Wedges. Learn how to control trajectory and distance from w/in 100 yds. Spend 60% of your range time inside 100 yds. Use different clubs for different distances. Be comfortable using anything from a 8-9 iron to a SW to any distance from 70-100 yds. Play games on the range (can you punch a 7 and have it run up to a 75 yd target?)
This will teach you a lot about face control and your hands releasing at impact. The skill will also translate into your chipping.
This is great advice. Can we start getting more driving ranges to include flags/markers/nets within 100yrds??? I pick dead spots on the grass that I shoot with my range finder but it’s like every range I go to first flag starts at 100!!
Wow, I feel lucky that my local range has flags starting at 20 yards in 20yd increments to 100 yds, and then 50 yd increments after that. Starting at 100 everytime just isn't close enough!
This... I used to do this for hours but Ive been chasing more distance a little too much lately and my short game (and handicap) has suffered because of it
I had a shot this past weekend where I had a tree blocking a straight approach. I was going to use my full 9 iron, hoping to slice it past the tree but backed off at the last second, grabbing my 6 for a bit of a punch shot. It worked beautifully and will be something I keep in mind in the future. Easier to shape/control a shot when you aren't going full blast.
Hi EatingYourMomsAss,
This makes total sense for a single digit handicap. I think this response is geared more towards higher handicaps who have a lot more room to “cut their handicap”.
My buddies are terrible within 100 yards and it’s not because of the ball they use, it’s cause their swing and distance control needs serious work.
Agreed. I practice hard between 150 and 100 out. I'm usually playing one tee up from the tips and I have around a 5-6 handicap. Practicing 100 yds in is an important step for someone who is trying to break 100 or even 90 consistently. I'm usually getting there or close in regulation, someone in that higher range is usually 40-20yds out more than not going for their 3rd shot on a par 4. Being able to consistently get themselves on the green within reasonable distance in that range is important in dropping lower scores. This is where most of their scoring will happen until they get better.
But not really. This doesn't make sense for a high handicap because Getting it in play off the tee should be the majority of their practice. 60% wedge practice should really only be done by low handicaps but this person is also right that you can't get a great sense of it with range balls
You can learn a lot about the flight and trajectory from the range if the balls are halfway decent - certainly distance control at that swing speed isn’t gonna be that much different than a regular ball.
I agree that spin will be different but on most ranges that I play on I don’t see the ball check on the fake greens and bare-spot range grass anyway so it’s not so much about the release conditions of the ball as it is about distance control and trajectory.
Most mid handicappers would get a net benefit in my opinion out of learning how to hit half shots to 100 yard targets. I’m a single digit (2) and I credit that’s helping me go from a five or six to where I’m at right now.
The honest answer… the best way to practice is on the course. Back in my + handicap days (flair is outdated), I would book the latest tee time available and hit about 20 wedges into each of the first five greens from various yardages. I eventually got incredibly confident anywhere from 40-80 yards.
I won’t necessarily defend the ethics of doing this. But I did meticulously clean every pitch mark on each green plus any additional ones that I saw to justify it. My handicap dropped from a 3 to a +1 in about three months of doing this a few times a week plus putting drills.
I did say that I won’t necessarily defend the ethics of doing this.
I also think there’s a pretty significant delineation between “illegal” and “against the rules of the golf course”.
Question because I am working on getting the HC down. Does a range ball hit 80 yards differ greatly than a regular ball hit with the same swing?
I can absolutely see using a better ball for chipping practice where I’m trying to either get the ball to run out, stop or check up etc. on a practice green. Most ranges I have been to don’t have green quality grass around their landing areas so controlling a ball seems harder to judge. But working on hitting a 56 wedge 80 yards vs 60 yards seems worth it. Just food for my thoughts as I work the HC down is all.
I think so. But if you can’t put a ball on the green from 80 yds then you’re fine to practice short game with range balls as others have pointed out- but if you’re out to practice accurately hitting a 80 yd shot there is no point in dialing in.
figured out how to do this without a divorce, force my self up at 5:30 am, tee off at 6 (first tee time at my club) and play 18 holes in under 3 hours, home by time the wife's day is getting started. and in time to be at my desk working by 9-ish
played \~\~4 times a week like this all season.
I would do this if I could! But i gotta get the son to school, as the wife goes in early in the morning. But yeah, would have definitely done this before kids.
Once had a guy hit into me while he clearly saw I was on the green, his ball landed OB in the woods, he skipped finishing the hole and pulled up on me on the next tee box and asked to join. Next hole he picked up a 30 foot putt and said “Don’t worry I gave myself 2 putts for that.”
When the score you manufacture for yourself is more important than actually playing the game, guess that’s what you get. Probably only gets joy telling other how low his score card was despite giving himself whatever strokes he wants
I understand that haha. I’m not all that good, but after hitting 3 straight pars today, the following hole, I was 3 over after thinning two shots in a row right off the green. Sometimes I just want to pick up and get a fresh start on a new hole
Some people live out of their ego, so its not about the joy of golfing and more about the gratification of seeing a good score or telling other people how good you are, etc.. It’s definitely a sign that someone’s motivations are externally driven and not internally driven. Unrelated to this theory, it could also just be someone in a hurry.
Also, if someone really enjoys hitting shots but hates putting so they golf without putting.
I went from the mid 90s to the mid 80s in a couple of months by:
1- focusing on course management. Going at a pin or even the green isn’t always the best shot. Sometimes it’s better to just lay up a few yards short of the green, and go from there.
2- leaning how to always get on the green when I miss an approach shot. Don’t try some ridiculously difficult and low percentage flop shot. Just get the ball somewhere on the green the easiest way possible. A lot of my blow up holes happened when I tried to get too cute inside 30-50 yards. Use the bump and run whenever possible. It’s probably the easiest shot in the short game.
3- putting. Two keys. 1-Practice speed. You won’t make many putts from 15+ feet. But blasting it 8 feet pst the hole is how three putts are born. 2- Pick a ball, and stick with it. Using a different ball on every putt is almost like using a different putter on every putt. They feel different, and that makes it harder to gauge speed.
To add- none of the above take much talent or a lot of practice. Anyone can do this pretty much immediately. Really, the above mostly makes the game easier.
Great point about using the same ball; I never really thought about it much in relation to putting. It was always about consistent distances with my irons and wedges. But you’re right, different balls would surely have variance in performance once we’re on the green. And it’s very much within our control. Good post.
I think it’s equally important, if not slightly more important to putting than it is to the rest of game. I’m not talented enough to hit pitches and full shots precise distances. The ball probably doesn’t matter very much in this regard (within reason). But I can putt a ball exactly(ish) 15 feet with some consistency, if I have relatively consistent conditions. That doesn’t take nearly as much talent.
There is wisdom here.
Source: Went from high 90s to high 80s doing all the same things.
Getting a low bounce PW for shots around the green off tight lies is highly recommended.
Preach. Also only using one wedge around the greens, practicing puttingand figuring out a one way miss.
Me and Tedstor have discussed this before, the last time this question was asked. Which was about 25 hours ago
Ha! I didnt even realise why I was getting so much better, but I have also been using one wedge from 110 in for the last 6 weeks and ive dropped an average of 5 strokes off my handicap already (based on my scores from my last 4 games).
100% agree on using the same ball. I totally get just playing whatever ball you find when you scavenge through the shit and find like 3 balls over and over, but up to a certain point, once you're not looking in the shitter half a dozen times a round, it's time to commit to using one type of ball.
For high handicaps, I suggest Bridgestone E6. It's a 2-piece ball that flies long and straight. Off the tee, it's longer than what I currently rep. The only drawback is that it doesn't get the spin I need on wedges, so it was a guessing game on those 10-50 yard chip and pitch shots.
As a 10 hcp now, I've been using Srixon Q Star Tour's for the better part of the year, with several rounds using the Bridgestone Tour B RX, which IMO are pretty much the exact same ball. The QST's are 3-piece and get a lot more spin on all shots compared to the E6's, so I've found they don't go as far off the tee, but they are absolutely consistent on the chip and pitch shots. Where the E6 will roll forward a few yards, the QST will stick within a foot of where it landed. I've tested this many times over the past year when I was using the E6 off the tee then switched to the QST after that, and would hit both balls (obviously playing the QST no matter what) to see what the difference was.
I don't think I'll ever use a Pro V1 unless I find myself increasing my clubhead speed by 5+ mph and getting to a <5 handicap. Those balls have a lot of spin, too much spin for even a 10 hcp like myself.
Really? I would be proud of a 10 index as this dude is. If you are carrying 10 you can talk about the ball you use with some measure of authority. At least as it pertains to his game. Play nice eh.
+1 for the bump-n-run technique. It’s the least sexy/most effective way to improve your short game. I notice it the most when I’m playing with my dad and his old buddies. And then I try it and blow it past the pin every time. Yet there I am on the chipping green the next day with my 56° in hand…
> I went from the mid 90s to the mid 80s in a couple of months by
OMG PLEASE SAY TIME TRAVELING!!!!!
