Top 5 Score Killers

[JMiller]

I'm also not of the opinion that my body knows what to do because I haven't ever had a good swing, though I can hit mid 80s often. If my body knew what to do, I'd be shooting under par. As Matt says, "feel is not real"

 

The mind is very powerful, it controls literally everything that your body does on a concussions or sub-conscious level. You don't have to think about breathing do you? You only have to think about holding your breath. Once you learn to walk you don't think about how to walk you just do it.

 

Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler, Tommy "two glove" Ganny are three prime examples of golfers that have anything but a "text book swing", do they think about how to get into the positions that they do in the backswing? Heck no, they just get into a good position at the top and a repeatable impact position with good tempo and target selection as their primary goals. You would be surprised at what your body can do without actually thinking about how to do it.

 

Let me give a couple mental examples in golf "don't go into the water" a persons brain turns that around and the target becomes the water "go into the water". Any time you hit a shot into a spot where you told the mind DON'T you actually hit a great shot. Positive targets visualize the ball going into a specific location, then just swing, I am willing to bet 9 times out of 10 regardless of how ugly the swing is the ball gets close to the target.

 

lets say I toss you a ball and yell for you to catch it, most people that are athletic will just react bring up an arm and as the ball gets close or hits there hand close there fingers around the ball, not once thinking on HOW to make that happen correctly. Now I tell you that I'll chop a finger off if you drop it and you must think about the HOW to catch the ball in "text book form" I am willing to bet the actions of your body will be restricted and not naturally flowing. You might catch the ball but it's going to be a lot harder to do.

 

Why do you think children play golf so good when they first start, they have not a care in the world of the result of the shot, they are not thinking of the HOW to do something they just naturally tend to swing the club and be creative not technical.

[revkev]

Oh when did Matt say that? Man I love this sight! I once made the mistake of saying "feel is over rated" on another golf web site. You'd have thought I told everyone there that their average drive was 220. (of course it is but you get the point)

 

I do wish I had said what Matt said - feel can be very deceptive sometimes - give me results and the feel will eventually follow.

 

On to jmiller's comment - there must be some physical element to the golf swing. I suspect he would agree with me. Having written that I'm betting that there are lots of players with more physical gifts and abilities than I have who don't shoot nearly the scores that I do.

 

I really think having a solid plan of attack, knowing how to fit your game into the course or shot that lies ahead is a huge part of the battle. If you operate under the premise that you should never be hitting a shot that you can't execute close to 90 percent of the time and then you plan that shot out there is no reason why you shouldn't execute the shot. Again the key is to have a realistic expectation - If the shot I'm trying to execute is a 300 yard drive over 100 foot tall tree on the corner it aint' happening. If I'm aiming for a 240 yard drive down the left center because there's ob right and my focus is on my target in the left center part of the fairway and the 140 I'm going to have in after my shot - it's going where I want it to go nearly every time. In fact when I'm playing my best golf I start the hole picturing the birdie putt I'll have after that 8 iron in and then work my way back to the tee.

 

Try it - you might be surprised how well it works.

[GolfSpy WD]

I disagree on the matter of using players clubs - the tests that I've seen suggest that even the lowest handicappers would benefit from cavity back, game improvement type clubs - this sight is dedicated to improving play - when we go to the fitter he's going to turn to the maltby playability chart and direct our attention there - I think he's right. Other's disagree and I'm not going to fight with you but I'm going to at least give a shout out mention every time it comes up. Why do we get fit? Why is that chart important if we aren't going to pay attention to it?

 

Back to the point at hand - how can we reduce our scores or the opposite what are the biggest score killers. It is always very hard to put a percentage on what part of a missed shot is physical and what part is mental. In some ways every swing is flawed even the very, very best ones. The less the flaw, the easier it is to get the swing to repeat, the greater the flaw the tougher it is to get the swing to repeat. That's what we are faced with.

 

If I'm catching jmiller rightly what he is saying is that mental approach is about fitting what a player has, flaws and all, into what the course presents. That's how I see it. For example he writes that if he has a cut on the practice tee he goes with it. I've learned that no matter what I have on the practice tee it's going to be a draw on the course so I go with that. The only time I get into trouble physically is when that draw turns into a hook but that really is very infrequently and even then I can play with it or legislate for it if need be.

 

I won't get into the whole players CB vs GI club, we've beat that dead horse for a long time .

 

I'm not sure what it's like for lower handicap players, but from talking to several pros and taking my personal experience into account, many high handicappers have fundamental flaws in their swing which drastically affects our consistency, which is why we see huge swings in our score cards. It also creates a wall where you get to a certain point and just can not improve (I'm not sure what my current handicap is, Golfshot hasn't updated it for me and working on a new swing, I don't keep score much).

 

This is the point of my post asking if the issues are really mental. There are serious mental issues out there, Barkley comes to mind. However, the only way to know is to have a professional look at your swing. Characterizing everything wrong with your game as mental IMO is similar to throwing in the towel and giving up on improving.

