Honest Assessment

[revkev]

I had a great day on the course yesterday. I played in my Tuesday game with two friends and a young man who's a member of my congregation. I road with Adam who is 30, played college football is still very athletic and in great shape. He doesn't play much golf but hits the ball beautifully and has a nice touch around the greens although he needs to lose his lob wedge or else learn to play runners with it.

 

He's been as low as a 10 but is a 14 right now. My friends are a 14 and a 22 respectively.

 

Adam being young, playing with his pastor and not knowing the course took direction from me all day. He shot a very respectable 80. The other guys shot 92 and 98. Why? Because they haven't a clue how to manage their game or their expectations of it.

 

The 14 has the worst swing you've ever seen and does get more out of it than he deserves - he's also very good at not under clubing but he kills himself because he gets upset at shots that are more than acceptable. I pointed this out to Adam as we sat in the cart and watched him hit a punch shot from under some trees on a par 5 - the ground was wet, there was no reasonable expectation that he could get the ball through those trees and onto the green - he didn't but he did get the ball through the trees into a spot where up and down for par for very possible - had he not been so upset that he didn't get the ball on the green.

 

This is almost a hole by hole issue for Craig - he'll have 180, hit it in the fringe or just off the green in a safe spot and be ready to throw his club because he missed the green and furious at missing a 12 footer.

 

The lesson for many here is that you have to know what's reasonable on the course - would you like to get it on the green from under trees. Is that what you're trying to do? Of course, but putting it just short where up and down is in play is a very acceptable result and the positive player recognizes it. Would you like to make every 12 footer? Of course, you probably make around 25 percent of them though and when you miss you need to tap in and be satisfied as you walk off that you made a good stroke. Know what you are capable of and be realistic.

 

The 22 plays tons of golf - 2 or 3 times a week 52 weeks out of the year and is unredeemable in regards to his course management - I've tried, I give up but maybe you can learn. He pounds the ball - he has the skill to be closer to a 10 than a 20 and yet - he'll hit sand wedge from 120 into the wind because he hit it on that hole once when it was playing 108 down wind. He'll hit driver off the tee when his landing area is pinched by a trap and water right to about 15 yards wide (trust me he's not accurate enough for that) and if the shot is pulled off he'll leave 55 yards over water off a hanging lie to an elevated green. We putt everything out and he takes no care in cleaning up his short putts. He has three clubs in his a bag, a long iron, hybrid and fairway wood - that all go the same distance.

 

He's a text book on how to shoot the highest score possible despite trying and having enough game to shoot a much lower one.

 

My point in all of this is that if you want to play the best golf possible there is much more to it than being able to hit great shots on the range - you need to know what you are capable of doing and apply those capabilities to the course that is in front of you. It takes some thought and some planning. It's what makes golf a great game.

[BlackGumbo]

great observations.

 

And the thing is, there are so many shots that have to be taken that are hard, and one has to have the mental aspect of both why, and the expectation of results.

 

Two examples;

Yesterday was not far off the green on a Par 3. easy enough Lob - I practice it more. But also easy chip - which I have little practice with.. so knew I had to chip...lol. and cost me a stroke. And chipped again...a little better, yet it cost me another stroke - maybe.

OTOH, I know I had to try it. real course conditions and all

 

Also a in the woods, like the JD playoff situation.. only tighter.

came real close to bending a shaft on a tree trunk. No expectations.

luckily the ball went to a good place

I could have just as easily cussed about it, and kicked it with my foot...

 

Overall, it is hard to "man up" and take shots you don't want to, for the sake of ego, or one day's scorecard.

[Mr_Theoo]

This was my mindset today when I went and played. I didnt try to hit the "hero" shot i just tried to get off the tee and at a manageable 2nd shot distance. Even though i shot 115 cause i had trouble getting off the tee I was still pleased because of how well my short game was. I only 3 putted twice all round. Did have a 4 putt though when i lost focus on a bad par 5

[revkev]

This is what I like about my golf league - its modified stableford and individual no team stuff - since a bogey is worth a point you really learn to focus on the quickest way out when you get into trouble - take your medicine stuff - I wish I had learned that lesson a long, long time ago.

