What can I do to improve my GIRs?

[naval2006]

I think you need zero GIR to break 90.

[Hackinator]

I think you need zero GIR to break 90.

 

I highly doubt you can break 90 w/o any GIR.

[MadGolfer76]

I think you need zero GIR to break 90.

 

I highly doubt you can break 90 w/o any GIR.

 

I once missed 17 greens and shot 73...so...

[Hackinator]

I think you need zero GIR to break 90.

 

I highly doubt you can break 90 w/o any GIR.

 

I once missed 17 greens and shot 73...so...

 

I don't how that's possible unless your chipping and putting was on.

 

Some stats on score to gir.

 

SCORE GIR

 

71 12

75 10

79 8

81 7

85 5

89 3

[Nard_S]

I think you need zero GIR to break 90.

 

I highly doubt you can break 90 w/o any GIR.

 

I hit 2 FIR and 2 GIR and grossed 82 last year. Funnest round of the season.

[vance astro]

I think you need zero GIR to break 90.

 

I highly doubt you can break 90 w/o any GIR.

 

I would've broken 90 yesterday with 1 GIR, if I hadn't botched 3 chip shots on the 17th green and made a triple. It's definitely doable.

[vance astro]

A better short game will at least make you feel better, haha. (cool) A few up and downs really do improve your attitude. I think that's what people are talking about. Being able to get up and down from the easy locations will also expand your landing areas for irons.

 

However, I'm also missing a bunch of greens right now, too and I'm with you. It sucks. It's really annoying and the strokes add up fast. Plus, it feels just awful missing a green with a short iron in your hand. I'm doing the worst thing you can which is missing in bad spots. So I'm doing something slightly wrong, missing in an awful spot and walking off with double or worse.

 

Best I can say is, work on the full wedges (a lot) on the range. Once you're comfortable, move back to the short irons. The simple fact is you just need to practice a lot with those clubs. And don't just beat balls. Aim at things on the range and take note of whether a good feeling shot it actually going right, left or straight.

 

Keep in mind a lot of range rats develop alignment issues where they feel great hitting a certain shot but never notice they're pushing or pulling those flush shots by 5-10 yards one way or the other. They get out there on the course and align properly only to feel uncomfortable.

 

 

 

I'd give you 2 real tips though:

 

(1) If you aren't striking anything in your bag solid, see an instructor.

 

(2) If practice feels fun, you're not practicing anything. ;)

 

 

Focus on quality during practice. Maybe that means you only hit half the shots you did beating balls, but you can learn quickly if you do the right drills. The two-tee drill is great for ball-striking. Yeah, you have to keep pushing tees in the ground, but deliberate practice is how you improve, not beating balls. You might do more for yourself with 5 good practice shots than a hole bag of balls hoping to find something through random feels.

 

My contact actually felt great yesterday. I've been struggling a lot with thin and topped shots this month, but I've worked out a better move with my hips through the downswing and have improved my contact a ton. So solid shots, just not... in the right direction.

 

But with regards to short game - I at least know how to do that, and how to practice it. I'm not usually skulling my shots over the green, I just haven't practiced enough to get distance control down, so a 40 yard pitch will come up on the near fringe, a lob chip from just off the edge will leave me with a ~15 foot putt, or a bump and run will go too far and run past the pin. That's much easier to practice and fix, in my mind, than not being able to accurately drop an 8 iron anywhere on the green (let alone close to the hole) from 150 yards.

Watch Mickleson's short game video on YouTube. You need to hit most/majority of your chips and pitches within a 3 ft circle.

 

And take a lesson. Will change your life. Worth every penny.

 

Trust me, I would love nothing more than to take a series of lessons. Unfortunately, I just graduated college and any spare money I have is going towards the cheapest twilight rates I can get, not lessons, so it'll be a few months until I can afford to take some (let alone with any instructor worth the time/money).

 

I was doing regular lessons when I was in high school and living at home, but I took about 6-7 years off playing regularly and my game has changed a ton since then.