[GolfSpy WD]

Oh when did Matt say that? Man I love this sight! I once made the mistake of saying "feel is over rated" on another golf web site. You'd have thought I told everyone there that their average drive was 220. (of course it is but you get the point)

 

I do wish I had said what Matt said - feel can be very deceptive sometimes - give me results and the feel will eventually follow.

 

On to jmiller's comment - there must be some physical element to the golf swing. I suspect he would agree with me. Having written that I'm betting that there are lots of players with more physical gifts and abilities than I have who don't shoot nearly the scores that I do.

 

I really think having a solid plan of attack, knowing how to fit your game into the course or shot that lies ahead is a huge part of the battle. If you operate under the premise that you should never be hitting a shot that you can't execute close to 90 percent of the time and then you plan that shot out there is no reason why you shouldn't execute the shot. Again the key is to have a realistic expectation - If the shot I'm trying to execute is a 300 yard drive over 100 foot tall tree on the corner it aint' happening. If I'm aiming for a 240 yard drive down the left center because there's ob right and my focus is on my target in the left center part of the fairway and the 140 I'm going to have in after my shot - it's going where I want it to go nearly every time. In fact when I'm playing my best golf I start the hole picturing the birdie putt I'll have after that 8 iron in and then work my way back to the tee.

 

Try it - you might be surprised how well it works.

 

That's the point. I plan every single one of my shots, visualize the ball and everything. Unfortunately the ball only seldom goes where I want it to .

 

Everything I'm working on at the range right now is to get that consistency. But it has nothing to do with mental. That's just me though...

[GolfSpy WD]

The mind is very powerful, it controls literally everything that your body does on a concussions or sub-conscious level. You don't have to think about breathing do you? You only have to think about holding your breath. Once you learn to walk you don't think about how to walk you just do it.

 

Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler, Tommy "two glove" Ganny are three prime examples of golfers that have anything but a "text book swing", do they think about how to get into the positions that they do in the backswing? Heck no, they just get into a good position at the top and a repeatable impact position with good tempo and target selection as their primary goals. You would be surprised at what your body can do without actually thinking about how to do it.

 

Let me give a couple mental examples in golf "don't go into the water" a persons brain turns that around and the target becomes the water "go into the water". Any time you hit a shot into a spot where you told the mind DON'T you actually hit a great shot. Positive targets visualize the ball going into a specific location, then just swing, I am willing to bet 9 times out of 10 regardless of how ugly the swing is the ball gets close to the target.

 

lets say I toss you a ball and yell for you to catch it, most people that are athletic will just react bring up an arm and as the ball gets close or hits there hand close there fingers around the ball, not once thinking on HOW to make that happen correctly. Now I tell you that I'll chop a finger off if you drop it and you must think about the HOW to catch the ball in "text book form" I am willing to bet the actions of your body will be restricted and not naturally flowing. You might catch the ball but it's going to be a lot harder to do.

 

Why do you think children play golf so good when they first start, they have not a care in the world of the result of the shot, they are not thinking of the HOW to do something they just naturally tend to swing the club and be creative not technical.

 

I missed this post. When I say fundamentals, it's not about a text book swing, but about consistency. No coach would ever change Furyk's swing to text book. However, he's an outlier and no one would teach Furyk's swung to someone else.

 

That said I don't think there really is such a thing aa text book swing, but there are consistencies in all good swings. I won't try to list the fundamental properties of a swing other than you need to hit down on the ball with a correct swing plane for how open/closed your club face is.

 

To respond to the trusting your body comment, I hear this from people who are naturally athletically gifted. The example you gave is reactionary and fairly simple. To a degree, a golf swing is subconscious, but it is anything but intuitive for most people.

 

Edit: Here's a counter example. Dancing. There are plenty of people who've never taken lessons but can dance very well. Most people OTH, are half a second off the beat, but they could become good with practice. I'm of the opinion anyone can be good at anything, but some people have to try harder.

[revkev]

WD - I have no doubt there are impediments to being consistent -

 

However I think if you analyze your blow up holes you'll discover there is a mental error in their that contributes - this happens even if it's turning a double into a snow man - you get frustrated because you pumped that drive OB and you just don't care what happens next.

 

I'm a huge advocate of taking lessons. Teaching pros are the backbone of this game and yet so many people ignore them like the plague. We ignore our doctors for our health issues, we ignore our mental health professionals for our emmotional issues and we ignore our pastors/rabbis/or whoever else for our spiritual issues so why not our teaching pros for our golfing issues? (seriously I know this is true because I'm a part of that food chain).

 

There is a physical aspect to the game and it's very important. You to have the tools necessary to shoot the best scores possible.

 

The smart player pieces together the physical part of his game with a teaching pro. That self same pro will help with all aspects of the game. My point is that people don't want to fess up to the amount of strokes they waste by poor decision making and other such mental errors.

 

Alright time for me to actually hit golf balls for the first time in over 2 weeks.

[JMiller]

Really good stuff here so let me add in some more mental information. Golf is a lot like life when it comes to making decisions. Any one situation you come across has multiple possibilities as to the path you pick. Each path will have a different result and sometimes might end up with the same result. The hard part about the mental part of life and the game of golf is that you need the ability and tools to recognize that you have made a mistake mentally and made a poor decision.

