So, this past weekend at Doral, the bombers tamed the course. Dustin Johnson came out on top, ahead of fellow bombers; Bubba Watson and J.B. Holmes. Their power helped them to hit to places where us mere mortals can only dream of, and stay out of trouble, for the most part.
I don't feel that this helps the regular golfer, however. All this does is feed into the propaganda that is put out there by the equipment manufacturers, internet instruction programs and their respective marketing teams. They all want us trying to hit the ball farther. They do everything to make us want to hit the ball as far as they do... and why not? It looks awesome, and like a lot of fun, right?
The trouble is; when we try to do that, we over swing, causing us to lose balance and control, which leads to the ball flying anywhere but where we intend. It all sounds and looks good, but the truth is, unless you're out on the range smacking 1000 balls a day, you'll never have the consistency to hit the ball that long, and stay out of trouble. Sure those guys find trouble too, but since they are out on the range smacking 1000 balls a day, they also practice getting out of that trouble. Those guys can hit from the rough and still manage to salvage a decent shot, most of the time. We are lucky to advance it to a place where we might have a decent lie and have a chance to make good contact on the next shot. More often than not, when we find the deep stuff, we'll hack at it and advance it half way to where we were hoping, if we're lucky. The odd time that we make decent contact, the clubface will open or shut dramatically, sending the ball who knows where.
I find it very frustrating that the industry as a whole, including the TV announcers, TV and online instructors, and the equipment manufacturers are always telling us we need to hit the ball farther. It's no wonder the average handicap hasn't come down over the past 50+ years. I really wish someone who has influence would come out and speak the truth, that what we (the amateur, recreational golfer) really needs to focus on is keeping the ball in play. Stay in the fairway. Stay out of trouble. Avoid penalty strokes and strokes taken punching out of trouble, and watch your scores drop.
In my opinion, the root of higher scores than are within our true potential, and much frustration, is this desire that seems to be forced upon us to hit the ball 300 + yards. Sure that would be great, if we could do it regularly and with consistent accuracy, but we can't. The real truth is we don't really need to hit the ball much more than 200 yards.
Examples:
An average par 5 for us mortals might be about 525 yards. If we hit:
Tee shot - Driver - 220 yards
2nd shot - Fairway wood - 200 yards
Approach shot - Wedge/Short iron - 100 yards
= 520 yards
2 putts yields a par.
A really long par 4 might be 430 yards. If we hit:
Tee shot - Driver - 220 yards
2nd shot - Fairway wood - 200 yards
= 420 yards
From here, we are either putting or chipping. If we 2 putt or get up and down, we have a par.
If we play with this approach all the time, without gearing up and trying to crush the ball 300 + yards, and focus on just making good contact and keeping the ball in play, we can avoid the double and triple bogeys that kill our rounds. If we all did this, the average handicap would soon begin to drop, but we are all victims of marketing and ego, making us think that the key to lowering our scores is crushing the ball.
So, I believe that while is is a lot of fun watching DJ, Bubba, JB, Rory, Adam, and the other bombers hit the ball a long way, we should not try to emulate them. We need to play within our own capabilities, keeping the ball in play and be satisfied scoring in the low 80's and maybe in the 70's once in a while when the short game comes around. It's not that far fetched. We just need to buy in.
All true, but easier said than done! I spend a lot of time recovering from my drives, but it's all part of the game.
ReplyDeleteall true, except the avg golfer hits the fairway i would say 30-40% of the time, so 60-70% your approach is out of rough or worse, making that GIR maybe a 5-10%, #1 thing golfers have to learn about their own game is what club they hit best, if that means your best club is a 5 iron and you hit it straight....USE it off the tee.....from example above on a par 5, 520 yards you hit a 5 iron 180 off the tee and hit fairway 80% of time, and than hit 5 iron 170 from fairway and stay on fairway again 80% of time your 170 out in the fairway and you go to your 6 iron or stay with 5? and you hit green 80% of time, but instead most grab driver hit it 220 and in rough or worse 70% of time, than hit 150 out of rough and still hit fairway 30% of time and now were are in same spot as 5 iron guy but we are still in rough or worse with a 30% chance of hitting the green. next time your playing with buddies take a 5 iron to tee on a par 5, bet all your buddies say, what u doing?? than answer, "paring the whole?? lets see where you put your driver??" when i am struggling with driver I hit 5 wood off the deck usually 200 and usually straight....than hit it again, I am now 120 in.......
ReplyDeleteI found this stat on the internet by shotlink......in 1980 on tour 32 golfers avg drive was 250yrds, in 2011 there was 0, in 1980, 84 golfers hit between 250-260, in 2011, again 0, in 1980 53 golfers were in the 260-270 range, in 2011 was 1, in 1980 6 golfers were in the 270-280 and in 2011 there were 19, no one in 1980 was hitting 280+ but in 2011 64 were between 280-290, 84 between 290-300 and 21 more than 300.
chipping saves major strokes, practice that 90% of time and drive 10% of time at the range
a great app for android phones is easyscorecardpro, search it on your play store, keeps handicap and tons of stats, not jsut for you can put your buddies in there too, last year my GIR was 35.51 par 3, 35.88 par 4 and 56.88 par 5's, fairways hit was 50.98 par 4 and 50.46 par 5, and for putting, 2.01 avg for GIR and 1.67avg for missed GIR, chipping is where you make up strokes.
Thanks for the comments. Anonymous - If I can sort through all the stats, I think you are supporting my position. I think much of the problem is the average golfer compares himself/herself to touring pros. The fact is we don't practice enough to be able to recover the way they do. You're right about chipping saving strokes, especially when we miss so many greens. Taking the approach I am advocating will mean greens will be missed (often short), but at least we'll be in a good position to make a decent chip and either get up and down for par, or take bogey at worst. To me this seems much better than double or triple bogey, because we had to hack out of the deep rough or punch out from the trees. The approach I am promoting here will make things a lot less stressful and as a result lower our scores. It just won't be very flashy.
ReplyDeleteRick - I agree with you 100%. It is easier said than done. We all let our ego get in the way. I am just as guilty as anyone, which is why often my scores are higher than desired. I did play a round near the end of last season, where I committed to this approach. I was able to hit 12 fairways, and managed to stay on the fairway or very close to it on my 2nd shots. I chipped fairly well, getting up and down a number of times, and took 30 putts. The end result was a 73. I was completely shocked. I am a 9 handicap, so 73 was a very good score.
It wasn't very exciting. I didn't hit any 300 yard drives and didn't reach any par 5 greens in 2. I just managed to play a relatively boring (but stress free) round with no doubles or triples, and score well. Trouble is, I haven't managed to acquire the discipline to stick with this approach 100% or the time. I, like anyone else tend to let the ego creep in when playing with the buddies, and the swing gets a little more aggressive. This allows me to see much more of the course, and shoot higher scores.
I am going to make a serious effort to take this approach more this year. Hopefully, I will and this will bring the handicap down.