[FourTops]

I got out today and came a hair from finally breaking 90 - a triple on 17 was all that stood in my way. However, my stats from the round were weird as hell.

 

My drives were great until the last few holes - 9/13 overall. I averaged exactly 2 putts, which isn't terrible. However, I only hit a single green in regulation.

 

My chipping can be improved, for sure - I rarely left myself short putts to get the up and down for par, I was usually a good 15 feet out - but holy s***, I just could not hit the green with my irons. I'm not really sure how to fix this. My issue is both accuracy and distance. I have a general idea of my club distances, but nothing specific. Partly because I just don't know, and partly because my swing is inconsistent. When I got the distance right though, I was off line - almost always pulled left.

 

Aside from just playing more, what can I do on the range to give myself a better chance to hit the greens once I'm in the fairway (or teeing off on par 3s)?

 

How far do you hit your drives...and 7 iron...and what's the course yardage from the tees you play?

[Hackinator]

I got out today and came a hair from finally breaking 90 - a triple on 17 was all that stood in my way. However, my stats from the round were weird as hell.

 

My drives were great until the last few holes - 9/13 overall. I averaged exactly 2 putts, which isn't terrible. However, I only hit a single green in regulation.

 

My chipping can be improved, for sure - I rarely left myself short putts to get the up and down for par, I was usually a good 15 feet out - but holy s***, I just could not hit the green with my irons. I'm not really sure how to fix this. My issue is both accuracy and distance. I have a general idea of my club distances, but nothing specific. Partly because I just don't know, and partly because my swing is inconsistent. When I got the distance right though, I was off line - almost always pulled left.

 

Aside from just playing more, what can I do on the range to give myself a better chance to hit the greens once I'm in the fairway (or teeing off on par 3s)?

 

How far do you hit your drives...and 7 iron...and what's the course yardage from the tees you play?

 

As for improving GIR. Simply trying to hit the CENTER of the green instead of going after the PIN could gain you some extra GIR.

This seems like a conservative approach, but might improve the GIRs.

[vance astro]

I got out today and came a hair from finally breaking 90 - a triple on 17 was all that stood in my way. However, my stats from the round were weird as hell.

 

My drives were great until the last few holes - 9/13 overall. I averaged exactly 2 putts, which isn't terrible. However, I only hit a single green in regulation.

 

My chipping can be improved, for sure - I rarely left myself short putts to get the up and down for par, I was usually a good 15 feet out - but holy s***, I just could not hit the green with my irons. I'm not really sure how to fix this. My issue is both accuracy and distance. I have a general idea of my club distances, but nothing specific. Partly because I just don't know, and partly because my swing is inconsistent. When I got the distance right though, I was off line - almost always pulled left.

 

Aside from just playing more, what can I do on the range to give myself a better chance to hit the greens once I'm in the fairway (or teeing off on par 3s)?

 

How far do you hit your drives...and 7 iron...and what's the course yardage from the tees you play?

 

I don't have a good number on my drives, but I think I'm in the 250-275 range (depending on course conditions/rollout, how good my strike is, etc). I actually don't have a 7 iron right now since the head went flying down the range and my swing has changed and gained some distance in the month since then, but based off my other clubs my 7 would probably go ~165? Course yardage varies. Nothing super long, usually mid to upper 6000s.

 

I got out today and came a hair from finally breaking 90 - a triple on 17 was all that stood in my way. However, my stats from the round were weird as hell.

 

My drives were great until the last few holes - 9/13 overall. I averaged exactly 2 putts, which isn't terrible. However, I only hit a single green in regulation.

 

My chipping can be improved, for sure - I rarely left myself short putts to get the up and down for par, I was usually a good 15 feet out - but holy s***, I just could not hit the green with my irons. I'm not really sure how to fix this. My issue is both accuracy and distance. I have a general idea of my club distances, but nothing specific. Partly because I just don't know, and partly because my swing is inconsistent. When I got the distance right though, I was off line - almost always pulled left.