 

I would have to say that hitting a ball into a hazard / ob is 99.9% of the time a mental mistake. You aimed at a target that was too aggressive, you selected a club that brought the hazard into play if you didn't hit a perfect shot, you had a bad mental picture of what you wanted to do, you had mechanical swing thoughts in your head at the time of the swing, you looked up excited to see where the ball was going before you made contact, etc. I don't know anyone that can lift an arm of make a movement without the brain firing signals to contract and relax the muscles. I am making the point that when you dig deep enough 99.9% of the time our minds are to blame for a mistake made.

 

Let me give an example from my own round on July 4th. I had a lot of mental errors that cost me strokes. I had 5 bogies and 1 birdie everything else was par. 10 FIR, 9 GIR (not great I know but wait a minute grass hoppers). Here are the notable holes:

 

Hole 1 ~ Hit fairway, didn't take enough club landed on the green and it came down a false front, front pin location and I got cute on my distance rather then hitting to the center of the green and trying to get par to start. Pitch didn't get close at all and I made bogey.

 

Hole 3 ~ I allowed a slow playing group in front of me effect my mental state, hit a TERRIBLE tee shot. I actually played a 2nd ball off the tee the first was so bad and the group in front of me was that slow. I had to lay up on a par 4 with my first ball that's how bad it was. The 2nd ball I hit onto the green to about 6 feet. I pitched up to about 3 feet made par with my first ball, made the 6 foot putt for birdie on the 2nd ball. I carded a par of course, but it shows the point i probably was making birdie if I focused on my tee shot and 2nd shot better

 

Hole 9 ~ Hit what I thought was a great drive, get up there and the hard fairway kicked the ball through the dog leg onto the right mounds. My stance was left foot about 2 feet above the right, both feet about 1 foot above the ball. Only 200 yards into the center of the green but no way can I make a 5 iron off that lie or a 4iron, hit a punch 8iron lay up to have about 75 yards left to the center up a hill. Put my 56* to 2 feet roughly and made birdie. My good decision let me set my personal low round on the front 9 at my club even par 36.

 

Hole 10 ~ Made a poor decision to hit a club that would only clear a bunker short left with a pin back left if i hit it perfect, I came up one yard short and it ended up in the bunker short sided, i made bogey of course, just should have gone for a safer target center green rather then pin hunting.

 

Hole 13 ~ Allowed slow play to get on my nerves and well made a over swing slicing my shot right, it catches the cart path takes a huge hop right into a lateral hazard. I make my drop, put my 3rd shot on the green and two putted for bogey.

 

Hole 17 ~ Again allowed slow play to get on my nerves on my approach shot, I ended up laying the sod over the ball and came up 15 yards short. Hit a safe pitch but went a little long missed the putt back and made bogey. My mental state on the 2nd shot was poor i was not focused on picturing my shot.

 

Hole 18 ~ Again I made a mental mistake, it was very hot out all day. It rained just a little as I was walking up 18, I got my distance and didn't bother to dry my hands and grip on the club. My right hand slipped off just before impact, sliced the ball a ton and short sided myself to a back right pin with a big bunker on the right front green and short of the pin. 30 yard bunker shot that I failed to get up and down from and made bogey.

 

 

Everything in that round happened that was a stroke given to the course in terms of a bogey, was all from mental mistakes. The Birdie was just good decisions after a unlucky break off the tee.

[dru_]

To me, this is one of the best conversations on the board right now. It touches on the keys that plague every golfer at every skill level. We can talk about equipment, practice and mechanics till we are blue in the face, but until we get the mental aspects right, we are all subject to playing implosions.

 

The mental aspects are so direct on scoring, that it is almost comical to look at things like equipment and think it has real impacts until we address the mental.

 

Sure, I can drive 270+ on that 405 yard par 4 and be sitting at a 130 yard PW or 9i, but the better play is to go 2 or 3H, punch it out 235, and play a 6 or 7i in. It's a higher percentage tee shot, but also plays to me strengths in those middle irons.

 

Once you get your head wrapped around relaxing and letting the swing flow, rather than the herky jerky forced swing that we find ourselves overthinking, you find yourself working your club selections not just around the current shot, but planning the next one. Choosing to play that 7i on this shot to get a better angle with a gap wedge, versus playing a 5i and going for the pin. Sure, you *could* make eagle, but more than likely, you'll be offline, and scrambling to recover to make par, while playing conservative, you are shooting for bird, and tapping in for par.

 

There is a mental discipline that goes hand in hand with course management. Just because you can (low percentage), doesn't mean you *should*.

[revkev]

As a reminder here guys the average drive today in the Women's US Open was 242. They are playing a course that measures 6,900 yards long - Paula Craemer averaged 237 and shot 73 on a US Open course with nasty rough - 6,900 yards - 6,900 brutal yards - the score card I've got in front of me says the course rating is 75.7 and slope 148.

