Golf help

[QDOG5]

Yarders, I love to golf but I am unfortunately getting worse by the round. For most of my golfing life I shot between 87-95. Not great but if your a bogey golfer you can play a fun round even if the other golfers are lower handicap. Nowadays 95 is a rarity and 100+ is the norm. Shooting those high scores makes me uncomfortable playing with good golfers. I've had many lessons over the years and they help for awhile but I slip back into my bad habits. I'm looking for suggestions for drills or swing aids(besides beers) that you folks use or would recommend. I'm a good putter and I'm a fair chipper. Most of my strokes are lost from the tee or fairway/rough. I should mention my two consistent problems. I tend to rise up and lose my posture on my backswing and my right hand(I'm a righty golfer) is very dominant and I hit a lot of pulls and smother hooks to the left.

 

[storrsroars]

As someone who's golf career has sucked more than not sucked and has spent more time in the woods than a squirrel, here's a tip on how to play with better players - be quick about it.

As long as you're not holding up the group, a score in the low 100s won't matter much to them.

Unless you're betting as a team. In which case, stop that ;-)

 

[Waquoit]

Why not take a golf lesson? I took two, it was worth it.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Yarders, I love to golf but I am unfortunately getting worse by the round. For most of my golfing life I shot between 87-95. Not great but if your a bogey golfer you can play a fun round even if the other golfers are lower handicap. Nowadays 95 is a rarity and 100+ is the norm. Shooting those high scores makes me uncomfortable playing with good golfers. I've had many lessons over the years and they help for awhile but I slip back into my bad habits. I'm looking for suggestions for drills or swing aids(besides beers) that you folks use or would recommend. I'm a good putter and I'm a fair chipper. Most of my strokes are lost from the tee or fairway/rough. I should mention my two consistent problems. I tend to rise up and lose my posture on my backswing and my right hand(I'm a righty golfer) is very dominant and I hit a lot of pulls and smother hooks to the left.

I went from the 80s in law school, to solidly low-mid 90s then like you ended up around 100, almost being happy to break it. My problem has always been approach shots, but it seems different for everyone in that category.

Are you going out of bounds, losing balls, finding water? Penalty strokes really add up, but even playing from really tough lies adds up too. I think part of my challenge is adapting to the fact that I can't hit 300 yard drives anymore. If I try to, I often miss the fairway. Then, I try to make up for the bad drive with an overly agressive shot.

I don't know what your scorecard looks like, but when I'm in that 100 and higher range it's because there are some triple bogies and big numbers on the card. I'll mix in pars and bogeys and even birdies, but those 8s and 9s will kill your score. When I am scoring better, say lower 90s, I don't have those, double bogey is probably my worst score. Practice matters and I don't play enough anymore, but even when I did that mental element of going for things (because crushing a 3 hybrid to save a bad drive feels great!) is what was usually my real downfall.

 

[storrsroars]

I went from the 80s in law school, to solidly low-mid 90s then like you ended up around 100, almost being happy to break it. My problem has always been approach shots, but it seems different for everyone in that category.

Are you going out of bounds, losing balls, finding water? Penalty strokes really add up, but even playing from really tough lies adds up too. I think part of my challenge is adapting to the fact that I can't hit 300 yard drives anymore. If I try to, I often miss the fairway. Then, I try to make up for the bad drive with an overly agressive shot.

I don't know what your scorecard looks like, but when I'm in that 100 and higher range it's because there are some triple bogies and big numbers on the card. I'll mix in pars and bogeys and even birdies, but those 8s and 9s will kill your score. When I am scoring better, say lower 90s, I don't have those, double bogey is probably my worst score. Practice matters and I don't play enough anymore, but even when I did that mental element of going for things (because crushing a 3 hybrid to save a bad drive feels great!) is what was usually my real downfall.

Probably the worst thing that happened to me was being successful on hitting a 180 yard hooded 4-iron hook around the corner of the woods to within 10 feet of the cup.

I've probably tried similar shots 30 times. That was the only time I actually worked as planned. Most other times it costs me a stroke more than just playing a layup in the fairway.

I haven't played in 3 years now due to knees, although I probably could play this year. But I really need to start taking advantage of technology. My woods are old Taylor Mades from the mid-90s. Club heads aren't much bigger than old persimmons.

I do think QDOG could try a weaker grip. I had to do that when I went from regular high fades to screaming duck hooks when I got a bit of a belly.

 

[Hoops91]

Focus on one or two things max. Keep the body still and don’t rock. Start with that before worrying about what your right hand is doing.

 

[Vuce]

If you are losing strokes off the tee with a driver, can you try a 3 wood or 5 wood to keep the ball in play a little more and give yourself a reasonable second shot that’s not really in trouble?

