reading comprehension itt. thanks bdaddy.

IIRC in one of doc's videos he refers to the method as "fold and hold" which to poker players might be confusing :P. Same concept as in Phil's DVD.

Thanks golfdoc for the suggestions. I've been practicing and then today I had 6 one-putts on the back 9, for a 43 on a course I think is extremely hard. All because of some of the tips you have on this forum. Don't ask about the front

I need to work on the random blow up holes, as I also had 2 7s and an 8 on the back, but overall, I feel much more confident and actually got up and down to save 2 triples, so it didn't get even worse...

While I was practicing 3foot circle drill one golfer came and started talking to me. He wanted to try to do it. He made 6 out of 9, I said that next rounds are easier because you know the breaks. And he said: “there is no break from this distance, you just attack the hole and hope you make it”

Thoughts ?

I don't play much break in 3 foot putts, although some putts will have some amount of break, unless it's severe, I would try to keep the ball aligned inside the hole. I wouldn't subscribe to the "hope you make it" theory - KNOW you're going to make it! Pick a very small blade of grass where you want the ball to enter the hole and try & roll the ball over that blade of grass. You can experiment with speed - try to make the ball just barely fall over the lip, then the next putt, make it enter like a mouse running in the hole, then the next putt try to hammer it off the back of the cup. This will help you develop touch and it will switch your focus from the stroke to controlling the ball. You'll find the "mouse" putt is most consistent, but the other two have value in uphill/downhill putts.

The biggest things in 3-foot putts are: square face, and attitude/commitment - you must believe & know you are going to make it!

Keep up the good work!

Nice work! Keep it up & keep me posted!

Thanks Bdaddy!

Started using your practice ideas last spring. I don't have the time to go through the whole program, but spent much more time on short game than I did just pounding balls. Dedicated 75% of putting practice to 3-4 footers.

Scoring went from mid to high 90's to being consistently in the mid 80's. Thanks for all the tips, I am going to keep this routine up.

Going to try the putting and chipping portion til snow hits the ground.

archive bump

Post count bumper.

I haven't poked my head in this thread in much too long. I sprained my wrist in August falling 1 story off a ladder on my back (A backpack full of notebooks saved my torso), and couldn't swing a club without stinging pain for a few months. I just recently hit the range and hit well and didn't feel any pain/discomfort, so I'm ready to go for this program once more.

were you robbing the campus bookstore though an open balcony window?

Nope, breaking into my own home. I have a room I leave open on the second floor, and dual decks.

Hope you're well healed and ready for some golf. Give the program a shot - it's a good way to work your way back into the game as well. If you have any questions, let me know - I'll be happy to help!

bump to keep this on first page. I'm a high handicap and I just started really trying to improve my game recently and this is exactly what I needed for my short game. Thanks for posting

Glad i found this thread, some great info.

Can't wait to give this a try when the practice facilities open up around here. Should aide my quest to a single digit handicap this summer.

hey dagolfdoc, i have a question for you regarding putting though it sounds kind of funny asking..i've always been told to find a mark a few feet in front of me on my line and aim for that spot when facing longer putts, and even on short ones if i can find some sort of mark on the green and tell myself "putt it one inch to the left of X," or "aim directly at X" it really works well. but when there isn't really any "landmark," so to speak, near my line, how are you able to see the same blade of grass when lining up your putt and standing behind it as you do when standing over it? it all seems to just look the same to me and then i'm (when i actually am playing well) forced to back off the putt and figure out my line again, or when i'm playing poorly i just hit it and hope i get it close lol

For putting I usually draw a line on the ball and use that to aim by lining it up when behind the ball. Most balls already have a line of some sort, but I find aiming is easier with a bigger line than the "default" one.

thanks for the compliments - glad to see the thread is still of benefit to some people!

I'm not a big proponent of aligning the logo for most players - I prefer approaching putts like shooting a basketball - look at the hole and react. I see so many players get hung up on trying to pick a perfect line and they forget about being athletic and rolling the ball to the hole. If a line helps -great, use it, but don't get so absorbed in lining the putter up that you forget to be an athlete and disregard the speed.

