Golf Thread

jaybee said:
Not sure where to go from here. It occured to me today that my game is so bad that I was embarrassing my playing partners around the course and holding them/everyone up. I played a full 18, and I think I hit maybe 3 iron shots where the ball actually gained height and went straight. The rest were chunks, thins and shanks. I was trying so hard to hit an iron and just couldn't.
It's the same old story with me. Go down a range and I hit like a pro off the artificial mats. Ask me to hit an iron off grass and I can't. I would literally define it s CANT right now. You can't call any iron shot I hit of grass an actual shot. I'm broken.
Thoughts?
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are there any practice facilities where you can hit off grass? is there a field even? a sports pitch you could sneak onto? Anywhere where you can practice even half shots off the grass? Or with wiffle balls...
 
jaybee said:
Not sure where to go from here. It occured to me today that my game is so bad that I was embarrassing my playing partners around the course and holding them/everyone up. I played a full 18, and I think I hit maybe 3 iron shots where the ball actually gained height and went straight. The rest were chunks, thins and shanks. I was trying so hard to hit an iron and just couldn't.
It's the same old story with me. Go down a range and I hit like a pro off the artificial mats. Ask me to hit an iron off grass and I can't. I would literally define it s CANT right now. You can't call any iron shot I hit of grass an actual shot. I'm broken.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
What's your normal handicap?
I know you've posted multiple times before, but I forget your usual kinda scores. Scores generally say a lot about how someone strikes a ball.
If you're a member of a club, get a few rounds in where your hitting multiple balls on the fairway say, only 100y at a time. Do that over a few holes, you'll find that may help alone.
Otherwise, it just sounds like you're hitting it fat, which means may not be rotating or moving to cover the ball early in your swing.
Practice thinking about hitting a ball-width ahead of the ball you want to hit. Youtube some videos on hitting ball and then turf. Get that nailed in half swings, then move to full.
Very general advice, but some small things to think about..
 
MikeTimbers said:
are there any practice facilities where you can hit off grass? is there a field even? a sports pitch you could sneak onto? Anywhere where you can practice even half shots off the grass? Or with wiffle balls...
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My local club that I sometimes go to with my son has a grass range to the side of the artificial mats. They've opened it literally once this year to my knowledge as after only a day, it gets mashed up.
I've always wondered about the legality of rocking up to a random field with golf clubs. I know I'd leave if I was there and randomers were hitting balls. I don't really know anywhere where I'd have a large enough space to myself. I'd not be surprised to be challenged and told to go down a golf course too.

MarkA said:
What's your normal handicap?
I know you've posted multiple times before, but I forget your usual kinda scores. Scores generally say a lot about how someone strikes a ball.
If you're a member of a club, get a few rounds in where your hitting multiple balls on the fairway say, only 100y at a time. Do that over a few holes, you'll find that may help alone.
Otherwise, it just sounds like you're hitting it fat, which means may not be rotating or moving to cover the ball early in your swing.
Practice thinking about hitting a ball-width ahead of the ball you want to hit. Youtube some videos on hitting ball and then turf. Get that nailed in half swings, then move to full.
Very general advice, but some small things to think about..
Click to expand...

I don't think I've ever hit under 100. My best was a 105 probably. I do make pars occasionally. I got one today. But I very often 3 putt too.
I've watched countless videos and understand the logic of how to hit a ball. What I find annoying is I don't really understand what exactly is going wrong in each shot. People ask me, well how did it feel. Did I top it? I don't really know. Every shot feels shocking unless I middle it. I either take too much turf or not enough and thin it. I'm apparently playing with forgiving irons too, some older Taylor made burners. The wedges are Callaway md3 s grind ones. I find them very hard to hit without thinning it. If I do take turf, they just stick in and I get no distance.
 
jaybee said:
My local club that I sometimes go to with my son has a grass range to the side of the artificial mats. They've opened it literally once this year to my knowledge as after only a day, it gets mashed up.
I've always wondered about the legality of rocking up to a random field with golf clubs. I know I'd leave if I was there and randomers were hitting balls. I don't really know anywhere where I'd have a large enough space to myself. I'd not be surprised to be challenged and told to go down a golf course too.
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It all depends on how you do it and when. With these long evenings it's easy enough to find a relatively empty park (at least it is where I live). Even if you're only chipping to a net - say 30yd shots - it's still getting used to hitting off grass without fearing it.