 

[Fishy]

Yarders, I love to golf but I am unfortunately getting worse by the round. For most of my golfing life I shot between 87-95. Not great but if your a bogey golfer you can play a fun round even if the other golfers are lower handicap. Nowadays 95 is a rarity and 100+ is the norm. Shooting those high scores makes me uncomfortable playing with good golfers. I've had many lessons over the years and they help for awhile but I slip back into my bad habits. I'm looking for suggestions for drills or swing aids(besides beers) that you folks use or would recommend. I'm a good putter and I'm a fair chipper. Most of my strokes are lost from the tee or fairway/rough. I should mention my two consistent problems. I tend to rise up and lose my posture on my backswing and my right hand(I'm a righty golfer) is very dominant and I hit a lot of pulls and smother hooks to the left.

Pickleball.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

The answer is lessons. No one can possibly offer useful advice without even seeing your swing.

 

[Greathusky]

I have come to embrace my suckiness at golf. At 67 years old, I celebrate the good shots and accept everything else as normal.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I went from the 80s in law school, to solidly low-mid 90s then like you ended up around 100, almost being happy to break it. My problem has always been approach shots, but it seems different for everyone in that category.

Are you going out of bounds, losing balls, finding water? Penalty strokes really add up, but even playing from really tough lies adds up too. I think part of my challenge is adapting to the fact that I can't hit 300 yard drives anymore. If I try to, I often miss the fairway. Then, I try to make up for the bad drive with an overly agressive shot.

I don't know what your scorecard looks like, but when I'm in that 100 and higher range it's because there are some triple bogies and big numbers on the card. I'll mix in pars and bogeys and even birdies, but those 8s and 9s will kill your score. When I am scoring better, say lower 90s, I don't have those, double bogey is probably my worst score. Practice matters and I don't play enough anymore, but even when I did that mental element of going for things (because crushing a 3 hybrid to save a bad drive feels great!) is what was usually my real downfall.

Penalty strokes kill the score card.

My advice from someone who is in this 85-95 score group most rounds??

Do whatever it takes to keep your tee shot in play. Even if it means hitting a 160-170 yards iron or hybrid.

At your skill level, if you are playing the correct tees, most Par 4's are less than 375 and Par 5's are less than 500. Take two shots on a Par 4 that will get you within 40-50 yards of the green and try to get up and down for par. Worst case is a bogey.
Hitting 3 6-irons can get you to the green on the Par 5's in regulation.

 

[NC_Uconn_Fan]

I'm a 4.5 handicap at the moment. I would recommend working on your short game. If you can chip and putt, you will score. The hard time is finding the time. If you can get off the tee box and chip and putt, you can keep your score in the 80's.

 

[Yardigan]

I have come to embrace my suckiness at golf. At 67 years old, I celebrate the good shots and accept everything else as normal.

Same, the key, as mentioned earlier is, don't hold people up...suck away, just keep pace

 

[Giddyup5]

Stop hitting driver off the tee. Find a club. Any club that keeps you in play. Hopefully 3W. But maybe less. Add one stroke to par for each hole (ie if it’s a par 4, in your mind you’re playing it as a par 5). That gives you the luxury of getting “on in regulation in 3”. 4 iron, 7 iron, wedge. Par 3?— hit your best iron off the tee and go from there. Eventually once you get your swing back you can modify from this.

Only club you should chip with is 54 degrees or less. Ditch the lob wedge. Learn a bump and run (look up Jason Day chip/pitch technique). If you can get a putter on it putt. I don’t care if it’s in the rough or you’re in the fairway 40 yards away, if it’s remotely possible to putt—putt.

Stop trying to make putts outside 8 feet. The line doesn’t matter. It’s all about pace. Try to miss on the high side.

It’s a beautiful game. Play fast and have fun!

 

[RuffRuff]

Hit up a simulator to asses your swing angles to see where you're off. One trick is to narrow your feet and shorten your backswing to reduce error. It'll shorten your distance, but have found that success in golf is being straight, not long. Looking for lost balls and losing strokes on lost balls kills your round.

Golf is a frustrating sport and requires so much time. I've been up and down myself and said to h with it. I'm with Fish on the Pickleball.

