re: Telling 15+ caps to improve by practicing short game is wrong, and insulting

How bad are you lol

As someone who is getting back into golf after a long time away, I can see both sides. I have spent the summer working on irons and woods as I get back into it. I'm not great, but in 4 or so months, I can do alright. It didn't take long for me to get that part of the game back. I'll still duff a ball for sure. But it's not the norm. Without the pretty hard focus on that, I'd hate every minute on the course.

Now, chipping and putting has been horrendous. I can admit I haven't focused nearly as much on it, but also feel like it's going to take a lot longer to get the feel back. Honestly can see myself knocking 7+ strokes off of my score dialing that in. So I can see why people point to putting focus on that. And as a person in that category, it's what I need to do. But that's knowing I've already put a lot of work into the longer end of the bag, so it's specific to me.

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lol i can’t argue with people who think driving the ball is easier than chipping and putting.

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Did someone say that?

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And “absolutely wrong” is an absolutely moronic thing to say.

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I can't help it if you post wrong things.

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Go ask any swing coach what the easiest thing to teach and become good at is. It’s an easy answer.

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It would be great if that were the post we were in.

Awesome

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90% of these guys will improve much faster learning to get their driver in play and be able to hit irons and full wedges on or near the green. Doesn’t matter if they can chip or putt if they’re chipping for bogey every hole

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True but you can and should practice both. You don’t have to exclusively practice full irons and driver. I know that’s not what you are saying and I’m not trying to put those words in your mouth. But you need to practice all parts of your game whether you are brand new are a scratch golfer. Most people aren’t in shape enough to go bang out 150-200 full swings in a range sessions anyways, especially this time of year. And if you have an Inefficient swing your going too tire out even faster. Let’s say you can get close to the green in two. But if your skulling your pitch shots and Sending them to 10 yards off the green on the other side. Then 4 putting your still scoring high. Everything needs to be practiced. Every golfer benefits from being closer to the hole off the tee and every golfer benefits from improving their short game. You need both.

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How many times a round does a 15 handicapper use his putter??

How many times around does he use his driver.....It's solid advice

To reduce your putting and chipping per round by 5-8 strokes is the quickest way to bring your handicap down

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That’s not necessarily true. Speaking of absolutes in golf is foolish. I shoot low 90’s and I’m OB off the tee 5-7 times a round.

I’m not a great putter either, but long and short irons I’m pretty decent. I am fortunate that I bomb the ball off of the tee, but tend to draw/hook on misses and my local courses that’s OB. So I’m giving away 10-14 strokes per round off the tee box alone.

So the poster who said it depends on the golfer is absolutely correct. But with solid driving you can basically eliminate the use of 5-6 clubs in your bag. Which is better than having to hit long irons as well as having a solid short game.

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Basic math says improving your short game is key.

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Maybe you can teach Mark Broadie a thing or two about math. Again, the OP isn't saying to neglect short game practice, he's just saying gains can be greater by improving off the tee and approach. Also, unless I missed it, he's not talking about improving fairways, just driving in general. Most every modern golf pundit will tell you that fairways hit is a useless stat on most courses, especially amateur courses.

Putting is just extremely difficult to differentiate from other players. It's extremely hard to make most of your putts once an amateur gets outside of 8 feet. You also may have 14 putts inside 3 feet in a round. There's no differentiating there.

Because putting is so binary with success, people put too much emphasis on it. A guy makes his 10 foot putt for par, and people look at the putting that got this done. However, if he hit a better tee shot and/or approach, he may have had a 3 footer for par. Lastly, putting is extremely fluky. Usually the guy who putt the best wins a single tournament, but the guys ranked the highest in the world are the best drivers and approach players.

So, yeah, if you are 3 putting more than you're not, there's probably something drastic that needs fixing. If you're a typical putter for your handicap, you'll bring it down faster by improving tee to green.

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I’m OB off the tee 5-7 times a round.

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You’ve got potential.

You said you shoot in the 90s.

So stroke and distance 6 times a round is 12 strokes.

A $45 lesson for the driver may be the best money you’ve ever spent on golf.

You can do it!!!