 

Aside from just playing more, what can I do on the range to give myself a better chance to hit the greens once I'm in the fairway (or teeing off on par 3s)?

 

How far do you hit your drives...and 7 iron...and what's the course yardage from the tees you play?

 

As for improving GIR. Simply trying to hit the CENTER of the green instead of going after the PIN could gain you some extra GIR.

This seems like a conservative approach, but might improve the GIRs.

 

Yeah, I aim for the center, I'm just not even that accurate. My sub 120(ish) yard shots usually have the line right, but wrong distance. Farther than that I can usually get the distance pretty well, but miss my line.

[FourTops]

You're playing yardages that may be on the high side for your driver distance...but not that far off....check out this Golf Digest yardage vs. driver chart. The rule of thumb is if you don't have a 6 or less iron approach shot you're not playing the same game as the pro's...actually harder.

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/usga-pga-golfers-are-playing-w

[jbrunk]

Rofl. “What can I do to improve my GIRs?” Maybe fix your 7 iron. Or did you leave it out there in the middle of the range? You crack me up vance astro!

[oikos1]

Have no idea where this thread is headed but I like it.

[vance astro]

Rofl. “What can I do to improve my GIRs?” Maybe fix your 7 iron. Or did you leave it out there in the middle of the range? You crack me up vance astro!

 

The range said they picked it up, but when I went back no one could find it, and regardless it'd probably be more money to fix than it's worth (cheap set of Craiglist irons) and I can't afford/don't want to just order a random 7 iron off eBay.

[vance astro]

You're playing yardages that may be on the high side for your driver distance...but not that far off....check out this Golf Digest yardage vs. driver chart. The rule of thumb is if you don't have a 6 or less iron approach shot you're not playing the same game as the pro's...actually harder.

 

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/usga-pga-golfers-are-playing-w

 

The course I played Monday I was rarely hitting more than a 5 iron in, and I was in play for hitting most of the par 5s in 2, so I think my course lengths are ok. Haven't played a huge variety of courses though.

[terrell75]

Rofl. What can I do to improve my GIRs? Maybe fix your 7 iron. Or did you leave it out there in the middle of the range? You crack me up vance astro!

 

The range said they picked it up, but when I went back no one could find it, and regardless it'd probably be more money to fix than it's worth (cheap set of Craiglist irons) and I can't afford/don't want to just order a random 7 iron off eBay.

 

Irons aren’t all that much different from one to the other. Different? Yes. How much? Not too much. Find something close on eBay it ask around here. Someone probably has one for free or close to it, who would be happy to help a fellow out for shipping costs.

 

Here is my advice based on my perspective.

1. Get really good at putting from 5 feet and in.

2. At the same time you’re working on this, practice chipping so you can get the ball inside 5 feet as often as possible (every time). Making 90% of your 5 footers takes pressure off your short game and will help you be better at 7 footers, 10 footers, etc. Chipping to 5 feet or less gives you high probability of getting up and down. If you can can chip to 5 feet 80 percent of the time you get up and down about 75 percent of the time because you’re making almost every 5 footer.

3. Use alignment sticks at the range, ALWAYS. You should train your eye to see the lines and get familiar with what “square alignment” looks and feels like. I pick a target and place two sticks down parallel to each other, both pointed at the target, with about 8 inches between them. I place a ball in between the sticks close to the ends nearest the target and focus on making a good swing. After hitting, I place the next ball immediately behind the divot and go again. You can see if your swing is true or not by ball flight and landing point. You can also see if your divot is relatively parallel to the sticks. I have a tendency to pull across just after striking the ball so my divots are usually pointing a bit left (right handed). Make a few divot “rows” then lose the sticks and align on your own to see if you’re getting a hand on your alignment. I like to stand behind the ball and use my shaft to line up my ball with the target and pick a spot behind the ball that I can align my stance to. Picking an intermediate target in front of the ball had me missing to the right so now I pick a spot far enough behind but not too far. Usually 12-24 inches depending on how wide I need my stance to be. If you have trouble with ball placement in relation to your front foot then you might need to add another stick perpendicular to the others, at the point the ball is placed at.

