How do you go low?

Here is the issue; I have lost the ability to score despite being able to hit the ball more consistently than I ever have done. All areas of my game feel like they are in better shape than when I was at my peak in terms of ability to score low, so what’s up?

I now struggle to get within 5 shots of my best ever scratch score, which was a 68 (-2) (shot when I was about 15). This was not a fluke as I was regularly shooting around par at the time. The closest I have gotten to that score in the last 5 years being a 74 (+2) on TOC last summer and a few other scores of +1/+2 on lesser courses. These days I am sadly struggling around the 75 mark on good day.

I also shot a low score of (74)+3, back tees, around north Berwick around the same time, but in general the art of scoring has deserted me.

But what is the key to going low if ball striking does not seem to be producing the results, in my case anyway. I would love if it was just course management but actually I tend to think I read the game and attempt the correct shot most of the time. This coupled with my improved technique has really left me wondering what to do.

Anyway, the real point of this thread was to get people to post their ideas on what is really crucial if you want to score low (relative to your ability) and what advice you could offer others in order to implement these techniques?

I really want to get back to shooting lower scores but have no idea what I do differently compared to when I could shoot lower, I do know it was not something I thought about and it felt easy’ish.

You need to analyse your scorecards to see where the shots are being dropped then practice that part of the game. My guess would be around and on the green. You are just coming off a wee break eh? So probably just rusty around the greens?

Get a bit of practice in and during a round remember to keep the same focus for all shots. No need to focus for the whole 3-4 hours but just when you are preparing and hitting the shots. In between shots just switch off.

Lairdy

I have been getting steadily worse over the last 5-10 years so I cannot just blame the recent break. I just want to stop the slide if nothing else. I am only 25 for god sake I should be in my prime.

I will definitely start analysing my scorecard more carefully and my look at keeping my stats again.

From what you say Mac, you don't play as much as you used to, hence your short game is probably a bit rusty and your putting isn't likely to have the same level of touch. Always going to be difficult to recreate the technique and mental state you were in when you were shooting good scores, plus you were young, so probably carefree.

Other than that it might be worth looking at your course management.

Also sounds like you are "expecting" to hit a good score, this seldom results in actually making a good score. If you go out try and play well rather than chasing a number then the score will take care of itself.

As a point of interest, I've played to my handicap scores of times this year and better, I'm putting it down to not taking any practice swings and therefore not thinking about the swing at all.

I forgot to send you the spreadsheet, but it's got a way of analysing how you play in each hole. Worth looking at.

Spend more time working on the scoring zone than your long game.

So work on everything from 120yards and in. This is the area that most struggle with. I've seen many good ball striking Cat 1 golfers hit long straight drives then take another 4 shots to get down fromt his range.

The art of scoring after all is getting the ball in the hole in the fewest amount and not how well you hit the ball to do that. The scorecard has no pictures of how you made the number you holed out in.

Work on your wedge play, then work on bunker play, chipping and putting. Practice short game shots from every lie you can imagine so that when you get on the course you don't get confronted with shot you are not 100% sure you can play.

Other than that course management and aim for the parts of the green where you leave yourself putts you can be more aggressive with e.g. uphill ones.

Theres something hugely satisfying when you can knock it round in level or sub par when not playing your best

I'm in the same boat, but I can't claim my game is as good or better than it used to be. I know exactly why the handicap is higher.

But back to your thread.

When I could play a bit I my piers were always better strikers and always hit it further, but when I was playing well I always knew where the ball was going.

I think "knowing where the ball is going" is part of the explaination. I recall when I was younger I'd get a good feel from the practice swing as to whether I was going to hit a good or bad shot or a fade or a draw - not alway correct, but correct most of the time. I'd then compensate accordingly and get a better result.

I still get some feedback from the practice swing but definetely much less. I now sometimes feel I'm likely to play a certain shot and end up playing a completely different shot. That never used to be the case when younger.

Each time this happens your increasing your score by a fraction of a shot and over 18 holes it adds up to a few shots. For example a 5 iron to 30 feet means a par on average but a 5 iron to a few yards off the green means an average of 0.3 above par provided you get up and down 7 out of 10 times.

Mav

Great advice and I would second that for anyone else but when I do practice these days it is all 100 and in. Although not so much on the putting side. I am interested in what super said about putting and think that may be where my issues lie.

It is not that I look to shoot low it is just noticable that my scores are getting steadily worse as time goes on. It may be that I dont play as often so that could also be something to look at.

Mac, the harder you try to go low, the more difficult it is. To play your best, you almost have to forget you are playing at all.

Same old advice - one shot at a time.