 

[Spaceman213J]

I haven't carried a driver in my bag for a few decades. It helped that when I was younger I could hit a crappy 8 iron 200 yards.
One of the things that helped me was learning to slow down my backswing.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Strongly suggest watching Golf Sidekick on YouTube. All about course management, playing smart, hitting to safe spots. Some of his main things have been mentioned already in this thread but to reinforce:

-Find a club that you can hit consistently off the tee. Doesn’t even matter if it’s only 150y. You can still shoot 90-100 by staying out of the scheisse.
-Work on getting your game from ~100 yards in dialed in
-Look up his videos on Toe Down chipping methods and keeping you chips low whenever possible. Throw away your lob wedge.
-GIOTG - just get it on the green! Even if it means chipping to a spot away from the pin.
-Take lessons and DO NOT try to incorporate all of the generic swing advice you find from most of the dozens of YouTube pros.

Good luck!

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'm a 4.5 handicap at the moment. I would recommend working on your short game. If you can chip and putt, you will score. The hard time is finding the time. If you can get off the tee box and chip and putt, you can keep your score in the 80's.

Stop hitting driver off the tee. Find a club. Any club that keeps you in play. Hopefully 3W. But maybe less. Add one stroke to par for each hole (ie if it’s a par 4, in your mind you’re playing it as a par 5). That gives you the luxury of getting “on in regulation in 3”. 4 iron, 7 iron, wedge. Par 3?— hit your best iron off the tee and go from there. Eventually once you get your swing back you can modify from this.

Only club you should chip with is 54 degrees or less. Ditch the lob wedge. Learn a bump and run (look up Jason Day chip/pitch technique). If you can get a putter on it putt. I don’t care if it’s in the rough or you’re in the fairway 40 yards away, if it’s remotely possible to putt—putt.

Stop trying to make putts outside 8 feet. The line doesn’t matter. It’s all about pace. Try to miss on the high side.

It’s a beautiful game. Play fast and have fun!

Strongly suggest watching Golf Sidekick on YouTube. All about course management, playing smart, hitting to safe spots. Some of his main things have been mentioned already in this thread but to reinforce:

-Find a club that you can hit consistently off the tee. Doesn’t even matter if it’s only 150y. You can still shoot 90-100 by staying out of the scheisse.
-Work on getting your game from ~100 yards in dialed in
-Look up his videos on Toe Down chipping methods and keeping you chips low whenever possible. Throw away your lob wedge.
-GIOTG - just get it on the green! Even if it means chipping to a spot away from the pin.
-Take lessons and DO NOT try to incorporate all of the generic swing advice you find from most of the dozens of YouTube pros.

Good luck!

These three right here. It's about getting the ball in play off the tee, taking a strong swing to a safe location and getting the ball on the green.
Having your putter in hand putting for par, no matter how far away from the pin you are, or how large of a break you have with green undulations, will make you feel good.

And I'll finish with this. A 150 yard shot which stays in play and is towards the pin, is never a bad decision.

 

[Umami Zen]

Control the controllables. Posture-Alignment-Grip in your pre-shot routine. Work on accuracy off the tee instead of distance (fairway finder).. Have a consistent second shot club in 180-200 yd range (hybrid or fairway wood). Harvey Penick-Famous golf coach for PGA Tour pros used to say to "course manage" your way around the course from 150 yds. In other words on Par 4s/5s.. Hit your shots to 150yds (no matter how many shots it took) and have an iron that you know can put you on the green (with .reasonable consistency) from 150. PGA Tour Pros supposedly spend 70% of their practice time on shots from 100 yds in. Visualize where you want the ball to go ..Not where you don't want it to go. Small targets.

Difficult without seeing swing but sounds like you might want to weaken your grip-move ball back slightly (too far forward)- adjust your alignment to accommodate current shot shape- work on slower backswing tempo triggered by left side (shoulder- arm- wrist) to minimize right side dominance- start downswing transition with lower body (left hip) and take hands out of equation in early part of downswing.

At the end of the day-The only thing you can attempt to control is your next shot.

 

[Kitaman]

Why not take a golf lesson? I took two, it was worth it.

I've been trying for decades but always seem to postpone. I sure need some. How did it help your game?

 

[temery]

Yarders, I love to golf but I am unfortunately getting worse by the round. For most of my golfing life I shot between 87-95. Not great but if your a bogey golfer you can play a fun round even if the other golfers are lower handicap. Nowadays 95 is a rarity and 100+ is the norm. Shooting those high scores makes me uncomfortable playing with good golfers. I've had many lessons over the years and they help for awhile but I slip back into my bad habits. I'm looking for suggestions for drills or swing aids(besides beers) that you folks use or would recommend. I'm a good putter and I'm a fair chipper. Most of my strokes are lost from the tee or fairway/rough. I should mention my two consistent problems. I tend to rise up and lose my posture on my backswing and my right hand(I'm a righty golfer) is very dominant and I hit a lot of pulls and smother hooks to the left.

