Little known on-course habits/tactics of pros that amateurs should practice?

[hoselpalooza]

recently watched an on-course vlog with wesley bryan. he hit a drive underneath some trees. before playing his shot he demonstrated how to check for roots by puncturing 4 holes around the ball with a tee. i thought this was a great idea and am surprised this is the first time i've seen someone do it.

what other nifty tricks do the pros (or seasoned duffers) use that the rest of us should know about?

[596]

When in the rough, place 4 different club heads right behind the ball to see which one you want to use.

Oh, ya, it unintentionally layed the grass down behind the ball. But no one noticed. ?

[Mcgeeno]

I was trying to think of something epic or revolutionary but the only one recently I remember having stick with me.

 

On the green if you can't quite decide how the putt breaks I've seen a few pros on youtube talk about finding the straightest putt (When they do their walk around the hole). From there they can use their feet to feel the break or kind of get a feel for whether you have a R-L or L-R breaker based on which side of the straight putt you are on.

 

I use it on occasion on those pesky 10-20 footers where you can't quite decide if its a swinging putt or not. Look for the straight put and work from there.

[jomatty]

I saw a YouTube video recently that gave a similar type tip that helped me a lot. The guy was talking looking for things that you know are square. Things like roof lines or a pond. Once you’ve established what flat is it Can be easier to see at the break.

[Mcgeeno]

 

Yeah sounds similar! Its not exact obviously but I do find if I'm having one of those optical issues where I am undecided on a putt I do a quick round about the hole, Find the straightest putt I can. From there if I am right of the hole I know its breaking left and vice versa. At the very least it lets me commit to a stroke.

 

(IMO) as a good putter I will always get over a putt if I misread it slightly. I hate when I made an uncommited and poor stroke due to being undecided.

[hoselpalooza]

I was trying to think of something epic or revolutionary...heh no worries :) to be honest, i'm skeptical of stuff that's presented as "epic" or "revolutionary" anyway; too much click-bait these days.

i suppose another way of titling OP would be "what are some subtle things pros do that most amateurs don't know about?"

for example, regularly checking alignment and grip are simple things more ams should do, but this advice is also shouted from every rooftop and mountaintop. i'm keen to learn stuff that may be equally simple/basic/fundamental but is still uncommon knowledge, if that makes sense.

[aenemated]

Man, this is a great one.

[xmanhockey7]

Learn DECADE. You’ll learn exactly how Tour players pick targets on the course. Gets kind of fun to watch golf on TV and have a pretty good idea of where everyone is trying to hit their shots.

[hoselpalooza]

this looks great, thanks for the recommendation!

do you know if there's a paper-based version or alternative? i prefer to keep my phone turned off when i play. a scorecard-sized notebook seems ideal. i'll go ahead and look for something regardless but if you know off-hand i'd appreciate your feedback.

thanks again!

p.s. to anyone else who searches for a paper-based alternative be very careful of dodgy looking russian websites. seriously. i would not open up any of those links that show up at the top of google's search results, especially the PDFs.

so instead of searching for "golf" "decade" "notebook" paper i would search for this instead: "golf" "decade" "notebook" paper -site:.ru

p.p.s. i'm starting a new thread instead of searching for a paper alternative; too many garbage results. here's the thread.

 

[Used2PlayALot]

DECADE ?

[sbjinx]

DECADE?

[hoselpalooza]

decade?

[GunGun]

Take your glove off between your shots if you don’t leave it on during the green.

 

everything you do pre shot is your routine and you want to have that consistent. If you take it off when putting and your routine is to put the glove on when you start your tee shot routine. If you the leave it on for your next shot your routine changed as it does not start with putting on the glove.

 

 

another good one is don’t decide what club to use until you arrive at the ball, specifically in under 100 yards

[xmanhockey7]

No need to turn your phone on during the round. Watch the videos from the comfort of your home. If you do full DECADE there’s hours upon hours worth of info. If you choose to use his stats tracking to get detailed stats you can. It’s as simple as writing down how far away you are from the hole on each shot. Anyone with a laser can easily do it. Even if you don’t the DECADE info is great. For those who aren’t familiar here’s a nice little teaser. 34 min long, but you’ll want to watch every minute of it. Scott Fawcett on YouTube and Twitter. Highly recommend.

 

[xmanhockey7]

Also, I think if you want super bare bones and made for being 100% on paper check out The Scoring Method by Will Robbins. Great system for 98% of the golf population, but doesn’t really get into picking targets like Scott. I use both.

[jim rockford]

i've caddied quite a bit on pga canada tour.

a few thoughts,

recovery shots from deep in trees are very very conservative..... probably more conservative than me (10 handicap) would be trying

lesser clubs off the tee very often on par 4/5......... most of us can do this ourselves from the white tees. and maybe from certain blue tees

more break on longer putts........... spend way more time lining up short putts. no one wants to be a slow player so spend less time lining up all other shots. i hadn't thought of this until now. but you could also analyze the break near the hole are you wait for your long putting turn.

the one shot they have that i can't seem to understand replicate is that they play everything anywhere near the green with either SW or 60 degree. and they tend to hit low shots that check....... bear in mind that i don't play that much golf and the PNW is wet golf much of the year.

