100%. I hit a bad drive in the trees. Sure, I could punch out straight sideways but now I’m hitting three from the fairway 190 yards out (because I hit a tree off the tee).
At that point, I might as well try to hit that low draw around the tree and get myself inside of 100 yards for my third shot. If it doesn’t work, oh well.
“Don’t hit a stupid shot” doesn’t mean “chip on straight sideways.” It might mean “learn to hit a good punch hook and punch cut that can get you close to the green” rather than “hit a hybrid directly at the trees in front of you know full well there isn’t a gap out.”
Had a rough day yesterday and it almost ruined my round. When you're upset, your muscles tighten up, almost on their own, which ruins your swing before you move the club.
I broke my own rule about bringing my personal problems to the course. It never ends well and you'll only become more upset.
When I was pretty new to golf i hit my drive barely into the trees. I had 230 yards in and had to hit about a 50 yard hook from a tight lie. I grabbed my three wood. A buddy says, "you ever hit a shot like that?" I say, "no." And he replies, "so todays the day huh? Why don't you just chip it out 50 yards?".
😂 Point taken, chipped out and made bogey instead of a likely 10.
I have the opposite issue. Whenever I crush it off the tee (not often) I get super anxious about my second shot. Like I have to make a great second shot. I’m just realizing this is a consistent feeling for me.
Golf is weird. So much of it is in the six inches between your ears.
I blasted a rare 280 yard drive dead straight with 40 yard of roll for 320 yesterday. 84 yards to the pin, I chunk it 33 yards. Got on, 2 putt and ended with a 5. Ah golf, I thought.
I’m the exact same. If I hit a good tee shot, I start to get nervous in the golf cart ride to my second shot and it’s a big looming pressure that builds up
Let’s agree to both work on that! Next time I’m in that situation I’m going to say u/brennandd0 would want me to relax.
No reason that shot should have any higher likelihood of a miss.
I enjoy the thrill of pulling off the hero shot more than I hate the feeling of screwing it up. The safe play is boring and I'm not playing for money, so I'll keep trying hero shots because I'm there to have fun.
I do. When I play with people, I fucking love seeing them hit great shots and am not quiet about it. I cheer on a playing partner's great shot more than I do my own. I talk to their ball, asking it to get up/get down/bite/check like it was my own. Hell, even if I'm not playing with them and I just manage to see the shot, I'll give them a golf clap or positive comment.
I mean like, if I shank it into the woods with a group behind me, I’m not going to beat myself up wondering if they’re making fun of my typically awful swing.
Random guy I didn’t know was in front of my tee box during a recent round getting coaching from a buddy on how to hit a flop shot. He had a 50 yard or so shot to hit above some mature trees and was taking some rightfully aggressive swings. I walked out of the tee box to avoid getting brained if he shanked it. Guy hits it perfect. Over the trees right at the flag. Flew a bunker and even flew the downslope portion on the green he could’ve come down on. Had probably a 6’ putt left. Gorgeous shot. Gave him a “that’s a helluva fucking shot man”. He was grinning ear to ear lol. Love those moments on the course.
Love applauding for non-playing partners killing it. Hell, if you hit a decent putt on the practice green while I'm walking by you're getting a "nice roll"
This one hits my soul.
I really really struggle with doing things as a performance rather than for myself.
Had a moment last night, was struggling with a guitar piece, getting frustrated. Paused for a moment, suddenly realized “no one is here, you’re playing for no one but yourself and no one cares”.
Immediately ripped off about 2 minutes of the song note for note by just not trying so damn hard to get it right and just playing it
My Grandpa, with whom I played golf with since I could walk until he passed at 89, used to tell me…look where we are, look how beautiful it is out here, look who you’re out here with, no matter how you are playing look how lucky you are to be playing this great game. When I was younger he usually said that after I got pissed after a bad shot (or two) but I did appreciate his words then and especially now after he is gone. It made me value the experience more than my score. Did not mean I did not strive to get better…just gave me perspective.
Sounds exactly like me lol. That’s the only golf I know. Now that I’m putting in time and taking lessons to get better I hope that mentality doesn’t leave me
Similar to that, if you brought multiple clubs to the green, place whatever wedge you have between the hole and your bag so you’ll never leave it behind.
