How To Shoot In The Low 80's Part 2

Hi folks.
Many people have tried my system and have asked what they can now do to abtain a constant level of consistancey or even take their scores into the seventies.This is going to be a work in progress for me , so i appologise for any sudden changes on this page.
The only way that we can lower our score further is to become more consistant in every aspect of the game, on and off the course
Ok ,first lets look at ways we can improve our consistancey off course.
* Know your distances for every club in your bag , this will hopefully stop any second guessing on the course.
* Develope a sound repeatable pre-shot routine ( see next post )
* Find a make and type of ball that you are comfortable with and stick with it. If you mix and match your golf balls you are never going to become consistant for the simple reason that, different balls react differently off the club face.
* Get your clubs fitted to match your height and swing.
* Make regular visits to your pro. He can spot any changes in your swing that you may not be aware of. find a pro who videos your swing , becuase he can compare your swing to earlier visits.
* most importantly:- practice your short game and constantly check your fundamentals, grip , posuture ( paying close attention to spine angle ), and alignment.

Buliding consistancey on the course.
* Plan how you are going to play each hole and stick to it
* From the tee your aim is to get the ball onto the fairway. you will not become consistant if you are constantly driving into the trees.
* don't be drawn into a long driving duel by a playing partner who is long off the tee.Stick to you plan for that hole.
* If your ball comes to rest in the trees, don't let your ego prevent you from taking a drop.
* Never follow a bad shot with another bad shot.
* If your ball comes to rest in the rough, your aim will be to get the ball back into play. Don't be tempted to go for that once in a lifetime shot, 9/10 they don't work.
* when planning your approach shot always aim for the centre of the green and don't be tempted to go for the flag. Green keepers like to place the flag near to hazards to tempt you to go for it. play to the centre of the green and You will be supprised how often you will land close to flag.
* If to reach the green in 2 is going cuase you to swing all out , lay up . You risk losing your rhythm by speeding up your natural tempo.
* Always keep it simple around the greens, never pitch when a chip willdo, never chip with a long swing wehn you can use a shorter swing with a less lofted club. If you have a decent lie , with no obstacle in front of you ,why not try putting from the side of the green.
* Never be rushed into making your putt. Mark your ball, pick it up and assess the the shot.
* Never take short putts for granted, give them the same attention as a longer putt.

Remember:- Never experiment on the course, keep it for the practice range.
Make a note of wich aspect of your round gave you the most problems and make it the focul point of your next practice session.

cheers folks.

aft.

__________________
the dog wags the tail....the tail dosn't wag the dog

Hi folks.
The surest way of hitting good shots consistantly is to develope a sound pre-shot routine.We are creatures of habit and respond to repitition.
Here is an example of my pre-shot routine.
Stand a few yards behind the ball with your chosen club in hand and take a mental picture of your target.I like to take a couple of gentle half swings at this point , just to get a feel for my natural tempo.
Try to visualise the ball flight of the shot you are about to hit.
Walk to your ball and position yourself so are parallel to the target line.
Place the clubhead behind the ball so that it is square to your target.
Now take your posture and pay attention to grip, ball position and alignment.Look to the target and gently shuffle your feet ( i like to keep constantly moving ), relax your arms and take a couple of waggles.
Take one last look at the target and try to sense the shot.look back to the ball, exhale ( helps you to relax ) and think of your swing key ( my swing key is: i try to anticipate my follow through ) .
Pull the trigger and swing.
incorporate a pre-shot routine into your practice sessions . repeat over and over until it becomes instinctive.
You can use this one or a modified version but you must use a pre-shot routine if you want to make more consistantly good shots .

cheers . aft

__________________
the dog wags the tail....the tail dosn't wag the dog

a couple things that come to mind
learn what wedges are best for what lies
ex. sand wedge for deep rough, light rough, not the best for tight lies
pw for light rough, tight lies
lw, good for tight lies, not fluffy ones, club will slide under it

learn to read the grain in the rough, if you are hitting with the grain you may get a flier so club back one or two, if you are hitting into the grain, club up two or just play it safe and lay up

If you attempt an average of one flop shot a round you are attempting too many, Good players can hit them, they are not that hard, but they are normally not the safe play. If you find yourself needing to hit them often, then you are using bad course management.

Great post aftford.

Certainly advice in here that we can all use. I certainly always set out to try and do the same things before each shot but when I get out on the course I tend not to do it consistently and this always ends up damaging my score.

Two recent examples are ;

1. I was 6 over after 13 holes and looking to hit my best round ever. I eventually ended up 15 over par due to trying to be too cautious and changing my normal routine (the rain also played a part).

2. In a recent matchplay game I was 2-up after nine. Changed my routine, probably by thinking too far ahead and not taking the game each shot at a time and lost the match 3 & 2 !!

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hi aftford
another great post by you, think everything you said is very sound and will help drop shots of your score, can i add one thing! its what Jack Nicklaus said and that is aim for the middle of the green and take your two putts and you will end up with a few one putts.
keep up the good work bill

Thanks bill .
I do mention ignoring the flag and that it is best to aim for the centre of the green, i just couldn't remember who said it.
Thanks for clearing it up for me

cheers

i tried using your few clubs rule and played a 9 hole course with just a 5,7,9 iron and putter and was 3 shots better than with my full set of clubs, sorry i missed bit about going for middle of green, see it now sorry. you ever think about teaching, you have such a great way of putting it over so people understand, look forward to see more of your future inputs.
thanks again
bill

Thanks again bill.
Well done with your score.
I have been giving serious thoughts to teaching recently ( with a lot of encouragement from the folks at GTO ) .
i grew up in quite poor conditions and spent many years without the aid of a pro to help me . I would love to work on some kind of inner city project.
Who knows what the gods have in store for me.

cheers

best of luck if you do, what i have read by you on here i would think you would be a great hit with any one you teached.
hope it works out.
bill

Thanks a lot Bill.
I will keep you posted.

aft

hi aft
yes would love to know how you get on, bet it would be a lot of hard work but you would learn so much too, but wonderful rewards when you have your ticket as a teacher.
we all have dreams just some people make them happen and the rest go on dreaming.
best of luck
bill

Hi folks .
here are some good tips that i think will help to become more consistant on the green.
Putting.
** my first tip is: always mark your ball, pick it up and clean it. You will be supprised at how many putts you will miss because of a dirty ball . Even if it looks clean, pick it up and give it a wipe.This also stops you from rushing your putt

** On long putts , if the green looks pretty level and you are having trouble findind the break, just aim directly at the hole. If you get the pace of the putt there or thereabouts, you won't be that far out and you will leave yourself a nice easey 2nd putt.

** Always let your through swing come to its own natural finish ( harvey pennwick always taught his students to keep the take-away and followthrough the same length. But i think this causes people to slow down through impact ,because they are concerned with the amount of follow through ), Let the length of backswing and speed of putt denote its own length of followthrough and you will find that you are putting with more freedom and fluidity.

** Always take a couple of practice putts to try and gain a feeling for the length.

** never let yourself feel pressured by playing partners into rushing your putt.

remember: treat a 2 foot putt exactly the same as a 6 foot putt, both need the same routine and amount of concentration.

aft

__________________
the dog wags the tail....the tail dosn't wag the dog