4. Do these things many many many times. Your GIR should improve, and you’ll see more pats and birdies on your cards.

5. Don’t be surprised if you neglect your driver a bit during this time and start missing more fairways. If you have time and resources to practice driving too then go for it. Just be aware that it may interfere with your progress if your driver swing is not very similar to your irons swing. Mine is not quite close enough to benefit a lot from this so that’s what I’m working on now. My GIR is up and my bogeys are down. Best scoring of my life so far this season after adopting the methods listed above at the beginning of the year. Hitting 65 percent GIR this year, last 2 years was about 40 and less before that.

6. Remember to practice tempo in everything you do. Hitting GIRs is a habit you want to get into. So is good tempo.

Hope that helps.

 

[DrRob1963]

Rofl. “What can I do to improve my GIRs?” Maybe fix your 7 iron. Or did you leave it out there in the middle of the range? You crack me up vance astro!

 

The range said they picked it up, but when I went back no one could find it, and regardless it'd probably be more money to fix than it's worth (cheap set of Craiglist irons) and I can't afford/don't want to just order a random 7 iron off eBay.

 

Irons aren’t all that much different from one to the other. Different? Yes. How much? Not too much. Find something close on eBay it ask around here. Someone probably has one for free or close to it, who would be happy to help a fellow out for shipping costs.

 

Here is my advice based on my perspective.

1. Get really good at putting from 5 feet and in.

2. At the same time you’re working on this, practice chipping so you can get the ball inside 5 feet as often as possible (every time). Making 90% of your 5 footers takes pressure off your short game and will help you be better at 7 footers, 10 footers, etc. Chipping to 5 feet or less gives you high probability of getting up and down. If you can can chip to 5 feet 80 percent of the time you get up and down about 75 percent of the time because you’re making almost every 5 footer.

3. Use alignment sticks at the range, ALWAYS. You should train your eye to see the lines and get familiar with what “square alignment” looks and feels like. I pick a target and place two sticks down parallel to each other, both pointed at the target, with about 8 inches between them. I place a ball in between the sticks close to the ends nearest the target and focus on making a good swing. After hitting, I place the next ball immediately behind the divot and go again. You can see if your swing is true or not by ball flight and landing point. You can also see if your divot is relatively parallel to the sticks. I have a tendency to pull across just after striking the ball so my divots are usually pointing a bit left (right handed). Make a few divot “rows” then lose the sticks and align on your own to see if you’re getting a hand on your alignment. I like to stand behind the ball and use my shaft to line up my ball with the target and pick a spot behind the ball that I can align my stance to. Picking an intermediate target in front of the ball had me missing to the right so now I pick a spot far enough behind but not too far. Usually 12-24 inches depending on how wide I need my stance to be. If you have trouble with ball placement in relation to your front foot then you might need to add another stick perpendicular to the others, at the point the ball is placed at.

4. Do these things many many many times. Your GIR should improve, and you’ll see more pats and birdies on your cards.

5. Don’t be surprised if you neglect your driver a bit during this time and start missing more fairways. If you have time and resources to practice driving too then go for it. Just be aware that it may interfere with your progress if your driver swing is not very similar to your irons swing. Mine is not quite close enough to benefit a lot from this so that’s what I’m working on now. My GIR is up and my bogeys are down. Best scoring of my life so far this season after adopting the methods listed above at the beginning of the year. Hitting 65 percent GIR this year, last 2 years was about 40 and less before that.

6. Remember to practice tempo in everything you do. Hitting GIRs is a habit you want to get into. So is good tempo.

Hope that helps.

Super advice there, Terrell

[Millbrook]

15 lesson video programme covering the whole swing for $53. ;

 

https://danwhittaker...rn-fundamentals

 

check him out on youtube and see if his philosophy suits you.

[MelloYello]

Your swing likely sucks.

 

That's the reality you wanted to hear, right?