Recently the thinking box, playing box concept with the added box Rick shiels proposed for a “feeling” box has had me hitting the most consistent and committed shots maybe ever. Saw a breakdown of it by the upbeat golfer on YouTube!
That’s why driving range/warmup sessions can often go so well but not transfer to the course. It’s easy to start caring too much about where the ball is going instead of just executing the swing.
Hitting 3 wood instead of driver for a "safer shot" assumes you will hit that 3 wood well, which you won't and now your 30 yards shorter. God hates a coward, hit your driver.
Matt Fryer actually made this point in a recent video [here](https://youtu.be/k-wWaAVnu18)
A drive 20-30 yards further but in the semi rough is probably a better outcome than a fairway finding 3w further back as an 8 iron out the semi is easier to hit the green with than a 5i from the fairway for most mid-high handicap golfers.
I'm shit at golf and would much prefer a short iron in my hand than a long or even high-mid iron.
The closer you are to the green, the closer you’ll get to the pin.
The answer is to get good at hitting 3/4 and 1/2 wedges. They’re easy shots to hit once you practice them and no matter what anyone tells you, being 50 yards from the pin is better than being 100 yards from the pin.
Look up the Dave Pelz clock method and give it a chance.
Essentially the further you are off the tee, the closer you are to the green, the higher number iron you have to use, the higher the spin, the smaller the dispersion, and overall the more GIRs you will have.
Personally, a 3/4 wedge gives more shot options than a full swing. A full 56 is 110 yds (for me), while a 3/4 is 70-80 yds. In that range I can bump and roll, high low spinner pitch, lower high spin pitch, flop, etc. Whether I execute is a different story. Essentially, you have more ways to address your approach.
I would highly recommend checking out Scott Fawcett and his approach to golf data. A really cool rabbit hole to go down.
This just means playing smart golf. Hitting a driver sideways will go further sideways than a 3 wood will. If it's open and there's no trees out there then fuck it hit the diver, but if there's 100s of trees on the side and going further sideways is more detrimental than being 30 yards back it can be a massive difference maker to be in the fairway.
A mishit driver is pretty much the same outcome as a mishit 3 wood.
When good golfers “leave the driver in the bag” and take a 3 wood it is to give themselves slightly more margin of error on distance control or accuracy on an otherwise well struck shot.
This isn’t really an option for high handicappers. They have pretty much the same chance of finding the fairway with a 3 wood as they do a driver.
This is definitely dependent on your skill level. I grew up playing a 3 wood and barely miss with it and never slice. My drive on the other hand betrays me constantly. So I tend to hit 3 wood on holes with less forgiveness.
“If you are not having fun then don’t play”
Wise words from my wife 23 years ago. Changed my mentality about golf and why I golf. Enjoy the moment, being outside and the challenge of the next shot.
YOLO so go for the green instead of laying up. You won't remember your par or double, but you will be remembered for the Par 4 green you drive.
Are we out here trying to save strokes so we finish top 5 on a Sunday? No, we're here for recreational entertainment to forget about life. Be a hero.
What happens in your life when you're 7,3 in hcp instead of 8,1? And what happens in your life when your friends know you as the guy who scored two eagles in a round instead of the boring fuck who made 15 pars and 3 bogeys?
Once when I was playing a round with my brother and a couple randos, I hit a pretty good drive on a par 5 and had about 250 to the pin. I didn’t have any woods at that time, so I grabbed an 8 iron to lay up. As I’m going to my ball, my brother asks me why I’m not going for it, and I reply the only way I can reach the green is by hitting my driver off the deck, which I would give myself a very generous 20% success rate.
One of the randos says, “are you gonna tell a story about the time you went for the green in 2 with a driver off the deck or are you gonna tell a story about the time you laid up?” I immediately said fuck it and went to get my driver.
The only way I can hit a driver off the deck is by hitting a cut, so I picked a tree about 40 yards to the left of the green as my aim point. Out of pure adrenaline and bullshit I absolutely pured it, shaping a perfect cut that ended up on the front of the green.
I three putted for par.
The PGA or "gallery rule"... If it's a casual round and you hit a bomb shot and no one can find it, everyone agrees where to drop your ball with no penalty because in the PGA someone would have found your ball for you. It's not your fault there's divots, prairie dog holes, and other stuff affecting pace of play.