 

My approach to golf has changed from hit it as far as possible to how do I fit my game into what lies ahead of me between here and the hole in the fewest strokes possible. That way I go one hole at a time (not one shot but one hole.)

[Super Tuna]

The 14 has the worst swing you've ever seen and does get more out of it than he deserves - he's also very good at not under clubing but he kills himself because he gets upset at shots that are more than acceptable.

 

I just want to touch on this point.

 

Your example isn't the same, but this bugs me on the course as well. Hitting a bad shot and getting a good result is annoying. Yeah, I got lucky this whole but I likely won't the next time. I want to execute the shot properly so I can do it next time as well not get screwed then because I didn't get the lucky bounce.

 

I often get looks for not being pleased with shots with an acceptable result and it's because I'm not looking at the result. I'm looking at did I make the stroke correctly, did I hit the target area or there abouts, did I think the shot through properly. If those things are correct, the result will come. If they aren't and I still get a good result, I don't learn anything from the shot that will help me get better.

[revkev]

Actually that brings up another interesting point Super T - the I got screwed factor - How often do we think or have we heard that one.

 

The reality is that "breaks" always even themselves out - play enough golf and you will end up hitting enough shots as planned, that were well thought out, that didn't pan out quite right for some reason or another. It happens, the course is alive, conditions change sometimes in a nano second, it's golf, nothing fair about it. Conversly there is that time when you hit a crapy iron that's heading straight towards the one miss you can't afford and it hits a hard spot, jumps over the bunker on your putting rather than pulling your sand wedge.

 

Just remember the next time you get a bad break the time you got the good one - they even out.

 

JMiller and I disagree on this next point - for me to get rid of the last shot when it was a less than acceptable result I have to quickly replay why and then erase. But that's me - whatever you need to do to get over it - get over it.

 

Just realize that in the end you get what you earn on the golf course, that's what makes it such an interesting sport.

[dru_]

Love this conversation, but I find that I differ not so much in opinion, but in approach. There for a while I obsessed about the strokes and got frustrated. The 'in round shot by shot analysis' created a situation where a bad shot would lead to 3-4 more quickly spiraling out of control.

 

Paralysis by analysis if you will.

 

I had to quit worrying about the game on a shot by shot basis and just enjoy the round. By letting a boneheaded swing moment go, my net scores went down and I've had far fewer implosion +4 stroke holes where I started overthinking things trying to compensate for a bad swing or decision. Let's be honest, there isn't a million dollar payday resting on recovering that one stroke, so the real answer is to just relax, keep swinging and letting your body work things out.

 

The place for me to actively work on swing mechanics is on the range, not the course ( and for the record I loathe the range ). Honestly, I have seen more benefit in my scoring through learning to relax and enjoy the round than I ever did from obsessing about each swing. Sure I still keep metrics and spent a good bit of time on the practice greens and chipping out in the yard while the kids play, but when it comes to during the round, I've had to teach myself that bad shots come. Don't sweat them, take your lumps and move on, sometimes the results can be just fine. The best example for me happened just this week.

 

Hole 7, 295 yards to the pin from the back tees. Uphill, with right sloping fairway. The 13th tee box is about 25 yards to the right of the green, with a sand trap and nice little 20 foot tall hill with crepe myrtles along the top ridge between them. The right play is a 3w or 4i lay up and wedge in, but I wasn't thinking, pulled the driver and samashed it. Oh it had the distance, but I pushed it a little right. It was a pair of mental mistakes, and in the past would have resulted in a swear word or two along with some internal chatter. Shrug, oh well, go find the ball, and since nothing over there is staked, play it out. Worst case I'll have to take my penalty and play to provisional I punched out there with the 4i. Got up to the green ( after wedging the provisional into the green to save time on the course ). Walked across the green over to the 13th tee and there sits the ball on the far edge of the tee box. So I'm looking at about a 50 yard wedge that has to get up and over about 50 feet of hill and tree. I'm sitting a little fluffy in the bermuda so I can get under it. Afraid that a 60 will just go too vertical from the fluffy lie, I grab my 56, open up a touch and take a nice and smooth 3/4 swing. Contact is good, and it's up enough, but it's a blind landing for me, so I'll just have to take my lumps and see if I cleared the sand. limb back over the hill and onto the green where my playing partners are waiting, quietly. get to the green, and ask where the ball is, and one of them points to the cup. Apparently it landed on the fringe, released onto the green and rolled out another 10 feet downhill right into the cup. Sure it was a lucky result, but the chances of making that swing if I was uptight and overthinking it from the prior? nil and none.

