most important parts of the game

Mental, mental, mental.

Your subconcious knows how to swing the club very, very well. The trick is to let it by quieting your concious mind.

if you have a great short game than your putting doesn't need to be that good as long as you can sink a 3 footer. of if you have a great iron game then your short game isnt' too vital if you are always landing on the green. but driving can be the most important, i dont' care how well you do on par 3's if you drive in the sticks everytime making your iron shots hard and making yourself need to be a good aproach shooter or an outstanding putter.

so i can't relaly rate it it is all vital. i think that is like rating the arms in the swing vs. the upper or lower body, it is all vital, and all important.

so i think you should be good at all parts but if i had to be great in one, i think it would be short game. that takes care of two things, if you have a wild iron shot than you can recover with a good chip shot and it you have bad putting your great short game should eliminate the need for good putting if you can chip/pitch so close to the hole

hi bill
all components of the game have equal importance.
if one part of your game is weak then your scores will suffer as i found to my cost this weekend!
i played a course for the 1st time par73 very long.
if i could putt i would have had a score of around 90 unfortunately it ended up 107 basically tee to green very good but too many 3 putts
very annoying to be on in 2 on a par5 and then only par the hole!
my main focus of practise this winter is putting

To me the important parts of the game are;

1. driving

2. short irons/short game.

You need to be able to hit the fairways. Once you can do this, on most holes you then only need 7 iron or below to hit the greens. For the majority of par 3s 7 iron or below will suffice.

Simple approach to the game;

- Learn to drive
- Practice your 150 yd shot

If can do these 2 things consistently well your scores will fall dramatically.

hi
i find putting the most important as you cant recover from a bad putt and you can recover from a bad drive, if you miss a putt that shots lost forever and its a instant shot lost, with a bad drive or mid iron you always have a chance to put it on the green and have a one putt to save, i know this as its the way i use to play when i was a bad putter.
i now trust my putting game to save me shots and working on my short game lot more now too.
i use to go to the range and hit 150 ball and most with my driver but it did not help my game a bit, only when my putting improved did my score get lots better and my overall game improve, i still only drive a ball 260 yds with the run on it but thats far enough as it on the fairway most of the time. my mid aand long irons are ok but could be better, but i want to have a good short game for start of next year and will work on that and my putting too through the winter months.
i know i will gain more with a good short game and a good putting game.
one think i have learned since i started to putt good it i dont have to aim at the pin and i can look to hit the middle of the green knowing i will two putt. and if i know the green aim for what will give me a flatish or uphill putt.
bill

If you have a good putting game, it takes pressure off both your long and short game.

If you have a good short game, it takes pressure off your long and putting game.

If you have a good long game, it takes pressure off your short game.

It goes back to Mr. Penick: A good putter is a match for anyone. A bad putter is a match for no one.

Beyond that, closer to the pin you can get on your approach, the better, IMO.

The other factor which somewhat determines the order is the course you are playing on.

Look at the Pro's, some of the tour events are played on wide open courses the long hitters have field days (a lot of driver wedges), then there are tighter venues with bunkers and hazards that force a pro to layup off the tee (long irons) and hit mid irons on to the green. The Majors usually come down to short game, putting and driving.

Where you put Short game or putting depends on wether you are hitting or missing greens, but really all of it is so inter related it is hard to get a exact order. If you are knocking your irons stiff on appraoch shots even a poor putter is going to make pars .......

I feel if you place importence on one aspect of the game, psychologicaly you are affirming that that is the area you must develop more than any other and therefore rely on the most.

We all understand that each day on the course is different, one day I might sink every putt in sight, others I can't drop anything outside two feet.

Ofcourse we must practice to keep these 'up and down' tendencies to a minimum but if you place importence and rely on one aspect, what happens when that aspect is not working for you? Your day may be shot because your game isn't complete (well rounded).

If you have placed no importence on any single aspect and one aspect does falter you have the rest of your game to rely on to steadily manoeuvre the course.

