Need to drop the drop shots
Having posted a while ago about starting competition play, thought I'd post an up date. I entered my first comp yesterday in the club monthly medal. First time I've played off the back tees, I had a couple of bad breaks (which you always will) missed a couple of tap ins (daft when I was holing 6-8ft ers for fun) so was slightly disappointed to shoot 100, net 75 but given I think I can play around 5 shots better than my club handicap I could have certainly done better. It wasn't until I entered my stats this morning though that I realised that I had 7 penalty shots! If I could cut those out and the resulting recovery shots it would make a massive difference to my score without playing that differently. Any advice in cutting out the drops? Does it come down to strategy or technique?
Reply : Sun 20th Apr 2014 10:59
David,
How many of those seven penalty shots came from poor technique, and how many from the strategy that you took? Are there any other reasons for those lost shots? Whatever the reasons there will be something that you can practice or do differently to avoid those shots. Find out what they are and work on them. Repeat that process until you find something that works.
Jonathan
Reply : Sun 20th Apr 2014 11:37
1st hole: Duffed 6 iron from rough rolled into ditch
7th hole: Well struck drive caught in wind and landed in hedge in water hazard
8th hole: Duffed PW just rolls in bush in hazard
14th hole: Dreadful topped 3 wood straight into the pond in front of the tee
17th: Tee shot started to far left and drew into river, overly aggressive 6 iron flicked tree and ended up in opposite stream
18th: Well struck driver just caught bank of ditch and bounced in water
Last edit : Sun 20th Apr 2014 11:38
Reply : Sun 20th Apr 2014 12:00
Looks like you need to work on your strategy, when I play I look to play each hole to bogey and keep the risk down.Do you know how far you hit each club? i.e. 6 iron 140 yards that will help you lots I have an app on my phone that I use
Reply : Sun 20th Apr 2014 14:04
When I play on my own or in casual games I try and play of 18, allowing one extra shot to par each hole and form a plan that best achieves that. I have base distances for my club but as you are very very rarely playing a straight shot from a flat, perfect lie, to a level target with no wind it all get adapted to fit each shot. I've started to develop my 'inner caddy' who questions things on certain shots "are you sure 7 iron is enough club with the wind against a long putt is better than a bunker shot". Makes me sound a bit of a nutter but 2 or 3 times a round I find it really pays off.
Reply : Mon 21st Apr 2014 00:53
it looks like the penalties were from bad shots. most of the time shots can be saved by using course management, playing to the centre of the green instead of at the pin, laying up infront of hazards.
to be fair, 100 less your handicap would be buffer if the CSS was 71/72, any less and you'll be getting 0.1 back. Not to dissappointing for a first competition.
get your name down for next week
Reply : Tue 22nd Apr 2014 14:57
Making bad shots (I refer only to reasonably makeable shots) is usually (but not always) due to one or both of two things: (1) Swing not well grooved enough for high consistency, (2) A poor metal game. The accuracy of one's body's movements only responds as well as the clarity of instruction you give it. For example: PLAYER A: Hmm yes, exactly a 7 iron distance, play right of pin to avoid the trap. Let's go for it. PLAYER B: (Approaches ball) Yes, completely clear my mind of thoughts of re-plumbing kitchen. I can exactly see the ball's flight and I can visualise the exact position I want it to land on the green. Lie slightly falling away so I'm fixing in my mind the adjusted swing necessary to prevent fade. Last look at the pin, yes I see the ball flight again. Deep breath, completely relax, let's go for it.
Without a great mental game which kicks in shot after shot even immensely (physical game) talented European tour players can get rattled and fall away. I don't need to name names. We've all seen them.
Last edit : Fri 25th Apr 2014 21:16
Reply : Mon 28th Apr 2014 09:24
Roberts answer is the key. You have shots to use so use them example:: The duff 3 wood over the water, lofted iron played off tee peg clears water ball in fairway 1 shot used off 25 you are there for 0 or -1 and still in play.