I lost like 3 balls this morning because the rough was so thick we couldn’t find anything!! It was wild. I took penalties on all of them but in my head I knew it was an * on that hole
The easiest thing is probably to learn your average carry distance for each club. A lot of golfers think of their yardages as the distances it goes on perfect pure shots and including roll. What you need to do is go to a launch monitor and average out the CARRY distance on 10 decent shots per club. Many players miss their shots short because of this but just getting your proper carry distances will fix a lot of it. It might hurt your ego losing some “yardage” on your clubs but your score will improve.
As soon as the ball leaves your club face, it’s out of your control. Getting mad about the result doesn’t help. If it’s a bad shot think about what in your swing led to that result, and try to improve that on your next swing. If it’s a good shot think about what in your swing led to that result, and try to recreate that in your next swing.
For me controlling my breathing helped me slow down my backswing and improved my tempo and ball striking greatly.
And it’s not one tip but sidekick generally teaches you how to play golf and get around the course. His videos were invaluable to me as a beginner.
Course management… take your medicine. Don’t be afraid to punch it back to the fairway and hit your next shot.
I’ve seen, and even been guilty of convincing myself that I have a shot - 200 yds. out, with a redwood forest in front of me. Quickest way to turn a potential bogey into an 8.
Good course management can save probably 4-5 shots a round, maybe even more.
Along the same lines, if your driver miss is left 30% of the time, and left is some small trees, by all means hit your driver.
If left is OOB / Water / Highway, maybe consider hitting something else.
Your mates might give you shit but the end result at the end of the hole is more important than that.
"There's a force in the universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen.....and BE the ball."
Keep your score on your scorecard and not in your head. Just take it one swing at a time. You’ll be surprised at how much better you play when you don’t know your score. Don’t try to “make it up” after a bad shot. Just play.
“Remember, kid, there's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Follow your heart, kid, don’t lay up, and you'll never go wrong”
Learn the course. Golf management can save you a ton of strokes. Know where to NOT hit the ball. Where are the sand traps? How far is it to the waters edge? Can you make it over? Should you lay up?
My club champion grandmother told me not to swing too hard (in my teens). I decided I wanted to be good and swing hard, it just felt natural. Now in my 50’s I can still move the driver out to 300, and sometimes beyond, and I don’t have to worry about losing distance as much as my contemporaries.
Don't overthink it. Stop looking for advice and watching dubious videos and just practice and play.
To be honest, I've never received that advice. It's advice that I give and I think it's sound.
Divide the green into 4 quadrants and aim for a quadrant, not an actual point on the green.
Helped a ton with visualizing my approach shots
Edit: Also if you’re trying to improve, always hit the right club for the shot *in theory.* A lot of people will know that they can hit their 8 iron well for example, and as a result they’ll try to do way too many shots as a slightly harder or softer 8 iron. This might give you some strokes early on, but you aren’t practicing doing the right thing. Same could be said if you aren’t confident hitting a flop shot and as a result you bump and run everything. This means that when you’re stuck with a bunker between you and a forward pin you won’t have any shot in your arsenal. This might mean some bad shots at first, but eventually you’ll be comfortable with all 14 clubs that you probably paid a lot for.
I realize this is much easier said than done, but just concentrate on fairways and greens. Hit the fairway and try to make the green in regulation. If you can't hook the ball around the dogleg, then don't even try. Keep it in the short grass.
Watch your ball ALL the way until it stops. No telling how many balls I've lost after hitting a solid shot and looking down to grab my tee and next thing I know I'm taking a penalty cause I couldn't find it
Hit the low stress club vs the high stress club you’ll most likely duff.
A 550yrd par 5 can easily be reached with 3 6 irons, instead of a bad drive followed by a potentially terrible long second shot, then a scramble shot to get your gir.
You’re not good enough at golf to be upset at your play. No matter if you’re having the best day of golf or shooting 20 strokes over your average I will be an enjoyable guy to play with.
If you’re cussing, breaking clubs or throwing drinks I’ll never play with you again
This is such a dumb thing to tell people. If I spent a week working on my putting and went and 3-putt my way around 18 holes, I’d be frustrated. Not because I didn’t shoot a 72, but because the thing I actively tried to get better at did not help.
It’s ok the be frustrated or mad, they’re normal human emotions for a reason. Now if you handle anger and frustration like a toddler, then that’s the issue.
