"I AM A GOOD BALL STRIKER"

[MadGolfer76]

This phrase makes me skeptical...

Let me preface this post by quoting Duke Ellington - "I love you all madly."


But...


I just don't believe there are so many of us here that are good ball strikers, and yet I see so many posts suggesting the opposite. That doesn't mean there aren't tons of really good, or even great, players who are members/posters on this wonderful site of ours; I am simply remarking at how this term is casually applied.

The posts that typify such a suggestion usually include some kind of contextual apology regarding why that person doesn't score well. I have read so many posts like:

"I am a good ball striker, but I just can't putt well."

This, I can't understand. I would suspect a good ball striker would be left with much shorter putts than mere mortals. I just can't believe that someone would be so terrible that they couldn't drop two or fewer putts from...what, 15 to 20 feet at most? Personally, I would think a good ball striker would leave a number of shots closer to the pin than this. I would think that someone's putting would almost have to be embarrassingly bad in order to seriously impact a good striker's potential score.

"I am a good ball striker, but I just don't compete well."

This is a little more convincing, but still smells funny. Coming from music, there are things that I can do on musical instruments that are just automatic. I can do them regardless of my level of nervousness, and are closer to an involuntary bodily function (like breathing, for those who are already snickering) that I couldn't do poorly if I tried, and I perform in front of people all the time. I would think a good ball striker in golf must be the same way to a large extent. Yes, we have all seen professionals piss away a putt, drive or approach shot to lose a tournament. BUT, they don't do that every day, or else they wouldn't last very long. In addition, many of them still pull out a very good score, despite that one shot.

"I am a good ball striker, but my short game isn't very good."

Isn't the short game a large (or the largest?) component of ball striking? Considering that putting and short game consist of what, 2/3's or 3/4's of the game of golf, saying that good ball striking only applies to what is left isn't really saying anything that is a credit to the term. I think a lot of the art of the game is what goes on inside of 120 or so yards and maybe we should be working on ball striking in this area most often.

"I am a good ball striker, but I don't play out of bunkers all that well."

I don't understand this at all. Apart from the argument I mentioned for "short game," if you are a good ball striker, how many bunkers do you really end up in? You would have to hit into a pile of them before they would seriously hurt your score - that, or you would have to have no idea what you were doing in them. I just don't see a good ball striker hitting into a lot of bunkers OR not knowing at all how to get out of them.

"I am a good ball striker, but I play on a tight course."

I don't see a good ball striker having any problem in this. Rather, I believe the opposite would be true.

"I am a good ball striker, but I am going through swing changes."

If everything was good before, why are you changing anything??


Now, I know there are good ball strikers here, and this post isn't for you. I just think it is time to call shenanigans on the frequent use of this coveted term. This doesn't bother me to any great extent, and this post is simply intended as a lighthearted jab at those of us who needlessly feel they must apologize for the state of their games. You don't! Just be honest and humble every once in a while, and not attempt to devalue this descriptor simply because we use a largely anonymous golf forum.

Oh, and take note - Ironically, the abbreviation for "Ball Striker" is also "BS."



(Mods, please move as needed).

[Rock Chalk Jayhawk]

I am a good ball striker, but I just don't get any breaks.

[chri55]

I am a good ballstriker. Every time I swing the club it strikes the ball. Every time.

[Rock Chalk Jayhawk]

[quote name='chri55' timestamp='1335145580' post='4770814']
I am a good ballstriker. Every time I swing the club it strikes the ball. Every time.
[/quote]


Even bunker shots? No practice swings?

[TexMex36]

[quote name='chri55' timestamp='1335145580' post='4770814']
I am a good ballstriker. Every time I swing the club it strikes the ball. Every time.
[/quote]

That sir, is true game.

[Sean2]

I am not a good ball striker, but I am working on it. :-)

[MadGolfer76]

[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1335145871' post='4770846']
I am not a good ball striker, but I am working on it. :-)
[/quote]

Nor am I...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn recently.

[MtlJeff]

We see from most threads that things like driver distance or guys playing blades gets the most acclaim. Start a WITB with scratch blades and you are guaranteed 100 comments saying "those are beauties, they are so pure". Start a thread saying you can hit it 300yds and you will have 5000 views and countless people questioning you on it because NO ONE likes people who can hit it further then them. Short game threads? Crickets i tell you....

