-John

On Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:54:06 +0000, Carbon wrote:

>
> I hit dumb shots.
>
> I read that one here a while ago. After I stopped laughing I realized,
> you know, that's pretty much it.

You could play smarter, but you might not enjoy it as much. It's not
*smart* to aim at the flag most of the time. It would be safer to aim
for the fat of the green, taking that lake filled with alligators
completely out of play. But a chance for birdie beckons.

I think it's more fun to see if you can hit the shot that Tiger would
play even if the odds are seriously against success. After all, if the
best round you can shoot *if* you play everything safe is 78 or something
like that why not have some fun and fire at that pin?

That way you squeeze quite a bit more fun into each round - for the same
price. If you play for score and only hit safe shots you have a lower
score but go home free of joy. It's a boring way to play.

RockPyle

>
> Here's the question:
>
> What's holding you back?  What, in your view, is the biggest obstacle to
> your becoming a lower-scoring golfer?
>

>
> Randy

A worse than abysmal short game and general lack of fitness dooms me
to high teens (for now).

My short game has been in trouble for three or four years now. I
believe the root cause is related to the yips. I cannot resist the
urge to 'hit' my chips and pitches. the right hand takes over and
generally causes a thin hit. I have gone to cross-handed chipping and
pitching with decent success, but I still have multiple holes per
round with more than one chip/pitch to reach the green surface. My
ball striking has improved greatly so that I am hitting more greens,
which helps the score immensely.

The fitness comes into play late in the back nine. I generally walk
and carry, and tend to have more blow ups on the back nine where I am
getting tired and less likely to deal with bad shots well and limit
them to one bad shot.

Both can be improved and I hope to end the season on or around my
current index of 17.2 and start the new year lighter and fitter and
with a short game to be proud of!

Rock

Rock

Dave Lee

""R&B"" <> wrote in message
news:...
>snip
>
> Here's the question:
>
> What's holding you back? What, in your view, is the biggest obstacle to
> your becoming a lower-scoring golfer?
>
snip
>
> Randy
>

The failed foreign policy of the Bush Administration.

OK, maybe I've been watching the campaign too closely :-)

I played with a genuine "scratch golfer" the other day (current index 0.2
and he stays in that range consistently). I have played with golfers that
good before, but this is the first time that it was someone about my age
(late 50's) who worked for a living (outside of golf) all of his life. My
current index is 4.1 so "scratch" would not be impossible you might think.

So I watched his game thinking "that is what it takes - where I am coming up
short".

And the answer was "a little bit on just about every stroke there is".

- He was 20'ish yards longer than me.
- I hit a two pretty bad approach shots and he hit one (that was not nearly
as bad as either of my two)
- His good irons were a bit better than my good ones
- He was a better putter
- He was a better chipper

We played a not really easy, not really hard course (71.8/128, par 72, 6650
yards). I shot a 78 while he shot even par so we both shot in our "expected
range" given our handicaps.

So for me there really isn't "one thing" (and "scratch" is most unlikely for
me unless I might happen to string together a few really hot round and dip
down there on a very temporary basis).

dave

MNMikeW

""R&B"" <> wrote in message
news:...
>I read John Pflum, Jr.'s article about getting his handicap down below a
>13, making him a pre-teen. (See: "VICTORY!! (Goal achieved)."
>
> It got me to thinking.
>
> The first time I saw John's golf swing, I just knew he had to be a player.
> I'm frankly shocked he hasn't been a single digit handicap for years with
> that swing.
>
> I thought the same thing the first time I saw Rob Hamilton ("The
> Professor") play golf.
>
> These two guys have BEAUTIFUL golf swings.
>
> But apparently, their golf swings are far less effective than they are
> beautiful.
>
> I was going to pose this question in John's thread, and then I got to
> thinking it might make a good topic for all of us to discuss (and might
> provide a break from the All Politics, All the Time tendency that RSG has
> this close to an election. While I have certainly contributed to that at
> times, I figure it's the least I can do to try to shift the conversation a
> little.
>
> Here's the question:
>
> What's holding you back? What, in your view, is the biggest obstacle to
> your becoming a lower-scoring golfer?
>
> Wild off the tee? Not enough length? Faulty short game? Can't putt?
> Just flat-out inconsistent in all areas (aka, "I suck")? Too bull-headed
> (or cheap) to take lessons? Always trying something new you've read in a
> magazine, making it next to impossible to groove any kind of swing at all?
> Do you simply refuse to practice at all, and even if you did, would you
> just go out and beat balls with the same awful swing you have instead of
> trying to make substantive improvements to it?
>
> What?
>
> Randy
>
1. Lack of practice time.
2. My second shots are killing me. Can't hit a fairway wood to save myself.
Same with long irons.

