Help Breaking Even

[pbjoe]

Hello everyone, I am new to these forums and so far i have liked most of what i have seen on this site and i am looking forward to the information available through the minds of the experienced golfers on this site. But enough chit-chat, I am an avid 17 year old golfer who will be on the golf course perhaps 10-15 hours a week and i can consistently shoot in the mid to high seventies. I can just as easily make birdies as bogeys and I can hit the ball far enough averaging about 270-280(can hit a 300+ if i really need to :D ) on my drives yet i just can't seem to break or even shoot even par. I would like some advice from experienced golfers and perhaps even stories about rounds where par was broken and maybe you could write about your thought process through the whole thing and just how you kept it together perhaps. Responses would be greatly appreciated.

[SadTrombone]

When you make a birdie or bogey, try not to think about your score over or under par. I'll wager a guess that you've been say 1 or 2 under through 10-14 holes only to collapse and end up 1 or 2 over, yes? It's all upstairs. I know you probably know that already, but it is.

 

I try to get on "hot streaks" now. I've read enough Rotella books (Golf is not a game of perfect is fantastic, btw) to know that a "hot streak" is just what happens when I get out of my own way and just let it go. I've gotten it to 5 birdies in a row since I've been able to get out of my way. I used to be a "par par par par birdie bogey par par par" golfer. Now it can be "par par bird bird bird bogey bird par" just as easy.

 

It really comes down to just letting yourself go low. When I need a confidence booster, I'll play from the lady's tees. Amazing how you can get 5 or 6 under par and that REALLY gets your confidence going.

 

-mini

[pbjoe]

This may be the thing i need to do, ha. or maybe make better decisions im not sure. For, instance today i played nine holes. I was -1 through seven, when i got up to the drivable par 4 eight with ob on both sides. I had been driving it great all day, so i thought there was no reason not to use driver i had hit every fairway. I did, and i just duck hooked it ob, i wound up with a triple bogey out of no where. I birdied the next hole to wind up 1+ :D

[larrybud]

This may be the thing i need to do, ha. or maybe make better decisions im not sure. For, instance today i played nine holes. I was -1 through seven, when i got up to the drivable par 4 eight with ob on both sides. I had been driving it great all day, so i thought there was no reason not to use driver i had hit every fairway. I did, and i just duck hooked it ob, i wound up with a triple bogey out of no where. I birdied the next hole to wind up 1+ :D

 

At this point it certainly sounds more mental than anything, and poor course management is a mental mistake. I mean, OB on BOTH sides? You don't even have a chance to bail out.

 

Once you reach that par or subpar milestone, doing it more often becomes easy, because you know you can do it, and it's no longer a milestone! I had 3 occasions when I stood on the 9th hole needing par or better to shoot under par for the 9 holes, and failed each time. But on the 4th try, it happened, and then I shot par or better 2 or 3 more times that season.

 

Then when it came down to shooting under par for 18, it was a similar experience.

[rpl1971]

Each hole is it's own "island". More specifically play each hole independent of the next one or the previous one.

At your age your mind needs to satisfy it's egocentric needs by physically imposing will rather than letting the analytical process take control in what you do.

 

I sometimes intetionally hit an iron off the tee on a par5 just to "let" the ego know that I am in control.

 

Having said all this dont worry about playing even too much it will come as you continue to practice and improve.

[putts2much]

one thing that helped me was keeping stats of your rounds.

you really can see where you need work.

i.e., i've avg. 11 GIR & 31 putts in the last 10 rounds. avg. 74 (various courses and tournaments)...

 

DON"T COUNT WHILE YOU"RE PLAYING!!!

you might then be... i hit 7 GIR on the front nine... let's see what i can do on the back....

 

review your round AFTER.

 

i've started to keep track of my rounds and the big difference is

PUTTING!!!

 

if i put around 30+, i'm around par or a couple over....

putt under 30, i'm even par or under par....

 

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

 

HAVE FUN!!!

 

:D

[mikpga]

Practice scoring and getting used to scoring low. How?

 

Play easier and MUCH SHORTER courses, play the most forward tees.

 

Practicing getting comfortable with scoring low!

[pbjoe]

Practice scoring and getting used to scoring low. How?

 

Play easier and MUCH SHORTER courses, play the most forward tees.

 

Practicing getting comfortable with scoring low!

I've seen this recommended twice maybe this is a good idea. I know of a golf course that is only about 6200 yards long or so from the back tees, I think ill try this forward tee thing it sounds fun....

[pbjoe]

At this point it certainly sounds more mental than anything, and poor course management is a mental mistake. I mean, OB on BOTH sides? You don't even have a chance to bail out.

perhaps but I had really been pounding the driver that day, I started tearing up the cover of my ball after several holes and was hitting it straight, but maybe i should have been better safe then sorry. :D

[DRGJR72]

I read somewhere a while ago that Faldo, when he was number 1, would go and play courses from the red or forward tees to get in the mode of making birdies and eagles. Get that mindset of going low and scoring well. Building his confidence.

 

I also look at my scores on the scorecard. Try to offset my 5's with 3's (or if I made a 6 with two 3's, etc.) and I know that 4's don't hurt, as long as the 3's and 5's are offsetting. So if I look at it like I am just offsetting scores, instead of where I stand, that helped me out a little bit. Just an idea. Kind of gives you a different mindset, it helped me when i was playing professionally.

