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playing the game

Do You Play From the Right Set of Tees? – part 2

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[Note: This post has been superceded by Do You Play From the Right Set of Tees-Part 4]

Last February, I posted some advice on playing from the right set of tees based on how far you normally hit your drive. If you hit your drive 225 yards, then around 5,600 yards is the right set of tees for you. That calculation is based on the average driving distance of touring professionals and the length of courses they play. See that post for the details.

Now the United States Golf Association and the PGA of America has gotten into the act, and is singing the same song. They recently started a “Tee It Forward” campaign to urge golfers to play from the tees that reflect their ability, not their ego.

Based on driving distance, they recommend these course yardages:

DD       CY
300     7,275
275     6,800
250     6,300
225     5,900
200     5,300
175     4,500
150     3,600

Those are actually the mid-points of suggested ranges. Their formula is somewhat inconsistent, but if you do the math you’ll see that the CY to DD ratio at DD=300 is 24.3. It climbs to 26.5 at DD=200, then descends again to 22.0 at DD=150.

About the time I made my earlier post, I talked to the supervisor of the men’s club where I play and pointed out that our weekly competitions are played from a set of 6,400-yard tees, and a set of 5,900-yard tees is available.

There are a few, but not many, guys in the club who routinely hit it 250 off the tee. There are a lot of them who come in reliably at 225. Maybe I’ll suggest this to him again, because the Establishment has taken up the cause and it’s not just some guy with a calculator and too much time on his hands.

Sure, the bombers would shoot better scores, but they always shoot better scores than the rest of us right now. Maybe we could have two flights – a white tee flight and a gold tee flight. There’s a set of red tees at 5,100 yards, and some of the guys should really be playing from those, but I won’t go that far.

So again, I say make an honest assessment of your skills, and play from the right set of tees. You’ll get more pars, play faster, and have more fun.

See I Played From the Red Tees Today

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.

Footnote: June 16, 2011
The June 17, 2011 issue of GolfWeek magazine printed my letter regarding this campaign. It reads:

“I was pleased to see the Tee It Forward notice [In the News, June 3]. I blogged earlier this year on the same idea. Touring pros would howl if they had to play an 8,000-yard course every week, but that is what many amateurs do, relatively, by choosing a set of tees that is too long.

“If you’re not hitting short-iron second shots into half the par 4s, you’re playing from the wrong tees.”

equipment

The Golf Ball That Won’t Slice

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The way our bodies are put together, combined with the angles of the golf swing (not flat, like baseball), almost makes a slice the natural stroke to hit. No wonder so many golfers slice. It’s so easy to do.

You could cure your slice by learning to swing differently. It’s not hard to do, but it does take work, and who has time for that? Or, you could buy the right golf ball. Like the New Polara golf ball.

This ball is made with a dimple pattern that minimizes spin. If you align the pattern the right way when you tee it up, the simple physics built into the surface of the ball helps it go much straighter.

Actually, this ball is not new. It first came out in 1977, but was banned by the USGA in 1981 and the ball disappeared. Last year the ball came on the market again.

Just two things you might need to know about it. First, the ball is illegal for any round where the rules matter, such as tournaments or establishing a handicap.

Second, you get the low-spin advantage only on the tee, since that’s the only time you can guarantee the dimple pattern will be aligned. But if you’re going to use this ball, you don’t care too much about the rules, so go ahead and line it up whenever you want to. Just don’t tell anyone I said it’s OK.

Some golfers want to know if there is a golf ball that won’t slice, but will still spin around the green. This would be the best of all worlds. Unfortunately, no. We live in a world of trade-offs. Get a little more of this, and you have to give up a little of that. Nature requires a balance.

You can use a ball that minimizes spin (legally) but as it won’t spin so much off your driver, but neither will it spin so much off your wedge. The opposite is true, of course, If you want a ball that dances a jig on the green, it’s going to exaggerate any spin you put on it from the tee or the fairway.

For higher-handicpap golfers, I would recommend getting a low-spin ball. Keeping the ball in play from tee to green is the best way to keep your score down as you learn to control the ball off your swing. Once you begin to break 90 regularly, you should switch to a spin ball, sometimes called a Tour ball, as your swing improves and you learn to get a more refined short game.