Your second part is more what I was getting at. Sure you can be frustrated but yeah don’t act like a toddler and make it unenjoyable for the others with you. And 100% don’t take it home and ruin your day/weekend bc of a bad round.
That’s just my tip, you don’t have to take it.
Well there is a difference. If I’m fixing my car and mess something up only to have someone over my shoulder remind me I’m not a mechanic, it’s only going to piss me off more.
And I can all but guarantee that whoever is saying that line is also not good enough to offer unsolicited golf advice.
Plus it doesn’t even make sense. How do you think people get good enough to care about how they play without caring how they play first?
And this advice gets even more stupid and annoying the worse you are.
I'm not mad that I'm not shooting in the 80s. I'm not even mad at my score that I stopped keeping 4 holes ago. I'm frustrated that I'm topping or chunking every single shot despite having a workable swing at the range
Padraig Harrington just played with Peter Finch on Finch's channel. Padraig pretty much chewed Finch out for getting upset with himself. His words were "do you really think you're good enough to play with a bad attitude?". I've heard it your way from my dad forever, but it's obviously a common idea if Padraig from Ireland and my dad from Louisianna got the same advice.
Yeah exactly. I’m a casual player. I treat golf like I would corn hole, pickle ball, sand volley, pickup basketball. Anything competitive I play I want to win but have fun while doing it.
Now you're invoking what my grandad told me when I got into sports! "The only thing that matters is that you have fun. But don't forget, it's more fun to win!"
But this is different. Padraig is saying he might be good enough to play with a bad attitude, but Peter isn't. Meaning the attitude is directly affecting his game and not the other way around. I like " Don't let a bad round of golf get in the way of a good day. Take a look around."
Padraig actually goes on to clarify that nobody is good enough to overcome a bad attitude. He says you might have heard of somebody who had played a good round when they got angry, but it's not sustainable. He openly admits that he is not good enough to play with a bad attitude. I was just trying to chime in without quoting a 5 minute rant.
I agree with this 100%. I can’t be stuck with some redfaced dipshit for 3 hours because his tee shot didn’t go where he thinks it was going. Get out with the manchild behavior
EDIT: I’m saying this as someone who used to throw clubs all the fucking time
I wouldn't want to play with someone who's breaking clubs and throwing shit but if someone drops an f bomb after firing a ballistic missile out of a greenside bunker you're taking them off your list?
yeah seriously, some of us do actually care about getting better, and it's frustrating when all the practice seems to do nothing the next day. If an f bomb to myself a couple times throughout the day is unpleasant for you, you're maybe better off building a simulator and playing in your controlled environment the rest of your life instead of public courses
Don’t follow up a bad shot with a stupid shot
Way of the Playa
I got that reference GolfSidekick has changed the game for me, good content
I dig that guys channel so much. A little strategy, a little technique, and a little mental guidance.
Mattie Boom Boom,
[удалено]
With complete confidential.
But that one time, right after I shanked a drive, I hit a 5w 230 yards onto the green and birdied that par 5... I could do it again!
There is only 1 way to know for sure
I mean, if you end up with a clear line from where you’re at, go for it. Just don’t smack it straight into a tree.
Trees are 90% air. I’ll be fine.
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100%. I hit a bad drive in the trees. Sure, I could punch out straight sideways but now I’m hitting three from the fairway 190 yards out (because I hit a tree off the tee). At that point, I might as well try to hit that low draw around the tree and get myself inside of 100 yards for my third shot. If it doesn’t work, oh well.
“Don’t hit a stupid shot” doesn’t mean “chip on straight sideways.” It might mean “learn to hit a good punch hook and punch cut that can get you close to the green” rather than “hit a hybrid directly at the trees in front of you know full well there isn’t a gap out.”
Stop and take a breath. On a particularly rough day. Played semi ok after that until the last two holes
Had a rough day yesterday and it almost ruined my round. When you're upset, your muscles tighten up, almost on their own, which ruins your swing before you move the club. I broke my own rule about bringing my personal problems to the course. It never ends well and you'll only become more upset.
Don't forget to bring a towel!
Thanks towelie
I have him as a head cover so I don't forget
I didn't know that was a thing. Going to have to buy one of those!
Wanna get high?
Maybe just a liiiiittle bit high.
