Playing for score is 1 dimensional..... stop it

[Phabs]

On 11/23/2021 at 2:33 PM, KMeloney said:

That might on might not be good advice. I just want to know what all the duck emojis are for in your posts.

I think it’s a texting impediment 

[Barfolomew]

Never said dont keep score 🦆
 

Don’t always keep score 

 

Feel bad for golfers that always feel they need to keep score... don’t know what you’re missin and not just because it’s a great way to improve your game 🌴

 

 

 

[Mudguard]

On 11/27/2021 at 3:57 AM, bladehunter said:

 Everyone mentioning handicaps.  Most good players only keep a handicap because it’s required to register in larger tournaments.  Otherwise why would you ?  We don’t play in net events if we can help it.  Every round that isn’t competition , is practice.  

Because for 999 out of 1000 rounds are handicap golf?

Every round I play is competition, me against the course. And the other hundred or so in the stableford. I want to improve my handicap. I play once a week, I'm not going to waste it trying to practice shots.

Sure if I played on my own or had mid week nine hole rounds I'd try stuff. But for a weekend warrior it's all about the lowest score I can manage. 

[bladehunter]

3 hours ago, Mudguard said:

Because for 999 out of 1000 rounds are handicap golf?

Every round I play is competition, me against the course. And the other hundred or so in the stableford. I want to improve my handicap. I play once a week, I'm not going to waste it trying to practice shots.

Sure if I played on my own or had mid week nine hole rounds I'd try stuff. But for a weekend warrior it's all about the lowest score I can manage. 

And that’s a fair point. For you. I’m the opposite. 99.99999 % of my rounds are not handicapped. 
 

Im not  trying to “throw Shade “ or whatever the kids say now.  And I by no  means mean any disrespect.  But both of our points can be true.  It’s always perspective based.  I think the OP offered a perspective that a lot of us have quietly known.  No reason why he should get flamed for it.  It’s almost one of those things that if it has to be explained , then it’s being explained to the wrong audience.  

[isaacbm]

Personally like the idea and the thread. 
I basically only count score in tournaments. Everything else I’m working on something out there. Sometimes I drop another ball, sometimes I improve my lie, sometimes I give myself a worse lie, sometimes I sit out a hole and make a business call.

   Basically everything I do is in preparation for tournaments. At this point in my life having played hundreds of them, shooting  67 from the middle Tee-box while  drinking four  beer and listening to music doesn’t remotely simulate tournament golf. So honestly I don’t really care. 

Edited December 2, 2021 by isaacbm

[bortass]

@bladehunter Hit the nail on the head when he said it's about perspective. We all are at different points with our games, have different goals, and most importantly different makeups/personalities. There is no one size fits all.

 

I'm very score driven overall. My goals have always been about trying to break xxx on the course and it's always been a multiyear thing for me. Even if I'm just playing a quick 9 score matters to me. It helps tell me if I'm making any progress or not towards the goal at the time. Is it an easy way to play for me? Nope. It's not easy to look past a bad hole or round. 

 

Another thing was HCP. That was all pre 2016 when I could post all of my rounds. I played close to 90% of my rounds solo. I had an index just to give me something to look at to show improvement. So again, every round mattered to me.

 

So what kinds of things should I consider doing for a practice round? To me this sounds like a stupid question to ask but I don't have a good feel for it. @isaacbm mentions trying different lies; I've seen people talk about multiple balls. The biggest hole in my game are full irons from the fairway and that's something I'm not sure how on course versus range would help. I'm open to suggestions since my solo rounds would be a great time for it.

 

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by bortass

[Barfolomew]

4 hours ago, bortass said:

@bladehunter

 

So what kinds of things should I consider doing for a practice round? To me this sounds like a stupid question to ask but I don't have a good feel for it. @isaacbm mentions trying different lies; I've seen people talk about multiple balls. The biggest hole in my game are full irons from the fairway and that's something I'm not sure how on course versus range would help. I'm open to suggestions since my solo rounds would be a great time for it.

 

 

 

Great question.... the answer is simple.  Practice anything you want.  A weakness or a strength or shots you never practice. 

 

The important thing is what not to do.  And that is chasing the lowest score like a race horse running in circles around a track, the horse has no other options its race is 1 dimensional.  It can't stop and eat or run the other direction or stop for a pi55.  And that's totally fine in that moment it is racing so the horse should race as fast as possible.  But when not racing it should do many different exercises to improve its body like medium paced, full speed for shorter distances or slower for longer distance to increase its cardio etc... So don't let the scorecard lead you around by your nose every single time you play as I see soooo many times.  Many cant play without "racing" every time.  If you wanna hit more short irons hit more short irons.  If you're long irons need work focus on them.  If you want to improve dont play golf at one speed, allow yourself some room to take pressure off and focus on contact then flight then where to land it, first things first if you wanna improve by laying a foundation before building the next important foundational part of your game.

 

I watched a new video on YT of Jason Day's practice facility at his house, damm impressive.  He says he likes to work on the simulator cause it forces him not to watch the flight and focus on contact and technique, then do that on the course. Range is only one kind of practice, the course is an extremely important place to practice too.

 

If you're working on your baby fades hit them all day while playin and dont worry if your score aint as good as it could have been.  Its fun way to play and you will improve next time you keep a real score with your buddies and your improved baby fade skills will lower your score... 🐕

Edited December 2, 2021 by Barfolomew

[jholz]

I keep score all the time these days, because the rounds I get to play are limited, and I need them for handicapping. 

 

Back when I was in high school and college, I had more free time and course memberships, so I could go out and mess around on the course all I wanted. I think it was very beneficial to my game, for sure. 

 

But these days, I leave practice in the practice area. The course is for serious golf. I try to make every round feel like a qualifier or something. For where I am in my game right now and where I hope to go, that's what I think I need.