I didn’t say you were Bryson nor did I say anything about comparing his game to yours.
You said in essence that Rory should have laid up because he hit it in the water.
It is extremely unlikely that you are better from 110 than 60. You may underperform relative to expectations from 60 but the chances you hit it closer from 110 than 60 on average are pretty slim.
3 Likes
Execution cost him, not the strategy.
4 Likes
I use this proverb a lot.
You can’t know where you are going unless you know where you are.
It applies to almost everything. It is incredibly simple yet complex at the same time. I played 20+ years between a 2 and a 5, never got to scratch or never really went higher. And all that was despite me trying to improve. In fall of 17 I decided scratch was my goal. But rather than continue to do what I had done I spent 6 months collecting information about my game. Weaknesses, areas of strength etc. All done without bias and in a SG manner. This allowed me to look at what was causing the scores I was shooting and how to improve upon them.
Practice and how you improve will be individual to you of course. Most everything gets boiled down to fractions of strokes. But you have to take the time to get a firm map of your game before you can look at improving it.
Side note: Decade user also. July 2019 my index hit 0.0. Summer of 2020 it was +.9. +3 is the goal now and I know that improving from 175-220 and 101-150 from the rough are my two main focuses right now.
4 Likes
What was the main contributor from 5 to 0?
1 Like
If I were to pick one I would say understanding my dispersion and adjusting targets accordingly. Nothing really spectacular just allows me to use what I have and produce better scores.
3 Likes
Well done - nice improvement !
Decade combined with Shots Gained Data has changed my perspective on a lot of things including my former thoughts that 80-100 yards is better than a half shot (also knowing what proximity I should expect/strive for).
Closer to the green is almost always better as long as it isn’t short sided in 4 inch rough. I dropped a full shot last year down to 0.6 in just a few months of being dedicated to the process and paying attention to my dispersion and tendencies.
3 Likes
Yeah, I’m curious as to how much changing my strategy will improve my scoring… I know it will be some.
I had an interesting time on the course today, and was NOT focused on the shot in front of me most of the time. It made me start to think about what I wanted out of various rounds of golf and if I wanted to try to “always be on” or try to figure out how to switch between social and competitive… I’d like to get more focused overall, as I definitely threw away a few shots today not paying attention… It’s interesting, some of this stuff is long term mental work, which I’m excited about… but some stuff is more short term physical work.
I’m excited for this season of golf!
4 Likes
He knew exactly where he was. He knows he can hit the shot, he knows it is the best strategy, he just didn’t execute. Removing the outcome is very difficult to do.
“Always on” would mean different things to different people as it is still a social outing for many people but at a minimum, you need to be on/focused from the time you get to your ball, assess the lie, check yardage, figure out the shot you want and carry distance thru execution and any immediate feedback/learning - after that go ahead and crack a beer and resume the social outing if you can be “on” for 4-5 hours.
That takes a lot for some people and was difficult for me - it was easier with some guys I play with than it was with others - we have a group of 20 guys most days and make random groups so you can get paired with a couple scratch guys who are ultra focused or a couple 15’s who are happy to be away from wife/kids. It makes for good practice playing with different people but it can be a trying exercise at times.
3 Likes
Mental scorecard from DECADE is eye opening. I believe Scott said 1.3-1.7 strokes wasted just by not being committed. But really that commitment exists only for 30 or so seconds. You can do whatever you want before and after. Once you get some control over that your score won’t deviate much from a social setting to a competitive one.
5 Likes
I think it is even more significant as you move up in handicap
I love his term “15 minute blackout”… perfect description
Edit for clarification: the higher the handicap, the more likely you are having mental lapses that cause you serious strokes
3 Likes
It’s important regardless, but I’d bet it’s a skill we develop as we improve…
I was definitely out of practice on focusing… it was obvious on the greens especially, as I was putting decently and my big misses were lapses in concentration.
1 Like
You’re 250 out and you’re hitting 4I/7W to 100 yards. That’s 150. If your 4 iron goes 150 you’re not hitting 3w/50 to a 350 yard hole.
In any case all of the examples you gave are holes where you get as close as you can without taking undue risk. If there is water 100 yards in front of the green and you can’t get there you’re not exactly breaking new ground saying you should lay up.
Given what you said earlier, I’m assuming your given yardage is 100 yds. The tour average from 100-125 from the fairway is 19.5 ft and from the rough it’s 30 feet for an average of about 25 ft. And, 75-100 from the fairway is just over 17 feet and from the rough it’s 25 feet for an average of about 21 feet. So, for 100 yds, let’s take the average of those and say that the average proximity from 100 yards is about 23 feet. Do you really think you are that much better than tour players from that same distance? Even if you have a tour level skill from that distance, I’d be willing to bet you are still much better from 50-60 yards.