 

Well there you go. If you hit 9 fairways and you miss almost every green then, yeah, let's be real about it...your iron-play needs to get better.

 

 

 

Is practicing your chipping and putting likely to improve your score? Definitely so, but it sounds like you want help hitting GIR. Well, that requires you hit your irons better than you are. And we both know that 'aiming for the middle of the green' is not the answer. If that's all it took, we'd all hit 18 GIR every time.

 

If you can't pull an 8-iron, strike it solid and hit it straight 4 out of 5 times then something is up that needs addressing. So take some video of yourself. Assess what looks wrong and try to fix it. Use drills anywhere you can. The two tee drill is great for improving your contact and squaring the face with the shorter irons.

 

 

 

Increasing your GIR is about hitting quality golf shots. There's no one-size-fits-all answer to how that's done. You just have to figure out how to start hitting better shots when you have an iron in your hand. It's not easy. Don't let your expectations get high. Without proper technique you're almost destined to fail. Thankfully, when your technique is sound (particularly on wedge shots) it gets easier and more straightforward to simply line up and hit a quality shot.

 

It sounds like you have some swing issues. There's little diagnosing that over the internet, especially without video.

[vance astro]

Your swing likely sucks.

 

That's the reality you wanted to hear, right?

 

Where there you go. If you hit 9 fairways and you miss almost every green then, yeah, let's be real about it...your iron-play needs to get better.

 

 

 

Is practicing your chipping and putting likely to improve your score? Definitely so, but it sounds like you want help hitting GIR. Well, that requires you hit your irons better than you are. And we both know that 'aiming for the middle of the green' is not the answer. If that's all it took, we'd all hit 18 GIR every time.

 

If you can't pull an 8-iron, strike it solid and hit it straight 4 out of 5 times then something is up that needs addressing. So take some video of yourself. Assess what looks wrong and try to fix it. Use drills anywhere you can. The two tee drill is great for improving your contact and squaring the face with the shorter irons.

 

 

 

Increasing your GIR is about hitting quality golf shots. There's no one-size-fits-all answer to how that's done. You just have to figure out how to start hitting better shots when you have an iron in your hand. It's not easy. Don't let your expectations get high. Without proper technique you're almost destine to fail. Thankfully, when your technique is sound (particularly on wedge shots) it gets easier and more straightforward to simply line up and hit a quality shot.

 

It sounds like you have some swing issues. There's little diagnosing that over the internet, especially without video.

 

Bingo. I want to improve my swing, not just my score - if I was just interested in breaking 90 (which I do want, but isn't the long term goal) I'd go hit chips until I could leave them inside 5 feet. I know how to do that though - I tend to leave my "pop up" chips short, and my bump and runs go long, but it's just a matter of finding a good short game area and practicing until I have the distances down. Hitting greens is harder. I think a lot of the alignment drills mentioned above will do some good. I notice if I let my setup on my driver get sloppy it'll do the same pull to the left, so that may be an issue with my irons too.

[MelloYello]

Bingo. I want to improve my swing, not just my score - if I was just interested in breaking 90 (which I do want, but isn't the long term goal) I'd go hit chips until I could leave them inside 5 feet. I know how to do that though - I tend to leave my "pop up" chips short, and my bump and runs go long, but it's just a matter of finding a good short game area and practicing until I have the distances down. Hitting greens is harder. I think a lot of the alignment drills mentioned above will do some good. I notice if I let my setup on my driver get sloppy it'll do the same pull to the left, so that may be an issue with my irons too.

 

I'm the same as you (as are a million people here) so I'm trying to tell you what someone would likely tell me.

 

If you have legit chances to hit greens and you're blowing those opportunities you have something to figure out. The upside is, once you do that your game (and your excitement level) is likely to take a big step forward.

 

I highly recommend filming yourself with your phone at home to see "how bad" it really is. Then just find some drills online. I like the two tee drill because it keeps me down, in my posture where I can smother the ball. That leads to good compression and ultimately to laser-like shots on the range. Plus, it only takes 5-6 tries to get the feel. A good drill doesn't require you hit 100 balls.