Play a round with a Polara just for fun, but if you’re serious about developing your skills, get a ball that rewards what you have learned to do.

See also Buying the right golf ball

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.

distance, playing the game

How Far Should Novice Golfers Hit Their Clubs?

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Distance. That seems to be the reason play golf, to see how far you can hit the ball. There’s the part about getting the ball into the hole, too, but if you asked any golfer if they wanted to hit the ball farther or score lower, the answer would likely be farther, every time. We can take care of scoring later.

This is a question that new golfers face, and it’s a mistake to look at the professionals for the answer. Male professional golfers routinely hit their 5-iron 200 yards. Heck, it was reported that Dustin Johnson recently hit his 7-iron 240 yards.

Let’s not concern ourselves with those numbers. What can golfers new to the game expect?

The answer depends on you. Most novices don’t hit the ball very far. Men might hit a 9-iron 120 yards, a driver 200. A woman new to the game might get 90 and 150, respectively. Whoever you are, much of it depends on your athleticism and your prior experience with ball-and-stick sports.

Every golfer has to realize there is a limit to the distance they can hit the ball. Hitting the golf ball a long way is a talent. Some baseball players hit home runs, others don’t, and you can’t tell by looking who can hit them and who can’t.

Similarly, some people can just hit the golf ball a long way.

What is important for the novice is learning how to hit the ball accurately. That means you make contact in the center of the clubface, with a square clubface square to the swing path. When you do that, you will get all the distance you are capable of. What that distance is doesn’t really matter. All you have to do is play from the right set of tees and you can play for fairways and greens all day.

Really now, what distances can a novice attain to? Look at the Trackman data for professional golfers. Go the LPGA Tour Averages chart, second column from the right. Make sure the Select Units button says Yards. For male novices, take 85 percent of these distances, female novices, 75 percent.

Those are the distances you’ll get until you learn how to hit the ball on the center of the clubface, with a square and in-line clubhead, and hitting the ball first, ground second.

And you know what? Even if you never hit the ball farther than that, if it goes straight, you can get a good score.

See also: Leave the Long Clubs Home

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.

putting

How Well Should You Putt?

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“Silly question,” you say. “They should all go in.” Well, yes, but the question is really the title of a book by Clyne Soley, who collected extensive data on amateur and professional putting the the mid-1970s and published his findings in 1977.

Most of what he found confirms what you might think about putting, but here are some facts that might surprise you.

The number of putts per round varies directly with a player’s handicap. Scratch golfers, he found, average 30.8 putts per round, and 20-handicappers average 34.7. That’s not a surprise, but that means putting is a greater part of the scratch player’s score (42.7%) than it is for the 20-handicapper (34.7%). You might not have thought of that before.

When a player who is 20 strokes better overall is only four shots better on the green, this is further evidence of what many golfers believe, that the key to improvement lies in becoming a better ball-striker. Good putting starts making a difference only when you get good.

Soley’s next finding is truly amazing. The number of two-putt greens does not vary with a player’s handicap. A scratch golfer averages 11.67 two-putt greens per round, and a 40-handicapper averages 11.59. That’s a difference of one two-putt green in 225 holes, over 12 rounds.

The difference in total putts, then,  comes in the breakdown of one-putt and three-putt greens. Scratch golfers average 5.31 one-putt greens per round, and the 40-handicappers average only 2.42. When it comes to three-putt greens, the averages are scratch, 0.90 per round, 40-handicap, 3.60.

Soley then goes on to ask how good professional golfers are at putting (pretty darn good, actually). As you would expect, pros are better from any distance than amateurs are, but here’s something about short putts that you might not have guessed. For any given distance, Soley found that the success rate (sinking the putt) for professionals for putts of five feet and under is lower if it is a first putt than if it is a second or third putt. It is lower by almost half.

The probable explanation is that a four-foot second putt is left over from an initial putt that went by the hole, giving the player a chance to see what the break coming back would be. Amateurs, take note. Missed putts that go by the hole had a chance to go in, and they give you an excellent indication of the line coming back, if you watch the ball until it stops. Putts left short will never go in, and you might still not be sure of the line.

A final note is on sidehill putts. Most right-handed golfers feel that putts breaking right to left are easier to make than putts breaking left to right. Soley found no difference favoring the right-to-left putt. Putts breaking in either direction are made, and missed, at the same rate.

