Month: January 2013

Categories
Golf Tips

How to Avoid Slow Play in Golf

By Shooting 90

Slow play has become a large problem for the game of golf. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for an 18 hole round of golf to take over five hours. I’m not a speed golfer but I can play a round in three hours with no traffic on the course. The golf industry would love for golfers to be able to complete rounds in four hours. Slow play is not directly related to being a high handicap golfer. It’s not the number of strokes that one takes but instead all of the activity in between. Look at the professional golf tours. These golfers have their livelihoods on the line with every shot so they have a reason to take their time. Still, pace of play on the professional tours is agonizingly slow. So while you can glean some tips from watching pros on TV, don’t mimic their slow play.

So what causes slow play and what can golfers do to speed up the pace?

A big reason for slow play is not having a consistent, timely pre-shot routine for all of your shots, including full swings, pitches, chips and putts. Having a timely routine involves selecting the right club. This requires judging the distance, wind, lie of the ball and elevation change to the hole. Once you have the right club, take one practice swing,line up to a target and take your shot. One practice swing is plenty. The time for practice swings is on the driving range.

Putting is arguably the most important part of your golf game. More strokes are taken with your putter than any other club. This makes reading putts very important to your success. However, many golfers take way too long to complete their pre-putt routines. I believe reading putts requires getting a side view to judge elevation and a view from below the hole. I view from above the hole is also beneficial but only when time allows. But like the full swing pre-shot routine, many times some of the reads can be completed before your turn while others are reading their putts. While walking up to the green, get a look at the general slope of the green. Then, if others are playing before you, get a read or two on your putt while they are reading theirs. Be sure to be out of the way and quiet as they line up over their ball and putt.

Ironically, another source of slow play is the riding cart. Many times golfers in the same cart will ride over to one of the player’s ball on one side of the fairway and the other person will wait there the whole duration of the pre-shot routine and shot. They will then drive over to the other player’s ball and do the same. This is too time consuming and the wrong way to play cart golf. For times when two players in a cart are on opposite sides of the fairway, the driver should drive the passenger to their ball. The passenger should quickly determine their club to use. If they are in between clubs, the passenger should take both and the driver should go to their ball. This way both players can prepare and take their shots without a lot of unnecessary waiting.

Searching for lost golf balls is also a source of slow play. By rule you are allowed five minutes to search for a lost ball. During casual play, the only time you should take five minutes is when your ball is lost in an area where you have a next shot if you find it. For example, many times your ball can get lost in the rough. If you hit your ball in the thick woods, by all means take a minute to look for it (after all they’re expensive), but then take a drop since you wouldn’t have a realistic next shot even if you found it. One more thing about searching for lost balls. Other members in the group should hit their next shots before helping the player search for their lost ball. Do not have your entire foursome looking for a lost ball before they have taken their next shots.

Keep an eye on your pace of play next time you are on the course. If the course is busy and the hole in front of you is completely open, you’re probably playing too slow. Make sure you are using the ideas we discussed and speed up your play.

Categories
Hit More Fairways

Should You Try to Hit a Straight Golf Shot?

By Shooting 90

This post is a followup to a post I wrote entitled Master Your Straight Golf Shot where I advise against purposely shaping your shot with a draw (right to left for righties) or a fade (left to right for righties) and encourage you to hit a straight shot. I watched a YouTube video tonight from Joseph Mayo (@TrackmanMaestro) and Grant Waite (@grantwaite) of Waite Mayo Golf. The video was made for a beginner or high handicap golfer audience and discusses grip, stance and weight shift.

In the segment on stance, they discuss the common problem of slicing the ball which many beginner and high handicap golfers have and how these golfers are told to hit the ball straight. Joseph and Grant argue against hitting the ball straight, citing it’s nearly impossible, and even pro golfers could not do it consistently if they tried. Rather than trying to teach high handicap golfers something even pros cannot do, they recommend hitting a predictable curve. A predictable curve is either a draw or a fade. Since many golfers have a problem with slicing, learning to hit a draw would not only give you a predictable ball flight path but would also correct the slice.

I encourage everyone to watch the video. Joseph and Grant provide great tips on a level everyone can understand. I know it has changed the way I think how high handicap golfers should setup and hit the ball.

 

Categories
Putting

Putting is the Foundation to Improving your Golf Game

By Shooting 90

A solid golf game is consistent in three areas – hitting fairways, hitting greens in regulation, and putting. Continual issues in any of these areas can prohibit a high handicap golfer from elevating their game to shooting bogey golf.

Driving accuracy and hitting greens in regulation are important to scoring low. You can, however, miss fairways or greens and still recover through other areas of your game. Miss a fairway and still hit the green in regulation by hitting a good approach shot. Miss the green in regulation and salvage the hole with a nice chip or bunker shot.