 

Yeah, sometimes it is hard to do, but at the same time, it is the *right* thing to do. Enjoy the round, fix what's broken OFF the course.

[revkev]

As I said different strokes for different folks.

 

I enjoy the round more than enough Dru and certainly folks enjoy playing with me - the key to golf is to learn to focus for a minute and a half or even less somewhere around 72 times in a four hour span.

 

My personality does not allow me to let a bad shot go - that doesn't mean I'm working on mechanics - I don't often say or write this but my mechanics are way, way above average - I know it because others have told me - starting with my pro in Wisconsin to my pro here who wanted my pro in Wisconsin's phone number so he could learn how to teach my swing, to my TMag fitter to the results that I get when I hit the launch monitor - my smash factor is high, my AoA is almost optimal and more importantly it repeats. Hence the low handicap. When I hit a bad shot I need to get rid of it - I get rid of it but making the proper swing or putting stroke after the fact, visualizing the proper result and then moving on - it works for me.

 

I never work on mechanics during a round - it simply does not work for me nor anyone else I've ever played with - doesn't mean there isn't someone out there whom it works for. I work hard on mechanics off the course - on the range, in front of the mirror, at my desk at work for a bit of a mental break. I also work on my touch and feel practicing. I do this so that when I'm on the course I can be concerned about fitting what I do into what confronts me.

 

If that seems like a long process it's not - It took my partner and I all of four hours to play 27 holes last Sunday.

 

To dru I'd say the choice of driver cost you even if you ended up okay that one time - that's the point that I think Super Tuna was making - a club off the tee to a perfect number will yeild way lower scores on average - But perhaps you play to hit that one great shot - that's great so long as you aren't playing tournament golf - my goodness when I'm playing for fun I'll try all sorts of wierd stuff that I would never do in a tournament or a money game. What I've learned from that is that I'll make my best score playing it straight - I'd have a way better chance of making eagle my laying to 85 on a hole and holing out that wedge shot rather than trying to max a club out trying to knock it on the green from too far away and risking trouble.

[apprenti23]

It's this simple-

 

Hit the shot you know you can hit, not the one you think you should.

 

If you can remember that quote, it'll probably save you 3-4 shots a round some people ten or more.

[dru_]

To dru I'd say the choice of driver cost you even if you ended up okay that one time - that's the point that I think Super Tuna was making - a club off the tee to a perfect number will yeild way lower scores on average - But perhaps you play to hit that one great shot - that's great so long as you aren't playing tournament golf - my goodness when I'm playing for fun I'll try all sorts of wierd stuff that I would never do in a tournament or a money game. What I've learned from that is that I'll make my best score playing it straight - I'd have a way better chance of making eagle my laying to 85 on a hole and holing out that wedge shot rather than trying to max a club out trying to knock it on the green from too far away and risking trouble.

 

That was exactly my point, it was a mental mistake. I knew better but grabbed the club without thinking (and then made a second mental mistake with the swing itself, which compounded the problem). I rectified the problem with the provisional, even though it ended up not being used. In the past, those two errors on that swing would have eaten at me, and I would have created more problems by playing tight and over analyzed. By letting it slide, and fixing it, I got back to playing loose and things kept going well. So I agree completely. You have to work at the mechanical things off the course, and the mental things have to be addressed on the course.

 

This example, it turned out alright, but was all wrong mentally. I should never have played the driver on that hole, I pulled it out because the tee is normally 20 yards further back, putting the landing zone for a smooth swing driver in a nice wide flat section of the hole, and that's what I normally play on that hole. Short of that, everything comes back towards the tee and right into the rough. It was a mental mistake, and I compounded it by overswinging to make sure I got there. Dumb, followed dumb.

 

Like you, I would tend to let that eat at me, but I have to force myself to let it go, or it spirals, and that hole is a Par 4 that I've walked away from with a 10 because of it before. Everyone is different, but I have to let it go, or I get more frustrated when I make more errors trying 'too hard'.