2 Likes
I think for me dispersion is the greatest insight I’ve had in the game and it’s fundamentally changed my approach to the game. Knowing your dispersion (and what great dispersion is) and using that knowledge can both free you from false expectations that lead you to work on parts of the game that are not going to make an impact, to helping you manage yourself on the course to score better.
At its heart, golf is a game of statistics. I personally use these metrics (as a 3 hdcp) to inform my practice and my targets:
-
Short Putts: Sinking 50% of 8ft putts is tour level putting and the make rate falls off fast outside that. I want almost all 10ft putts not to be left short and end up between perfect length and 18" from the hole
-
10-40 feet: 32 feet for a tour pro is the length that a tour pro averages 2 strokes to hole out. I want every putt from 10-40ft to end in a 2ft circle.
-
approach shot: A great golf shot is 5% dispersion based on distance (e.g 100yds out = 5 yards /15 ft from hole). I want to try to hit all shots 5-10% (excluding mishits) and aim accordingly out on the course (e.g 200yds out, just aim for the fattest part of the green). Distance is easier to get right over direction.
-
Driving: 60yds dispersion is a good drive. I want all my drives to be within that dispersion, and excluding mishits, be a certain distance or more out.
-
Bad Shots: Everyone makes bad shots each round. If you can limit it to 6 mishits around (e.g 1 shot every 3 holes), you are doing well. I also want to limit one bad shot per hole
Using those metrics, it really informs my practice time and how I approach targets and on the course strategy (and I’m huge believer in the DECADE system). Just keeping track of those stats and tracking them over time can be very illuminating and it disconnects it from the luck. I give myself some latitude when it comes to course conditions (e.g windy day, shitty greens, etc)
2020, I really focused on wedge play which has improved and more recently +10ft putts to reduce 3 putts. By focusing on those stats vs score, IMHO you can more reliably judge your strengths and weaknesses. Some days, you are going to sink every putt or stiff every approach shot but that’s not a reliable indicator of your skill but neither is lipping out every putt or hitting a bunch of bunkers.
That’s my current system at least. I still need a good metric for chipping and bunker play because up and down rate doesn’t quite cut the nuance of each situation
8 Likes
To me the hardest part of dispersion is staying committed to it. I said previously that “understanding” my dispersion was the biggest key. I knew prior to DECADE that my dispersion was left of center with every club through the bag, probably the putter too! So if a pin was on the right side I would try to hit a different shot than my standard. Now I will have my dispersion centered on the green and hit a standard shot. Having that understanding has been very helpful. It is difficult to do but it will make a huge difference over the long run.
5 Likes
Expectation management is also a big piece.
3 Likes
In 2020 on the PGA Tour, if you were able to average 15 feet or closer from 75-100 yards from the fairway, you would have ranked in the top 25 of all players. If you were able to do that from the rough, you would have ranked #1 on tour. I really doubt you are that good. It strikes me as extremely unlikely that some random dude on a message board is one of the very best in the world at this particular skill.
2 Likes
I’m just old school Man. I hear guys on here saying they hit the ball well over 300 yards. I’m not doubting it, I’m accepting of it, but you know what, That puts them better than 240 guys of the top 300 in the world on tour? Do you question that? If I said that I’d be lying cuz I cant do that. Have I sat and practiced 3 ft putts and made 150 in row putt after putt after putt from 4pm to 515pm every day for 2 months str8, yup I’d do that…, why cuz I’m nutz and I don’t want to miss 3ft putts I want it to be automatic, I don’t want to have to think about it. See people like you wont or dont have the patience to do what I think is making something automatic. Read it roll it make it! Do I go to the range and still hit 200 balls with my 2 wedges 3x a week yes I did and now that I have full clearance I will again, Y? cuz I’m nutz and I want to keep that particular skill sharp because it’s the only way I can score. It’s just not worth arguing and I guess we’ll agree to disagree and leave it at that. It’s like me wrestling with a pig in the mud…we both get dirty and at the end of the day the pig likes it! So if you say I’m #1 in the world I guess I am, but doesn’t it depend on how high the ruff is, how wide the fairways are, how big the greens are…man you are missing all kinds of variables. Our greens are tiny, I mean tiny, we don’t have a choice but to be accurate.
1 Like