadily improving.

Played yesterday at Temple, Maidenhead. First time I've played there was a nice course from what I could see of it, very thick fog which didn't help. Shot a disappointing 53 going out which included an 11 on one hole. Coming back in though shot a 41 !!!!! 53-41 = 94 Also cut my handicap from 27.4 down to 25.8 which I was delighted with.

Yeah maybe I could do with looking at the bounce when I get this wedge. As I do tend to thin a few pitch shots here and there.

Thanks I will probably try out a 58 degree and see how that feels....

Also would this help play those delicate shots where you don't have much green to work with.

My PW is CG16 set of irons and a strong 44 degrees. I have 2 Mizuno wedges. A 49 degree and a 54 degrees. So was thinking is it worth me getting a 59 or 60 degree wedge or do you think 54 degree is plenty for a high handicapper ?

Thanks @iacas after getting a lesson it would appear I have 2 major swing faults. 1) coming over the top (out to in) swing path. 2) turning/rolling hands over also known as releasing the hands. Its nice to finally know the problem but tricky it would appear to fix.

I'm going back for a lesson in a few days time. The only positive I can take is that things can't get any worse. I mean if I took someone to play that had never hit a golf ball before they would have probably beaten me today. I seem to struggle with coming over the top of the ball and slicing. I cannot seem to stop this no matter how much I try. Anyway lessons and practice are the order of the day. And to think I had high hopes of breaking 90 today lol.

Thanks mate - celebrated with a round of golf. Carded my worst ever score by miles !!! 132 dreadful.

Played today at Richings Park. 132 !!!!!! What the hell has happened. My game has just gone to pieces. That's me done now. Back to the range, I've banned myself from playing for a while. 1st hole par 4 290 yards - Drove level with the green 30 yards left of the green. Should have chipped on and putted for birdie/par. Walked away with a triple bogey 7 !!! Very deflated going to definitely stay away from the course now until I get some lessons and range time in.

For me it's currently 2 feet, but don't ask for proof as I don't have video evidence. You will just have to take my word for it :)

Another disappointing round of 105 at Wexham Park yesterday. Foggy conditions did not help. Playing Richings Park tomorrow still hoping to break 90 even tho I can't break 100 at the moment lol.

Agree with everything you said. I am still going to analyse my game as much as I have been recently. I record FIR/GIR/PUTTS. There is no point in me over analysing until I'm a better player as every part of my game is bad. I love stats and hopefully this will grow once I've read LSW. Ive dropped driver off tee as it cost me on average 4 penalties a round. My 6 iron off the tee has really helped bump up my FIR, however this has not translated in better scores in fact it's made it worse. The 2 big problems for me are approach (2nd shots) from 150 yards in and putting which has been so bad it's untrue like it's 50/50 on if I'd hole a 2 footer.

Played yesterday at Wexham Park. Not ideal as was very foggy. Front 9 I hit every FIR but still ended up with a 50 going out. Coming back in was worst with a 55 resulting in another miserable 105. Have gone from being confident of breaking 90 and now I can't even get near breaking 100. So game analysis....... Tee Shots - 3/5 hit every fairway front 9 struggled on back 9. Approach - 1/5 from the fairway I then ended up in trouble due to a poor 2nd shot. Chipping - 3/5 ok nothing great nothing awful. Putting - 0/5 just absolutely abysmal. Went up driving range this mornings and was hitting balls well so don't know why I'm struggling on the course. Am playing Richings Park tomorrow on my birthday so hopefully il be back in the 90s again. have switched back to my heel weighted Taylor made putter and spent an hour on the putting green today. Feel much better after a good practice session. Hoping this translates on the course tomorrow. Thanks for everyone chipping in on this thread and for good advice.

Good advice I did wonder when I'm shooting so far over par is it really worth analysing so much of my game.

Yeah my main 2 problems with the slice are the over the top swing so i need to drill keeping right arm close to body on the downswing and not turning my hands over so clubface is open at impact. I really need to get drilling this at the driving range as playing on the course is pointless when I'm playing like this....

Weathers fine mate. About 11 degrees still pretty mild good golfing conditions really. No pretty much all of my penalties were sliced out of bounds either off the tee or approach shots.

Played today 18 holes at Huntswood. Another absolute shocker of a round. Just cannot hit the ball at the moment and I just do not know what is going wrong. Out in 57 / In in 53 = 110 (41 over) Tee Shots - 1/5 Approach - 1/5 Chipping / Pitching - 3/5 Putting - 3/5 FIR - 6 GIR - 0 Penaltys - 8 Putts - 36 So short game wasn't too bad today, nothing great but no real horror shows. Looking at the stats hitting 6 fairways is pretty good for me and dropping to a 6 iron off the tee is clearly helping with accuracy, however 0 GIRs is shocking and just shows how bad my irons are at the moment. 8 penalty shots is just horrendous. Im playing again Saturday and then that's me done for a bit. Gonna hit the driving range again and work on my swing before I let loose on the course again. Something is seriously wrong at the moment. I have gone from playing pretty decent golf let down by 2 or 3 blow up holes, to no blow up holes but a scorecard flooded with doubles and triple bogeys. That really wasn't enjoyable today and I need to get back to range work and some lessons.

Am going to play Thursday at Huntswood and Saturday I'm playing Wexham Park. Coukd do with a couple decent rounds preferably breaking 90.....

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

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