How hard do you hit the ball on an average round with your clubs percentage wise.

I tend to hit my driver at about 85% and my irons at about 75% because i get more control hitting the ball at that swing speed.

Just wondered how everyone else hits it,I know people who go all out with every club regardless if it's their driver or 8 iron and also people who are swingers of the club and hit everything at 75% of their capacity to gain more accuracy.

Sounds far to complicated for me   I try and have pretty much one swing flow othewise I would be all over the shop, I would say around 75-80% for everything for me

Darren do you never go all out for the big one with the driver on special occasions

Don't really have a set swing speed. I just try and keep smooth and have a good tempo. I try and accelerate through impact, as sometimes i can quit on the ball.

But you absolutely have to "give it the message" with the driver.

Giving it the message

Not on every tee shot Nick(i hope)

I couldn't tell you a specific percentage but I do know that I don't hit any of my clubs at full speed.

If I do hit a full speed shot with my driver I get a big slice.

Russ

When i'm playing well, my playing partners will say "nice smooth swing Paul" which is probably around 75%.

When i'm playing poor its around 95%, as this is where most of my problems occur.

So in this post i should be paying more attention to what i'm saying and RELAX.

I tend to hit both with the same speed, however and I'm sure that I'm not the only one when the wind is behind me and I want to just hit the ball at the same speed, the old red horns come out at the top of my backswing and I'm going to give that little white thing a right spanking which results in a variety of flights none of which are straight

 My understanding of %afe golf is that by its own definition its a compromise eg the perfect shot would be a lob web from 40yds to land two yards over the bunker to the pin but the risk is too great so I'll pitch/bump and run a 9 iron wide of the bunker. It's not all about hitting 3/4 shots (though I'm all in favour of that unless my high handicap opponent adopts that technique).

 I heard that Mickleson had to hit 3/4 shots with his wedges as he generated too much backspin with his full shot. That could be descibed as % age golf.

If I'm playing a full shot I hit my Irons as hard as possible whilst maintaining control, I see that as 100%, whilsts others may see flailing at it with everything they have as 100% so the question is subjective.

Dave,

Thats the difference, But i think we're talking about a 100% controlled shot, I know when i really try and smash the ball to piece's, thats around the 115-120% mark.

I was reading an article on Villegas in this months golf world, where he was giving an insight into his game play, whilst on the subject of his iron play he commented by saying the best tip he would give to all amateur's on their iron play would be to learn all the distance's of your irons at 80%(this is what he does) as its under full control and he knows if he needs a little more gas on the shot then its there if needed!

I've started to do this of late and up until the last 2 rounds found it quite useful.

Martin, if I do that I slice it 150 yards

It's nice to do it on occasions though Darren, big wide fairway,par five you have to go for it, take a chance

oh yeah.  set up nice and ready aiming down the left hand side ...  then i pull it

but you still have to have a go

I really posted the thread because i play with so many golfers who go all out for distance and that is their main goal (i can hit it longer than you)

I enjoy hitting little irons under the wind and in Scotland you certainly need that and just wondered why i play with so many golfers who launch every shot.

I enjoy hitting little irons under the wind and in Scotland you certainly need that and just wondered why i play with so many golfers who launch every shot.

You are now talking a language I understand, Martin.

I don't believe that golf is all about yardages, it is more important to be able to have the ability to choose the right shot for the situation one is facing, taking into account all the factors that will help determine the final choice, of club, intended ball flight and strength of shot.

We agree at last John I like to work and manufacture shots in a accordance with the conditions i am playing against.

On my original post though John,in your prime how would you swing.

Not trying to lash every shot as hard as you can was an easy percentage for me to latch onto when I started playing.  I now try to hit every shot in a comfort zone of about 80%. Occasionally a little devil pops into my head on the back swing and whispers hit it harder but it is now very rare.

The percentage I struggle with is laying up when there is no physical barrier between me and the green but hazards (rough and bunkers) around the sides and back.  If I've got less than 150 yards to go to the green then the percentage shot is to go for it as I hit my mid to short irons reasonably straight and consistent distances. 

It is the 150-200 yard zone I struggle with.  I can get there with hybrids and woods but the accuracy under pressure means I would hit the green maybe 1 or 2 times out of ten.  That leads to 8-9 possibilities to find trouble that will cost me at least a shot.

The percentage shot should be to reach for my 7 or 8 iron and leave myself on the nice short stuff in front of the green but some how I struggle to do it.  The lure of a GIR and two putts for a par has me reaching for the wrong club resulting in too many double bogies and an inability to seriously reduce my handicap.

On my original post though John,in your prime how would you swing. 

I always has some power in reserve for alll shots as I felt that a smooth swing is much better for a consistent strike.