Did you get some weight added to your putter? You mentioned you cut it down quite a bit.
This year during the summer I dedicated at least an hour every week to practice putting. I would go to the practice green at our course and resist the temptation to jump on for a quick 9 holes or go and hit wedges on the practice ground. Have a practice session soley for putting. Its made some difference to my confidence with the putter.

super_realist wrote:Mac, the harder you try to go low, the more difficult it is. To play your best, you almost have to forget you are playing at all.

I think thats very good advice but incredibly hard to put into practise. Also when you take as many shots as I do to complete a round its really hard to forget you are playing the game.

Does anyone have some good drills or games you can play on the putting green to really test if your putting is a problem or not?

Mac, You'll know if your putting is a problem or not simply by playing. Sometimes a miss is out of your control, but you hould be able to tell if you are leaving it short, hitting it too hard, jabbing it, not following through, making the ball jump, missing right, left etc.

I just try and make a smooth stroke, ensuring i don't decelerate. Keeping my head down until I hear it drop. Everyone can putt, there is no correct way to putt, so find what works for you and keep doing it.

When practice putting focus on hitting the ball at the correect speed which is a ball going 18 inches past if it misses. This both improves your distance control and should give more putts on the course a chance of dropping.

Another drill is to always hole out but if the first putt misses then move it 2 or 3 feet further away before taking the next putt. Great for practicing holing out and when you hole out on the course it appears easier as you are not moving the ball back by 2 or 3 feet.

When I find myself thinking about what my round could be like or is going to be like I try and distract myself by starting coversation or singing a song in my head. Its easy for someone to say take it one shot at a time and dont think about your score but the hard part is actually doing it. Like most things in golf people look for a quick fix so they tend not to try and work things out for themselves instead of making the effort. You cant just say in your head, "take one shot at a time", you've actually got to force yourself to get distracted in between shots and in time it will become more natural. Its like any other type of practice in golf. You need a fair bit of discpline.

Mac, analysing your scores will tell you about your putting. First figure out if it is putting then what area of putting then get some drills to address that part.

I don't know the answer.

On Sunday I went out without any expectation at all, on a foggy wet morning. It was hard to see the flag from further than 120 yards. Forward tees, winter rules, holding greens, pins in easy positions.

I had 7 birdies in the first 10 holes, then started thinking about what I was doing. I dropped 2 shots in the last 8 holes.

It's been a lot of years since I scored regularly around par, so this was a bit of surprise.

I'm not getting carried away, because the course was pretty easy. Still it gave me a lot of satisfaction to think I can still play that well. I'm looking forward to next weekend to see if I can do it again - and while I don't think my putting will be that good again, it'll be nice to continue hitting the ball solidly and straight and getting it close.

Anyway - I have no idea what you need to do to score really low, but I'm pretty sure that if you try to force a low score, you won't. I think other people said that above, but it just comes from hitting it straight, hitting it close, and then finding some confidence on the greens.

I do wonder if not playing club competitions is starting to effect how well I can score. There must be a mental toughness gained when the card is in your hand a really means something.

McLaren - I could have written tho original post myself. I have followed a very similar pattern. Similar age (26), I previously played off 3 & 4 for a few years in my mid and late teens, very often scoring around par or better, (best was -3) and very rarely any more than a few shots outside my handicap. I actually didn’t play much in 2009&10 before rediscovering my love for the game as well as having more time on my hands from early this year. Started year at 6, went out to 7 and almost 8 at one point, but managed a few good scores and got back down to 5 by the end of the season. Like you I am hitting the ball better than I ever did but not converting it into the scores that my long game deserves. Not to blow my own trumpet but I recently went to a club fitter for a new set of irons (who won a world clubmaker of the year award and have worked with lots of top tour pros) and he said that from my ball striking he would have guessed I was a 0-2 handicap. It was a nice compliment but also highlighted the frailties in other parts of my game that I have been well aware of for some time. And it is all in the scoring areas that have been mentioned above by other posters
Firstly my shots from 75-100 yards are not sharp enough, just don’t get close enough to the pin, don’t really hole my fair share of putts as too tentative on the greens, mainly though my chip and pitch shots from 30 yards in have been my real struggle, I have lost all confidence to execute the shots, duffing and blading many (honestly I have the short game of a beginner at the moment!!) I have got a couple of lessons in this area and many Saturday afternoons chipping on the practise green during the summer. Extremely slow progress as the problem exists in my head now and I do not believe I can pull the shot off. Extremely frustrating as so many times I take 3 and four shots to get down from the side of the green having hit two excellent shots to get there. This is the area I need to keep working on during the winter but from a psychological perspective as much as technique.

mac

if you are only practicing 100yds and in when you practice then i think you are on the right track. for me its the most important area.

as for going low. you clearly have the ability to do it but sometimes the expectation of going low is what gets in the way( i think it was super who mentioned it too). it is what held me back for nearly ten years. now i have a family a busy job and my golf is now more like a hobby and when you only get to play 1 or 2 rounds a week ( always a counting comp) during the summer then i want to enjoy it. i am down to my lowest handicapever because i have realised i cant shoot the lights out all the time.


as a side note . do you get more satisfaction from a 75 scr and you have hit the ball well
or a 72 when you have hit the ball badly ?