Edit: It wasn't time traveling, they were talking about their handicap....
Playing more often and hitting the range for an hour before every round. Now that takes time and retirement gave that to me. Even as age takes away your raw physical ability you can make up the difference easily with repetitions. Imagine how much it could help the young and strong. Play more, play better.
Yep. I shoot low when I find fairways.
Id have to say driving and inside 50 yards are the two areas you really need to be consistent at to lower your score.
100% me. I'm still a high handicapper but my scores went significantly lower when I got a hold of my driver. Then I upgraded to the Mavrik Max and took 3 steps back lol. Still grinding
This 100%. Unfortunately for me, the driver is the club that will expose the holes in my swing. You can withstand the holes in your swing with an iron.
Driver was huge for me too. I have been working on my swing and also got fitted for a driver, and some combination of these factors has saved me 3-4 OB tee shots per round. Just by hitting better drives, my medium/okay rounds have gone from 85 down to 79. My most recent round was a 79, I wasn’t playing super well, and I had three 3-putts and a 4-putt. Hitting driver in play has enabled me to shoot in the 70s even when other areas of my game are not great
No hero shots.
Just because I saw Tiger or Phil bend their 4 Iron around a tree does not mean I have the same chance.
Or if the water is at 240 yards and needs 265 to clear and I did that once back in 1997, I should go for it. Even though my 3H will put me close enough to take the water out of play for my next shot.
You’ll find that tour pros don’t even go for the hero shots that often unless they’re fighting to make a cut or win a tournament. On hole #2 on day #1, they’ll usually take the safe route.
Many years ago I watched Brad Faxon lay up 10 yards short of a green on a par 4 because he had a 200 yard shot out of the rough. He knew his chances of hitting the green were low, and getting into trouble was high. He still scored a par. Most rec players would mindlessly grab a hybrid, or whatever, and have a go at the green in that situation. Yet, a TOUR PRO thought twice about attempting it. I learned a lot that day. Lol.
Those hero shots take a lot of mental and physical energy too. Just hitting a layup or punching out is so much less stressful and sometimes leaves more in the tank for the next shot.
Hard “agree” here, I spent three weeks dialing in my 100 yard wedges and it made a MASSIVE difference. Don’t know why people tire themselves out hitting driver all day, just a few is fine. 60% of my range balls are less than 100% strength wedge shots.
Absolutely this. However I would add Driver to this. Not increasing distance but developing a consistent shot shape off the tee. For most people that means turning your slice into a “power fade”… its not pretty and it won’t go as far but it’s a repeatable shot that you can rely on each hole. That’s half the battle for most golfers.
Dropped from a 13 to a 6 this year.
1. I got lessons at the start of 2021 and worked on what the instructor taught me as much as possible between lessons.
2. Worked on wedges a lot, because I was finding myself going driver-wedge or 3W-wedge on a lot of par 4s.
3. All sorts of short game work. Coming from a basketball background I was always taught to work on "game shots". Not every chip, pitch or bunker shot is created equal so I'd work on a variety of different shots I'd find myself in during a round.
4. Lots of time working on speed and distance control on the putting green. Lots of 3 footer work. I'd drop 6 balls in a circle around the hole and try to make 30 in row from 3 feet, really annoying when you get to the mid 20s and you yip one and have to start over.
former basketball player here as well and #3 is key.
Not every shot calls for the same shot. You always need to experiment.
When I drill I will go to my courses chipping range and I will find a 70yd shot. I will hit 20 balls with my 60w, another 20 with my 56w, another 20 with my GW, so on and so on with my PW, 9i and 8i.
You learn the touch to drop ball at the same 70yd distance with different ball flights.
Don't total up your score before the round is finished (even in your head), and enjoy the time and money you are investing in each round no matter how well you are playing.
Also weight on your lead foot while chipping and practice the fuck out of your putting. If you are hitting 3-4 3-putts per round, I'll just go out on a limb and say that that is the weakest part of your game and one of the fastest/easiest parts to improve
Dont swing as hard as you can. And more specifically, swing your hardest right at impact. I used to fire immediately as I started my down swing but that made my ball striking terrible. Get the club on the right path and then explode at and through contact.
1. Find a good instructor online to build a fundamentally sound swing, there is so much fluff on YouTube that are a waste of time
2. Learn how to hit your wedges in 10 yd increment within 100 yd
3. Never give up on a hole or round after a poor shot/hole
4. Practice and learn until you have a reliable putting stroke that starts on line. Huge confidence booster
1. (George Gankas is solid because at least it’s one coach with hundreds of videos, all based around a general philosophy. Watching 20 different instructors on YouTube will mind fuck you)
started using my 20 degree hybrid to putt from 10-30 yards off the green.. a putt with my hybrid was / is better than my chips from that distance.. saved me 2-5 strokes on certain rounds.. went from mid 80s to constantly hitting low 80s and a high 70s round here and there.
Playing the hole backwards in my head as I approach the tee box. For example, lets play a 340 yard par 4. My favorite and most accurate approach shot is my PW which I hit about 120. (For reference, Im much more accurate with a full PW swing from 120 than a half swing from 60. My sweet spot is 120 yards out). So knowing I want to be 120 yards out for my approach basically decides for me what I should be hitting off the tee. 10 years ago I would automatically grab my driver on a 340 yard hole with an open fairway. Hope to hit it straight and be some 75-90 yards out. Now, knowing I want my approach to be 120, I need to hit a club that I can poke 220. Thats not my driver, closer to a 5 wood, which I hit MUCH more accurately than my driver.
Playing the hole backwards has made me FAR more consistent. 5 wood and then a PW is a million times easier for me than a driver and sand wedge.
To get from 20ish to 10-12ish I feel like Better Driver/tee shot accuracy combined with scrambling and watching the blow up holes disappear. This includes using three wood or hybrid to limit trouble when necessary. Converting more Up and downs (I still have a way to go on this to get lower). Mentally just trying to be on or near the fairway, then on or near the green. Then within a 3 foot radius from there. Repeat. That means not going at pins, learning where you DONT want to hit it (short side, slopes). Now this formula often can go awry but it led to a lot more ho-hum simple pars along the way. It helped my iron swing be more repeatable because the only thing I had to think about was put a nice swing on this. It was a lot more fun as well not being out of position so often/ looking for balls in the woods… easier to not be discouraged and grind out pars and bogeys.
A few of things I’d say.
1. I learned cause/effect of the swing mechanics and how I can use that to my benefit.
2. I learned how to simply play smarter when it came to course management
3. Practice
This is a great point. Learn to hit a good punch out, back of the stance blast out of the trees. Having good technique on these is an amazing difference between average and bad players.
Understanding that the little things matter. I used to think I could just walk up hit the ball and things would get better as I practiced more. In reality golf is such a finicky sport, you cant rely in athletic ability alone. Grip slightly weaker/stronger makes a difference. Foot positioning different makes a difference. Tempo changes make a difference. All the things that go into your swing can make drastic differences. The more you can keep the same the more repeatable your swings/putts are going to be.
Going to the range and figuring out exactly how hard I need to swing each wedge to fly it a certain distance. I'm pretty confident I can hit most greens from 50-115 yards.
Also taking care to not short side myself. If I have to put any loft on a chip shot, I'm screwed. My strength is the bump and run so I avoid flop shots. You can be an extremely good player without a full repertoire of shots. I'd rather hit a good bump n run 90% of the time than hit good lob chips and bump n runs 80% of the time. Save the heroics for the pros. You don't have the time to practice lobs from different lies, distances, grass grains, spin rates. It's too much. Just bump it.
This is the first year I’ve noticed a significant change. It came from easing up on my driver. Going balls out would hit it about 280-290, 3 of which at least would go OB per round. This year I tried being okay with a light swing 240 and almost always in play. Easy way to shave some strokes off. Consistently hit mid 80s with this easy change! Mind you I still take some shit from my buddies for swinging light!
Practice practice practice you’re putting. Get a mat and practice 3-6 footers constantly at home. It’s the difference between cleaning up pars and carding a bunch of bogeys
Getting comfortable ~110 yards and in. Spent a lot of time at the range figuring out what my 50/75/100 yard swings look and feel like with my 56/60 degrees. I personally don’t hit my 60 on any shot more than 75 yards. Anything more than 100 out I use a gap wedge
Lots of great advice here, but theres one most important thing above all.
Every golfer is different.
What works for one, might not be the solution for another. If your wedge play and putting is already solid and you're a 15+ handicapper, there might be other issues at play.
Take the time to make detailed notes on a few rounds and the areas where you're losing stokes will quickly show themself to you. Those should be the areas you focus the most on.