 

I've been struggling this year but a lot came together when I realized I was just slightly over the top coming down. A got a quick tip from my local pro which led to me dropping the club more naturally and hitting the ball in-to-out. Voila! All of a sudden I was striping it again.

 

Irons are funny. You can fall off the map with just a little thing being out of place. You just have to figure out what's killing you.

[SNIPERBBB]

I think you need zero GIR to break 90.

I highly doubt you can break 90 w/o any GIR.

 

If you miss every green and get up and down everytime in 3, your shooting 90 on a par 72.

[MelloYello]

Show me 10 golfers, none of who carded a single GIR and I'll wager that 9.5 of them shot above 90.

 

 

No one cares what's possible. What's relevant is what is *likely* to happen.

 

A golfer who doesn't hit a single GIR is also highly likely to have some 3 putts and some penalty strokes on the card. Those things will drive their score up above 90.

[Hackinator]

I think you need zero GIR to break 90.

I highly doubt you can break 90 w/o any GIR.

 

If you miss every green and get up and down everytime in 3, your shooting 90 on a par 72.

 

0 greens is an indication that your drives are probably way off, and your approach shots are not very accurate.

This is usually not a recipe to break 90.

 

But sure, if you chipping and putting is insanely hot, it probably could be done.

[farmer]

If the alignment sticks makes you feel weird, then you're aligned incorrectly. Trust the sticks, adjust yourself accordingly. There are hundreds of YouTube videos on how to set up properly. Check your grip, it may be way funky, again, YouTube. The best teacher I ever had emphasized set up. He said it should always be perfect, because you do it while standing still.

[pheenomz4774]

1. Know the direction your ball tends to go on a decently struck shot.

2. Know the ACTUAL distances your irons go.

3. Aim the right club at the right target to get your ball to land in the desired location.

4. Lower your expectation that you can do this more times than not, because that's why we are all amateurs.

[SNIPERBBB]

I think you need zero GIR to break 90.

I highly doubt you can break 90 w/o any GIR.

 

If you miss every green and get up and down everytime in 3, your shooting 90 on a par 72.

 

0 greens is an indication that your drives are probably way off, and your approach shots are not very accurate.

This is usually not a recipe to break 90.

 

But sure, if you chipping and putting is insanely hot, it probably could be done.

 

Doesn't even have to be mediocre. If you were hot you'd be closer to 80(50%+ scrambling)

[ItIsJack]

If your having trouble with distance control with your wedges I’d suggest swinging slower and focusing on making good contact. 95% of high handicap golfers I see try to hit their wedges too far. I know a lot of people that hit their 7 iron 150 yards then try to hit their 56 degree 110 yards when they would be much better hitting it 90 yards max

[vance astro]

If your having trouble with distance control with your wedges I’d suggest swinging slower and focusing on making good contact. 95% of high handicap golfers I see try to hit their wedges too far. I know a lot of people that hit their 7 iron 150 yards then try to hit their 56 degree 110 yards when they would be much better hitting it 90 yards max

 

I've started hunting for a 50 degree wedge, I think that will help. When I was building my set I just had my PW to start, so I bought a 54 degree to act as my only other wedge. Then I got a 58 the other month, but it left me with an awkward gap around 100 yards where I don't have a good club to hit.

[vance astro]

If the alignment sticks makes you feel weird, then you're aligned incorrectly. Trust the sticks, adjust yourself accordingly. There are hundreds of YouTube videos on how to set up properly. Check your grip, it may be way funky, again, YouTube. The best teacher I ever had emphasized set up. He said it should always be perfect, because you do it while standing still.

 

I've been putting off dealing with this until I can afford a lesson with someone who can watch and correct me, but it's almost definitely an issue. I'll try the two sticks drill next time I'm on the range though - last time I tried to use an alignment aid I just put it on the ground and tried to line my toes up to it, and couldn't get into a comfortable setup at all.