 

I've watched LPGA players lots and have rarely seen guys with handicaps over 6 who can hit the ball as far as the average player on their tour - 242 - but..... I rarely hear any guy saying he hits his average drive that short. Interesting

 

Maybe I'm very fortunate that I don't hit it 270 - limits my options - and yet even with my 240 I rarely find myself always hitting driver off the tee - I'll hit the club that puts me in the best position to hit my next shot.

 

Perhaps score killer number 1 should be overestimating how far we hit the ball - that is one huge mental error - just keep track of how often you hit the ball on the green hole high in a round and be honest - over the course of 10 rounds I'm guessing it will be under 20 percent for most people.

[dru_]

As a reminder here guys the average drive today in the Women's US Open was 242. They are playing a course that measures 6,900 yards long - Paula Craemer averaged 237 and shot 73 on a US Open course with nasty rough - 6,900 yards - 6,900 brutal yards - the score card I've got in front of me says the course rating is 75.7 and slope 148.

 

I've watched LPGA players lots and have rarely seen guys with handicaps over 6 who can hit the ball as far as the average player on their tour - 242 - but..... I rarely hear any guy saying he hits his average drive that short. Interesting

 

Maybe I'm very fortunate that I don't hit it 270 - limits my options - and yet even with my 240 I rarely find myself always hitting driver off the tee - I'll hit the club that puts me in the best position to hit my next shot.

 

Perhaps score killer number 1 should be overestimating how far we hit the ball - that is one huge mental error - just keep track of how often you hit the ball on the green hole high in a round and be honest - over the course of 10 rounds I'm guessing it will be under 20 percent for most people.

 

Actually, 240 is exactly where I was until this season. Last season, I was tracking with my Golfshot Pro GPS app on the iPhone, and my average drive (2009 Adams Speedline 10.5 neutral regular flex shaft, shortened from 'factory' by 1") was 241. This season I switched to a Taylormade RBZ Tour 9.5 adjusted to 9.0 with stiff flex shaft shortened by 1". I also lost 50 lbs between January and May while significantly improving my fitness levels (from 3 miles a week of jogging to 28 miles a week running, 40 miles a week cycling and 120-150 laps ( 38 foot pool ) per week swimming). To be honest this 270 number comes a bit of a shock to me, and looking at my last 5 rounds, versus my last 20, the average number is closer to 290, with a 'long' of 308 and a short of 120.. ( funny story though, look at my playing like a girl with a girl ball? that 308 came with a Precept Ladys IQ+ in fashion PINK! ). Even my 2h now pushes 240 off a tee, and 230 off the deck. I attribute all of that to improved fitness in terms of strength and especially flexibility. If I had to guess, I would point to the loss of weight, and gain of flexibility allowing me to get my hips and hands through the ball so quickly with my little bitty backswing ( how little? I don't have video of it, but I am told that it looks like I am taking less than a 3/4 swing as my full swing )

 

I think core flexibility is completely overlooked by most golfers. Yoga and karate both have huge golf upsides IMO, as they both teach relaxation and flexibility along with muscle discipline and precise movements, all of which also plays into the mental side of the game. When i Iose the relaxed focus (and playing for money makes this nearly impossible for me), not only does my accuracy go away, so does my distance, by a lot.

 

And you are correct, hole high is a low percentage for me, probably about 12%, I am typically about 8 yards short and right, though this seems to be less a function of overestimation and more a function of really struggling with that 60-85 yard shot. To the point where in the course management equation I find myself actively avoid this Lob Wedge shot and opting for the 85-105 Gap (56) with a mostly full swing. On that same note, I tend to shy away from the PW, because I am about 50/50 on skulling that through the green or worse!.

[RoverRick]

I may be cheating my statistics because I do not calculate my distance off the tee with any club other than a driver. I hit the driver only 7 times per round. Therefore I do not calculate the other tee shots because it is not the driver. I use irons or hybrids the rest of the time, and on those days I have a 3 wood, it is used only occassionally. While I finally have one I can hit, I don't. It is sort of like a spare tire and a jack. I have space for them in the car so I might as well carry it. I used to carry an additional wedge but now I do not use that one. I am much better with a hybrid and a wedge.

 

I have gained tremendous distance this past 6 to 8 months by learning the proper swing and losing 45 lbs etc.

 

There is an almost driveable par 4 now (driveable with the prevailing winds), and on four other holes I can clear the hazards distance wise now with the driver, but why try. On the driveable par 4 those mean golf course designers put bunkers and hills all around it, and made the green really small. On the other ones, just because I can clear them does not mean I do clear them. Even the perfect drive leaves me a partial wedge shot. Which I am good at but I took a chance of taking birdie completely out of play, except for a hole out, if I go into the hazard. It is still two shots and I am taking a serious risk. Instead I can hit hybrid or iron depending on which set of clubs, and an 8 or 9 or a wedge into the green. I should be able to hit an 8 iron from the fairway as close as a wedge from the rough.

[revkev]

I want to be clear that no one ever has to justify himself to me in regards to yardage claim unless I've played with them and no for sure. I will just often remind folks that the stats are out there in droves, even on a recent blog on this sight, that golfers, non-pros that is, regularly over estimate how far we hit the ball by 40 yards.