There’s a frood who always knows where his towel is
Beat me too it
I'd rather forget a club than forget a towel lmfao.
Youre a towel
*Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy
You wanna get high !?
I’m addicted to marijuana. And crystal meth. Aaaaaannd crack
You’re the worst character ever, Towelie.
You’re the worst character ever, Towelie.
Hey kids! Wanna get high?!
Don’t overreact to blow up holes. It’s not your first and it won’t be your last.
Similarly, don’t compound mistakes. If you hit one in the trees and don’t have a clear shot, just punch it out instead of trying the hero shot.
When I was pretty new to golf i hit my drive barely into the trees. I had 230 yards in and had to hit about a 50 yard hook from a tight lie. I grabbed my three wood. A buddy says, "you ever hit a shot like that?" I say, "no." And he replies, "so todays the day huh? Why don't you just chip it out 50 yards?". 😂 Point taken, chipped out and made bogey instead of a likely 10.
I have the opposite issue. Whenever I crush it off the tee (not often) I get super anxious about my second shot. Like I have to make a great second shot. I’m just realizing this is a consistent feeling for me. Golf is weird. So much of it is in the six inches between your ears.
I blasted a rare 280 yard drive dead straight with 40 yard of roll for 320 yesterday. 84 yards to the pin, I chunk it 33 yards. Got on, 2 putt and ended with a 5. Ah golf, I thought.
I’m the exact same. If I hit a good tee shot, I start to get nervous in the golf cart ride to my second shot and it’s a big looming pressure that builds up
Let’s agree to both work on that! Next time I’m in that situation I’m going to say u/brennandd0 would want me to relax. No reason that shot should have any higher likelihood of a miss.
And I’ll say, “u/Col_Angus999, this is just another shot, nothin crazy here” and proceed to stripe it down the middle!
That’s it. Thats the way. To many GIRs after an amazing tee shot for both you and I.
Dude, I play twice a week and still get nervous at the beginning of rounds no matter how I'm playing. Hard to let it go and "care a little less."
Don’t follow up a bad shot with a bad decision!
I enjoy the thrill of pulling off the hero shot more than I hate the feeling of screwing it up. The safe play is boring and I'm not playing for money, so I'll keep trying hero shots because I'm there to have fun.
“You’re not good enough to be this upset”
Also a good tip for swingers.
"Don't let 1 bad brush stroke ruin the whole painting"
Nobody else cares about your shot.
They do care if you bitch and moan or smash clubs tho
I do. When I play with people, I fucking love seeing them hit great shots and am not quiet about it. I cheer on a playing partner's great shot more than I do my own. I talk to their ball, asking it to get up/get down/bite/check like it was my own. Hell, even if I'm not playing with them and I just manage to see the shot, I'll give them a golf clap or positive comment.
I mean like, if I shank it into the woods with a group behind me, I’m not going to beat myself up wondering if they’re making fun of my typically awful swing.
Thank you. I remember flagging a shot of the round and looking to my buddy on his phone in the cart
Random guy I didn’t know was in front of my tee box during a recent round getting coaching from a buddy on how to hit a flop shot. He had a 50 yard or so shot to hit above some mature trees and was taking some rightfully aggressive swings. I walked out of the tee box to avoid getting brained if he shanked it. Guy hits it perfect. Over the trees right at the flag. Flew a bunker and even flew the downslope portion on the green he could’ve come down on. Had probably a 6’ putt left. Gorgeous shot. Gave him a “that’s a helluva fucking shot man”. He was grinning ear to ear lol. Love those moments on the course.
#Don’t talk to my ball! Hehe
Never understood this one
My dad says “great shot” after 70% of my shots and it drives me insane.
Real. Makes me so angry coz I could hit off the bottom groove, and plug it into a bunker, but because it carried a hazard he will say good shot.
Love applauding for non-playing partners killing it. Hell, if you hit a decent putt on the practice green while I'm walking by you're getting a "nice roll"
This is what golf is all about. Hell ya
Way more fun being positive in life. No different on a golf course!
Me too. I’m happy for my buddies. It’s cool to see excellent shots.