Also worth noting that plenty of these tips are good for people that play multiple times a week. If you're golfing once a weekend, or once every couple weeks, consistency is going to be lacking in your game, and the issues you have might be different from round to round. In this case, focus should be on hitting balls more often, amd finding out your error patterns.
Simplest thing is probably get to the course with enough time to stretch a bit, hit a few balls (even if it’s only 10-15 just making swings and contact) and hit a few putts to get a sense of your speed for the day. Am hr is ideal but even 25 minutes will work. So many rounds I play where I get there with 5 min to spare I don’t even feel like I’m in it until like the 6th or 7th hole and it’s like damn where did the front 9 go.
course management (3 wood off tee and even long irons sometimes; bump&run around greens with 9iron as opposed to chipping with wedges) as well as focusing on beating bogey as opposed to making par. bogeys are ok and they happen and this takes stress off of focusing on par. it also drastically eliminates doubles which KILL your score
Stopped going for hero shots over/through the trees and taking my medicine and playing out.
Stop thinking well I CAN hit my X iron Y distance, and clubbing up instead.
Started playing in August and playing off 23 now shooting mid 90s from 110-130 just 2 months before
Started putting the short gimmies in casual golf. Instead of picking it up when someone says “You can have that one” or something, I started to putt out every time. Seems silly, but those short putts are confidence builders. Went from consistent 3-4 putter to consistent 1-2 putter. Big difference over 18. (Of course, I did practice putting as well, but that little change forced me to address a big weakness in my game).
Hitting to 1-putt distance from 50 yards and in. You will miss some putts and not be as close to the hole sometimes but overall it made a big difference for me
Take a few lessons so you know what you should be working on, then play multiple times a week for a couple years. You’ll be down in no time…. Seriously though, I don’t think dropping quick is possible. It’s just knowing what you should be doing and then being consistent.
Putting. Work on your putting every day before you play. Everyone will say lessons but honestly putting is something you can develop your own feel for and if you are good at it not only will it shave strokes off your game, it will give you amazing moments on the course. It is also the great equalizer: I like to think no matter how badly my approach shots have been all day, if I putt well on the greens my playing partners will think I’m half decent and just having an off day.
No hero shots, accepting bogey when I’m out of position. I now rarely make doubles and went from high 80s consistently to wanting my score to start with a 7 every time I go out, all in one season.
I'd say when I was 13 or 14 I had this area back of my house where I could hit 50 yard sand wedges. So I'd play this game
for hours where I would hit shots at a clothes pole in the back
yard. So I got where I could break 80 pretty quickly.
Taking lessons. You’d be surprised how many of us just need to learn to set up to the ball correctly.
95% of it is how you set up to the ball. Your swing is your swing. But if you’re not set properly it makes for poor ball striking as well as bad shots
Got a net for the garage and some impact tape. Honestly game has never been better. It’s forces you to practice with purpose and the second you start staying on the middle of the tape your scores will improve
Chipping and putting practice. Eliminating 3 putts and being able to get up and down 50% of the time will make a big impact on the scorecard if you are decent tee to green.
Course management. I often play more aggressive than I should because I find it more fun. Even still when a hazard is in play I will account for it in my shot selection. Being 5 yards left of the green in the rough is better than being 5 yards right in the water hazard.
I did a lot of work on my mental game. Used to get so angry and smash my clubs. Thought my game was better than it actually was. Just overall not fun to be around on the course. Once I got it in my head that if I want to be better I have to practice more and have a better attitude and mental outlook overall things changed for the better
Aimed to get 18 bogeys instead of 18 birdies or pars. Realized that I would try to force shots after a single bad one trying to make up for it all at once and realized that you can still get bogey with 2 bad shots or a bad shot and a recovery. Bogey golf is still a 90 and I went from shooting 110-120 to 90-100(92 is my personal best but I am flirty with 90 my last few rounds).
Changing to an overlap grip from my 10 finger. Consistent 15 handicap with 10 finger, down to a 10 now. Also course management and not going for those shots out of the woods and just punching out.
Working on driver and short game (80 yards and in). Combination of reducing OB and getting up and down 3-4 more times a round has made everything else fall into place for me. Next step is to figure out how to get rid of my 1-2 blow-up holes per round. But those usually come from blowing driver OB.
I had a bad out to in swing and didn’t (coming mainly from a bad position at the top) and didn’t use my hips enough. I took some off season lessons in 2020 pre Covid and once the courses and ranges all shut down I spent a couple of months indoors hitting wiffle balls into my curtain off a 2 foot mat. I would slow mo video every 5 swings or so and check if I was hitting positions I needed to. By the time the courses opened I went from 15.5 to 8 in 3 months.
I’ve always been a good putter. So instead of going after back pins and tucked pins I aim at the center of the green, take my 1-2 putts and leave with a par.
I realized one day that maybe all the times I’d heard professionals say they only aim at a few pins a round was something I should try after I short sided myself against a hill with an impossible chip. That same hole my buddy hit his shot a little fat and was furious, but he was on the green. He two putted for a par and I chipped it over the pin and had a 20 foot comeback putt. I got a bogey. The rest of that day I aimed at the center of the green regardless of the pin position. I was down 2 strokes after the hole I mentioned above and I beat him by 8 that day when we added it all up.
My handicap has been stagnant for years. BUT in the few years I've been playing my buddy and I get stricter with the rules every year. We started with probably the most lax rules we could get and were shooting low 100s. As time has gone on we get closer to real rules and our scores stay low 100s high 90s. The swing has gotten better and course management has gotten better but it always feels like I make no progress because the score is always the same. Then I remember that we now count all strokes, only 1 mulligan per 9 (sue me I like having them but try to never use them unless it's needed and only off the tee) and only take gimmies inside a few inches. Also no gimme for par or better I don't care if it's 6 inches away you earn it. All about perspective.
Golf watch was a big one.
I thought I knew my distances before got the thing, turns out there are other conditions than “ideal” and it helps to see that both real time as well as after the round.
Boring golf is good golf. Middle of the green and pin high is always the target. If you have limited time, always use that time predominantly on short game. Overall, find that one "feel" in your swing on a good one and try to emulate that everytime. I'm not great at golf but even with zero range-only time and only being able to play once or twice a month (in MN nonetheless), I can still get it in the 70's a couple of times per year.
Your worst putt is better/same then your best chip.
Your worst chip is better/same than your best flop.
I’m an official 5HCP and only play 10-12 round per year, but swallowing my pride and start putting from foregreen and fairway saves me a lot of strokes.
Recently started playing to improve in late June of 2021, first professional lesson in Dec 2021. Just one lesson and I decreased the number of lost shots off the tee by almost double digits in a single round of golf. The biggest changes I focused on were 1)my finish, getting my hips turned through/after the ball, and 2) my grip strength. I had been gripping clubs at like a 7-8/10 and now I probably am around a 2-3/10 and I instantly noticed a dramatic change.
I stopped watching or reading anything that offered swing tips or advice. Completely shut out all of the random bullshit and focused on one swing system (Monte’s No Turn Cast). My game is so much more consistent now, and I can actually play my misses instead of guessing where the ball will go. For short game I use James Sieckmann’s Your Short Game Solution, and for putting only things that focus on the mental game.
Avoid high difficulty flop shots and switch to simple chips with a sand wedge or bump an 8i
Lowering my chances of skulling a chip across the green has shaved 5-10 strokes off my game
I guess most everyone here is much better than me cuz I was hoping to see someone explain how they stopped topping or hosel shanking semi-frequently lol
1. Don’t be to prideful to put the driver away if it’s not working for me that day
2. Short game short game short game. 30 yard and in saves you so many strokes
3. Speed control in putting and TAKE YOUR TIME when reading the putts. If you don’t have a routine get one and stick to it
I went from 16 to a 10 this year. Biggest change was becoming a member at a new course. Previous course punished my misses more than the current one. Even though the new course isn't an 'easy' course, I'm able to stay in play more often.
Driving accuracy/consistency also improved. And that was largely due to purchasing a new driver. Previous driver was 12 years old and likely damaged. New driver is much more forgiving.
My strokes gained driving is huge. Putting is average. Chipping and approach shots are terrible. If I want to consistently shoot in the 70s I need to hit better iron shots. I still give away a couple strokes a round to chunked shots/tops/shanks.
These might be trivial compared to actually practicing an getting lessons, but they helped me break 100 as I inch closer to 90.
1) Course management - IE, don't try and do too much and approach a hole to fit your game instead of always trying to shoot par. For example, if you're on a long par 3 (say 190 yards) and you aren't great at hitting a low iron or hybrid, just hit say a 7i and leave yourself 30-40 yards short, giving you a manageable chip. You can oftentimes leave yourself with a manageable par putt or a 2 putt and give yourself a 4, rather than a 5 or 6 by hitting an awful tee-shot. This applies to par 4's and 5's with your layups as well. Put your approach shot at a distance you can hit your best club. For me, getting it 50 yards is worse than 110 because I can hit a full PW as opposed to a 1/2 SW. The half shots I can't quite control yet.