 

In dru's case I believe I recall you saying you are relatively new to the game. You could see dramatic distance increases as you improve - no doubt. Also Milton may be in the mountains where you gain significant distance - I've heard of it from driving through Georgia so often but just can't recall.

 

RR lives in Texas - I used to play lots of golf in Texas when my real good buddy was serving a church there - We did a home and away - I'd come down from Indiana after Easter "to preach" for his confirmation service and he'd come up to Indiana in the fall "to kick off" the start of confirmation. That was our excuse to get together and play golf.

 

Because it's generally (but not always) fast and firm in Texas the ball goes there.

 

Any more my reference point is Florida - you can look at the PGA stats for every year and you'll see that the average driving distances on the Florida courses are 20 yards shorter than say a midwestern course and they play here in the Spring when the ball is going its maximum distance. Don't know if anyone remembers the last time they played a PGA event in Florida in the summer but it was a debacle. A PGA in Florida in the late 70's or early 80's - it will never happen again I can asure you of that.

 

At any rate my point is for us is to be careful estimating how far we the ball and at least to thine own selves be true. Also my point is that you really don't need to hit it that far to score well - I've played Blackwolf 30 or 40 times and I know that my average drive there was close to 250 - the last time I played there was a couple of years ago and I brought my GPS - the drives that I measured were in the high 240's, low 250's - about 10 yards longer than here. I was also in the same spots off the tee as when I lived there so my distance hasn't changed very much in the past 10 years (thank you equipment.)

 

Dru - while you're having trouble at those distance why would you choose to leave them? Hit 3 wood or hybrid and leave yourself a comfortable number. Distance control in golf is huge - I may not be that long but I know how far the ball is going - If I want 100 in (a great number for me) I'll generally be within 2 yards of it after my lay up. I'm certainly not going to accidentally leave 90 - yeck!!!!!!!!!!!

[dru_]

 

Dru - while you're having trouble at those distance why would you choose to leave them? Hit 3 wood or hybrid and leave yourself a comfortable number. Distance control in golf is huge - I may not be that long but I know how far the ball is going - If I want 100 in (a great number for me) I'll generally be within 2 yards of it after my lay up. I'm certainly not going to accidentally leave 90 - yeck!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That is where I am working on the discipline. Overcoming the mistaken mental side of hitting closer. The combination of that, and swing improvements is where I see the biggest immediate gains in my game.

 

Also, you are correct, Milton is a northern suburb of Atlanta, in the foothills of the mountains, though the course I play on is only at about 1100' above sea level, there is another factor that I think really impacts yardage in the area, and that is roll.

 

The majority of the north GA area suffers from extremely hard ground surface conditions. The soil here is a mix of granite and red clay, and no matter how much a course amends the soil, when we get into the heat of the summer, the ground gets hard. I mean cart path hard. If you have a slight draw and land in the fairways right now, you will roll, so I agree, distances as measured here are going to be inflated against national averages.

[revkev]

Love that clay - that's what was at the bottom of the courses in Indiana - man that clay loved my low little draw. I had to totally retool my swing when I moved to Wisconsin so that I could hit it higher off the tee. Now I can go either way - 9 months out of the year there's no roll here but it's nice to be able to trot out the lower draw for February through April.

[JBones]

Any more my reference point is Florida - you can look at the PGA stats for every year and you'll see that the average driving distances on the Florida courses are 20 yards shorter than say a midwestern course and they play here in the Spring when the ball is going its maximum distance. Don't know if anyone remembers the last time they played a PGA event in Florida in the summer but it was a debacle. A PGA in Florida in the late 70's or early 80's - it will never happen again I can asure you of that.

Why do you think Florida is shorter? I have played in Orlando several times and I honestly have not noticed any distance losses at all, from my Indiana distances. I know some people, so I get on the Palm and Magnolia the weekend before the Funai Classic (now the Childrens Miracle Network), so maybe I get to play in optimal conditions. The courses I play here in south western Indiana are not firm, so I'm not used to a whole lot of roll (you get a little farther east in the French Lick area and my average probably goes up 30yds). I've have hit some of my longest drives on those courses in Orlando.

[JMiller]

I see distance only good if you can control the placement off the tee, sort of plot your way around the golf course based on your length. RR made a very good point I measure all my tee box distances and get an average, but that includes 19* hybrids, 4wood, driver holes.

 

Depending on wind and fairway firmness, you can look at the course and distance from the tips at http://golf.duke.edu if you want. The course is about 7100 yards for the tips.