Also, go to the rainforest website and search for "Birdie Balls". These are specially designed little tubes about the same diameter as a golf ball which when stood on the ground and hit go a fraction of the distance as a real ball but which will show you if you hit it with side spin. They're great and can't hurt anyone.
 
jaybee said:
Not sure where to go from here. It occured to me today that my game is so bad that I was embarrassing my playing partners around the course and holding them/everyone up. I played a full 18, and I think I hit maybe 3 iron shots where the ball actually gained height and went straight. The rest were chunks, thins and shanks. I was trying so hard to hit an iron and just couldn't.
It's the same old story with me. Go down a range and I hit like a pro off the artificial mats. Ask me to hit an iron off grass and I can't. I would literally define it s CANT right now. You can't call any iron shot I hit of grass an actual shot. I'm broken.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Slowly getting over a similar issue. Great range irons yet inconsistent on the course. for me it was mainly mental. Rushing the backswing and not getting enough rotation.

I forced myself to play a few days of irons only on the course and that helped.
 
@jaybee Where are you visualising the strike point? I've found it helps to pick a mark a centimetre or so in front of the ball and aim for that.

Played again this afternoon. Can tell I'm improving as disappointed with 94. Included a 10 on the 5th when the fourball in front waved me through :rolleyes: 3w off tee into the drink and my second into the trees on the right from where I had to chip out. Then played a belter of a 3w to greenside from where I could put for my 6th shot, and 7th, and 8th etc...:p

Rest of the round nothing worse than a double. Had a couple looks at birdie but couldn't convert. Had two puts that did a lap of the cup before deciding not today and several others that caught the lip. My wedges, a previous weakness, are getting much better. Hit a couple of beauties today.

If only I could drive the ball, everything went right today. Lesson tomorrow so think I will ask to concentrate on this and maybe look at options for filling out the top end of my bag. My 3w is 15°, my 5i 20° (I can't hit it so it never gets used) and my 6i 25°. Maybe 5w with a 7w or hybrid at 22°?

Edit: for perspective was 47/47 today. Eight shots worse for the front nine than I scored last Thursday evening!
 
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I've got a 3 Hybrid and a 5 Wood, for me that's probably not the best for gapping but I dislike hybrids so don't want to spend money on them but I absolutely love my 5 Wood, so that'd be my reccomendation :p

Played another round today, Shrivenham this time with a mate and a colleague of his who wants to put some cards in to get a handicap again after many years. The 'new' guy picked the white tees cause why not, I probably shouldn't be using the white tees but it's a short course that I know so whatever.

It started off ok, well I got a run of 4 double-bogeys which isn't great obviously but for me/my handicap I'm not 'too' unhappy with a double and it felt like I was playing ok but warming into it. That was wrong :p Around the turn my game just fell off a cliff, think a combination of feet hurting, not eating enough, much later in the day than I normally play (we started at 4:40-ish) but yeah, so fell off a cliff big time.

Looking at the scorecard after if I'd kept up the double bogey train that'd easily be a counting score/reduce my handicap, as it is it's just pushing a good score ever closer to falling off and my handicap going back up :/

Definitely taking a couple of days off now :p
 
jaybee said:
Not sure where to go from here. It occured to me today that my game is so bad that I was embarrassing my playing partners around the course and holding them/everyone up. I played a full 18, and I think I hit maybe 3 iron shots where the ball actually gained height and went straight. The rest were chunks, thins and shanks. I was trying so hard to hit an iron and just couldn't.
It's the same old story with me. Go down a range and I hit like a pro off the artificial mats. Ask me to hit an iron off grass and I can't. I would literally define it s CANT right now. You can't call any iron shot I hit of grass an actual shot. I'm broken.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I'd look around at other courses and their short game area, and range. My local cheapo course has a grass area for the range (which is nicely pre-divotted to make sure you get a realistic lie :p) and also a chipping/short game area with a bunker, two greens etc to practice on. It's even free (as in advertised as such) for the short game area and obviously normal ball price for the range.