How many times have you (or have you seen) a player drop a couple balls on the green & roll them without thinking close to the hole - then they get on the course & start "thinking" about line, grain, etc and never get it close. Free up your putting & work on fundamentals so the face is square to where you want the ball to start.

kerby14 just turned me onto this thread and cant wait to try out the routine and see how it works out.

doc, do you recommend any instructors in the Los Angeles area? I have been thinking of taking a series of lessons to correct some issues I have (head pushing out over the ball in my back and forward swings leading to inconsistent shots). thanks

Sorry - I missed this question - I know several - what area of LA are you located? What price range are wanting to spend? I know some from around $100 to the $250+ range.

LMK & I'll post some names.

Hi dagolfdoc & others.

I am a golfer from down under (tasmania - Australia) who also enjoys the odd game of poker & I stumbled on this site approx 1 week ago.

I should have stumbled on this site years ago & perhaps my golf handicap would have been alot lower by now ( currently 14) and my poker winnings higher


In regards to golf I had a fair idea of my weaknesses already (putting & approach shots). My aim is to be able to consistently break eighty, my best score in competetion is 82 (with 41 @#$ing putts!!!)

I do practise 2-3 nights per week + play 18 holes most Saturdays. When I can get this routine down to 3 hours I know I must be improving.

I ave only 4 GIR per round with 66% Fairway hit - I don't hit a long driver though (only 220 yards carry & xxx roll depending on time of year)
I ave 4.5 up & downs per round & 33 putts with sand saves @ 18%
These stats alone show that I have too many 3 putts per round.

I am now 90% through program (only 5irons & Driver to go)

Time taken so far approx 4 hours

2 hours putting - the 25 three footers in a row & the 45 foot lag but took multiple tries with failiure at 23rd 3 footer & 19th lag putt causing several nasty words to pass my lips.

1 hour wedges - I got chipping 30m & 50m first go ( I do practise my wedges alot already though )
- I could get through this quicker but I was hitting only 3 balls at a time & walking up to green & retrieving to make sure I didn't start "beating balls" and thus straying from my routine)

30 min bunkers - 10 out of 10 2nd go ( I duffed the 9th shot) and 4th go for 6 shots within the flagstick

30 min 9 iron & 7 iron - I got both first go

The 5 iron will take some time though no doubt.

I have since attempted 25 in a row twice - but I tried from 2 foot to get throught it quicker - or so I thought.... After several false starts (misses) I knuckled down and concentrated taking aim properly and going through my full routine, the one's I missed was were I rushed the putt. I then sunk 50 in a row from 2 foot and was a very happy chappy indeed.


I was also reading the post re course managment and I took on board the shaping of the ball into green towards the middle rather than trying to hit the straight shot.

I can hit the ball either way with a tendancy to draw my better hit shots, so my focus was the right hand edge of green and drawing back to middle picturing a triangle for the shot shape, I then hit 8 out of 10 with the 9 iron from 130 yards and 6 out of 10 from 155 yards with the 7 iron, and best of all all my misses were right due to a straight ball flight and only just off the green. These results were fast making a mockery of my weak GIR stats.

I guess this proves that the hardest shot to hit is the straight one, whilst I had read about this in the past I had never given it much thought.

So a big thanks to Dagold doc & ship ... this + others for I now have two thoughts impanted in my brain
I got to do the hard yards on ALL my scoring game to get to single figures and not just practise the things I like - in my case chipping & small picth shots
Don't try and hit the hardest shot in golf -a straight one - shape it and give yourself more room to stuff it up and get away with it.

I look forward to posting more updates and once again thankyou Doc and others for No Nonsense Golf Advice that gets to the heart of the game improvement - improving one's scoring game !!!



Cheers


Steve

Steve - thanks for the compliments & the update - sounds like you're heading the right direction with your game. If you have some questions along the way - I'll be happy to help. Feel free to post questions here or in my "hello" thread.