 

Hole 1 ~ 4wood / 19* hybrid (down wind or hard fairways) / Driver (into wind and very soft fairways)

Hole 2 ~ 4 wood / 19* hybrid (if fairways are hard / downwind)

Hole 3 ~ 4 wood (never hit a 19* hybrid here hit but I could see it why down wind)

Hole 4 ~ NA (par 3)

Hole 5 ~ Driver (pretty straight forward)

Hole 6 ~ 4 wood / Driver (if into the wind driver and soft fairways)

Hole 7 ~ Driver (par 5 hole so let her lose)

Hole 8 ~ NA (par 3)

Hole 9 ~ 4wood / 19* hybrid (hard fairways / downwind)

Total Driver Used ~ 2 for sure, 3 possible, 4 big maybe

 

Hole 10 ~ Driver

Hole 11 ~ Driver

Hole 12 ~ NA (par 3)

Hole 13 ~ 4wood / 19* Hybrid / 4iron (if tee is forward) / (only driver into the wind and soft fairways with tee back location)

Hole 14 ~ Driver

Hole 15 ~ NA (par 3)

Hole 16 ~ 4 wood

Hole 17 ~ Driver

Hole 18 ~ Driver

Total Drivers ~ 5 for sure, 6 maybe

 

14 possible driving holes I use a driver a total of 7 to 9 times depending on the day.

 

I plot myself around the course even with my length being very long, I play to distances off the tee and specific locations. When I play great golf I don't miss a target off the tee and if i do it's not by a lot. Same thing going into greens my target lines were great but my distance control and club selections were very poor coming up short a few times.

 

Golf is just so mental, a lot of times our minds just get in our way of our best performances.

[dru_]

Why do you think Florida is shorter? I have played in Orlando several times and I honestly have not noticed any distance losses at all, from my Indiana distances. I know some people, so I get on the Palm and Magnolia the weekend before the Funai Classic (now the Childrens Miracle Network), so maybe I get to play in optimal conditions. The courses I play here in south western Indiana are not firm, so I'm not used to a whole lot of roll (you get a little farther east in the French Lick area and my average probably goes up 30yds). I've have hit some of my longest drives on those courses in Orlando.

 

I would imagine that denser (sea level) air, humidity and almost no roll all play big factors in florida, particularly as you get into Orlando and south. During the summer, when the normal weather pattern is the 3PM 30-45 minute frog choker, followed by the sun cooking that moisture back into the air, you end up with relative humidity in the 70-80% ranges pretty much all day. Combine that with very soft, sandy soil, and you get ideal conditions for short distances. Shorter carry distances through heavier, wetter air, shorter roll distances on soft damp fairways.

[GolfSpy WD]

Back to the mental aspects of the game, I took my son out to Rogue's Roost here in Syracuse ($22 for 18 + cart is awesome).

 

He gets frustrated at times and wrapped up in his bad shots. I was thinking of this thread and told him to think happy thoughts. As an 8 year old, nothing makes him laugh faster than the word "poop". It was amazing what a difference it made. He was crushing his drives 160 yards, which is great for his age. He had no trouble playing the front tees. It also helped my mental state because he was having more fun, and while I shot a poor 92, I attribute at least 4-5 strokes to it being the first tune we've played the course.

 

BUT, I did make a smart play by teeing off one hole with my PW rather than try to drive the pond. I'd rather not talk about the next 3 shots on that hole, but at least I'm making progress

[JBones]

I would imagine that denser (sea level) air, humidity and almost no roll all play big factors in florida, particularly as you get into Orlando and south. During the summer, when the normal weather pattern is the 3PM 30-45 minute frog choker, followed by the sun cooking that moisture back into the air, you end up with relative humidity in the 70-80% ranges pretty much all day. Combine that with very soft, sandy soil, and you get ideal conditions for short distances. Shorter carry distances through heavier, wetter air, shorter roll distances on soft damp fairways.

We're always down there in September or October and there's really not much rain/humidity when we're there, so I just haven't experienced the typical Florida weather. I do however usually play in high humidity here though, we're right on the Ohio river.

[dru_]

We're always down there in September or October and there's really not much rain/humidity when we're there, so I just haven't experienced the typical Florida weather. I do however usually play in high humidity here though, we're right on the Ohio river.

 

My family is all from Louisville (great public courses), and I've spent entirely too much time in Orlando over the years. The humidity simply doesn't compare :-). The humidity in the valley is high, but it lacks that overwhelming heavy feeling you get during the late summers in Fl. Oppressive is as good a word as any. how bad is it?

 

Imagine walking outside in your best hot weather golf attire ( moisture wicking excellent ventilation shirt, moisture wicking base layer with good shorts), and being soaked by the time you walk the 80 feet to the mailbox. When you walk back inside, your sunglasses (almost a requirement in Fl) instantly fog up to the point of having drips of condensation running down your nose.

 

I truly wish I was kidding about this, but this is WHY I don't live in Florida, and I've considered on a few occasions. Each time, I've stayed in Atlanta because though we do get some bad days, it is not the constant oppressive humid heat.

[JMiller]

I feel that a pre-shot routine is just so important to a mental state and decision making for course management. I have my own routine and I recommend that everyone develop their own preshot routine. If you have one and seem to just not be able to break through a given handicap maybe you should look into changing up the pre-shot routine a little bit and only focus on the process of the routine rather then the results of the shots.

 

My routine is very simple and I have shared it a couple of times, most of it is done without a club in hand.

~ start from behind the ball, I even do this on the green

 

~ mentally process the options that you have probably 3 or more options, take the option that you are the most confident in executing.