The fancier courses all seem to have a short game area as well, won't be full swings but it'd still help I'd imagine.
 
Thanks. Yes I could try short game areas. If anything, I would say it's the 100-200 yard range that is particularly poor for me.

With irons off the tee box, do you guys hit off of an actual tee? What dictates whether you do or not? I teed up a few today with the shortest tees I have an even pushed it in to the turf and was told by my partners that I was still teeing it too high.
 
jaybee said:
Thanks. Yes I could try short game areas. If anything, I would say it's the 100-200 yard range that is particularly poor for me.

With irons off the tee box, do you guys hit off of an actual tee? What dictates whether you do or not? I teed up a few today with the shortest tees I have an even pushed it in to the turf and was told by my partners that I was still teeing it too high.
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I tee it up for irons yeah, I use the graduated tees and for Irons (and my 5 Wood) I use the red one, which is apparently 32mm, it's potentially 'too high' but I find it comfortable so whatevs. I think the advice I've seen on YouTube or whatever is to always use a tee but they do put it pretty low I think.
 
I normally use a tee for irons, head of the tee just above the grass. Just a way of ensuring you've got a good lie. I couldn't imagine teeing an iron or wood up as high as @SKILL - driver aside for which I use 40mm tees.
 
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stephenb said:
I normally use a tee for irons, head of the tee just above the grass. Just a way of ensuring you've got a good lie. I couldn't imagine teeing an iron or wood up as high as @SKILL - driver aside for which I use 40mm tees.
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For driver I use the pink ones which are 57mm :p

Oddly I dislike using a tee, even the 'green' short ones, with my hybrid, so I basically place that on a nice looking tuft of grass and nothing else. Also done the same with my 5 wood the other day when hitting into wind and attempting to reduce height a bit, seemed to work I think.
 
jaybee said:
Not sure where to go from here. It occured to me today that my game is so bad that I was embarrassing my playing partners around the course and holding them/everyone up. I played a full 18, and I think I hit maybe 3 iron shots where the ball actually gained height and went straight. The rest were chunks, thins and shanks. I was trying so hard to hit an iron and just couldn't.
It's the same old story with me. Go down a range and I hit like a pro off the artificial mats. Ask me to hit an iron off grass and I can't. I would literally define it s CANT right now. You can't call any iron shot I hit of grass an actual shot. I'm broken.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
It's why I don't like going to my local range unless I want to work on my driver. Absolutely despise hitting off a mat as I don't feel it translate onto grass very well but it could just be me. As others have said, try and find a course that has a grass range.

Have you ever had or thought about getting lessons? Getting a good pro to have a look at your swing will help you massively. I'm not a fan of watching YouTube tutorials as there's so many different variables that you could be potentially trying to emulate that are maybe no good for you.

Are you relatively new to golf? If anyone gets embarrassed by someone who's new to golf then that's their problem - majority of people were at that stage at one point.
 
just back from my lesson. First off I must say, what a man! my pro Ronnie is such a really, really nice guy.

so I know where im going wrong, two main steps..Im not taking the club straight back, im coming from the inside..and secondary not pulling down and "to the left" to get the compression the ball..

its a beautiful day here in Aberdeen, so later on once the boiler service has been done, I will get my net setup out and get cracking on these aspects!

overall, happy, just some remoulding needing done! :)
 
SKILL said:
For driver I use the pink ones which are 57mm :p
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Pink castles? The ones I have are 40mm.

Like Zeebedy just back from a lesson. Reason for everything going right with the driver, club path massively out to in. 8-9° with my 7i so spent most of the lesson working on that. Really tried to exaggerate that feeling of coming from the inside and was still 4° out to in on my better shots, of which there weren't many!
 
stephenb said:
Pink castles? The ones I have are 40mm.

Like Zeebedy just back from a lesson. Reason for everything going right with the driver, club path massively out to in. 8-9° with my 7i so spent most of the lesson working on that. Really tried to exaggerate that feeling of coming from the inside and was still 4° out to in on my better shots, of which there weren't many!
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Yeah, the pink castles from Masters usually, not actually measured them tbh but they seem to be sold as 2 1/4" or 57mm? But perhaps that's the total length not the height of the actual castle bit?
 
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