People are more comfortable saying their short game sucks because they feel they'll be judged less harshly then if they can't hit it far of hit blades.

Can't hit it far, you are a wuss. Need big fat forgiving irons? Yeah so does my [i]wife....[/i]
[i]
[/i]
But a poor short game goes over OK. So there you have it

[Chief Illiniwek]

I was a good ball striker who couldn't putt last year, at least for a hacker. Lots of rounds with 12+ GIRS and no birdies. Literally almost never made a putt outside 5 feet, and 3 footers were by no means automatic. Built a practice green in my basement and improved my putting immensely this past winter. However, I haven't been able to shake the rust off my swing yet this spring, much of which may have to do with a badly jammed wrist. With my new putting stroke and when my irons come around I plan on my scores being in the low 70s this year instead of around 80.

Golf nuts tend to be the guys who are all about their swing and equipment in my experience. The "short game guys" seem less fanatical about golf to me. What I'm saying is I think this sight probably attracts it's fair share of good ball strikers who can't putt.

That said, I'm sure a lot of guys are delusional about how good they are with their ball striking. Maybe even I am to be honest. My 7i goes 155. When I really think about it wouldn't a good ball striker hit it further than that? Then again, I generally base ball striking ability on GIRS.

[Desert Golf]

I play often as a single and I have never been paired with someone who had any of the following combinations:

Good ball striker & 3 putts the majority of the time
Good ball striker & unable to get out of a bunker
Good ball striker & chili dips their wedges
Good ball striker & terrible from 100 yards and in

Personally, my iron play is the best part of my game but I average only 6 greens in regulation per round and am not, by any stretch, a "good ball striker".


I'm also amused by those who post that they are "ball stikers" but are afflicted with some extreme short game problems.

You guys aren't "good ball strikers"

[Sean2]

[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1335146164' post='4770878']
[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1335145871' post='4770846']
I am not a good ball striker, but I am working on it. :-)
[/quote]

Nor am I...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn recently.
[/quote]
Make that a Holiday Inn [i]Express[/i], and all your golf ills will be cured. haha

[russc1597187869]

[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1335152099' post='4771480']
[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1335146164' post='4770878']
[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1335145871' post='4770846']
I am not a good ball striker, but I am working on it. :-)
[/quote]

Nor am I...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn recently.
[/quote]
Make that a Holiday Inn [i]Express[/i], and all your golf ills will be cured. haha
[/quote]

I grew up in Milton and played out of Blue Hill CC .Where are you located ?

[MadGolfer76]

[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1335152099' post='4771480']
[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1335146164' post='4770878']
[quote name='Sean2' timestamp='1335145871' post='4770846']
I am not a good ball striker, but I am working on it. :-)
[/quote]

Nor am I...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn recently.
[/quote]
Make that a Holiday Inn [i]Express[/i], and all your golf ills will be cured. haha
[/quote]

[i]That[/i] is what I did wrong...

[Hoot151]

I've been hitting about 80% fairways at a modest 265-270 yards. I can hit a large majority of 65-85 yard wedge shots within 10 feet. I feel lucky to hit a green with anything between a 9 and 4 iron, it's either a block right or right at the flag but just fat enough to knock 10-20 yards off. I am not a good ball striker and sometimes it makes me want to quit this game.

[Yuck]

I think anyone hitting 14 plus greens around and averaging 36 - 40 putts per round has the right to say, I am a good ball striker but..


Also if you only miss 3 or 4 greens a round, you will not have a sharp short game without extra curricular practice. The guys who miss 12 or more greens around will maintain a sharper short game without practice since they get to chip 300% more than the good ball striker. I have had periods in my life where I was a good ball striker but..... Including a 34 putt 68 and a 40 putt 76. Now my short game is much better because I hit it terribly.



Finally, even someone who hits it close can have quite a few putts if they Y!P the 2 and 3 footers.

[poizster]

It's ironic you bring this up as I just got home from one the best ball striking days of my life. Hit all 18 greens, only missed one fairway, shot 66 with 31 putts. I'm not usually a good ball striker, average around 11 greens per round, but today I'm proud to say I'm a good ball striker.

