I am a golfer looking to improve. I have brought my handicap from 17.8 to 10.4 in the last four months.?

Question

What is most important to keep improving? I find i have a par putt on nearly every hole and hit about 8-10 GIR per round. but only two on my bad days. I hit the ball a mile, but this gets me in trouble too? I have great control with my wedges, and hit iron shots pure most of the time. Putting is a constant struggle, but i am taking putting lessons. It doesn't seem to be helping though. I have changed my grip, my stance, my swing, and clubs, and still cant putt. What should i work on outside of putting though? I have leveled off and want to keep improving. Help

Answer 1

Here is a good articles to read. Hope it helps. Good Luck

http://www.squidoo.com/golfswinginstruct...

Answer 2

Stats dont mean anything, score does.  you can hit 0 greens in reg, and still shoot par easily.  That being said...

Here are a couple of things that will help you improve:

Learn to work the ball both ways and be comfortable with it. Practice hitting high cuts, low draws, high draws, etc...

Cut penalty strokes to an absolute minimum.  If you are going to miss, miss to the side that doesnt have a hazard.  

Learn to predict spin with your wedges.  If you cant putt well, it is much easier to putt from 3 feet for par compared to 15 feet.

Focus on every shot.  Make sure that you know what you want to do with the shot, and execute.  

Be patient, sometimes the course wont allow for birdies on certain holes.  Wait for opportunities and then take advantage.

Finally, the rule I have lived by is this:  A double bogey is much harder to make up compared to just a bogey.  I birdie cancels a bogey, but it takes alot more to cancel a double.  Keep your doubles+ to an absolute minimum.  Take your punishment where you need to, but dont compound the issue.  If you have an impossible shot, pitch out and play for bogey at worse.  

I hope you take all of this to heart.

All of this will help, but after awhile, it is just given talent.  Most people will plateau at a certain score.  I know that has happen to me.  The pros just plateau at a lower score than most players.

Answer 3

Definitely keep working on your putting, that is probably the most important part of the game.  I'd say work on your short game, y'know chipping and pitching.  Try working on 'course management' you said you can hit the long ball but it gets you in trouble?  Try thinking about using an iron or lesser club and put the ball where you know you can reach the green and where you know you'll have a better chance of hitting a fairway, instead of blasting it a mile down the hole but 30 yards off the fairway, y'know what I mean?

Answer 4

If you're not sure what area you need to focus on, I'd agree with the person who said to keep track of your stats.

Maybe keep track of fairways hit, greens in regulation, number of putts, hazard saves, etc...

Keeping the stats ought to help identify areas that you need to work on........in my case my stats tell me I need to work on driving, iron play, & putting.  Other than that, I'm playing great!  =)

Answer 5

It all comes down to putting.  You've dropped your handicap by chipping it closer to the hole than you did before---keep working on that---that's huge also.  I want you to find out what your favorite club is (the one you hit it closer to the hole than any other).  Next, try and get to that club as much as possible, for example if you have a par 5 530 yards and your favorite yardage is 115 yards, hit two shots that'll get you to that yardage, even if it means taking 3 wood and a 5 iron (stop going for it in 2).  The more fairways you hit the more control you'll have hitting the ball.  If you're constantly in rough then practice more shots out of the rough (play it a little back in your stance and open the clubface so it doesn't get stuck in the rough and cause you to pull it left).  If you're inside of 15 feet be a bit more aggressive...you can't leave those putts short...and on putts longer than 15 feet just tell yourself you're going for a two putt and get out (picture a 2 foot circle around the hole)...this should eliminate your 3 putts which I'm assuming is why you aren't a 6 or a 7 handicap.  Check out where the water is, putts tend to break towards the nearest water...check out the grain... are you putting into the grain or with it...if you're putting into it putt it a little harder and vice versa.  You don't have to be a genius to putt well...you just need to be aware of the little things like I discussed and factor it all in...and yes even a little wind can affect your putts.

It's easy breaking a 100, it's gets tougher to break 90, and even tougher to break 80, which is what you're trying to do.  Remember you're playing better than 95% of the golfers out there...so don't hang your head...be patient and have fun.

Answer 6

You've received some excellent advice.  I want to reinforce the recommendations of those who said work on putting.  It is not so much that a one foot putt counts as much as a 300 yard drive; but that a bad putt affects your mental state and the ability to relax and take your normal swing on the next tee.

Golf is a most unnatural game because "man" is not constructed to deliver blows sideways with accuracy. Those that CAN - pros and low-handicappers - do so because they have learned techniques which affect the normal physiology. If you would like to understand why the grip is so important,  just stand, totally relaxed, and straighten the middle finger of either (but not both) hands. That one action will affect your entire body (if you really are relaxed.) Putting is particularly difficult because you do not have the space to splay yourself out and reduce inter-ligament tensions as you can with a longer shot. Practising putting at home on a smooth carpet is far better than practising on a green, whose undulations will mask the affect that your stroke has on the ball. I have a carpet that has a design with straight lines on it.  It is amazing how difficult it is to keep the ball on that line.  I just make minute changes in my grip and/or stance until I can feel my hips alined with my shoulders, and I look at where the ball was rather than where it is going.

Finally, if golf were easy, nobody would make a thousand - much less 10 million a year playing it.

Answer 7

You need to keep good stats to find out where you get in trouble.

Track your fairways hit as well as your GIR. Track how many long putts (30 feet) you leave within 3 feet or so. Track your sand saves, etc. The more detailed stats you keep, the easier it will be to see where you need to focus.

Edit: Sorry cdc, but that is awful advice. If you aren't hitting any GIR, but are still making pars, then the stats can help tell you what you need to work on the make the GIR and get birdies instead of pars. I'm not looking to simply par, I'm looking for the lowest score possible.

Answer 8

The most important thing in accurate putting is distance control.  Develope a feel for distance by practicing.  Put some tees in the ground about 3 feet apart and hit to the first one (3 feet), then the six footer, the nine etc.