I think you are absolutely right. Have you found a way to quiet the mind…. For golf, like other things I think it is a work in progress, but for some it comes naturally. You can usually see these types of people they remain unfazed and calm.

I played a round today and it was my best ball striking day ever. I had a few monster drives (the fairway was cut really nice and the ball rolled forever – I have a Cobra driver – and it was also the LOUDEST drive ever – with my new 3 hybrid I was on the green in two – but I knew my putting was weak and I couldn’t shake the feeling. I drove a few greens, I had a great long game, and from 100 plus out I was fine, 20 yrds in I had trouble, but he story is the more I thought about how bad my putting was the worse it got. On some holes I putted four or more times – up and down slopes.

Another time, on the same course, I was playing in light drizzle – it was a little cold and I was alone. I still felt tense putting! I thought, this is nuts – there is no one here who cares? So, I tried a little experiment. When I missed a putt – I would re-putt from that position or further out – but this time I had to do it standing on one leg, while putting at the same time. I was putting so well standing on one leg that I continued to do it for a few other holes. The lesson, I thought, is that I was more focused on keeping my balance and less focused on missing the hole.

Success breeds confidence. It is hard to convince yourself that you are better than you really are. After a summer of golf lessons, putting is the one area I have left for last. Once I reconcile this, I hope my score will drop significantly.

james

hi jamesh
i find that with putting i only spend a minuet or so picking the line, i find my first look at the line is always pretty good, i spend more time on working out the pace of the putt.
since i started doing this way my putting has improved a lot. before i would second guess my line and break and found my first line was always closer. like you said the more i thought about the line the harder i made it for me to pick the right line.
bill

Statistically, GIR and putting are the #1 and #2 factors that determine your final score (for example, if you hit 8 GIR's, putt decent and don't blow up, you should statistically be <= 80). This means that to statistically maximize your chances for a good score, you should practice approach shots and putting more than anything.

Here are some hints:

* Determine how far from the green your drives generally end up. Practice approach shots from this distance. Generally around 150-200 yards.

* Determine how far from the hole your GIR shots generally end up. Practice putting from this distance. Generally around 7-15 yards.

* Determine how far from the green your missed GIR generally end up. Practice short game from this distance. Generally 10-30 yards.

* If our GIR approach shots are generally very far from the hole (>20y), you will 3 putt more often. Practice approach and lag putting.

* If you don't regularly hit FIR, you will have a harder time achieving GIR. Practice driving. If you hit a lot of OB, into water, trees, really deep rough etc, use a 3W, hybrid or long iron until you've learned to use your driver.

* Regardless of your statistics, practice 6 feet putts and lag putts. Many players (pros also) regards the 6 feet putt as the most important shot in golf. Whether you agree or not, if you practice 6 feet putts (direction control) and lag putts (distance control), you don't need to practice any other type of putt.

__________________
Regards, Peter
(WITB)

If you have read you Dave Pelz, he has examined this question exhaustively. I think the conclusion he arrived at was the short game was most important. From 100 yards out if you can consistently get it close to the pin, you will score high on the money list. I think Tiger is or was the best at this.

I think the answer to what is most important part of the game might be different for everyone. My long game, and from 100 yards in has improved a lot after a summer of golf lessons. I didn’t work on my putting thought, and my score has not come down dramatically. I almost always 3 putt or more; I can go over 400 yards with two shots and get on the green and then I four putt or worse. If I had spent some time on putting and less time on my driver and irons, I am sure that my score card would be better.

James

This is also my philosophy. I feel if I can get a 7 or 8 iron in on my approach then I should be on most greens. Look at the top players on the pga tour. They are always tops in GIR. This stat can not be missread. Look at the leaders score card in a tournament. They almost always have the best gir % .

Just to be different, I would go with course management. Regardless of what part of the swing/stroke game is your strongest, you still need to manage the course so that you can play it with your own swing/stroke strong points. It is always the weakest parts of our game that cost us strokes. GJS