 

Dan

[hbear]

Find out where you are making bogeys..and why.

Then learn and correct.

Do some stats on your round...specifically around the green and see where you can work on things.

e.g. chipping to 25' and making the putt and chipping to 1' and making the putt lead to the same score...but player in the first scenerio needs to work on chipping. This is important if you want to consistantly score.

Tap in pars are better than grinding those 10 footers for par. Same score...but tap in pars mean you had a good look at birdie.

 

 

Eliminate the doubles and triples. Manage your bogeys (hopefully they are all of the tap in kind...meaning you had a chance for a par save) and shut your brain off so you can make those birdie putts. The score should come.

[pbjoe]

Thank you all that have replied, i have taken every post into account and will try to do some of those things tomorrow when i play along with what i have learned from today's round. I shot 77, and i think my problem is just random out of nowhere disgusting swings that cause my ball to usually go into a hazard or ob (my course is short but tight there are always hazards and ob) These swings usually lead to high scores that i have to struggle to make up for the rest of the round, i found some sort of hazard five times during todays round and that is where my problems are. I had 9 GIR along with 29 putts and 3 birdies. My swing is, well the closest i can say is that it is sort of like tiger's where it is along the shaft plane i set at address. sometimes i just swing too hard, my hips spin out, tempo is ruined, my feet don't stay grounded, shoulders become overactive, which results in a massive hook. I found i just need to concentrate on making a good swing where i concentrate on keeping myself grounded and keeping my shoulders passive and my ball striking will be great. I will try to focus on this for tommorrow's round, wish me luck!

[shinr]

Well, I don't know if this is a problem for you or not, but you said how you drove it good all day until you reached the tight hole and then hit one astray. I had the very same problem awhile ago. I would be striping my tee shots all day, until I reached a tight hole and then I would drive it crooked. My coach played with me one time and pointed out that on every "open" hole I would just swing away and make a good swing, but on the tight holes I would try to guide it or get to tenative. So, now when I get to those tight holes I just try to swing loose and free, and not guide it. I don't know if that will help you, but it really helped me.

[oregongolf]

Practice scoring and getting used to scoring low. How?

 

Play easier and MUCH SHORTER courses, play the most forward tees.

 

Practicing getting comfortable with scoring low!

 

that's pretty sound advice. i still occasionally do the same thing -- especially when if i get paired with a group which is playing the forward tees.

 

lol, i remember some of my first high school golf matches i had the same problem. i'd be 2 or 3 under and look at my score card and think, wow..i'll be shoot 3 or 4 under today. then i'd finish at even.

 

nowadays, i just try not to think about my cumulative score. i try and play one hole at a time.

[pbjoe]

Ithink im going to think about rounds in terms of GIR from now on....how does that sound?

[oregongolf]

Ithink im going to think about rounds in terms of GIR from now on....how does that sound?

rather than your score? i would imagine it would help.

[paulyb]

Ithink im going to think about rounds in terms of GIR from now on....how does that sound?

 

Don't. Then missing greens will affect you negatively. Give each and every shot your full attention and move on if it doesn't go as planned.

[pbjoe]

Ithink im going to think about rounds in terms of GIR from now on....how does that sound?

 

Don't. Then missing greens will affect you negatively. Give each and every shot your full attention and move on if it doesn't go as planned.

 

I just mean ill say something like "well four greens the first nine...ill try to beat that next nine.."

 

Been playing and noticed that most of my problems come from overactive hands. Usually they'll over release giving me a high draw ( but with my club head speed and plane it just draws forever and winds up totally off line) Anybody have any suggestions on stopping this.

[tanj]

Well, the closest I've come to playing under par was about a year ago. I didn't realize that I was under par until the 15th, by which stage I had reached the most difficult part of the course. I told myself to make 3 pars and I was home scot free. It was all fine and good, going comfortably, I get the last, leave a tap in for par of about one foot. I either had a little sand on the face because the ball definitely did not come off remotely close to perpendicular to the putter face OR I yipped it. I think it must of been the latter. I ended up even par.

 

Since then though, I haven't been close to shooting even par or under except for maybe one round. I just can't get back into that same 'zone' where I don't care about the score and just play. It's a mental I hate to say. Good luck mate.

 

Josh

[Jim_0068]

Think of it this way, for every bogey you make you need to make 1 birdie. Sounds pretty daunting doesn't it? So instead of putting yourself in that position, you need to STOP MAKING BOGIES.

 

That's the only way you can break par. Make some birdies, maybe 1 or 2 bogies and SAVE A LOT OF PARS.

[villa]

Practice scoring and getting used to scoring low. How?

 

Play easier and MUCH SHORTER courses, play the most forward tees.

 

Practicing getting comfortable with scoring low!

Think of it this way, for every bogey you make you need to make 1 birdie. Sounds pretty daunting doesn't it? So instead of putting yourself in that position, you need to STOP MAKING BOGIES.

 

That's the only way you can break par. Make some birdies, maybe 1 or 2 bogies and SAVE A LOT OF PARS.

Sound advice. These guys clearly know what they're talking about.

 

Other than that, as someone said earlier, it's SHORT GAME, SHORT GAME, SHORT GAME.

 

You're obviously a decent ball striker so if you've got a decent short game to go with it, you've got a great chance of breaking par every time you go out.