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Old 05-07-2010, 04:28 PM   #14
infelconi

Join Date
Oct 2005
Posts
426
Senior Member
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I do think that philosophy is correct, if you are a pro or low handicap golfer. I think alot of people (including myself) hit balls on the range, stuggling to find that consitency to BE in the fairways, and BE in the position to hit a short iron or wedge into a green. If I'm not driving well, my round suffers more than if my short game is off. That's me personally.

I will concede that the short game is the most important part, and the fact that pros often hit 20 some putts, while most "regular" golfers are in the high 30s and 40s, speaks for itself.

I should practice my short game more often...
You arrived at the correct conclusion, but I think you need to think it through a bit more. While all parts of the game come together to make a score, there are some parts that are much more important. We agree on that. In the scenario I posed, all drives and approaches were theoretically perfect, and still 40 out of 72 shots are attributable to the short game...and this is for people that are hitting fairways and greens most of the time. For the higher handicapper, the short game is so much more important since it is sometimes the only thing that turns tripples into doubles, and doubles into singles and pars. The philosophy of learning the game from the hole back to the tee is something well worth exploring.

Yesterday I played with a friend who is learning the game. While he was a bit wild off the tee, he managed to make it up to green side in a reasonable number (usually 3 strokes on the par 4's). Once there, it was clear that he had no feel for short game. As he chipped and putted balls raced by the hole, or did not get up to the hole. How many times have you seen that among higher handicappers? What could have been 5's and 6's turned into 7's and 8's.

If a golfer starting out became a proficient short game player in the first year, and then kept practicing the short game, he/she would come down to the single digits much faster than most.

The fact is that most new golfers will dedicate 75% to 95% of their practice sessions to the long game, and some will not practice short game at all, when the smart thing to do would be to concentrate on the short stuff.
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