Just golf with people who are older than you. They are far less likely to see where you actually hit your ball.

 

[Waquoit]

I've been trying for decades but always seem to postpone. I sure need some. How did it help your game?

I had no game. It got me good enough to be a decent D guy in a couple of charity scrambles. What I liked was, after the 2nd lesson, the pro said, "Honestly, until you can get that hip twist down, I can't help you".

 

[Palatine]

Yarders, I love to golf but I am unfortunately getting worse by the round. For most of my golfing life I shot between 87-95. Not great but if your a bogey golfer you can play a fun round even if the other golfers are lower handicap. Nowadays 95 is a rarity and 100+ is the norm. Shooting those high scores makes me uncomfortable playing with good golfers. I've had many lessons over the years and they help for awhile but I slip back into my bad habits. I'm looking for suggestions for drills or swing aids(besides beers) that you folks use or would recommend. I'm a good putter and I'm a fair chipper. Most of my strokes are lost from the tee or fairway/rough. I should mention my two consistent problems. I tend to rise up and lose my posture on my backswing and my right hand(I'm a righty golfer) is very dominant and I hit a lot of pulls and smother hooks to the left.

Take lessons from a professional. Ignore the advice on this thread (excepting this sentence and the previous sentence).

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Yarders, I love to golf but I am unfortunately getting worse by the round. For most of my golfing life I shot between 87-95. Not great but if your a bogey golfer you can play a fun round even if the other golfers are lower handicap. Nowadays 95 is a rarity and 100+ is the norm. Shooting those high scores makes me uncomfortable playing with good golfers. I've had many lessons over the years and they help for awhile but I slip back into my bad habits. I'm looking for suggestions for drills or swing aids(besides beers) that you folks use or would recommend. I'm a good putter and I'm a fair chipper. Most of my strokes are lost from the tee or fairway/rough. I should mention my two consistent problems. I tend to rise up and lose my posture on my backswing and my right hand(I'm a righty golfer) is very dominant and I hit a lot of pulls and smother hooks to the left.

I wish I could help, but I'm having a similar battle. I categorize my golf as schizophrenic. I'm self-taught, and at my age I expect distance loss, but the erratic nature of my game varying round to round and swing to swing is frustrating. The last couple years I'd have rounds in the high 70's /low 80's, and rounds approaching 100. For years I hit a consistent high draw off the tee. There are days that still happens , but more rarely. On the bad days now I spray some high and right, top some, and occasionally pull out the duck hook. My approach shots are spot on, straight and landing soft ... except when they're not. I have days when my chipping is outstanding, getting the ball in makeable distance for an up and down ... and other days where the word "fat" is too often the case. The only consistent part of the game is putting, with more 1 putt than 3 putt holes.

I was a 9, now I'm a 12 and trending higher almost every time I record a round. Lessons might have to be the way. Golf-Tec is expensive, but I might have to indulge. Some of it may be due to trying to maintain ball/swing speed. Some of it may be loss of core strength and flexibility. Some is just not playing as often as I'd like.

Good luck, maybe both of us can work this out.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Strongly suggest watching Golf Sidekick on YouTube. All about course management, playing smart, hitting to safe spots. Some of his main things have been mentioned already in this thread but to reinforce:

-Find a club that you can hit consistently off the tee. Doesn’t even matter if it’s only 150y. You can still shoot 90-100 by staying out of the scheisse.
-Work on getting your game from ~100 yards in dialed in
-Look up his videos on Toe Down chipping methods and keeping you chips low whenever possible. Throw away your lob wedge.
-GIOTG - just get it on the green! Even if it means chipping to a spot away from the pin.
-Take lessons and DO NOT try to incorporate all of the generic swing advice you find from most of the dozens of YouTube pros.

Good luck!

Agree with this. I should probably splurge for lessons but watching Golf Sidekick and Porzak Golf on youtube have helped my game over the last two years. I was always consistently around 100, now I shoot more in the 85-90ish range, but since golf is golf there are still those ugly rounds. Just now my really bad rounds are right around 100 instead of 120. I credit Golf Sidekick with helping with the course management and strategy particularly with chipping and adjusting my expectations. I will live with bogey on everything. Gotta get rid of the doubles and more.

I picked up golf around 4 years ago and it took me a little while to get rid of the classic baseball swing and slice off the planet. Now I hit a draw more consistently with a hook being my miss. My irons 120 and in have always been decent, penalties with the driver and 3+ putts were always my score killers. They still are at times. Luckily I hit the ball far enough still to make up for miss hits off the tee. I seem to be able to make up for it with a hybrid from the rough and get 200-220 out if it consistently to get back in the mix of bogey.