IcUrdazedandconfused

On Thu, 2 Oct 2008 00:22:25 -0400, "\"R&B\""
<> wrote:


>
>Here's the question:
>
>What's holding you back? What, in your view, is the biggest obstacle to
>your becoming a lower-scoring golfer?
>

I have dropped from 18.2 to a 12.1 in the last year, and I would have
to say the main reason is being more consistent off the tee. At 18,
I would lose 6-7 balls a round, and now I rarely lose a ball.

Now to answer your question, I need to hit more greens. Short game
will come and go, but par (or better) is a whole lot easier if you are
on in regulation....

Miss Anne Thrope

What's holding me back from being a better player?

It's dignity mostly.

Bobby Knight

On Thu, 2 Oct 2008 00:22:25 -0400, "\"R&B\""
<> wrote:

>I read John Pflum, Jr.'s article about getting his handicap down below a 13,
>making him a pre-teen. (See: "VICTORY!! (Goal achieved)."
>
>It got me to thinking.

>What's holding you back? What, in your view, is the biggest obstacle to
>your becoming a lower-scoring golfer?

>Randy
>
Where do I start? My physical situation for one thing, but that
should get better within a month or so.

Other than that its the usual; not taking the time to really practice
those things that are needed, like the short game. Worse is delaying
the periodic lessons that are needed.

bk

Dene

""R&B"" <> wrote in message
news:...
> I read John Pflum, Jr.'s article about getting his handicap down below a
13,
> making him a pre-teen. (See: "VICTORY!! (Goal achieved)."
>
> It got me to thinking.
>
> The first time I saw John's golf swing, I just knew he had to be a player.
> I'm frankly shocked he hasn't been a single digit handicap for years with
> that swing.
>
> I thought the same thing the first time I saw Rob Hamilton ("The
Professor")
> play golf.
>
> These two guys have BEAUTIFUL golf swings.
>
> But apparently, their golf swings are far less effective than they are
> beautiful.
>
> I was going to pose this question in John's thread, and then I got to
> thinking it might make a good topic for all of us to discuss (and might
> provide a break from the All Politics, All the Time tendency that RSG has
> this close to an election. While I have certainly contributed to that at
> times, I figure it's the least I can do to try to shift the conversation a
> little.
>
> Here's the question:
>
> What's holding you back? What, in your view, is the biggest obstacle to
> your becoming a lower-scoring golfer?
>
> Wild off the tee? Not enough length? Faulty short game? Can't putt?
Just
> flat-out inconsistent in all areas (aka, "I suck")? Too bull-headed (or
> cheap) to take lessons? Always trying something new you've read in a
> magazine, making it next to impossible to groove any kind of swing at all?
> Do you simply refuse to practice at all, and even if you did, would you
just
> go out and beat balls with the same awful swing you have instead of trying
> to make substantive improvements to it?
>
> What?
>
> Randy

Putting and acccurate chipping. My drives and approach shots have been best
ever. Solution....practice, which I hate, or buy a new putter!!

-Greg

The_Professor

On Oct 1, 11:22 pm, "\"R&B\"" <noneofyourbusin...@all.com> wrote:

The number one thing for me is, and in all seriousness, trying to be a
better player. The number two thing is cheating when you play; I don't
know what's worse here, rolling the ball or picking up putts, but I
suspect if I collected data, it would be picking up putts.

Since I have stopped worrying about getting better, my game has
improved dramatically...but I'm not any better! I'm still about a 14
or so handicapper, but I rarely shoot over 100, even when I play
really badly, and I break 80 a lot more. Not wearing myself out on the
range does leave me better able to sustain my game for a whole round.
Staying focussed on playing one shot at a time, and enjoying the
experience, and most especially not worrying about the score, and most
pointedly, not really taking into consideration how many shots I have
taken so far on a hole in deciding what shot to take next. Always
select a shot I have, and stay away from low percentage shots at all
times.

The last thing is to never overswing while playing a round. Stay
within yourself. One overswing can kill a round for me, as it is hard
to slow down again. Maybe pros can do this, but I sure can't. A great
psyche out of your opponent is to try to goad him/her into
overswinging.

John van der Pflum

On Thu, 2 Oct 2008 05:27:29 -0700 (PDT), Kev <>
wrote:

> Oh, and I have no natural talent. I've played with guys that are
>single digit only to hear "yeah, I took up the game about 3 years
>ago...". I wanna take a 5 iron to 'em. I played with one guy that
>was a 5, and had started 9 months prior.

I'm with you. Those people make me sick.