 

[jim rockford]

it takes mental training but i wonder about short targets on putts. get the ball rolling on your intended line.

[hoselpalooza]

i just want to say thank you to everyone who's contributed feedback so far. we're prepping for a camping trip today, so between organizing gear and sneaking in a few minutes of golf on TV i doubt i'll have time to participate in this thread until we return to civilization late-next week. thanks again!

[llewol007]

One thing I learned is you gotta have an approach to the golf course. It can be sitting driver, driver , driver , driver of each hole. Play to your yardage on your approach shot. If you have a 320 yard hole and and you hit a 240 yard drive but can’t hit a wedge inside a hundred yards to save your life, then hit the three would that you hit 200yds and play your 7 or 8 iron in.

[hoselpalooza]

xman, decade looks great, thanks for sharing. i watched a bunch of scott's videos and particularly like how he demonstrates how to plot your way around a golf course using google earth. i'm keen to check out more of his content and think i may subscribe.

i've had difficulty finding much info about using the scoring method, however, will's commentary in this podcast leads me to believe TSM is for people with very little course management experience.

what to you get out of TSM that decade doesn't provide? thanks!

[xmanhockey7]

Great question. I find they complement each other extremely well. While getting the ball inside 100 in regulation (2 on a par 4) seems really simple it’s harder than most realize. That and getting down in 3 inside 100 requires patience. One thing Scott and Will are big on is just that, patience. I would say try going 72 holes where you go 72/72 on both counts. You’ll find it’s not easy and doing so does indeed require patience. It also gets people to manage being out of position better and not give up on holes. Don’t get inside 100 in 2 shots. That’s okay! Once you’re there it’s like you’re playing an entirely new hole. Get the ball down in 3. TSM is so simple you have to play golf correctly to do it right. Which scott also jokes golf is so simple you have to do it correctly to make it easy.

When I play I focus on the scoring method. Yes I plot out courses using Scott’s method and choose targets on approach shots based on what he teaches. Going around the course getting check marks on my scorecard and focusing on getting the ball inside 25y (my TSM goal) in regulation and getting down in 3 inside 100 helps me focus on one shot at a time and not get hung up on score.

Also, many students I teach it to see great success with it.

[hoselpalooza]

wonderful feedback, thank you very much.

from what i gather -- and this may be over-simplifying -- it seems decade really shines with preparation and optimization and TSM is very helpful for execution and perhaps some more basic optimization.

[xmanhockey7]

I’d agree with that.

[hoselpalooza]

excellent idea! i do take my glove off between shots on the golf course but for whatever reason it hadn't occurred to me to factor it into my pre-shot routine. i guess it's kind of been an unconscious habit up to this point, though i can imagine how it could be useful as a "go time" signal, if that makes sense. anyway, i can hardly wait to start incorporating this into my PSR during the next range session. thank you!!

[Krt22]

I'd expand further and say never wear your glove on the green. That is one thing almost zero professionals do yet you see many ams doing

[Keen2bDumb]

Isn't this testing conditions? It's illegal. If he does this during competitive play he'd be disqualified. If anyone else knows or sees it and says nothing, they're both out.

 

In regards to using "tactics" for anything I'd advise against it. Just play the game and forget the weird stuff. If you're afraid of hitting a root, move the ball. If you're due for a course record, play it as is. Otherwise just forget about it, and don't break your 9 iron.

 

It would be nice if people would stop using gimmicks and tricks and stop making excuses for poor play. If you can't play a shot, practice it.

[hoselpalooza]

regarding the legality of sticking a tee in the ground to test for roots, which rule are you referencing? i don't know all of the rules and am happy for any opportunity to learn more about the rules.

also, i'd worry more about a broken wrist than a broken 9-iron. in a casual round i don't see anything wrong with testing for roots if it reduces my chance of getting injured. if it is in fact illegal to do this, of course i would never do this in a competitive round.

It would be nice if people would stop using gimmicks and tricks and stop making excuses for poor play. If you can't play a shot, practice it.did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today or something? you seem grumpy. and you've completely missed the point of OP. why don't you read the nice comments other people have made in this thread to get a sense for what is meant by "tactics". or head to the jokes thread, have a bit of a laugh, and cheer up a bit, kiddo.

[Keen2bDumb]

When did I indicate I was to delete my comment?

Besides this, if you could punch out of the woods and make par without punching holes in the dirt your comment may have more merit. Do refrain, your poor attitude is unnecessary. Keep it to yourself. I said nothing out of line, and you start getting rude. Calm it, or get reported.

[hoselpalooza]

please leave this thread.

[nitram]

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