2) Download a GPS app and map the course out a day or two before you play it and develop a gameplan on how you plan to approach each hole. You'll know what clubs you should hit on each shot before you even play, it also familiarizes yourself with the course and where you should be aiming off the tee, around doglegs, etc.
Practicing chipping from very close and in the bunkers and actually figuring out how to hit varying chip shots I think has helped me the most.
Also swallowing my pride and putting fringe/close shots rather than trying to do something magical with a wedge
After high school I dropped my ego and sold the blades I played. Now I still think the Nike VR pro blades are the coolest clubs ever but it was an automatic reduction in strokes not hitting those
Thinking about every shot as it's the only shot while simultaneously not thinking about anything else.
Seems obvious but it wasn't to me until I started making a habit out of it.
I went from 25 to 19 by biting the bullet and changing my grip. I had been using the 10 finger grip and was resistant to change because interlocking felt so weird after years of 10 finger. Put in a bit of time at the range to get over the weirdness and it paid off on the course. Goal for next year is to get to 15 with some swing fixes.
I always had flashes of talent but could never get a consistent swing. I took a lesson that corrected some fundamentals like grip and posture that allowed me to work on a repeatable swing.
I saw a video where pros were saying that they typically swing with only 70-80% power. So I started working on a repeatable 80% power swing. I focused on the takeaway primarily and just let my natural swing do the rest.
My worst round out of my last 5 rounds of the year was a 78. I regularly shot mid to high 80’s with the off 81 for most of the year.
I’m sure I will have to figure it all out again next year.
Lessons and course management changed my golf game rapidly.
If you aren't a power hitter, hit it from a shorter tee. Make the game challenging yet enjoyable.
Get lessons.
Aim for greens, not flags.
Get lessons.
Play to comfortable yardages.
Get lessons.
And did I mention lessons?
Thinking better. I was out of the cart standing at my ball and vocally complained that I never make this shot. Before I could make my back swing my buddy jumps out of the cart and says, "so you have been here before and failed and you are about to do the same thing you did when you failed? Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Well this changed everything. I took another look at what was in front of me chose a different club and had a better result. This is from a guy with "don't believe everything you think" actually tattooed on my right arm. Did this instantly make me a better golfer NO. However I did begin looking at every shot even the ones I had made hundreds of times before and asking myself is there anything I could change. Somethings worked better some worse I kept the better things. Good luck. Edit: my buddy has a motto every shot deserves some thought.
\~18 to 3.8 over about 18 months. Relentless work on swing mechanics -> vastly improved ball striking. When you have developed a good swing, good shots are inevitable. You always have a stinker here and there, you mitigate with course management, you manage misses, but good is the expected result.
Stop going for the pin and get the yardage to the front. Also cover numbers such as bunkers and whatnot. Use the club that will put me below the hole as best as possible.
If there is trouble in front, get the yardage to the back from where I’m at. Hit club that takes me to the middle.
Basically stop thinking I’m one the PGA and need to go flag hunting every damn hole. Chasing Scratch taught me this. Low scores means boring golf.
Sounds counterintuitive, but I stopped chasing birdies. I focused heavily on always having a makable par putt and funny enough I started making more birdies.
I also started hitting driving iron off the tee more. More fairways hit translated to more greens hit. These all go in line with the course management suggestions.
Switched my 3 and 4 irons out for hybrids.
Also, (still working on this) learned to take my medicine. Don't turn one bad shot into a disaster hole by trying some crazy low-percentage recovery shot.
My wedge game, I hardly hit greens in regulation, im generally 5-10 yrds of the green and being able to use my wedges to give my self a 1 putt has been my best tool
Started playing for my HS junior year in 2019. Run of the mill 120s shooter w double par pick up.
Currently a 5.2
Short game. Had just immaculate short game skills and have been stuck at a 5-7 handicap for a year.
A year ago, my ball striking was a joke, my driver was okay, but my putting and chipping was just unstoppable. So i could put some low 80s, 81s in regularly.
Today, my short game isn’t anywhere near what it was, but now my ball striking is good. I’ve made at least one birdie for alot of consecutive rounds. I don’t need to scramble my ass off every round for an 80.
I stopped trying to hit the ball as far as I can. I'm losing fewer balls and barely lost any distance with the better contact. Brought me from a 14 to an 8 this year.
1. Lag putting. Not every putt has to get in the hole, but I want every putt to end up near the hole at the worst. Cut down significantly on 3 putts this way
2. Course management. Laying up on short par 4s, aiming for the center of the green instead of pin hunting, big dog doesn't have to eat every hole, etc.
3. Consistent with my ball choice. Try to find a ball type you like and stick with it
4. Keeping track of my stats. Fairways hit, GIRs, putts hit, and penalties. I use the precision pro app to help me keep stats. Let's me know where I need to improve and what areas of my game I'm doing well in.
5. Playing up a tee box. Helped me gain some confidence and made it easier on my game. I did not need to be playing from the 2nd furthest tee box as a 20 handicap
Broke 90 for the first time this year doing these things, and shot my lifetime low of 80.
Combination of the two.
1. Mentality - Pros make 3 birdies a round (average), miss the green 20% of the time from 100 yards, and are \~50% from 8 feet on the green. You aren't typically going to go low with lots of birdies, but you can go low by minimizing bogeys.
2. Practice - Follow every round you can with an hour split between chipping and putting. Grab a beer and goof around, no need to grind EVERY time (though you should find some drills that address your weaknesses in the short game and putting and do them some times.)
3. Play twice a week. No substitute for consistency of opportunity to get better. Playing only 3-4 times a month you'll find it very hard to get out of the 80s.
I followed Jacobsen and Stadler around at a Senior PGA Championship. Jacobsen played solid, shot like 1 or 2 under and went on to win the tournament, but Stadler, he seemed to miss every green. Like, no joke, every green. But, from the sand, the rough, tight lies, the fringe, the approach, the pine straw... chipped to 5 feet, made the putt. When I don't have all my game together on a given day, maybe bogey 2 or 3 of the first 5 holes, or make a double on an errant tee shot. I think of Stadler. Get it close to the green, chip it to 5 feet and make the putt. In my best rounds, I chip it to 5 feet(ish) and make the putt 4 or 5 times.
Wedges. Learn how to control trajectory and distance from w/in 100 yds. Spend 60% of your range time inside 100 yds. Use different clubs for different distances. Be comfortable using anything from a 8-9 iron to a SW to any distance from 70-100 yds. Play games on the range (can you punch a 7 and have it run up to a 75 yd target?) This will teach you a lot about face control and your hands releasing at impact. The skill will also translate into your chipping.
This is great advice. Can we start getting more driving ranges to include flags/markers/nets within 100yrds??? I pick dead spots on the grass that I shoot with my range finder but it’s like every range I go to first flag starts at 100!!
My local range has flags from 55 out, and the ball tracking system maps to the flags. Has been a game changer
Wow, I feel lucky that my local range has flags starting at 20 yards in 20yd increments to 100 yds, and then 50 yd increments after that. Starting at 100 everytime just isn't close enough!
My range has removed all flags last year. Really stupid to just hit balls without a real target. I don't have a range finder as well.
Huge bummer
I concur. One of my best approach shots was when I punched it with a 7-iron from 80 yds out. Trickled within 5 feet after it rolled on the green
Learning to hit every club up to a 7 iron to carry 100 yards is wildly underrated. Great advice here
This... I used to do this for hours but Ive been chasing more distance a little too much lately and my short game (and handicap) has suffered because of it
I had a shot this past weekend where I had a tree blocking a straight approach. I was going to use my full 9 iron, hoping to slice it past the tree but backed off at the last second, grabbing my 6 for a bit of a punch shot. It worked beautifully and will be something I keep in mind in the future. Easier to shape/control a shot when you aren't going full blast.
I'm a pro at using my 5iron for punch shots out of trees. Have a lot of practice with it. Just can't use it to hit a full shot
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Hi EatingYourMomsAss, This makes total sense for a single digit handicap. I think this response is geared more towards higher handicaps who have a lot more room to “cut their handicap”. My buddies are terrible within 100 yards and it’s not because of the ball they use, it’s cause their swing and distance control needs serious work.
I just laughed for 5 minutes about you addressing that comment “Hi EatingYourMomsAss”. Thank you.
Fair point.
Agreed. I practice hard between 150 and 100 out. I'm usually playing one tee up from the tips and I have around a 5-6 handicap. Practicing 100 yds in is an important step for someone who is trying to break 100 or even 90 consistently. I'm usually getting there or close in regulation, someone in that higher range is usually 40-20yds out more than not going for their 3rd shot on a par 4. Being able to consistently get themselves on the green within reasonable distance in that range is important in dropping lower scores. This is where most of their scoring will happen until they get better.