When one is playng well then it is tempting to hit a little harder, but to do this without disastrous results one must hit the ball a little later and this is not easy to do.

As to percentage, I have not got a clue, just that if I needed to lean on one I knew how to do it. An inbuilt sense so to speak, a natural reaction to what was needed.

Like yourself Martin, I played a lot of links golf and in the normal windy conditions it is imperative to keep the ball low and strike the ball perfectly every time, or it will go nowhere. I still hit the ball low to this day.

Jon, off your current handicap you are not supposed to make a par so why do you ever risk the shot to a green when you do not have that 100% reliability with the shot in hand.

I play percentage golf in as much that 200 yards is on the top of my limit so it is much better to split that into two shots that will guarantee being on the green and I sometimes take two wedges or may be an eight iron and sand wedge, The reason I do this is because I do not miss greens with my wedges 9 iron or 8 iron.

Like you, every time I get suckered into thinking I can pull off the miracle shot I end up in a lake, a bunker or deep rough and the end result is double bogey or worse. It is just not worth it.

 John, nicely put. The top end of my limit, if there's a lake involved is going in with a 4 iron, maybe a 3 if the lie is good. If the shot requires a one iron  there are two big issues which are potential problems for me ie strike and trajectory (hitting a 1 iron off the deck is a world away from the regular carry I expect from the tee)  and being able to stop it even if  did get there so the odds are against me. The downside of laying up is being too greedy...make sure you don't roll it into the lake. My solution to that is taking two clubs less than the club I would use to get to the hazard.  

Patrick, my thinking now is that I find these new courses very short on good turf from which to play positive shots, so prefer to play from the 80/120 yard range rather then being nearer, requiring a chip from not very good lies.

I find it impossible to play a delicate shot from a bare lie until the ground becomes very firm.

I am quite sure that everyone who plays golf with me must be laughing inside with the way I plot my way down the hole. I just don't have the ability anymore to play shots to well guarded greens with anything longer than a 7 iron.

 Yes, the more bare the lie the more you have to dig/pinch it out, so you can forget about any finesse. I must admit that when I play with my regular partners we agree beforehand to preferred lies.

 There's nothing wrong not reaching a green in regulation, I'm sure the buzz for you is just as good by getting the ball there or thereabouts where you wanted it to be.

Although I have been driving a little better of late my driving is not of sufficient length to enable me to reasonably have a good chance of making the green, so I have adopted this lay up style to distances I know I can get relatively close to the pin with a short iron.

I have a slow tempo, and when I am hitting it well it is often because I consciously pause at the top and start the downswing as slow as I possibly can, thinking of swinging from the inside. It is probably 75%.

I am experimenting playing with just a half set of irons right now. On par 5s am taking say two 4 irons then an 8 iron. It's not spectacular hit-it-out-of-sight golf, but am playing far more consistently.

Interesting what John says too about pitching rather than chips round the green. I pitch far better from 75 yards than I chip from 10, so this style of play seems to suit me.

Obviously if the scores are to come down, need to hit it long and straight with the woods, and chip really close. But don't we all!

Stuart, the four par fives you are going to play on Monday will be unreachable with two four irons and an 8 iron, I can assure you. Your game plan will have to be revised.

Will bring the driver John and see how I'm feeling, but may just play for a safe bogey!

Would they be reachable with three four irons?

Stuart, on the first par five two four irons will put you in a ditch and from the ditch I doubt you could carry another ditch to reach the green with a four iron.

The second par five is possible with three four irons but the third shot is very difficult as you would probably have to negotiate the lake infront and to the left of the green.

The third is all uphill and I have only ever reached this green in three shots once.

The last one is again very long and the second four iron will be in a ditch and therefore unreachable in three.

Only the power hitters stand a chance with them, but I would love to see you prove me wrong.

On the last of those par 5's, I took a good driver, a good draw round the oak with my 19* rescue and a four iron.  I was just up with the green, although I missed left.  All three shots were well struck and at the top end of my normal range. 

Take your driver Stu or you'l be taking 5 just to get to the green.  The hole seems to go on for ever!

You are a powerful hitter, Chris and played exceptionally well that day.

Bizarrly John, I thought it was just an average round and that I was capable of doing much better, even though I came away with 34 points.  My driving was pretty good (apart from the one I knobbed 30 yards on the second par 5!), but I felt my second shots were letting me down. 

Shame I can't make next Monday as I'd like to play the course again. 

Will stick it in the bag Chris!

Usually when I take my driver I end up in trees and taking sevens and eights, can distinctly remember doing so last time I played the Wellington!

Would be interesting if there is no-one behind us to play two balls on the last par 5 and take a driver and woods with one and irons with the other, and compare.