Spot on lieger.

It is a combination of skill, confidence and a relaxed attitude.

Doon the Water wrote:Spot on lieger.

It is a combination of skill, confidence and a relaxed attitude.

The first I know I have....the very statement of which should cover the 2nd, but all too often poor execution of 1 causes a loss of 2 and (in my case particularly) a complete obliteration of 3!!

A bit like sprinting Jaz, you can only do it well if you are relaxed.
Mind you Alan Wells never looked too relaxed!

"as a side note . do you get more satisfaction from a 75 scr and you have hit the ball well
or a 72 when you have hit the ball badly ?"

Sadly both seem a little unlikely these days.


I do wonder if everyone hits a wall of performance given their skill, technique and practice type. To get better do you have to radically change one or all of these attributes?

I know Doon, and I know that for me to go low I must find a way of addressing 3. Got to the turn in level par today at B&B. Thinned my approach through the green at the 10th (the bell hole). Decent chip back to 3 feet but tightened on it. All of a sudden my head was swirling with "Why did I pull that short putt? Why am I thinning irons?" (I did thin a couple on the front 9 one of which I got away with).
Result? 11th tee, relaxation gone and a big blocky drive into the bundai. Tried really really hard to get back into the carefree zone, never quite made it but never spiralled out of control either but I know where the mental work is required.

JAS wrote:I know Doon, and I know that for me to go low I must find a way of addressing 3. Got to the turn in level par today at B&B. Thinned my approach through the green at the 10th (the bell hole). Decent chip back to 3 feet but tightened on it. All of a sudden my head was swirling with "Why did I pull that short putt? Why am I thinning irons?" (I did thin a couple on the front 9 one of which I got away with).
Result? 11th tee, relaxation gone and a big blocky drive into the bundai. Tried really really hard to get back into the carefree zone, never quite made it but never spiralled out of control either but I know where the mental work is required.

Ahhh, B&B JAS. We must have a round there sometime; preferably when sober the night before

PS - thought your short game was superb at Trevose Open. Certainly been an inspiration to me with my chipping and bunker play

Jas
As an honest observation.
You seem to have a very solid game but............ when you are on a good run you seem to be waiting for the bad shot/missed putt to turn up.
Deadly is the same on a greater scale.
Almost like 'well I've had my run of eight pars, I suppose I'll have a double bogey soon.

McLaren wrote:"as a side note . do you get more satisfaction from a 75 scr and you have hit the ball well
or a 72 when you have hit the ball badly ?"

Sadly both seem a little unlikely these days.


I do wonder if everyone hits a wall of performance given their skill, technique and practice type. To get better do you have to radically change one or all of these attributes?

MAC: It would do you good to attend the 606v2 meet in March. Not only for the competitive element and the banter, but some of the better players on here would have the opportunity of playing with you and watching your approach to short game/putting. Well worth the journey. I've learned a lot this year from the couple of rounds I've had with D4S (excellent long-game) and from JAS (excellent pitcher and chipper). Sometimes it takes a while for the advice to sink in, but my game has improved by 8-10 shots I reckon as a result of my 606v2 companions

The are 2 keys for me and both I was told as a kid by our club pro, but only recently rediscovered both of these things when reading one of Rotellas books.

They are:

1. Train what you have and trust it to work: Meaning that wok on your game on the range and practice green, but once you hit the course trust what you have grained into your game and don't try to correct things on the course, if you hit a bad shot forget it and trust your swing on the next one etc.

If you forget about swing mechanics on the course and trust what you have you will find that even if your not striking it great, the other elements of your game come to the fore, but they can only do that through knowing you trust yourself to execute the chip, putt etc and not focus on the technic for it as then you lose feel and will start beating yourself up.

that then leads on nicely to...

2. Get out of your own way: Don;t think about the last shot you played no matter how good or bad it was because it no longer matters it's in the past. Don't tell yourself what score you need to make on your round or specific holes e.g. dont think well I dropped a shot there so I now need to make a birdie at the next or I need run of birdies etc, as soon as you start telling yourself what you need; you add tension and lose sight on whats the most important shot you have to play and thats the one your about to hit.

Though you might want to go round in sub 70 you will never achieve that when you stand on the first tee telling yourself that. You'll just create tension and be chasing a number when you should be focusing on the shot at hand.


