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Dialing in yardages..

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Fri, Sep 14 2012 5:10 AM

  Choppography:

  I can only assume that it's either the clubs or the ball I use that is the culprit and upgrading will tighten the variance?

  Something you have to be aware of. Even though you have low winds, the direction of the wind influences the shot. You can't get zero winds and you can't discount a 2-3 wind so that range could very well be a result of that little wind. By example, a 2 wind in your face is a 2 helping wind when you turn around and hit backwards in the fairway. Take this into account and I think you'll see those ranges tighten themselves up. 

• togemag 991 Posts

  Fri, Sep 14 2012 5:50 AM

  Chop, Yank has a great suggestion (as you have found out). Glass's suggestion is just as important (Putt for dough, yeah). But after they are done and you fell good about them start noticing what elevation and wind does. You are on your way, but it takes time and work, LOL. I am still doing it.  But always have fun! TC

• togemag 991 Posts

  Fri, Sep 14 2012 5:57 AM

  One more thing, don't get frustrated about bugs in the game. These BS Bugs are in all program's, humans are not perfect but we try to be, at least I try (frustrating as hell to, LOL).

• Choppography 2,166 Posts

  Fri, Sep 14 2012 6:13 AM

  It's amazing to me to watch Bollox play on YouTube where every shot goes to 2-3yds.  You don't do that without both dinging a lot AND knowing your yardages and meter's behavior on 96% swings, etc.  I commend him, but he shows me it's possible.

  That's why the inconsistency of some of my "similar" shots is shocking me.  

  I was dialing them in all afternoon yesterday, and I found some interesting things....

  - I hit 5-7 shots, tossed the high and low, and averaged the rest.  There are obviously some discrepancies with a random super shot, or one seemingly hit fat, but most fall in a fairly narrow channel.

  - I did this with all clubs using both no spin and full backspin.

  - But, when I transfer to the course, my elevation and wind adjustments may be a little off, but ALL my shots started flying a bit farther than the notes/chart I had written down.  Uphill, downhill, wind, etc, didn't seem to matter.  My shot simply flew farther than I was expecting.

  Can anyone help fix that surprise?  Has anyone done similar things and experienced a similar situation?

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Fri, Sep 14 2012 6:43 AM

  Choppography:

  Can anyone help fix that surprise?  Has anyone done similar things and experienced a similar situation?

  You see that when you play the Best of courses. Each course has its own particulars so using your BPB results across the board on all courses requires a little adjusting by course. Not a lot but the courses don't all play exactly alike and practice conditions tend to be rather tame.

  Use the weekly unlimiteds as practice games to compare, using the same practice routine you did at BPB, just don't post the score. This way you can see the difference between tournament and practice play. 

• togemag 991 Posts

  Fri, Sep 14 2012 7:42 AM

  What Yank is saying when you boil it down is to find the characteristics of what wind and elevation does. That is what I said earlier, "work",  playing the game will tell you and give you the satisfaction of doing it. "You must find this", we can not tell you, nor should we. Do what these players suggest. But one more thing to know, that when you change any variable (ie: ball, different club, etc.) will change things. Start again, to make sure what changes has happen. GL

• Choppography 2,166 Posts

  Fri, Sep 14 2012 9:39 AM

  Use the weekly unlimiteds as practice games to compare, using the same practice routine you did at BPB, just don't post the score. This way you can see the difference between tournament and practice play.

  Thanks to all of you guys so far, but this is another huge potential pearl for me.

  And, totally agreed on the 8-15ft putts separating the good from the legendary.  I putt well, but not near well enough yet.  However, getting inside 15ft is paramount to getting such opportunities to even work on those putts.  So, it's sort of a chicken/egg thing imo.

   

  But, when I hit the ball back and forth in that little wind that changes from helping to hurting, shouldn't the distances avg out?  I figured that was some of the discrepancy, but was also counting on the average across both winds to give me something to rely on.

  I understand it's work.  I'm willing to do it.  I hope you guys can see that.  What I'm asking for/hoping for is being pointed in the right direction to shorten the amount of work I have to put in.  To me, that's just being smart.  So far, so good.  Thanks again.

• GlassMan27 573 Posts

  Fri, Sep 14 2012 11:13 AM

  Choppography:

  What I'm asking for/hoping for is being pointed in the right direction to shorten the amount of work I have to put in.

  This is the problem, nothing you do will outweigh the knowledge gained by actually playing the game. Every course plays differently, and holes within the same course play differently. The reason Bollox and the like can consistently hit tight approaches is practice. Bollox has played close to 4500 ranked rounds and I'm sure countless practice and unfinished rounds. An uphill approach on Olympic plays differently than an uphill approach on Bethpage, and the only way to truly figure it out is to play the shots (repeatedly) and remember the results. Cheers

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Fri, Sep 14 2012 11:31 AM

  Choppography:

  But, when I hit the ball back and forth in that little wind that changes from helping to hurting, shouldn't the distances avg out?  I figured that was some of the discrepancy, but was also counting on the average across both winds to give me something to rely on.

  Rely on the range you're getting. You're one step closer to being a "feel" golfer that way. Instead of trying to nail a specific number, go for the range of numbers you're seeing.

  I'm sure you'd be happy getting inside a 6 foot circle on the green  and that translates to +/- 2 yards giving you a range of 4 yards to work with-hit 150 and get somewhere between 148-152, as an example.

• TarheelsRule 5,557 Posts

  Fri, Sep 14 2012 1:14 PM

  One thing that helps me with my irons is to remember that a shot of 150 yards to the pin has a range of 147 to 153 all still within the 10 feet range to the hole.

  Many players on WGT and in real golf always assume the yardage to the pin as their maximum distance, that is one reason you rarely see amateurs be long of the hole.  Their perfect shot goes exactly 150 yards and anything not taken into account generally comes up short.

  In the discussion I believe the OP mentioned a deviation of 8 yards on a shot of 150 yards, shortest to longest.   If the player always says well I can hit this shot 154 yards max and 146 yards minimum, he can play that shot to the 150 yard hole and be 'inside the circle' of 12 feet (long and short).

  However if he goes the max range he will range from 0 to 24 feet away on his shots.  This is pretty simple but I find it helps me, I think Lee Trevino made the comment that a chip that doesn't get to the hole rarely goes in.  Same theory here, being 2 feet long is no worse than 2 feet short.