[Gbyeball]

I take lessons and had been struggling a bit middle of season last year. So I am with my teacher we get a few things sorted out and he says " All right looks like the ball striker is back ", I took one look at him and said maybe here and maybe now but that is NOT my all time M.O. I can have stretches of brilliance and mediocrity, some times in the same round. I am married have a house, two boys and a full time job. I feel lucky to play twice a week. No delusions of greatness here. I drive the ball well and I have a solid short game( 4 for 4 sand saves last week) and a good putter, great ballstricker...........i wish

[bananapel]

I'm referred to as the best ball striker in my club. I rarely hit a non-center shot on a club head. However, I do pull or push them occasionally. If i hit them all straight I would win every tournament, pga included. So does being a good ball striker mean u can't push/pull shots? I always figured it meant how solid you hit the ball.


Addressing your other point about tournaments, some people don't play a lot of them so they get really nervous. I know a 4 handicap who's played in a bunch and hasn't broken 87. I get fairly nervous leading up to the first hole and it usually lasts for that hole only. If I know I'm doing exceptionally well the nerves kick back in a little. Happens to people all the time. I also played other sports and got nervous in those too. Some people get really nervous talking (which they do everyday)...I don't. So the nerves statement is a legit thing imo. I also think the pros blow up not from nerves but things completely unrelated.

[bossdog]

I'm a great ball striker,but the wind starts gusting every time my ball is in the air.

[mandudebro]

Just out of curiosity, how do you all define good ball striking? I've always thought of it as hitting it solid/flush the vast majority of the time. I suppose one could also judge it by the results though, ie. how on target are one's shots? Granted, hitting it solid usually means you're hitting it close to your target, but not always.

[allegrolink]

One of my every week golf buddies is a high handicap guy (great guy but not a great golfer). Once in a while he will push one, or yank one, a mile and dead straight. Nowhere near where he wanting it to go but very long. As serious as a heart attack, he'll say, "Darn. I hit that one really good too."

It is now a little inside joke with the rest of the group. "Man, he hit that one good too." as it rockets out of bounds. The rest of us think "good" means being able to play the next shot from somewhere on the golf course.

Good Ball Striker? I guess that depends on the meaning of "good."

[manxytag]

I think most get 'ball striking' wrong. To me its not about striking it out of the middle but about hitting the shot you intend out of the middle. how many times do you see a poor shot for the person to turn round and say, i struck it well.

I also think the gear we play is misleading, many times i thought i hit the middle to see the mark not in the middle of the face.

I would ignore most of the posts on here as its quite easy to say how good one is. most of the info is incorrect for that reason,

[Golfnutgalen]

The PGA Tour has a ball striking stat which is a combination of total driving and GIR ranking. Unsurprisingly, Lee Westwood leads being first in both categories. [url="http://www.pgatour.com/r/stats/info/xm.html?158"]http://www.pgatour.c...nfo/xm.html?158[/url]

[mozgolf]

Funny old thing in a touch over 30 years in the game, I have still never seen one of the mystical bogey golfers that regularly flushed the ball tee to green, but flubbed a high percentage of chips and was a rank 3 putt specialist.

[gwlee7]

I spray it all over the lot but, have a good chance of getting it up and down from any ball washer or trash can on the course. Prime example was in my club's match play tournament. One of the guys in my foursome (not my opponent) says, "Never played with you before, What's your game like?" I told him that I would probably putt for at least par on every hole. The first hole is a par 5. I hit it into the right woods, I gimp it out to the fairway about 190 away, I miss the green wide right, I pitch it to 6 feet, I make the putt. He says "I see what you mean".

[tofur99]

there's a big difference between someone who hits the ball good, and a good ball striker. The ball striker's shots have [b]character[/b] and inspire with their magnificently straight, penetrating flight. Nameless player who hits the ball good, ehh not so much. The wind messes with their shots. Kind of lame flight on the ball, it barely climbs to the apex of the flight with little intent and authority then drops out of the sky like a turd from an airplane. They look like they're swinging harder than the ball is going. List goes on and on. True ball strikers are rare. They flow through the shot like a river flows through the woods, but the ball takes off like a raped ape. The goddess of wind knows better than to mess with the good ball striker. For he will SHAME her with his power and might.

[Chief Illiniwek]

^ That's ridiculous. A good ball striker gives himself chances for birdies. Who cares if the ball eats into wind or drops out of the sky like a rock, fade, draw, hell even a slice. If u can stand at a certain distance and pick a club that goes that distance you're a good ball striker. It means you can strike the ball consistently most of the time. Your scorecard doesn't care if you're ball defied Uncle Wind or whatever nonsense. Lots of GIRS=a good ball striker

[MonteScheinblum]

[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1335143791' post='4770564']
Let me preface this post by quoting Duke Ellington - "I love you all madly."


