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practice discussion

SCGolfer

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2007
760
0
ok some background.......I live within walking distance, 10th of a mile or so, of #11 on the home course. Current handicap 9, would like to get to 5 in the next year or so. about 80% of my practice is spent around the greens chipping/putting, just hitting different shots inside 100 yards. anyway due to this my short game is very solid, but I put it to the test a lot during rounds, hitting only about 35% of the greens, which leads me to the discussion I had with a buddy. He wants to know why I won't go to the driving range and try to improve on my gir instead of spending all my time working on my short game. Honestly I hate just hitting balls on the range, on the course I can set up shots, pretty much hit anything I can come up with plus its free. I do sometimes take my driver out and hit tee shots on different holes or take some irons and hit 150 yard shots, but mostly just wedges and putting. He atleast peaked my interest......so how do you guys practice?? what do my numbers need to be to get to a 5?? I am currently about 55% fairways, 35% greens and average about 32 putts. I think my iron play is strong and that the 55% fairways hurt my gir more than the shots I am hitting. I don't know......he has atleast peaked my interest


Jason
 

gpo

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2008
236
0
I am a 4. I hit about 50% of the greens. Range is really 8-12 a round.

First question is why are you not hitting greens. Are your drives leaving you opportunities to hit the green? I don't mean hitting a fairway. I mean leaving you a decent shot to hit the green. From there how often are you hitting the green when you have a shot at the green?

I am lucky that my main range has pretty good targets to hit at. They are greens, but just not the real real short grass. It gives me a feel of hitting into a green.
 

SiberianDVM

I love Hooters
Moderator
Jul 25, 2005
8,783
1,539
Augusta, GA
Country
United States United States
On the very rare occasions that I have put together a round in the 70's (3 to be exact), I have hit on average 12/14 fairways, 14/18 greens, and had 31 putts.

All of these are way better than my norms. Especially the GIR, which is usually about 4/18.

I'm always working on getting better, too, but it's 2 steps forwards, one (sometimes 3) steps backwards.

I practice about 50% long game, 50% short game. Any deviation from that and I feel like I am neglecting some parts.
 
OP
SCGolfer

SCGolfer

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2007
760
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #4
I pretty much average about 8 fairways and 6 greens, generally all 6 greens are hit from the fairway. I hit a fade and my miss is mostly short and right....off the tee and into the green. My home course has some very long par 4's that I generally have 4-5-6 iron into the greens which you can imagine a poor drive only makes worse. I feel like that is my problem more than anything. But on that topic I feel like I have a really good driver combo that will help with that.


Jason
 

gwlee7

Ho's from Rocky Mount, NC
Supporting Member
Jun 15, 2005
1,402
1
I am about like gpo. I am 5.7 atm and have been as low as 5.0. I don't hit many greens but I average 3 less putts a round than you do. There's 3 shot's right there.

There are also some "smart" things you can do that will keep your score from being high (which is a little different mindset for a lot of people who only think about going low).

One is to hit shots that you know you have a better than average chance of pulling off. If you even have to ask yourself "Can I get it through those limbs?" then you are better off hitting something under the limbs. I have hit many a GIR by hitting a low 6 iron from 100 yards out and from under some tree limbs. A good bump and run shot that you can keep low is a very handy shot to have.

Another important way to keep your score form getting too high is to never, and I mean never, follow a bad shot with a worse shot. Okay, so you hit a bad shot....don't hit a worse one. Hit a better one that gets you back in play even if it is chipping out sideways.

Work at ways of keeping your score from getting too high and I'll bet you are a 5 in no time.
 

usa1950

Divots like a 72 Playboy
Jul 15, 2007
599
0
Make your range sessions more fun.......


Never hit 10 drivers in a row, never hit 10 five irons in a row. I allow myself to hit 5-10 wedges in a row to get loose at first but after that.....

Driver
6 iron to a "green" or other similar target

Driver
Wedge to a "green"

Driver
hybrid to a "green"

Driver
8 iron to a "green"

You get the idea..... You could keep track of fairways and green in reg this way.

Also (I'm sure you do this, being a 10, I'm about a 12 or 13) hit your driver with a "fairway" in mind. On my range, the 250 sign is right of center, and the 275 sign is left of center. My "fairway" is between those two and I want my Driver to finish there regardless of how far I hit it.