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.

putting

Knit Your Way To Better Putting

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For the ball to go in the hole, you have to read the green to find the right line. Then you need a stroke that sends the ball off on the line you selected. Here’s an easy way to take care of number 2.

It involves knitting. The needles, not the yarn. The knitting needles that your wife or SigOth uses to make you sweaters are just the thing for building a secure stroke. A pair of number 6s will be just right.

You can do this at home, too. I tie one end of the string to the handle on the lowest drawer of my dresser, and the other end to the pole of a floor lamp. A tin can lid serves for a hole. Set up the same way, and play on.

Straight back, straight through. Very machine-like, very accurate. Spend a few minutes every week with your knitting needles. It will pay off.

playing the game

How to Make More Pars

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Par is a good score for a recreational golfer. There are two shots you must play well to make pars: your tee shot and your approach putt.

To put par into play, you have to get the ball in the fairway. Use the longest club you feel confident doing that with. For most of us, it ain’t the driver.

When you hit a green, you are likely to be a good distance away from the pin. From there you have to be able to set up the par putt. More three-putt greens come from leaving an approach putt too far away from the hole than from missing three-footers.

More likely you will miss the green, so your greenside chip stands in for the approach putt. Did you ever hear that your worst putt is better than your best chip? That just means you’re a lousy chipper. This is an easy stroke to get good at if you put in the practice.

Clearly, there is a lot more to getting pars than just these two strokes. But these are the two strokes that do the most to put you into a position to make a par. If they are weak points, you are leaving a lot of pars on the course.

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.

playing the game, ten rules

Ten Rules For Hitting More Greens

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The shot into the green is your scoring shot. Hit the green and par is yours for the taking. While no one hits every green, these ten rules will help you hit more than you do now.

1. Use enough club. Figure out which club you would use to hit the back edge of the green and take one less club than that. -or – Determine the distance to the pin and add five yards. Choose your club on that distance.

2. Make generous allowances for unusual conditions. Use one club more, at least, when hitting into the wind, and one more club hitting with a cross-wind. Use one club more when hitting off uneven lies, including a downhill lie. True, the downhill slope will de-loft the club, but you will be swinging more easily to keep your balance, and a perfect strike is hard to come by.

3. Aim for the center of the green. Save pin-hunting for the pros. The center as your target gives you the most room for error in direction and will leave you with the shortest approach putts on average in the long run.

4. Know which iron is the longest you can reliably hit the green with. When you hit longer irons than that toward the green, favor the side of the green that will give you the easiest up and down if you miss.

5. Get good with your 8- and 9-irons. When you have one of these in your hand, it is a money shot and you must have the confidence that you can hit the green with that club every time.

6. Get good at the 50- to 100-yard pitch. This is the shot you will be hitting into par 5s if your first two shots were adequate. Good pitching sets up an easy par and makes birdie a real possibility.

7. Irons are for direction, not distance. If you hit the green from 140 yards eighty percent of the time, the only person who will care that you need a 7-iron to do it is you.

8. Start your divot in front of the ball. This is how clean, crisp contact is born. Your club does hit the back of the ball, but what you should be hitting at is a spot on the ground about a half inch in front of the ball.

9. Aim yourself correctly. When you end your practice swing with a classic high finish, the spot you are looking straight at is where you are aimed. -or- look down at your thighs and mentally draw a line across them and down the fairway to show you where you are aimed.

10. Work on your short game at five yards from the green and in. The majority of your misses will be in that zone. You will swing with more confidence if you are not worried about a miss, and you can still save your par if you do.

Bonus: Swing easily with your irons. Slug your driver if you want to (well, really don’t do that), but make an easy pass at the ball whenever it is on the ground to make sure you hit it neatly.

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.

hands lead the clubhead

Hitting a 9-Iron 145 Yards

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[July 2021: The move that created this shot is a sharp rotation of the forearms the moment before impact. I no longer recommend this method as it is too difficult to time consistently.]

Funny you should mention that. That’s what I did just a few days ago. Surprised the heck out of me, but then, again, maybe I should have seen it coming. I took a lesson four days before that which changed everything.