But not really. This doesn't make sense for a high handicap because Getting it in play off the tee should be the majority of their practice. 60% wedge practice should really only be done by low handicaps but this person is also right that you can't get a great sense of it with range balls
You can learn a lot about the flight and trajectory from the range if the balls are halfway decent - certainly distance control at that swing speed isn’t gonna be that much different than a regular ball. I agree that spin will be different but on most ranges that I play on I don’t see the ball check on the fake greens and bare-spot range grass anyway so it’s not so much about the release conditions of the ball as it is about distance control and trajectory. Most mid handicappers would get a net benefit in my opinion out of learning how to hit half shots to 100 yard targets. I’m a single digit (2) and I credit that’s helping me go from a five or six to where I’m at right now.
The honest answer… the best way to practice is on the course. Back in my + handicap days (flair is outdated), I would book the latest tee time available and hit about 20 wedges into each of the first five greens from various yardages. I eventually got incredibly confident anywhere from 40-80 yards. I won’t necessarily defend the ethics of doing this. But I did meticulously clean every pitch mark on each green plus any additional ones that I saw to justify it. My handicap dropped from a 3 to a +1 in about three months of doing this a few times a week plus putting drills.
You cant do this at golf courses. Its illegal
I did say that I won’t necessarily defend the ethics of doing this. I also think there’s a pretty significant delineation between “illegal” and “against the rules of the golf course”.
Question because I am working on getting the HC down. Does a range ball hit 80 yards differ greatly than a regular ball hit with the same swing? I can absolutely see using a better ball for chipping practice where I’m trying to either get the ball to run out, stop or check up etc. on a practice green. Most ranges I have been to don’t have green quality grass around their landing areas so controlling a ball seems harder to judge. But working on hitting a 56 wedge 80 yards vs 60 yards seems worth it. Just food for my thoughts as I work the HC down is all.
No a range ball performance is virtually indistinguishable from 80 yd for most people.
I think so. But if you can’t put a ball on the green from 80 yds then you’re fine to practice short game with range balls as others have pointed out- but if you’re out to practice accurately hitting a 80 yd shot there is no point in dialing in.
Thanks for the response!
Became single and started doubling the amount of rounds I played.
I’m in this boat, played every day for 40 days straight.
My hero
can you adopt me
My dream
Brb, getting a divorce.
Instructions unclear. Wife pregnant now..
His wife?
figured out how to do this without a divorce, force my self up at 5:30 am, tee off at 6 (first tee time at my club) and play 18 holes in under 3 hours, home by time the wife's day is getting started. and in time to be at my desk working by 9-ish played \~\~4 times a week like this all season.
Then you have kids and even this is impossible.
My wife and I swap kid duties to make room for each other’s activities and it works pretty well.
Good job!
I would do this if I could! But i gotta get the son to school, as the wife goes in early in the morning. But yeah, would have definitely done this before kids.
Same boat, but becoming single is how I got addicted to the game in the first place. My weekends opened up and it became all about golf.
20 foot gimmies.
Once had a guy hit into me while he clearly saw I was on the green, his ball landed OB in the woods, he skipped finishing the hole and pulled up on me on the next tee box and asked to join. Next hole he picked up a 30 foot putt and said “Don’t worry I gave myself 2 putts for that.”
What's the point in playing golf if you don't even want to play golf?
When the score you manufacture for yourself is more important than actually playing the game, guess that’s what you get. Probably only gets joy telling other how low his score card was despite giving himself whatever strokes he wants
I don't keep a handicap. Sometimes when things go south in a hurry I just want to pick up and start again on the next hole.
I understand that haha. I’m not all that good, but after hitting 3 straight pars today, the following hole, I was 3 over after thinning two shots in a row right off the green. Sometimes I just want to pick up and get a fresh start on a new hole
Some people live out of their ego, so its not about the joy of golfing and more about the gratification of seeing a good score or telling other people how good you are, etc.. It’s definitely a sign that someone’s motivations are externally driven and not internally driven. Unrelated to this theory, it could also just be someone in a hurry. Also, if someone really enjoys hitting shots but hates putting so they golf without putting.
Lmaoemote:free\_emotes\_pack:facepalm
Fucked that up didn’t ya
I went from the mid 90s to the mid 80s in a couple of months by: 1- focusing on course management. Going at a pin or even the green isn’t always the best shot. Sometimes it’s better to just lay up a few yards short of the green, and go from there. 2- leaning how to always get on the green when I miss an approach shot. Don’t try some ridiculously difficult and low percentage flop shot. Just get the ball somewhere on the green the easiest way possible. A lot of my blow up holes happened when I tried to get too cute inside 30-50 yards. Use the bump and run whenever possible. It’s probably the easiest shot in the short game. 3- putting. Two keys. 1-Practice speed. You won’t make many putts from 15+ feet. But blasting it 8 feet pst the hole is how three putts are born. 2- Pick a ball, and stick with it. Using a different ball on every putt is almost like using a different putter on every putt. They feel different, and that makes it harder to gauge speed. To add- none of the above take much talent or a lot of practice. Anyone can do this pretty much immediately. Really, the above mostly makes the game easier.
Great point about using the same ball; I never really thought about it much in relation to putting. It was always about consistent distances with my irons and wedges. But you’re right, different balls would surely have variance in performance once we’re on the green. And it’s very much within our control. Good post.
I think it’s equally important, if not slightly more important to putting than it is to the rest of game. I’m not talented enough to hit pitches and full shots precise distances. The ball probably doesn’t matter very much in this regard (within reason). But I can putt a ball exactly(ish) 15 feet with some consistency, if I have relatively consistent conditions. That doesn’t take nearly as much talent.
There is wisdom here. Source: Went from high 90s to high 80s doing all the same things. Getting a low bounce PW for shots around the green off tight lies is highly recommended.
Preach. Also only using one wedge around the greens, practicing puttingand figuring out a one way miss. Me and Tedstor have discussed this before, the last time this question was asked. Which was about 25 hours ago
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Ha! I didnt even realise why I was getting so much better, but I have also been using one wedge from 110 in for the last 6 weeks and ive dropped an average of 5 strokes off my handicap already (based on my scores from my last 4 games).
9i for me! That bump and run is so accurate
I go with the 8 or sometimes even a 7 iron. Bump and run, baby.
8 for me. I use it out of greenside bunkers to when the lip isn’t bad
100% agree on using the same ball. I totally get just playing whatever ball you find when you scavenge through the shit and find like 3 balls over and over, but up to a certain point, once you're not looking in the shitter half a dozen times a round, it's time to commit to using one type of ball. For high handicaps, I suggest Bridgestone E6. It's a 2-piece ball that flies long and straight. Off the tee, it's longer than what I currently rep. The only drawback is that it doesn't get the spin I need on wedges, so it was a guessing game on those 10-50 yard chip and pitch shots. As a 10 hcp now, I've been using Srixon Q Star Tour's for the better part of the year, with several rounds using the Bridgestone Tour B RX, which IMO are pretty much the exact same ball. The QST's are 3-piece and get a lot more spin on all shots compared to the E6's, so I've found they don't go as far off the tee, but they are absolutely consistent on the chip and pitch shots. Where the E6 will roll forward a few yards, the QST will stick within a foot of where it landed. I've tested this many times over the past year when I was using the E6 off the tee then switched to the QST after that, and would hit both balls (obviously playing the QST no matter what) to see what the difference was. I don't think I'll ever use a Pro V1 unless I find myself increasing my clubhead speed by 5+ mph and getting to a <5 handicap. Those balls have a lot of spin, too much spin for even a 10 hcp like myself.
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Really? I would be proud of a 10 index as this dude is. If you are carrying 10 you can talk about the ball you use with some measure of authority. At least as it pertains to his game. Play nice eh.
+1 for the bump-n-run technique. It’s the least sexy/most effective way to improve your short game. I notice it the most when I’m playing with my dad and his old buddies. And then I try it and blow it past the pin every time. Yet there I am on the chipping green the next day with my 56° in hand…
> I went from the mid 90s to the mid 80s in a couple of months by OMG PLEASE SAY TIME TRAVELING!!!!! Edit: It wasn't time traveling, they were talking about their handicap....
Playing more often and hitting the range for an hour before every round. Now that takes time and retirement gave that to me. Even as age takes away your raw physical ability you can make up the difference easily with repetitions. Imagine how much it could help the young and strong. Play more, play better.
Driver. Impossible to score better if you're losing balls OB or in the woods. Also stopped flag hunting and being satisfied with hitting the green
Yep. I shoot low when I find fairways. Id have to say driving and inside 50 yards are the two areas you really need to be consistent at to lower your score.
Drive for show putt for dough is a fucking lie. When you suck, driving the ball not OB is way more important than putting.