Lastly, I never get too caught up in distance with range balls. The things are hard as rocks and have been hit 6 million times. The just do not carry at all. When I get a driver out there 275... I know that will be MUCH farther with a regular ball on the course. A pitching wedge going 95 or 100 is not big deal, as a regular ball will go my normal 110 or so on the course. I 'm looking for accuracy with the irons, not worried too much about distance. That 95 yard wedge that I "flushed" right on the sweet spot, but RIGHT at the flag I'm aiming at is fine with me, even if it's 20 yards short of the flag... right at it is what I am going for.
 

gpo

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2008
236
0
SC,
You can either work on not fading the ball or just playing it and taking an extra club. I would suggest getting real comfortable with your irons 4-7. But keep working on all aspects of your game.
 

usa1950

Divots like a 72 Playboy
Jul 15, 2007
599
0
I also love to hit balls late in the day. 7, 8 pm. The range is empty, and I can put my ipod on the bag stand, aim the earbuds toward me, crank up thd volume and hit while listening to music.

Clears the mind and allows me to simply swing the club.

Working on the putting green for 15 minutes while cranking the ipod is nice as well.
 
OP
SCGolfer

SCGolfer

Well-Known Member
Jan 12, 2007
760
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #9
gpo, I pretty much just play the fade. The one time I really made an effort to rid myself of it I turned it into a draw that became a hook and really messed with my head. If I find that I am off that day, I will just club up and work it out that way.

gw, I am working on atleast getting my average to 30 putts. My best round this year was a 76 with 26 putts. I can occasionally get to 29-30 and get to 78-80 but I am generally in the 32 putt range and shoot 80-82.


Jason
 

Eracer

No more triple bogies!!
Oct 31, 2005
12,405
8
When I'm hitting full shots, I typically warm up with 10 wedges to various distances, then I hit PW-7i-PW-Driver, and repeat that until the small bucket is gone. I almost never hit a large bucket. I line up every shot, aiming at a very specific target, and try to visualize fairways and greens.

I will occasionally swap out a differetn wedge, or mid-iron, or maybe hit 4-wood off a tee instead of driver, but the routine is basically the same:

Iron and driving club with wedge in between each.
 

Crossfire

PGA Apprentice
Supporting Member
Aug 10, 2006
810
1
When I practice I usually cycle with every club in my bag with 3 different shots. Wedges I go high, low, normal. The with Irons and woods I go fade, draw, knockdown. all to the same "area". I'll cycle through each club 2 or 3 times, taking my preshot routine every time. Then go out and play! Ive never seen anybody make a birdie on the driving range.
 

twofast2s

Well-Known Member
Dec 30, 2006
1,292
2
i usually spend about 4 hours at the range a week and about 5-10hrs around the green.

i'm playing to 9.8 right now, but i've been rather busy and haven't been able to practice much.

i think for the most part, putting/short game practice will give you better result when you're trying to get hndcp down, as it did for me this year.

so at the range. when i'm practicing, i never hit a same club to a same target more than once. use all of my clubs, trying to hit 200yd sign w/ my 6i as well as w/ my 3W. this helped me tremendously w/ my tempo and shaping shots. sometimes i play imaginary golf at the range like many people do. but if there's a certain club that i need to work on, and they are usually in groups; long irons, fw/driver, short iron distance control, etc. i work on that, still chainging my target each time. my GIR is not that good (avg 6), but still close enough to make par a good chance.
 

BStone

PGA Class A Professional
Supporting Member
Jan 18, 2006
1,487
44
Country
United States United States
I only worked a half day today, so got to get in a lot of good practice, granted, with my job practice sessions for me are a little different than others. Today was a "light day", I hit 400 balls and spent an hour and a half on short game/bunker play then I went to the putting green for an hour.

On the range I went through my normal warm up, starting with 8 iron and going up through every other club and then back down to the wedges. I am working on a slight grip change, so I spent a little more time with each club than normal, hitting eight shots per club before changing. Usually I hit five shots with each club, one normal shot, one draw, one fade, one high and one low.

Short game I will just throw a bunch of balls around the green and then chip them using different flights and levels of spin for each shot, putting each ball out after chipping it (learned that from Harvey Penick). Then some long bunker shots and fairway bunker work before finishing with green side bunkers and putting each ball out.

I use the Eyeline Bullseye putting cup to help with speed and line. It makes the opening for the cup about 2.5 to 3 inches wide so you have to hit the center of the hole. I also put tees in the green and putt to them so that when I see the hole it looks a lot bigger.
 

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