--> this means getting distances, wind, temperature, elevation changes, turf conditions on the fairways / greens, and so on. Then determine the best shot to get to a specific target based on that information.

 

~ Commit to the shot selection and mental picture that you have pulling the club out of the bag make one to two practice swings at 20% just feeling the body movements, the club head picturing the shot some more

 

~ Walk into the ball, always allow yourself to align the club face to your target line (picking a spot 3 feet in front of the ball often helps). Make sure to look at your target line and allow your feet to support your body, waggle a few times to stay lose. I look down and make sure one last time that my face is pointed at my target line.

 

~ my last thought is "smooth" before pulling the trigger. This makes sure my only thought is some kind of FEEL thought. Not mechanical, completely feel based. Then I pull the trigger.

 

 

Where the mistakes normally happen for better golfers is decision making. The middle handicap it is probably in address positioning or bad mental thought during the swing. For a high handicapper it is almost always issues with improper alignment. I just saw Steve Striker drop down a club after his shot. I like that it was done AFTER, he set up with the FEEL of his target line, then double checked the alignment after feeling like he pushed the shot. I do this a lot when I hit a shot to somewhere I didn't expect it to start. Almost always i am not pushing or pulling shots my feet were pointed right where the ball started.

 

If you can get into a FEEL state over the ball the shot is almost always going to work out better then if you were being mechanical over the ball. Once you have that and your distances golf becomes really easy, by this I mean you play to your strengths of knowing your "typical miss" and "go to shot". plot your way around the course giving yourself a bias towards strengths rather then weaknesses.

 

You can practice off the course to make a weakness a strength while on the course it doesn't need to be pretty a score card doesn't have pictures at the end of the day.

[dru_]

Oh I don't question it, I started working on it when you mentioned it a couple of weeks ago and I have seen some improvements ( although another lesson learned, I cannot play without my spikes. tried playing in walking shoes last night because I forgot my spikes, *that* mistake led to some seriously hooked shots and a sleeve of crappy balls lost to the evil things that hide in the woods, who knew! )

 

I am working on a pre shot routine.

 

Select the club for the shot based upon the distance, lie and elevation.

Approach the ball from behind and get a visual reference on the angle of attack.

Place the head of the club on the ground to find it's natural neutral position and set my left hand grip at that neutral.

Slide around to the anticipated line, take one visualization focusing not on the swing, but on the follow through.

Reset my feet on the ball, and swing.

 

All the while the mental mantra is "Don't think, relax and feel it".

 

I am finding it effective, though, it isn't an automatic routine yet, so I struggle to maintain the focus on it when I am in a group or using a cart. I actually find I score lower when I walk than when I ride. No idea what the correlation is there. At this point, I wouldn't say it is saving strokes, but it is saving balls and penalties, which will lead to strokes in the long run. As silly as it sounds, I am finding that improved consistency has cost me a few strokes, because I've been finding areas of the course that I have rarely visited before. The par 5, hole #2 at my home course is a good example. 30degree right turn at 250 yards from the blue tees, 210 from the whites. Trees and a hill to the right, with a 60 foot full white pine tree sitting about 20yards into the fairway creating a 'hitch' you have to go around, and a large, but shallow sand trap to the left side of the fairway about 5 yards past the hitch point. Prior to being able to consistently go straight, I was always either short of the trap trying to play a fade around the pinch point created by the tree or sitting right, threading between the tree and the hill with a short layup to the 150 marker and playing a 7i into the green (which was actually a pretty decent percentage shot for me, though if the pin is back and right, I was screwed because that green is all downhill to that pin location, and if you go past it from that range, you are playing back up out of the sand. Anyways, now that I've found straight and long, I have found that sand trap 4 out of 5 rounds I've played driver off that tee box. The last couple of rounds, I've played it more conservative, and played a 2h ( I love my Adam's Pro Black 17degree hybrid) off the tee, then used the same hybrid to punch it to the green, short by about 20 yards, and pin high, on the green but 20 yards left, with a double break downhill putt the second time.

 

This is where I find myself still learning feel. I am beginning to thing the *right * play on that hole, is not the 2h for the 2nd. If I play the 2h off the tee, I feel like a 7i leaving myself a comfortable 80% swing with a 56 degree gap to get a 3-8 yard putt is the higher percentage play, and is most likely Par with a reasonable chance for birdie. The 2h/2h combo is a low percentage chance at eagle, but an equal chance of ending up in trouble and looking at bogie or worse. These are the lessons that come with the mental aspects of the game, and lessons that are actually discouraged by many of the side games we play on the golf course, where the high risk/reward shot is often more attractive. Skins games being a prime example. There are holes where you know that birdie won't win the hole, so you play more aggressive for the chance at eagle. That only reinforces the bad choices that so many us make.

[revkev]

It's not what I think it's the reality - Florida is at sea level - any course at sea level is shorter. This would be true for anythting along the coast. Florida becomes shorter still when it's summer time and we average 10 inches of rain a month (We had 15 inches in June.)

 

When you play a Florida course in March you aren't playing the same course that we play most of the year - it's very dry here (generally) from January until mid-May - the ball will go pretty well in those conditions. My drives that average 240 or less this time of year get up close to 260 in March and April.