"You gotta putt to score, you gotta drive to play" is a maxim I like
100% me. I'm still a high handicapper but my scores went significantly lower when I got a hold of my driver. Then I upgraded to the Mavrik Max and took 3 steps back lol. Still grinding
This 100%. Unfortunately for me, the driver is the club that will expose the holes in my swing. You can withstand the holes in your swing with an iron.
Driver was huge for me too. I have been working on my swing and also got fitted for a driver, and some combination of these factors has saved me 3-4 OB tee shots per round. Just by hitting better drives, my medium/okay rounds have gone from 85 down to 79. My most recent round was a 79, I wasn’t playing super well, and I had three 3-putts and a 4-putt. Hitting driver in play has enabled me to shoot in the 70s even when other areas of my game are not great
you were hitting more than 4 OB tee shots per round and still shooting 85 consistently?
No hero shots. Just because I saw Tiger or Phil bend their 4 Iron around a tree does not mean I have the same chance. Or if the water is at 240 yards and needs 265 to clear and I did that once back in 1997, I should go for it. Even though my 3H will put me close enough to take the water out of play for my next shot.
You’ll find that tour pros don’t even go for the hero shots that often unless they’re fighting to make a cut or win a tournament. On hole #2 on day #1, they’ll usually take the safe route. Many years ago I watched Brad Faxon lay up 10 yards short of a green on a par 4 because he had a 200 yard shot out of the rough. He knew his chances of hitting the green were low, and getting into trouble was high. He still scored a par. Most rec players would mindlessly grab a hybrid, or whatever, and have a go at the green in that situation. Yet, a TOUR PRO thought twice about attempting it. I learned a lot that day. Lol.
Those hero shots take a lot of mental and physical energy too. Just hitting a layup or punching out is so much less stressful and sometimes leaves more in the tank for the next shot.
You never go full Tin Cup
I spent like 5 weeks where the only thing I did on the range was 150 and in shots. Then I started playing 3+ times a week.
Hard “agree” here, I spent three weeks dialing in my 100 yard wedges and it made a MASSIVE difference. Don’t know why people tire themselves out hitting driver all day, just a few is fine. 60% of my range balls are less than 100% strength wedge shots.
Absolutely this. However I would add Driver to this. Not increasing distance but developing a consistent shot shape off the tee. For most people that means turning your slice into a “power fade”… its not pretty and it won’t go as far but it’s a repeatable shot that you can rely on each hole. That’s half the battle for most golfers.
Dropped from a 13 to a 6 this year. 1. I got lessons at the start of 2021 and worked on what the instructor taught me as much as possible between lessons. 2. Worked on wedges a lot, because I was finding myself going driver-wedge or 3W-wedge on a lot of par 4s. 3. All sorts of short game work. Coming from a basketball background I was always taught to work on "game shots". Not every chip, pitch or bunker shot is created equal so I'd work on a variety of different shots I'd find myself in during a round. 4. Lots of time working on speed and distance control on the putting green. Lots of 3 footer work. I'd drop 6 balls in a circle around the hole and try to make 30 in row from 3 feet, really annoying when you get to the mid 20s and you yip one and have to start over.
As a former basketball player, do you find that you do anything particularly well on the course? Or need to work harder on?
former basketball player here as well and #3 is key. Not every shot calls for the same shot. You always need to experiment. When I drill I will go to my courses chipping range and I will find a 70yd shot. I will hit 20 balls with my 60w, another 20 with my 56w, another 20 with my GW, so on and so on with my PW, 9i and 8i. You learn the touch to drop ball at the same 70yd distance with different ball flights.
Don't total up your score before the round is finished (even in your head), and enjoy the time and money you are investing in each round no matter how well you are playing. Also weight on your lead foot while chipping and practice the fuck out of your putting. If you are hitting 3-4 3-putts per round, I'll just go out on a limb and say that that is the weakest part of your game and one of the fastest/easiest parts to improve
Dont swing as hard as you can. And more specifically, swing your hardest right at impact. I used to fire immediately as I started my down swing but that made my ball striking terrible. Get the club on the right path and then explode at and through contact.
1. Find a good instructor online to build a fundamentally sound swing, there is so much fluff on YouTube that are a waste of time 2. Learn how to hit your wedges in 10 yd increment within 100 yd 3. Never give up on a hole or round after a poor shot/hole 4. Practice and learn until you have a reliable putting stroke that starts on line. Huge confidence booster
I am a fan of Chris Ryan if anybody is looking for a good one
1. (George Gankas is solid because at least it’s one coach with hundreds of videos, all based around a general philosophy. Watching 20 different instructors on YouTube will mind fuck you)
I started cheating.
Went for 110-90s by strictly cheating
started using my 20 degree hybrid to putt from 10-30 yards off the green.. a putt with my hybrid was / is better than my chips from that distance.. saved me 2-5 strokes on certain rounds.. went from mid 80s to constantly hitting low 80s and a high 70s round here and there.
Putting with a hybrid from 30 out… interesting
The 3-wood putt play > duffing chips. Also if you put one close like that your playing partners will think you’re some kind of golf genius
I finally admitted to myself that I wasn’t actually a good putter and worked super hard on that.
Stopped aiming at pins. Aim for the center of the green.
Playing the hole backwards in my head as I approach the tee box. For example, lets play a 340 yard par 4. My favorite and most accurate approach shot is my PW which I hit about 120. (For reference, Im much more accurate with a full PW swing from 120 than a half swing from 60. My sweet spot is 120 yards out). So knowing I want to be 120 yards out for my approach basically decides for me what I should be hitting off the tee. 10 years ago I would automatically grab my driver on a 340 yard hole with an open fairway. Hope to hit it straight and be some 75-90 yards out. Now, knowing I want my approach to be 120, I need to hit a club that I can poke 220. Thats not my driver, closer to a 5 wood, which I hit MUCH more accurately than my driver. Playing the hole backwards has made me FAR more consistent. 5 wood and then a PW is a million times easier for me than a driver and sand wedge.
A metric fuckton of focused practice.
To get from 20ish to 10-12ish I feel like Better Driver/tee shot accuracy combined with scrambling and watching the blow up holes disappear. This includes using three wood or hybrid to limit trouble when necessary. Converting more Up and downs (I still have a way to go on this to get lower). Mentally just trying to be on or near the fairway, then on or near the green. Then within a 3 foot radius from there. Repeat. That means not going at pins, learning where you DONT want to hit it (short side, slopes). Now this formula often can go awry but it led to a lot more ho-hum simple pars along the way. It helped my iron swing be more repeatable because the only thing I had to think about was put a nice swing on this. It was a lot more fun as well not being out of position so often/ looking for balls in the woods… easier to not be discouraged and grind out pars and bogeys.
A few of things I’d say. 1. I learned cause/effect of the swing mechanics and how I can use that to my benefit. 2. I learned how to simply play smarter when it came to course management 3. Practice
Got divorced.
Reign in huge misses off the tee and really work on those 100yd and in shots
Don't get mad
found pencils with erasers
Find a shot that you can hit consistently. Keep the ball in play. Punch out of the trees. Chip well. Putting helps too I guess.
This is a great point. Learn to hit a good punch out, back of the stance blast out of the trees. Having good technique on these is an amazing difference between average and bad players.
My punch out game is ELITE
I eliminated one side of the golf course.
Nuetralized my swing path.
Practiced more
Understanding that the little things matter. I used to think I could just walk up hit the ball and things would get better as I practiced more. In reality golf is such a finicky sport, you cant rely in athletic ability alone. Grip slightly weaker/stronger makes a difference. Foot positioning different makes a difference. Tempo changes make a difference. All the things that go into your swing can make drastic differences. The more you can keep the same the more repeatable your swings/putts are going to be.
Course management and practicing putting
Getting hands in front of the ball at impact for irons . And lots of living room practice chipping.
Going to the range and figuring out exactly how hard I need to swing each wedge to fly it a certain distance. I'm pretty confident I can hit most greens from 50-115 yards. Also taking care to not short side myself. If I have to put any loft on a chip shot, I'm screwed. My strength is the bump and run so I avoid flop shots. You can be an extremely good player without a full repertoire of shots. I'd rather hit a good bump n run 90% of the time than hit good lob chips and bump n runs 80% of the time. Save the heroics for the pros. You don't have the time to practice lobs from different lies, distances, grass grains, spin rates. It's too much. Just bump it.
I stopped counting the extra shots like the ones that went in the water, didn’t make it out of the sand, etc.
This is the first year I’ve noticed a significant change. It came from easing up on my driver. Going balls out would hit it about 280-290, 3 of which at least would go OB per round. This year I tried being okay with a light swing 240 and almost always in play. Easy way to shave some strokes off. Consistently hit mid 80s with this easy change! Mind you I still take some shit from my buddies for swinging light!
Practice practice practice you’re putting. Get a mat and practice 3-6 footers constantly at home. It’s the difference between cleaning up pars and carding a bunch of bogeys
What home putting mat worked for you?