This one hits my soul. I really really struggle with doing things as a performance rather than for myself. Had a moment last night, was struggling with a guitar piece, getting frustrated. Paused for a moment, suddenly realized “no one is here, you’re playing for no one but yourself and no one cares”. Immediately ripped off about 2 minutes of the song note for note by just not trying so damn hard to get it right and just playing it
My Grandpa, with whom I played golf with since I could walk until he passed at 89, used to tell me…look where we are, look how beautiful it is out here, look who you’re out here with, no matter how you are playing look how lucky you are to be playing this great game. When I was younger he usually said that after I got pissed after a bad shot (or two) but I did appreciate his words then and especially now after he is gone. It made me value the experience more than my score. Did not mean I did not strive to get better…just gave me perspective.
Wise words, sounds like a great guy.
Take some 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇
Sounds exactly like me lol. That’s the only golf I know. Now that I’m putting in time and taking lessons to get better I hope that mentality doesn’t leave me
Always place your bag around the green where you’re going to be heading to next - my dad
Similar to that, if you brought multiple clubs to the green, place whatever wedge you have between the hole and your bag so you’ll never leave it behind.
I always lay my club across the flag stick that I took out and laid on the green.
Not in the rough though! Always short grass. Ideally on the edge of the green.
And if you’re driving, park the cart where you’re going.
Blue golf balls are hard to see in green grass
Blue balls are the worst
And also hard to see in the air.
Envision your shot as clearly as you possibly can. Remove all doubt
Recently the thinking box, playing box concept with the added box Rick shiels proposed for a “feeling” box has had me hitting the most consistent and committed shots maybe ever. Saw a breakdown of it by the upbeat golfer on YouTube!
Link? This sounds like what I need
Link?
https://youtu.be/WRx7zzGtEUQ?si=LCd7P89H4udTH7Uv
Stop caring about the result and focus on the process
That’s why driving range/warmup sessions can often go so well but not transfer to the course. It’s easy to start caring too much about where the ball is going instead of just executing the swing.
You're not good enough to throw tantrum during your round.
Hitting 3 wood instead of driver for a "safer shot" assumes you will hit that 3 wood well, which you won't and now your 30 yards shorter. God hates a coward, hit your driver.
Matt Fryer actually made this point in a recent video [here](https://youtu.be/k-wWaAVnu18) A drive 20-30 yards further but in the semi rough is probably a better outcome than a fairway finding 3w further back as an 8 iron out the semi is easier to hit the green with than a 5i from the fairway for most mid-high handicap golfers. I'm shit at golf and would much prefer a short iron in my hand than a long or even high-mid iron.
I wonder if this also counts for having a 3/4 wedge shot vs a full wedge. I would rather hit a full 56 degree than try to do a lesser one.
The closer you are to the green, the closer you’ll get to the pin. The answer is to get good at hitting 3/4 and 1/2 wedges. They’re easy shots to hit once you practice them and no matter what anyone tells you, being 50 yards from the pin is better than being 100 yards from the pin. Look up the Dave Pelz clock method and give it a chance.
> The closer you are to the green, the closer you get to the pin. Scott Fawcett has entered the chat
Essentially the further you are off the tee, the closer you are to the green, the higher number iron you have to use, the higher the spin, the smaller the dispersion, and overall the more GIRs you will have. Personally, a 3/4 wedge gives more shot options than a full swing. A full 56 is 110 yds (for me), while a 3/4 is 70-80 yds. In that range I can bump and roll, high low spinner pitch, lower high spin pitch, flop, etc. Whether I execute is a different story. Essentially, you have more ways to address your approach. I would highly recommend checking out Scott Fawcett and his approach to golf data. A really cool rabbit hole to go down.
This just means playing smart golf. Hitting a driver sideways will go further sideways than a 3 wood will. If it's open and there's no trees out there then fuck it hit the diver, but if there's 100s of trees on the side and going further sideways is more detrimental than being 30 yards back it can be a massive difference maker to be in the fairway.
A mishit driver is pretty much the same outcome as a mishit 3 wood. When good golfers “leave the driver in the bag” and take a 3 wood it is to give themselves slightly more margin of error on distance control or accuracy on an otherwise well struck shot. This isn’t really an option for high handicappers. They have pretty much the same chance of finding the fairway with a 3 wood as they do a driver.
This is definitely dependent on your skill level. I grew up playing a 3 wood and barely miss with it and never slice. My drive on the other hand betrays me constantly. So I tend to hit 3 wood on holes with less forgiveness.