 

Just go online and compare the average drive at the Transitions to the average drive at the tournaments played at the TPC in the Quad Cities or at Cog Hill (comparable conditions to Indiana.) The difference is 20 yards plus. Two years ago there wasn't a single player who averaged 300 off the tee at Innesbrooke - there were only 5 or 6 this past year even though we were in the middle of a drought -

 

Same guys, best players in the world - 20 yards less off the tee - you'll see the same thing happen at Torrey Pines (another sea level course.)

 

Just for kicks I quickly looked it up - last year over 50 guys averaged 300 plus yards at the TPC Quad cities and 24 at Cog Hill - 7 averaged over 300 at Innisbrook this year and 0 last year -

 

You can fly it pretty close to as far down here in March as you can in Indiana in July - about 2 and a half percent shorter here so more than likely the same club into greens - but once you start to figure in pure distance - flight plus roll in July it starts to get huge - think what your courses are like in late March or early April when the snow melts and it rains - that's what it's like here 9 months out of the year -

 

I had a classic yesterday - Number 9 at my course is a 390 yard par 4 that normally plays into the a light breeze, in the summer - smoked my drive - it went all of 237 according to my GPS - just short of the 150 and yet it was normal in relation to my playing partners - past 2 short of the other - same drive on that hole in March and I have 130 into the green every time - in fact if the hole is down wind I have to worry about the trap left which is 265 off the tee in the spring - I don't even think about it in the summer - It's my target.

 

Kind of fun actually we play a totally different course even though it's the same course - in the late winter/spring its fast and firm with very little rough and you bounce the ball onto the green - the rest of the year you best stay out of the rough and you have to fly it where ever you're planning to end up even though the greens remain relatively quick - but because the grass is turned over in the winter they break different in the summer from the winter. They drives lots of guys nuts.

[JMiller]

This sounds really dang corny but if you all have ever watched "Seven Days in Utopia" it has some seriously good advice in terms of the mental game.

 

"Have convection about your golf swing"

"To stay in balance you have to have control of your emotions"

"Paint the picture of the shot so our brains can reproduce it"

"see it, feel it, trust it (SFT)"

 

All of these are situations that get you into a good mental state on the golf course to make the best decisions and keep grinding when the chips are down and you need something to happen, can't force it.

 

I shot a 79 yesterday had 3 putts that lipped out for par, just couldn't get one to drop outside of 3 feet it seemed like, my speed was good on all my putts but could make a long one. That round should have been 38 - 38 - 76 but it wasn't my short game and putting was off so I had to grind like a crazy to just break 80.

 

I know that some people say to play 3 holes at a time, or 6 holes, I personally play shot by shot. Each hole is a separate entity and 18 different ones makes up a round. If you break it into one shot that you face right now and nothing else, not dwelling on the past, not looking at the future, just being in the present moment good things tend to happen.

 

I think I can sit here and talk and talk about mental stuff being the top score killer but it might be a better located in the mental game section and lessons, it is one thing that has fascinated me and eludes so many people and golfers.

[revkev]

I want to get away from Florida for a bit (literally and figuratively but I can only do it figuratively right now although St. Pete is no where near as oppressive as Orlando in the summer thanks be to God - did my internship in Orlando).

 

I have been so ostrasized in the past for extoling the virtues of the mental game - "Oh take your mental game and give me talent." That kind of thing. Again I hesitate to call the physical aspect of the game over rated so how about if I turn the tables and call the mental game over looked. Actually the mental game begins with physical practice - you go to the putting green especially to work on the short game during the week and see and hear that ball go into the hole so that when you're on the course you're calling up that positive image - even on the tee you're goal is to see that ball going into the hole.

 

I do break some courses into segments in that I know I have to be here to shoot a good score through this group of holes but that's pre-round and it's not all courses. I always go hole by hole when I'm on the course - If I'm on number 13 there really isn't a thing I can do about what's going to happen on 14 now is there? I can see that the pin is tucked behind the trap and that the wind is blowing hard left to right and down so that I want to turn a 3 hybrid into the wind down the left side, leave 100 and let my gap wedge bleed into the pin on the wind - totally takes the trap out of play if I execute it properly and if I catch the ridge properly I've left on uphill putt and a chance at a birdie. Then I can worry about trying to unload off the tee on 14 to see if I can get home and give myself a crack at eagle. It doesn't help to be thinking about that on 13 any more than it helps to be thinking on 12 that I better birdie 12 or 14 or both to make up for what's going to happen here. If I focus on my drive and then hit my long club on the front left of the green I may just par 12 and then what happens on 13 and 14 is a bonus.

 

In short I have a strategy for each hole that I break down shot by shot once it's laid out - Each one of those shots has a very high success rate already programed in and the preshot routine helps to ensure that things go they way they were planned.

[JMiller]

In short I have a strategy for each hole that I break down shot by shot once it's laid out - Each one of those shots has a very high success rate already programed in and the preshot routine helps to ensure that things go they way they were planned.

 

I couldn't have said that any better. Pretty much what it comes down to.