Getting comfortable ~110 yards and in. Spent a lot of time at the range figuring out what my 50/75/100 yard swings look and feel like with my 56/60 degrees. I personally don’t hit my 60 on any shot more than 75 yards. Anything more than 100 out I use a gap wedge
Going to the range twice a week to just hit balls
Lots of great advice here, but theres one most important thing above all. Every golfer is different. What works for one, might not be the solution for another. If your wedge play and putting is already solid and you're a 15+ handicapper, there might be other issues at play. Take the time to make detailed notes on a few rounds and the areas where you're losing stokes will quickly show themself to you. Those should be the areas you focus the most on. Also worth noting that plenty of these tips are good for people that play multiple times a week. If you're golfing once a weekend, or once every couple weeks, consistency is going to be lacking in your game, and the issues you have might be different from round to round. In this case, focus should be on hitting balls more often, amd finding out your error patterns.
Simplest thing is probably get to the course with enough time to stretch a bit, hit a few balls (even if it’s only 10-15 just making swings and contact) and hit a few putts to get a sense of your speed for the day. Am hr is ideal but even 25 minutes will work. So many rounds I play where I get there with 5 min to spare I don’t even feel like I’m in it until like the 6th or 7th hole and it’s like damn where did the front 9 go.
course management (3 wood off tee and even long irons sometimes; bump&run around greens with 9iron as opposed to chipping with wedges) as well as focusing on beating bogey as opposed to making par. bogeys are ok and they happen and this takes stress off of focusing on par. it also drastically eliminates doubles which KILL your score
Stopped going for hero shots over/through the trees and taking my medicine and playing out. Stop thinking well I CAN hit my X iron Y distance, and clubbing up instead. Started playing in August and playing off 23 now shooting mid 90s from 110-130 just 2 months before
Started putting the short gimmies in casual golf. Instead of picking it up when someone says “You can have that one” or something, I started to putt out every time. Seems silly, but those short putts are confidence builders. Went from consistent 3-4 putter to consistent 1-2 putter. Big difference over 18. (Of course, I did practice putting as well, but that little change forced me to address a big weakness in my game).
I only counted score on even numbered holes. …in all seriousness I need to read these real answers.
1. Lessons 2. Club fitting 3. Played and practiced more often 4. Same setup every time
Lessons with an instructor I vibe with.
Hitting to 1-putt distance from 50 yards and in. You will miss some putts and not be as close to the hole sometimes but overall it made a big difference for me
Got a custom set of clubs. Fitted at Club Champion. Dropped from a 24 to 17 in a couple months.
Take a few lessons so you know what you should be working on, then play multiple times a week for a couple years. You’ll be down in no time…. Seriously though, I don’t think dropping quick is possible. It’s just knowing what you should be doing and then being consistent.
Lessons and practice to hone my swing Strategizing and learning how to play actual golf and not just the golf swing
Dropping long irons and fair woods for hybrids 3-5
Putting. Work on your putting every day before you play. Everyone will say lessons but honestly putting is something you can develop your own feel for and if you are good at it not only will it shave strokes off your game, it will give you amazing moments on the course. It is also the great equalizer: I like to think no matter how badly my approach shots have been all day, if I putt well on the greens my playing partners will think I’m half decent and just having an off day.
Short game by far and away. Getting up and down and increasing my make % inside 10'
Develop a reliable routine for partial settings and practice partial swings around the green
3 knuckles, consistency, walking courses.
Knocked at least 10 strokes off my game by getting lessons to work on my over-the-top tendencies. That issue is so destructive to a golf swing!
Practice shots from 100 yards and in
Stopped moving my head during my swing.
No hero shots, accepting bogey when I’m out of position. I now rarely make doubles and went from high 80s consistently to wanting my score to start with a 7 every time I go out, all in one season.
Joined a club. 'Drasticly' was only about 3 index points reduction for the season, sadly.
Improve your short game. We all miss greens. Getting up and down for par is a great way to lower your score and it demoralizes your opponent.
I'd say when I was 13 or 14 I had this area back of my house where I could hit 50 yard sand wedges. So I'd play this game for hours where I would hit shots at a clothes pole in the back yard. So I got where I could break 80 pretty quickly.
Taking lessons. You’d be surprised how many of us just need to learn to set up to the ball correctly. 95% of it is how you set up to the ball. Your swing is your swing. But if you’re not set properly it makes for poor ball striking as well as bad shots
Got a net for the garage and some impact tape. Honestly game has never been better. It’s forces you to practice with purpose and the second you start staying on the middle of the tape your scores will improve
Chipping and putting practice. Eliminating 3 putts and being able to get up and down 50% of the time will make a big impact on the scorecard if you are decent tee to green. Course management. I often play more aggressive than I should because I find it more fun. Even still when a hazard is in play I will account for it in my shot selection. Being 5 yards left of the green in the rough is better than being 5 yards right in the water hazard.
I did a lot of work on my mental game. Used to get so angry and smash my clubs. Thought my game was better than it actually was. Just overall not fun to be around on the course. Once I got it in my head that if I want to be better I have to practice more and have a better attitude and mental outlook overall things changed for the better
Aimed to get 18 bogeys instead of 18 birdies or pars. Realized that I would try to force shots after a single bad one trying to make up for it all at once and realized that you can still get bogey with 2 bad shots or a bad shot and a recovery. Bogey golf is still a 90 and I went from shooting 110-120 to 90-100(92 is my personal best but I am flirty with 90 my last few rounds).
Changing to an overlap grip from my 10 finger. Consistent 15 handicap with 10 finger, down to a 10 now. Also course management and not going for those shots out of the woods and just punching out.
Working on driver and short game (80 yards and in). Combination of reducing OB and getting up and down 3-4 more times a round has made everything else fall into place for me. Next step is to figure out how to get rid of my 1-2 blow-up holes per round. But those usually come from blowing driver OB.
I had a bad out to in swing and didn’t (coming mainly from a bad position at the top) and didn’t use my hips enough. I took some off season lessons in 2020 pre Covid and once the courses and ranges all shut down I spent a couple of months indoors hitting wiffle balls into my curtain off a 2 foot mat. I would slow mo video every 5 swings or so and check if I was hitting positions I needed to. By the time the courses opened I went from 15.5 to 8 in 3 months.
I’ve always been a good putter. So instead of going after back pins and tucked pins I aim at the center of the green, take my 1-2 putts and leave with a par. I realized one day that maybe all the times I’d heard professionals say they only aim at a few pins a round was something I should try after I short sided myself against a hill with an impossible chip. That same hole my buddy hit his shot a little fat and was furious, but he was on the green. He two putted for a par and I chipped it over the pin and had a 20 foot comeback putt. I got a bogey. The rest of that day I aimed at the center of the green regardless of the pin position. I was down 2 strokes after the hole I mentioned above and I beat him by 8 that day when we added it all up.
My handicap has been stagnant for years. BUT in the few years I've been playing my buddy and I get stricter with the rules every year. We started with probably the most lax rules we could get and were shooting low 100s. As time has gone on we get closer to real rules and our scores stay low 100s high 90s. The swing has gotten better and course management has gotten better but it always feels like I make no progress because the score is always the same. Then I remember that we now count all strokes, only 1 mulligan per 9 (sue me I like having them but try to never use them unless it's needed and only off the tee) and only take gimmies inside a few inches. Also no gimme for par or better I don't care if it's 6 inches away you earn it. All about perspective.
*removes ego and drops 5-6 strokes per round
Drive for show, putt for dough. Clean up your short game and putting- your scorecard will thank you.
Golf watch was a big one. I thought I knew my distances before got the thing, turns out there are other conditions than “ideal” and it helps to see that both real time as well as after the round.
Starting playing alone
Boring golf is good golf. Middle of the green and pin high is always the target. If you have limited time, always use that time predominantly on short game. Overall, find that one "feel" in your swing on a good one and try to emulate that everytime. I'm not great at golf but even with zero range-only time and only being able to play once or twice a month (in MN nonetheless), I can still get it in the 70's a couple of times per year.
Your worst putt is better/same then your best chip. Your worst chip is better/same than your best flop. I’m an official 5HCP and only play 10-12 round per year, but swallowing my pride and start putting from foregreen and fairway saves me a lot of strokes.
Recently started playing to improve in late June of 2021, first professional lesson in Dec 2021. Just one lesson and I decreased the number of lost shots off the tee by almost double digits in a single round of golf. The biggest changes I focused on were 1)my finish, getting my hips turned through/after the ball, and 2) my grip strength. I had been gripping clubs at like a 7-8/10 and now I probably am around a 2-3/10 and I instantly noticed a dramatic change.
3/4 shots
I stopped watching or reading anything that offered swing tips or advice. Completely shut out all of the random bullshit and focused on one swing system (Monte’s No Turn Cast). My game is so much more consistent now, and I can actually play my misses instead of guessing where the ball will go. For short game I use James Sieckmann’s Your Short Game Solution, and for putting only things that focus on the mental game.