But...


I just don't believe there are so many of us here that are good ball strikers, and yet I see so many posts suggesting the opposite. That doesn't mean there aren't tons of really good, or even great, players who are members/posters on this wonderful site of ours; I am simply remarking at how this term is casually applied.

The posts that typify such a suggestion usually include some kind of contextual apology regarding why that person doesn't score well. I have read so many posts like:

[i][b]"I am a good ball striker, but I just can't putt well."[/b][/i]

This, I can't understand. I would suspect a good ball striker would be left with much shorter putts than mere mortals. I just can't believe that someone would be so terrible that they couldn't drop two or fewer putts from...what, 15 to 20 feet at most? Personally, I would think a good ball striker would leave a number of shots closer to the pin than this. I would think that someone's putting would almost have to be embarrassingly bad in order to seriously impact a good striker's potential score.

[b]"I am a good ball striker, but I just don't compete well."[/b]

This is a little more convincing, but still smells funny. Coming from music, there are things that I can do on musical instruments that are just automatic. I can do them regardless of my level of nervousness, and are closer to an involuntary bodily function (like breathing, for those who are already snickering) that I couldn't do poorly if I tried, and I perform in front of people all the time. I would think a good ball striker in golf must be the same way to a large extent. Yes, we have all seen professionals piss away a putt, drive or approach shot to lose a tournament. BUT, they don't do that every day, or else they wouldn't last very long. In addition, many of them still pull out a very good score, despite that one shot.

[b]"I am a good ball striker, but my short game isn't very good."[/b]

Isn't the short game a large (or the largest?) component of ball striking? Considering that putting and short game consist of what, 2/3's or 3/4's of the game of golf, saying that good ball striking only applies to what is left isn't really saying anything that is a credit to the term. I think a lot of the art of the game is what goes on inside of 120 or so yards and maybe we should be working on ball striking in this area most often.

[b]"I am a good ball striker, but I don't play out of bunkers all that well."

[/b]I don't understand this at all. Apart from the argument I mentioned for "short game," if you are a good ball striker, how many bunkers do you really end up in? You would have to hit into a pile of them before they would seriously hurt your score - that, or you would have to have no idea what you were doing in them. I just don't see a good ball striker hitting into a lot of bunkers OR not knowing at all how to get out of them.

[b]"I am a good ball striker, but I play on a tight course."

[/b]I don't see a good ball striker having any problem in this. Rather, I believe the opposite would be true.

[b]"I am a good ball striker, but I am going through swing changes."[/b]

If everything was good before, why are you changing anything??


Now, I know there are good ball strikers here, and this post isn't for you. I just think it is time to call shenanigans on the frequent use of this coveted term. This doesn't bother me to any great extent, and [u]this post is simply intended as a lighthearted jab at those of us who needlessly feel they must apologize for the state of their games[/u]. You don't! Just be honest and humble every once in a while, and not attempt to devalue this descriptor simply because we use a largely anonymous golf forum.

Oh, and take note - Ironically, the abbreviation for "Ball Striker" is also "BS."



(Mods, please move as needed).
[/quote]

"I am a good ball striker" falls into the same category as "I am a ladies man."

...and by ladies man I mean you "got lucky once" after you walked into a bar after an angry drunk housewife said, "That bastxxx has cheated on me long enough, I am going to ______ the next guy who walks in the door."

[Chief Illiniwek]

[quote name='mozgolf' timestamp='1335168496' post='4772120']
Funny old thing in a touch over 30 years in the game, I have still never seen one of the mystical bogey golfers that regularly flushed the ball tee to green, but flubbed a high percentage of chips and was a rank 3 putt specialist.
[/quote]

Why do so many have this attitude? Do you never play with young guys? Every guy under 30 I know is the same. Long off the tee, lots of girs, but doesn't practice short game and ends up shooting 80. I turned 30 last year and said enough is enough. I'm tired of losing to old guys who don't seem to hit a green all day long and yet beat me. So I practiced my putting a bunch this winter. Most young guys don't. They pound an entire bucket of balls with driver and then hit the course.

[GooseHook]

I used to be a good ball striker, but then I took an arrow to the knee.