[BK in TEXAS]

It's this simple-

 

Hit the shot you know you can hit, not the one you think you should.

 

If you can remember that quote, it'll probably save you 3-4 shots a round some people ten or more.

 

 

 

HaHa, now THIS is one of the 2-3 best pearls in this whole frickin forum. And I guarantee ya that 90-95% of ya are gonna say, "wow, that's some great advice, boy did Apprenti nail it on that. I'm gonna start playin that way."

 

Excellent point!

[BK in TEXAS]

Good thread too Kev!

[apprenti23]

HaHa, now THIS is one of the 2-3 best pearls in this whole frickin forum. And I guarantee ya that 90-95% of ya are gonna say, "wow, that's some great advice, boy did Apprenti nail it on that. I'm gonna start playin that way."

 

Thanks Richard! Someone much wiser than I gave me that tip many moons ago and it was revolutionary for my game. I tell damn near all of my students that and they have it on a note card in ALL of their bags!

 

I wouldn't be surprised if someone told Mickelson that tip a few weeks ago!

[revkev]

It's this simple-

 

Hit the shot you know you can hit, not the one you think you should.

 

If you can remember that quote, it'll probably save you 3-4 shots a round some people ten or more.

 

Best quote ever if you want to shoot the lowest score possible. Richard also nailed it with his 90 percent result comment. That's my point - I've read if you don't think you have a 80 percent chance at success don't hit the shot - I'd prefer 90 plus quite frankly understanding that success is a reasonable and not perfect result.

 

@ Richard - I'm not saying you are doing this but I'm sensing from replies that people are misunderstanding what I'm doing after a bad shot - I'm not analysing my swing - If I don't do something after a bad shot to let it go I will hang onto it - I'm doing what it takes to let it go - others are better at just blowing it off than I am - I need a second to get it out of my system - I could throw a club if that would make everyone feel better.

[silver & black]

You guys are the best. I learn a lot from reading what you guys post.

 

I'm one of those mid cappers that is going to make a very conscious effort to take this advice to heart:

"It's this simple-

 

Hit the shot you know you can hit, not the one you think you should.

 

If you can remember that quote, it'll probably save you 3-4 shots a round some people ten or more."

[revkev]

I love Richard's posts because I was on another website where I would say the stuff he did and get no support - it drove me nuts so I've basically left even though I still have some friends there.

 

He's spot on about this and so was that quote that Silver and Black grabbed - just so spot on - If all of us just had the discipline to always hit the shot we can whether than the shot we think we should - man could you imagine the scores we'd post?

 

I'm telling you I play with lots of mid to high handicappers who could significantly change their handicap just by adopting that approach.

 

What I think is that lots of people don't care so much about what they shoot because they really aren't playing competitive golf anyway - they go out to have fun their way and that's absolutely fine. To me the most fun is had when the lowest possible score is shot.

[Mr_Theoo]

What I think is that lots of people don't care so much about what they shoot because they really aren't playing competitive golf anyway - they go out to have fun their way and that's absolutely fine. To me the most fun is had when the lowest possible score is shot.

 

This is exactly how I feel. When I go out and play with some of my friends who don't follow the simple rules it kinda bugs me because if you're not trying to do your best within the rules where is the challenge

[dru_]

This is exactly how I feel. When I go out and play with some of my friends who don't follow the simple rules it kinda bugs me because if you're not trying to do your best within the rules where is the challenge

 

At the same time, you have to be able to let go of a mistake, and get right for the next swing. That is the thin line to walk.

[Mr_Theoo]

At the same time, you have to be able to let go of a mistake, and get right for the next swing. That is the thin line to walk.

 

Very true

[Aotearoa_Brad]

This is great. Just fashioned a card with the 'hit the shot you know...' message on it, which now has pride of place in my wallet. Watch out 80, here I come!

[Mr_Theoo]

This is great. Just fashioned a card with the 'hit the shot you know...' message on it, which now has pride of place in my wallet. Watch out 80, here I come!

 

Im gonna make one of these and put my yardages on the other side

[revkev]

I get the chance to test that maxium again in a few hours - it's always a challenge.