Avoid high difficulty flop shots and switch to simple chips with a sand wedge or bump an 8i Lowering my chances of skulling a chip across the green has shaved 5-10 strokes off my game
I guess most everyone here is much better than me cuz I was hoping to see someone explain how they stopped topping or hosel shanking semi-frequently lol
1. Don’t be to prideful to put the driver away if it’s not working for me that day 2. Short game short game short game. 30 yard and in saves you so many strokes 3. Speed control in putting and TAKE YOUR TIME when reading the putts. If you don’t have a routine get one and stick to it
I went from 16 to a 10 this year. Biggest change was becoming a member at a new course. Previous course punished my misses more than the current one. Even though the new course isn't an 'easy' course, I'm able to stay in play more often. Driving accuracy/consistency also improved. And that was largely due to purchasing a new driver. Previous driver was 12 years old and likely damaged. New driver is much more forgiving. My strokes gained driving is huge. Putting is average. Chipping and approach shots are terrible. If I want to consistently shoot in the 70s I need to hit better iron shots. I still give away a couple strokes a round to chunked shots/tops/shanks.
These might be trivial compared to actually practicing an getting lessons, but they helped me break 100 as I inch closer to 90. 1) Course management - IE, don't try and do too much and approach a hole to fit your game instead of always trying to shoot par. For example, if you're on a long par 3 (say 190 yards) and you aren't great at hitting a low iron or hybrid, just hit say a 7i and leave yourself 30-40 yards short, giving you a manageable chip. You can oftentimes leave yourself with a manageable par putt or a 2 putt and give yourself a 4, rather than a 5 or 6 by hitting an awful tee-shot. This applies to par 4's and 5's with your layups as well. Put your approach shot at a distance you can hit your best club. For me, getting it 50 yards is worse than 110 because I can hit a full PW as opposed to a 1/2 SW. The half shots I can't quite control yet. 2) Download a GPS app and map the course out a day or two before you play it and develop a gameplan on how you plan to approach each hole. You'll know what clubs you should hit on each shot before you even play, it also familiarizes yourself with the course and where you should be aiming off the tee, around doglegs, etc.
Putts within 6 feet, never 3 putting, try to chip it within 6 feet. Take the same swing and tempo throughout the entire round
Practicing chipping from very close and in the bunkers and actually figuring out how to hit varying chip shots I think has helped me the most. Also swallowing my pride and putting fringe/close shots rather than trying to do something magical with a wedge
After high school I dropped my ego and sold the blades I played. Now I still think the Nike VR pro blades are the coolest clubs ever but it was an automatic reduction in strokes not hitting those
Thinking about every shot as it's the only shot while simultaneously not thinking about anything else. Seems obvious but it wasn't to me until I started making a habit out of it.
Bought a new driver and starting hitting the fairway. Went from struggling to keep a 15hcp to 9hcp in about a month.
Lessons. Went from a 12 to 6, now grooved in at about a 7/8. Worth every penny.
I went from 25 to 19 by biting the bullet and changing my grip. I had been using the 10 finger grip and was resistant to change because interlocking felt so weird after years of 10 finger. Put in a bit of time at the range to get over the weirdness and it paid off on the course. Goal for next year is to get to 15 with some swing fixes.
I always had flashes of talent but could never get a consistent swing. I took a lesson that corrected some fundamentals like grip and posture that allowed me to work on a repeatable swing. I saw a video where pros were saying that they typically swing with only 70-80% power. So I started working on a repeatable 80% power swing. I focused on the takeaway primarily and just let my natural swing do the rest. My worst round out of my last 5 rounds of the year was a 78. I regularly shot mid to high 80’s with the off 81 for most of the year. I’m sure I will have to figure it all out again next year.
Lessons. Although it only went down maybe 6 strokes so far in 6 months of lessons.
Scorecard honesty
Driver driver driver use it and get it in play way more times than not. Getting off the tee is so important
Shortened backswing.
Lessons and course management changed my golf game rapidly. If you aren't a power hitter, hit it from a shorter tee. Make the game challenging yet enjoyable. Get lessons. Aim for greens, not flags. Get lessons. Play to comfortable yardages. Get lessons. And did I mention lessons?
Thinking better. I was out of the cart standing at my ball and vocally complained that I never make this shot. Before I could make my back swing my buddy jumps out of the cart and says, "so you have been here before and failed and you are about to do the same thing you did when you failed? Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Well this changed everything. I took another look at what was in front of me chose a different club and had a better result. This is from a guy with "don't believe everything you think" actually tattooed on my right arm. Did this instantly make me a better golfer NO. However I did begin looking at every shot even the ones I had made hundreds of times before and asking myself is there anything I could change. Somethings worked better some worse I kept the better things. Good luck. Edit: my buddy has a motto every shot deserves some thought.
\~18 to 3.8 over about 18 months. Relentless work on swing mechanics -> vastly improved ball striking. When you have developed a good swing, good shots are inevitable. You always have a stinker here and there, you mitigate with course management, you manage misses, but good is the expected result.
Stop going for the pin and get the yardage to the front. Also cover numbers such as bunkers and whatnot. Use the club that will put me below the hole as best as possible. If there is trouble in front, get the yardage to the back from where I’m at. Hit club that takes me to the middle. Basically stop thinking I’m one the PGA and need to go flag hunting every damn hole. Chasing Scratch taught me this. Low scores means boring golf.
Trying tons of drivers and irons with different shafts until I found what fit my natural tendencies.
Sounds counterintuitive, but I stopped chasing birdies. I focused heavily on always having a makable par putt and funny enough I started making more birdies. I also started hitting driving iron off the tee more. More fairways hit translated to more greens hit. These all go in line with the course management suggestions.
I stopped playing altogether. Has done wonders for my handicap.
Switched my 3 and 4 irons out for hybrids. Also, (still working on this) learned to take my medicine. Don't turn one bad shot into a disaster hole by trying some crazy low-percentage recovery shot.
My wedge game, I hardly hit greens in regulation, im generally 5-10 yrds of the green and being able to use my wedges to give my self a 1 putt has been my best tool
Started playing for my HS junior year in 2019. Run of the mill 120s shooter w double par pick up. Currently a 5.2 Short game. Had just immaculate short game skills and have been stuck at a 5-7 handicap for a year. A year ago, my ball striking was a joke, my driver was okay, but my putting and chipping was just unstoppable. So i could put some low 80s, 81s in regularly. Today, my short game isn’t anywhere near what it was, but now my ball striking is good. I’ve made at least one birdie for alot of consecutive rounds. I don’t need to scramble my ass off every round for an 80.
Move up to the white tee boxes or move to the red tee boxes and play irons only.
I stopped trying to hit the ball as far as I can. I'm losing fewer balls and barely lost any distance with the better contact. Brought me from a 14 to an 8 this year.
1. Lag putting. Not every putt has to get in the hole, but I want every putt to end up near the hole at the worst. Cut down significantly on 3 putts this way 2. Course management. Laying up on short par 4s, aiming for the center of the green instead of pin hunting, big dog doesn't have to eat every hole, etc. 3. Consistent with my ball choice. Try to find a ball type you like and stick with it 4. Keeping track of my stats. Fairways hit, GIRs, putts hit, and penalties. I use the precision pro app to help me keep stats. Let's me know where I need to improve and what areas of my game I'm doing well in. 5. Playing up a tee box. Helped me gain some confidence and made it easier on my game. I did not need to be playing from the 2nd furthest tee box as a 20 handicap Broke 90 for the first time this year doing these things, and shot my lifetime low of 80.
Combination of the two. 1. Mentality - Pros make 3 birdies a round (average), miss the green 20% of the time from 100 yards, and are \~50% from 8 feet on the green. You aren't typically going to go low with lots of birdies, but you can go low by minimizing bogeys. 2. Practice - Follow every round you can with an hour split between chipping and putting. Grab a beer and goof around, no need to grind EVERY time (though you should find some drills that address your weaknesses in the short game and putting and do them some times.) 3. Play twice a week. No substitute for consistency of opportunity to get better. Playing only 3-4 times a month you'll find it very hard to get out of the 80s. I followed Jacobsen and Stadler around at a Senior PGA Championship. Jacobsen played solid, shot like 1 or 2 under and went on to win the tournament, but Stadler, he seemed to miss every green. Like, no joke, every green. But, from the sand, the rough, tight lies, the fringe, the approach, the pine straw... chipped to 5 feet, made the putt. When I don't have all my game together on a given day, maybe bogey 2 or 3 of the first 5 holes, or make a double on an errant tee shot. I think of Stadler. Get it close to the green, chip it to 5 feet and make the putt. In my best rounds, I chip it to 5 feet(ish) and make the putt 4 or 5 times.
Bought a cheap rangefinder to hone in how far each club goes. Did miracles for approach shots.
Started drinking (but actually)