Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob148
It starts with unconscious incompetence(ball 1) Then conscious incompetence(makes us wish to improve, I'm currently stuck here). Then conscious competence. Then unconscious competence(the zone).
"Train it and trust it"
Quote:
Originally Posted by revots33
In my experience ball striking is the part of the game most new players struggle with most.
I don't know that I'd spend a lot of time on putting for example, if I am still hitting a bunch of chunks, topped shots, shanks, OB drives, etc. A "bad" putt from an absolute beginner is likely not that much worse than an average putt by your typical 12hc hacker, whereas a bad iron shot can be far worse than average.
Not to say short game isn't important to your score, of course it is... but 30hc'ers need to be able to hit the ball solid and get the ball from tee to green, before spending much time working on chipping and putting. IMO it would be like practicing finger picking on the guitar before you can strum any basic chords. Ball striking is the fundamental that the rest builds on.
I will say that pitching and chipping are forms of ball striking, so practicing chipping or half swings can be beneficial to improving your contact with the full swing also.
As a guitar player of 25 years I can totally relate to this analogy. And the other bolded statement really resonates with me as well, and as someone who often plays with a lower handicapper, this is so true.. we're both usually 2 putting from... say 10-12 feet.. his second putt might be shorter(tap in vs my 2-3 footer), but we're both making the 2nd putt 95% or more).
Quote:
Originally Posted by UnitedAs1
I 100% agree with Revots here, Short game ball striking can really improve your overall ball striking.
I play with 20+ handicappers and the thing I notice most is the inability to have any control of the club face or to actually feel where it is. Like they'll tee off and have actually no idea where its going to go. On top of this they NEVER pick a target they just hit it up there, They always play to the flag as well and mostly under club a ton rarely you see them fire one over the green.
Great stuff, thanks so much everyone! I should also mentioned that ball striking is certainly my favorite part of golf, so it's not hard to convince me to continue working diligently on it. I also have tried to "play smarter" as well, picking smart targets and aiming for the back of the greens and stuff like that.