Regarding the point of whats more satisfying a round of say 75 where you hit the ball well or a round of 72 where you've hit it badly.. Surely the simple anser is the 72 is more satisfying, its a lower score and if thats in a medal then looks better on the scoreboard. A card hs no pictures of how you managed that score just the numbers posted so no-one knows you didn't hit it great all they know is you had a good round!

I do wonder if everyone hits a wall of performance given their skill, technique and practice type. To get better do you have to radically change one or all of these attributes?

Possibly they do Mac, but I believe if you put the work in there's no reason you can't break down that wall and get to the next level, then start again. E.g. IMO difference between a 5 and 9 handicapper isn't the ball striking but short game and ability to chip and putt that bit better. Then the difference between that 5 handicapper and a scratch guy will be time spent practising, short game and more importantly course management.

Everyone can go beyond their level it's just a matter of what your willing to put into the game to do it

Maverick wrote:
Regarding the point of whats more satisfying a round of say 75 where you hit the ball well or a round of 72 where you've hit it badly.. Surely the simple anser is the 72 is more satisfying, its a lower score and if thats in a medal then looks better on the scoreboard. A card hs no pictures of how you managed that score just the numbers posted so no-one knows you didn't hit it great all they know is you had a good round!

every one is different mac.

i would genuinely get more satisfaction from a 75 where i have struck the ball well than i would from 72 where i hit it rank.

what i have learned is to accept when i hit it badly which helps me to score better but for me the satisfaction come from good golf shots not just good scores.

Everyone is indeed different, i'd prefer to be hitting it like a baboon swinging a python trying to hit an ostriech egg and get it round in the fewest number, as thats what the game is the lowest score wins.

BUt there's nothing sweeter than when forces combine and you get that elusive low number when hitting and scoring well at the same time, sadly not both happen together very often.

Scoring low is just something that happens, you can't force it, and for me it depends more on conditions that how you feel about your game. For example, this past weekend i played really well, found almost every fairway, hit lots of greens, struck the ball beautifully and on a normal day i would have expected to be mid-high 70s, a great low score for me. However, on the day, the greens weren't as true as usual and they were very running fast. I didn't putt badly, i just didn't hole any thing. So the shots i might usually lose on approach, i instead i lost on the greens. I can be sure that the day my driver's not working, my irons will be superb. And when i drive well and find every fairway, i won't be able to hit an iron to save my life. And when i drive and strike irons well, the greens will be a nightmare!

Be philosophical about your scoring. Yup, it's nice to shoot a low score under handicap, but also take the positives if your game's clearly in good shape but lady luck just isn't on your side.

Very philosophical and very true Eldest. I sometimes get the feeling that Lady Luck thinks I've shagged her daughter or something, I just never seem to get any sort of good break, certainly not in proportion to the amount of bad breaks I get. Having said that, there is an element of truth in "you make your own luck" and "the harder I practice, the luckier I get". I'm therefore looking forward to the "perfect storm" of my luck balancing out at the same time as all my practice paying off. If i keep doing all the right things it will happen when it happens!!

Eldest

I agree with what you say but I meant, possibly did not make this clear, but by go low I think I meant go lower on average than I do at the moment. Over the long term my average score is raising and it would be good to have a plan that could be developed which allowed me to lower my average score.

I must be doing things differently to the time around 5+ years ago when shooting a 75 or under was not uncommon. These days I just cannot shoot in the low 70’s on a regular basis. Finding out where I loose shots may be the place to start and hopefully one of the stats sheets kicking about V2 will help me do that.

Mac, apologies, I keep meaning to send you the spreadsheet. I'll try and remember this evening.

McLaren, i know what you mean, and yes the first step is to identify where you generally lose shots. But you can't let that govern your game entirely. I kept stats when i was a member at Jumeirah Golf Estates Earth course, but as an amateur it was very difficult to pick a trend over time, purely because of how inconsistent amateurs are and based on the factors i discussed above. Hopefully you'll see some patterns and be able to address those specific points of your game that need tightening.

I have been scoring lower recently by appreciating my weaknesses and focusing on "best miss" positions. Too many times i have been faced with a shot and been suckered into an aggressive play, only for things to go completely pear-shaped. Chasing birdie and making double, that sort of thing. A few of the greens i play on at Yas Links have "just don't go there" areas, which i now absolutley avoid even when the a safer shot means leaving yourself a huge first putt. I mean, how many times have you been stood there,. after playing a risky shot, realising you've just chucked a couple of shots away quite needlessly? I have...a lot!

If you're a 20+ handicapper, you've got "shots to play" with and can potentially recover lost shots. But if you're around 6 handicap, there's almost zero margin for error...make a double and you're going to struggle to make handicap as to do so will probably require you to make gross birdies, which is quite different to making nett birdie.