Theoretically all of them are within reach in three shots by most normal hitters, but the ditches are what forces decisions to be made. Can I carry it or do I lay up. Once laid up then the hole is no longer a three shotter. I have never seen anyone hit any of the par fives in two shots, yet we have some big hitters at my club.

Remember also we are going to be playing off the whites.

John

I am not disputing the way you play your golf (you know what's best for your own game) but does hitting wedge wedge or 7 iron 7 iron not take away a bit of the fun factor out of the game.

 If i played golf that way sure i could shoot a round of level par, but all the really good rounds would go out the window. At my home course there are par fives which hitting an iron off the tee would result in more than likely a par, but with a driver i have such a good chance at an eagle, which i have done on my last few occasions. With Par four's, some times i wish i did hit an iron off the tee, as like with everyone i can hit a loose shot, but i have also had the same experience when hitting an iron off the tee and wish i had hit a driver, It's a great thing hindsight.

In my own game i just think it's worth the risk especially as there are another 17 holes on the course to make up for an error.

Martin, nothing will ever take away the fun factor of this wonderful game. The days when I could rip it onto par fives in two are long gone I'm afraid. I still remember the time I eagled both the par fives on the front nine at Corfu Golf club.

Nowadays of course par fives are much longer and as I said earlier I have never seen anyone get onto any of our par fives in two shots. Now you may have the ability to do this but you are an exception.

You have confused me with Stuart Govan in the iron off the tee remark as it is him who does this, not me. I still attempt to flog a driver all over the place and once I have flogged it into trouble and the green then is out of reach in regulation I switch into bogey mode and play two easy shots to the green and sometimes I even make a par. I never attempt to hit the miracle recovery shot as in my opinion that is a very rare species.

My apologies John.

Didn't think that was like you.

I think it depends a lot on what kind of personality/golfer you are. Are you the Daly/Seve type who goes for the risk-reward shot every time or the Tiger/Faldo type who plays the steady game that gives them most control, eliminates more errors and often the best score? Each gives its own satisfaction.

Don't get me wrong, I love crashing long drives. When I'm in the groove they go straight and it's a brilliant feeling. But more often than not they don't! 

Martin, just to acknowledge your valid point, often my iron shots don't either -- but usually they don't reach the trees whereas with a driver they certainly would!

Just lately I have been thinking more and more about the round I am playing. Whats the point of ripping a 5 wood and still needing a wedge to the green if it is safer to use two 8 irons?

That is why your handicap is tumbling fast, Dennis. Pleased to see the improvement you are making. You are now better than me.

Agreed Dennis. Also, in competition, I think there is a pyschological thing too if your big-hitting opponent sees you scoring as well them by playing percentage golf.

For me though, right now I am getting satisfaction from hitting fairways, not traipsing through the rough looking for lost balls, and knocking pitches near the flag or at least into the heart of greens. Most of the time anyway!

John, behave yourself.

It will be a while yet before I am as good as you

I must admit Stuart, I sometimes feel like a crook by playing percentage golf. Scoring the same as someone who hits it so much further than me however, a wise man once said to me ' at the end of the round the question is how many, not how far'

So much for percentage golf. Played last night, and there's a par 3 with a 180 carry. Have mucked it up last few times so this time, percentage golf. Seven iron lay up in front of the water, overhit wedge into back bunker, hit the bunker shot too clean and straight into the water, chipped back on and holed a long putt for a triple bogey 6.

Stupid game!

Although that said, score was still better than previous rounds, 87 and 37 points. If the weather holds, I'll be out again tonight. 

Percentage golf is the hardest thing for a beginner like me to get my head around. Someone above said they feel like a crook and I can understand that but there's also an element of "I'm going to be in trouble whatever I do and I'd rather be in trouble fifty yards nearer the pin".

But I do see the importance of it. Now that I'm beginning to hit more normal distances (or, at least, landing my drives where the divots indicate that a lot of drives land) I went out for 18 at the weekend with the intention of going for everything. After 9 holes I'd visited 6 bunkers (staying in one for three shots) and dropped five penalty strokes. I played the next nine more conservatively and took a shot a hole less.

Sadly my impetuous temperament really makes it hard to keep that up. But I'll try.

Ian, the frustration comes when you still end up in trouble whilst playing the percentage shots!! Like laying up infront of water only to see your ball take a wierd bounce forward then trickle into the wet stuff, or sudenly developing a lovely draw when you aim down the right hand side of the fairway and end up in the bunkers you were trying to avoid. I have come to the conclusion that however I play, either aggressively or carefully, the curse of the course will always ensure I leave feeling frustrated and depressed over my game.

You're right. I should add that on my 'conservative' nine I laid up on one hole and then scuffed the next shot straight into the brook and so I've already had a forewarning of the curse.

Wonderfully horrible game, isn't it?