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Key Elements to Progression lowering your Cap


BB28403

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This may or may not work. What are some key elements you implemented and you credit for lowering your cap.

For example : 30-25Hcp- I credit my solid iron play to getting me past here. What other players can learn is to control your club face.

25-20Hcp- worked on my putting and chipping a lot. Read a lot of Stan Utley, if you are trying to break thru this level, maybe give Utley a try...

 

Anyhow those are just examples and fictitious. Just try recounting what you credit getting you past a certain cap. If you can remember! :)

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I'll oversimplify it, but generally this is what i think, assuming a relatively normal course from the up tees

 

Breaking 100: Work on full swings, advancing the ball , don't waste shots (ie fans or topped shots), work on losing less balls. At this stage just going to the range and learning how to swing is enough. If you can just make steady contact and keep the ball straightish you can do this

 

Breaking 90: Need some rudimentary short game skills here. No skulling balls back and forth over greens etc. Need to be able to give yourself a chance at 1-putting if you're anywhere near the green, even if it's a long 1-putt. Your tee to green game can use some sharpening , but you can shoot 88-89 if you can just make steady contact, and not butcher the short game

 

Breaking 80: Need really know where the ball is going on most swings, have to be able to scramble. You aren't going to break 80 without working on both your short game and full swings and being pretty competent in both areas

 

It's kind of how i personally did it. I broke 100 without ever practicing putting or short game, only started working on it when i joined a club and got better

Srixon ZX5 w/PX Hzrdus Red 60

Srixon ZX 15 w/PX Hzrdus Red 70

Tour Edge C723 21* w/PX hzrdus black 80

Titleist T150 4-AW w/PX LZ 6.0

Titleist Jet Black 54/60 with PX LZ 6.0

Deschamps Crisp Antique 

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Anything hacker scoring 90+ hat answer is 1.) driver it farther and straighter......2.) see rule 1 3.) see rule 1......... 999.) see rule 1.....

just hitting more fairways closer to the green is the fastest path to lowering scores. Once you feel you have improved that about as much as you can...work on eliminating 3 putts by improving lag putting. 3 putts are so common when people score 90+. Eliminate 80% of your 3 putts and you quickly improve you score by 10 strokes. The only way to consistently eliminate 3 putts is learning proper distance control with the putter. You have to get that first putt closer.

 

Once you are driving it good and putting good you are probably shooting in the 80s and can really focus on those approach shots and iron game and pitching/chipping. All will be needed to be a consistent 70s player. But being a great driver of the ball is so damned important to score, thats just where you have to devote your time in order to get out of the 90s and 100s. And BTW, you can be pretty damn solid in all aspects of your game and still throw up a 95 damned easily if your driver is awful. I've done it...MANY times. Lost balls add up fast on the card.

 

 

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I do agree with the above. It's developing an ability to hit the irons straight-ish and the driver repeatably that leads to golf being fun and addictive. Most folks can hit their 7- and 8-iron relatively well. It's getting off the tee and not blowing up on the green that matters.

 

I started 10 years ago and bought a used Titleist 975D with an EI-70 shaft. I guess being shorter and heavier, I could swing more aggressively and get away with it. I played a nice little low-fade all the time back then and formed a pretty solid game. Playing a lot with a repeatable tee shot leads to decent scoring pretty quickly.

 

If you're really getting into golf and you can hit it IDK, let's say 250, it doesn't take more than maybe 2-3 years of it being your #1 hobby before you start posting some nice scores shooting 40-ish on 9 and maybe even putting a couple good nines together. IIRC, I had broken 80 after a only few short years.

 

The problem is, the road from 30- down to scratch is long and winding. You may get to 15 pretty quick but remain there forever. Or you may get to 10 and begin a big swing change that ultimately derails your game for years at a time.

 

I improved my iron play a lot these couple years but my driving and putting have taken a hit so that's where my focus is this year. I wish I could smash it off the tee as consistently as I used to. Still, I somehow feel I'm a better player.

 

TSR3 (9o) (Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-6)
TSR2+ (14.5o 3w) (Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-7)

TSR2 (21o 7w) (Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-7)

zU85 (4-6) (UST Recoil)
Z-Forged (7-Gw) (Nippon Modus3)

SM9 56-F / 60-S
Maltby PTM-5CS

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Agreed with the above. The key to progressively lower your cap is to progressively improve your ball striking. Consistently getting off the tee, consistently getting on/around the green, grooving a consistent miss, missing in the right place, etc makes everything about the game easier and takes pressure off your short game.

 

Basically you need to systematically eliminate wasted shots (penalties, chunks, big misses, not getting onto the putting surface in one shot if you miss a green, no 3-putts). I don't think there is a magic path or secret method to accomplishing this, just understanding your swing, its flaws, and how to fix/mitigate them.

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I would say that the biggest difference in my going from around a 10 when I was young to around a 3 in 2 years was iron play. The ability to hit greens is a key in that and it is something that I am frustratingly relearning after a very long absence from the game. What I am trying to do now is knowing how far i carry a ball on average with each club through the bag and eliminating the ego that can inflate distance. Then, how far do i average on 1/3rd and 2/3rd swings with my gap, sand and lob. I know that I have lost a lot of distance from this absence of 10 or so years(I would say that I currently average 265 with a driver, wherein I averaged about 290-295 with a driver when I was in college) and I know that some of this distance will come back as I continue to play, work out and work on my swing. The big difference between today and 10 years ago is the amount of legitimate practice aids that give you distance feedback. I have a SC100 and, while not cutting edge tech, it gives me a good estimate on my distances. I'm hoping to dial in my distances in the next month or so from practicing on the range once or twice a week and then graduate to working heavily on wedge games.

 

So I would opine this as a reasonable stepping stone. Breaking 90 on a consistent basis - keeping the ball in play off the tee and consistently hitting a drive around 230. Breaking 80 - hitting 8 greens a round and having an ok short game(get it up and down 3 or so times a round, eliminate 3 putts, be solid on putts 10 feet and in) while boosting your distance off the tee to 250-260. Being at par or better on a consistent basis was something that I only did for about 3 months until I wrecked my shoulder but it basically came down to hitting about 12-13 greens on an average round, having a very good short game and putting along with hitting one or two par 5's in 2.

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The more consistent you are the lower you scores. Especially from tee Tom green. If you can find the way to be on the green or on the good greenside in two on a par four. You’ll likely par and you won’t get worse than bogey. Short game and a sharp putter will help make more pars and a few birdies, which would be the next step.

 

The life of an amateur player is usually harder, so you will need some strong short game to get yourself out of problems when it counts and make sure your putting is hot as often as possible if you want to score in spite of poor ballstriking. This is usually true either for a 20 capper or a scratch player.

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