Putting is not as forgiving. Good putting can help you score low on a hole or help you salvage a hole on which you have made mistakes. But there is no recovery from poor putting. By three putting a hole, you will either waste a great scoring opportunity or compound previous mistakes on a hole resulting in an unwanted score. Even if you hit the green in regulation, three putt and you’ll end up with a bogey. You need to take advantage of hitting greens in regulation by making pars and an occasional birdie. Pars are needed to offset the double bogeys or worst that you will score in your round.

High handicap golfers should work on eliminating three putts to move towards consistently shooting 90. The goal for high handicap golfers should be to make every putt within 15 feet. The probability of a high handicap golfer making putts outside of 15 feet is low. Lag putt every putt outside of 15 feet. Lag putting is putting the priority on leaving the ball within a few feet of the hole to insure making your second putt instead of trying to make the first putt. During time on the practice green, be sure to practice lag putting from 15 to 50 feet. As your golf game progresses and you hit more greens in regulation with your approach shot, you will be faced with longer putts than if you were chipping or pitching onto the green. Successful lag putting will be important to take advantage of hitting greens in regulation.

The other end of successful lag putting is making short putts. No matter how good your lag putting is, you still have too many three putts if you miss short second putts. Strive to make everything within three feet of the cup. Every time at the end of practicing your putting on the practice green, challenge yourself to make ten three footers in a row. If you miss one start over at zero. Work on a full follow through and avoid “stabbing” at the short putts. One of the most frustrating things in golf is to play a hole great and then miss a short putt at the end.

Make putting the strong point of your game no matter what level your game is at. Good putting can help you score low and can also bail you out of trouble. Three putts will lead to frustration. Reduce your number of three putts and see your golf game improve!

Categories
Golf Tips

5 Ways to Shoot 90 This Year

By Shooting 90

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? If so, you are not alone as many others do as well. My personal feeling is if you want to make definitive change in your life you should do so immediately. The time of the year should make no difference. But since New Year’s is a popular time to talk resolutions, here’s our list on 5 ways to shoot 90 this year.

1. Practice

Many high handicap golfers have decent swings and the ability to produce good golf shots. Consistency is the missing ingredient for many golfers. Practicing a fundamentally sound swing is the fastest way to build the consistency necessary to improve your game.  How do you think the pros get their game to a high level? They hit a thousand balls a week. Obviously most amateur golfers have neither the time nor the desire to commit that much effort to their golf game. The good thing is we do not have to commit a lot of time to improve our games. By maximizing your practice time, you can significantly improve your golf game with one hour of practice a week. Be sure to practice your chipping and putting. Many golfers hit balls on the range but ignore the most important area of their game – the short game.

2. Play More

Along with regular practice, you need to play often to improve your game. Expecting to elevate your game by playing 12 times a year is unrealistic. Make a goal this year to play every week. No matter how well you simulate shots in your practice, there are components of your game you can only improve on the golf course. Join a league or set a standing weekly tee time with your golfing companions.

3. Get Help with your Golf Swing

Many of us at some point have had a serious swing flaw that has prevented us from hitting consistent shots. This may be slicing your drives, hitting a fairway wood fat, or any other shot issue. To move from being a high handicap golfer to shooting 90, you need to correct reoccurring problems with any of your shots. Amateurs will always have the occasional bad shots, but it is impossible to improve your game having to continually compensate for mishits. The fastest way to correct problems with your swing is with the help of a teaching professional. There are many ways to get help, including your local club professional and clinics.

4. Hit More Greens in Regulation

One requirement to become a low handicap golfer is to increase the number of greens you hit in regulation. Hitting a high number  of greens in regulation is the secret to scoring low. Hitting more greens is also essential for a high handicap golfer to move to shooting bogey golf. It takes pressure off of two areas of a high handicapper’s game that are usually laking – chipping and bunker play. Proper club selection and a GPS can help you increase the number of greens in regulation you are hitting.

5. Drastically Reduce 3 Putts

Whatever level your golf game may be at, putting will play a huge role in taking your game to the next level. For high handicap golfers, this means reducing the number of times you three putt a green. Three putts will either ruin a good scoring opportunity or compound previous mistakes on a hole and lead to a blow-up hole. Being realistic, high handicappers will rarely go through a round without three putting a green. However, reducing the total number of putts during a round ultimately will lead to better scoring. The easiest way to reduce the total number of putts per round is to reduce the number of three putts you have. Improving your putting involves correctly determining the speed and reading the break.

Are you willing to commit the time and effort this year to move from being a high handicap golfer to shooting 90? Increase your practice and playing time and you’ll be on your way!