If you follow this blog, you might have read, more than once, the imperative for hitting any shot when the ball is on the ground (except putts): Ball first, ground second. If you want to make anything your improvement project this year, make it that. It will pay off like you wouldn’t believe.

Most recreational golfers hit the ground behind the ball routinely. I’m not talking about laying up sod, which we all do on occasion. I’m talking about bottoming out maybe a half-inch or so behind the ball. You get a decent shot out of it, but there’s no power, no backspin, and the reverse divot is lurking.

The proper place for your divot to start is in front of the ball. I thought that if you hit the ball first, ground second, that would be the result. Silly me.

I went to the range last week and the grass tees were finally open. After I had warmed up, I put a ball on the ground, and laid two tees beside it, pointing to the front of the ball and to the back of the ball. That way I could see exactly where my divot started.

It started behind the back tee. Sometimes by a lot, sometimes by a little. Sometimes, when I hit it really solid, the divot started between the tees. I never could get it to start in front of the front tee. Not once. Not good. I could not figure out how to start the divot in front of the front tee without sliding to the left, which we all know not to do.

Since I was at a driving range, I went right into the pro shop and the pro was behind the counter. I explained the problem to him, and asked if he could teach me how to start the divot in front of the ball. Of course, he said, I signed up for a lesson the next day.

It worked. He taught me how to do it. It was so easy, but most things about golf are like that. It’s easy once you know the secret.

I won’t tell you what it is*, not because I want it to be a secret, but because it’s difficult to describe, and if you got it wrong it would be disastrous. Besides, your pro should be able to teach you what to do.

If you want to see what the move is, get Johnny Miller’s Fixing Your Swing instructional videos and watch the segment titled Slice Cure. You’ll see it at the 2:25 mark. It concerns what you do with your hands when they come into the hitting area. This video is available only at eBay as of this update (Feb 18, 2019).

Here’s the thing, and this is a big one, it’s hard to install into your swing. I’ve been hitting my 9-iron for four days and am getting reasonably consistent with the new move. I tried moving up to my 8-iron and it’s like starting the process over again. I tried the 7-iron and it was a disaster. You learn this move one club at a time.

Back to the 145-yard 9-iron. After a productive practice session with the 9-iron with plastic balls in my backyard, I took a couple of real balls into the big field only a few blocks away from where I live. I connected with the first shot and it took off fast, low, and straight. So did the next one, and yes, the divot started in front of the ball each time.

I stepped them off. Normally, I get 125 tops. I got 145 and 148. I figure they released a bit after they landed, so about 142 in the air is close enough.  I didn’t hit them that hard, either. I hit them the right way.

It’s will likely take me a few months to get this change in place through the bag reliably. After that, watch out. And I mean it.

* Yes, I will. See Covering the Golf Ball

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.

playing the game

Your Strategy For Breaking 90

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If you can shoot 95 regularly, you have all the shots you need to break 90.

By re-orienting your mental approach to the game, and making a few adjustments to how you play, you can get there.

The first thing to do is start believing that you are an 80s golfer. We live up to the image we have of ourselves. Right now, your image is that the best you can do is 92. Time for a new image.

Second, play every shot with confidence. Never play a shot before you feel that it will come off as you intend. Reserve a few seconds in your pre-shot routine to allow that confidence to emerge.

If you can’t get that feeling, pick another shot or play the ball to a different spot.

Because half of good golf is wrapped up in how you use your mind, you’ll need a solid mental game to see the course clearly, choose the right shot, hit it with confidence, and stay composed throughout the round.

Play every hole with a plan you have worked out before tee off. Your days of hit-and-hope golf are over. You plan is, which combination of shots can you hit, and to where, to get the ball near or onto the green quickly?

A typical par-5 hole runs 485 yards. Say you put your drive in the fairway 225 yards out, leaving 260 yards to go. Why hit your fairway wood next, which is a difficult stroke to play? Try covering that distance with two 8-irons. Much easier.

If you’re playing a difficult par 4, maybe you could lay back and play it as a par 5 so the ball is always in play, making each stroke a comfortable shot instead of reaching for something you seldom produce.

On long par 3s, consider playing short of the hazards around the green, and chip on for your bogey, or a par if it works out. Avoid the double, because they’re easy to get on these holes.

Remember that you don’t have to play for par on every hole. Lots of bogeys and a few pars will do nicely.

Off the tee, unless you’re very good with your driver, leave it at home. To break 90 you have to get the ball to the green as fast as you can. Chasing down errant tee shots is not the way to do that.

When you get onto trouble, chip out, then continue down the fairway. That will cost you one stroke. Hitting your fairway metal because you’re 230 yards from the green, ignoring the fact that the ball is in calf-high weeds, will cost you two or three.

As for putting, the critical skill is approach putting. Many more three-putt greens come from leaving 30-foot putts too far from the hole than from missing short ones. (But learn to get those three- and four-footers in the hole, too.)

You no doubt miss a lot of greens, so hit your short shot to get the ball on the green inside two-putt distance. Just get it on the green in one shot, and close enough. Don’t ask anything more of your short game than that.

Another mental skill: it’s time to become a forgetter. Forget about the bad shot you just hit. Forget about the bad scores you made on prior holes. Hanging on to them makes you think they have ruined your chance to shoot a good score.

They haven’t.

You’re going to make mistakes and have bad holes. Just don’t think that you can’t make any mistakes, or that making one or two sinks the round.

equipment

The Best Equipment For a Recreational Golfer

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This post is not: what I think the best equipment out there is.
This post is: how to get the most appropriate equipment for your game.

One thing about golf is that it offers more equipment options that any other sport. If you play softball, for example, you need a bat and a glove, and even a novice could find ones that fit after a few minutes of looking at the local sporting goods store.

Golf? There are enough different clubs and balls out there to confuse even an experienced golfer. Here’s how to find the equipment that is best for you.

Let’s say you’re just taking up the game. Borrow a set of clubs. Hunt the thrift stores to find a set with a bag. It doesn’t matter that much, really, what you come up with, but get a few woods, some irons, and a putter. Go to the local variety store and buy some golf balls that cost about $15 a dozen. That will be all you need to start playing golf to see if you like it.

If after a few months you think golf is here to stay, then you definitely need better equipment. You could buy a set of used golf clubs from a pro shop or second-hand sporting goods store, or you could buy a new set. The used option would be cheaper, about half the price of a new set, and would be satisfactory until you decided to make a commitment to golf as your pastime of choice.

If you decide to go new, stick with the major manufacturers. The quality of their clubs is guaranteed. Other manufacturers make what are called “knock-offs,” which are clubs designed only to look like a major brand. Their playability and durability are poor, and they are a waste of your money.

About half the name brand clubs sold over the Internet are counterfeit, according to one pro shop owner I talked to. Buy from a pro shop or a reputable sorting goods store.

Also, have a fitting when you buy new clubs.

As for golf balls, there’s no reason to play one of the high-end balls that professionals play. It takes a much higher swing speed than the large majority of recreational golfers have to take advantage of the ball’s design. Stick with a ball in the $25/dozen range.

Golf balls come in three basic types: distance, accuracy, and spin. A distance ball will go farther, but only 5-7 yards at best. Accuracy balls spin less and thus go straighter, but they won’t cure your slice. Spin balls, also called tour balls, stop faster (run less) on the green, but their higher spin rate might exacerbate your slice.

Buy a box of three of each kind of ball, play a round with each, and stick with the one you like the best. That’s really the only way to decide.

So far, you have a set of irons and some golf balls. You still need a putter, some wedges, and a driver (maybe). First, the putter.

About one-third of your shots will be played with this club, so you should definitely get one fitted when you buy it. There are so many design schemes, the only thing you can do is try one of each to see which one feels best in your hands, gives you confidence over the ball, and is easiest to swing. Appearance is important here. If the appearance of a putter is distracting, don’t buy it.

You should have a sand wedge in the 54- to 56-degree range. This club is designed not only for escaping bunkers, but for pitching onto the green from shorter distances.

The question of how many wedges you should carry is the subject of another article, but a sand wedge, in addition to the pitching wedge that comes with your set of irons, will be enough for most golfers.

Now, the driver. Most recreational golfers should not have one. This is a difficult club to hit, and it creates more problems than it solves.

Instead, buy a 14-degree fairway wood and use that off the tee. You will get all the distance you need, and hit the ball into many more fairways than you ever will with a driver, at least until you become a very good player.

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.