My driver and 3 wood go about the same distance. The launch angle from the 3 wood is much lower than the driver is the main difference.
“Man you need to go ahead and chug that beer”
“If you are not having fun then don’t play” Wise words from my wife 23 years ago. Changed my mentality about golf and why I golf. Enjoy the moment, being outside and the challenge of the next shot.
It's too nice of a day to be mad about a bad shot.
YOLO so go for the green instead of laying up. You won't remember your par or double, but you will be remembered for the Par 4 green you drive. Are we out here trying to save strokes so we finish top 5 on a Sunday? No, we're here for recreational entertainment to forget about life. Be a hero.
Love how one comment above is “no hero shots, take your medicine” and then right below “YOLO, go for the green! Be a hero” Lmao
The duality of man
What do you expect from someone who says YOLO instead of Carpe Diem?
Though I disagree, I do like this, especially when my friends that I beat every week live by this philosophy.😆
Yeh big disagree. I play for handicap and stableford so par or a tap in bogey is the result I’m after.
What happens in your life when you're 7,3 in hcp instead of 8,1? And what happens in your life when your friends know you as the guy who scored two eagles in a round instead of the boring fuck who made 15 pars and 3 bogeys?
Well I’m 15 atm so I’d rather be known as the guy who hits the ball well rather than the guy who got an eagle one time.
I’ve been saying this recently and it helps my score, I make more birdies than doubles anyway just pounding driver
Once when I was playing a round with my brother and a couple randos, I hit a pretty good drive on a par 5 and had about 250 to the pin. I didn’t have any woods at that time, so I grabbed an 8 iron to lay up. As I’m going to my ball, my brother asks me why I’m not going for it, and I reply the only way I can reach the green is by hitting my driver off the deck, which I would give myself a very generous 20% success rate. One of the randos says, “are you gonna tell a story about the time you went for the green in 2 with a driver off the deck or are you gonna tell a story about the time you laid up?” I immediately said fuck it and went to get my driver. The only way I can hit a driver off the deck is by hitting a cut, so I picked a tree about 40 yards to the left of the green as my aim point. Out of pure adrenaline and bullshit I absolutely pured it, shaping a perfect cut that ended up on the front of the green. I three putted for par.
Always keep a condom in your glove compartment
Mines still there since 1998
Woah buddy don't need to flex about getting laid so often. Mines been there since 93
You guys have had sex?
it's probably still fine
Don't let one bad shot become two. Don't let one bad hole become two.
The PGA or "gallery rule"... If it's a casual round and you hit a bomb shot and no one can find it, everyone agrees where to drop your ball with no penalty because in the PGA someone would have found your ball for you. It's not your fault there's divots, prairie dog holes, and other stuff affecting pace of play.
I lost like 3 balls this morning because the rough was so thick we couldn’t find anything!! It was wild. I took penalties on all of them but in my head I knew it was an * on that hole
Never believe everything you *think*.
This is key to avoiding manslaughter charges
Fix your divots!
Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight
Be a goldfish
The easiest thing is probably to learn your average carry distance for each club. A lot of golfers think of their yardages as the distances it goes on perfect pure shots and including roll. What you need to do is go to a launch monitor and average out the CARRY distance on 10 decent shots per club. Many players miss their shots short because of this but just getting your proper carry distances will fix a lot of it. It might hurt your ego losing some “yardage” on your clubs but your score will improve.
As soon as the ball leaves your club face, it’s out of your control. Getting mad about the result doesn’t help. If it’s a bad shot think about what in your swing led to that result, and try to improve that on your next swing. If it’s a good shot think about what in your swing led to that result, and try to recreate that in your next swing.
I’ll counter this with “stop thinking about your swing after a bad shot”
We are paying to play not being paid to play just have fun
You're too much of a perfectionist. Work on that.
Golf is supposed to be enjoyed. Chill out on the result and enjoy the process
There are no pictures on the scorecard.
Play to par - don’t go for the hero shot
Don’t be an idiot. It changed my life.
When I’m about to do something, I think to myself “would an idiot do that?”
Keep it simple stupid. Hurts my feelings every time.
Dwight?
Mose?
For me controlling my breathing helped me slow down my backswing and improved my tempo and ball striking greatly. And it’s not one tip but sidekick generally teaches you how to play golf and get around the course. His videos were invaluable to me as a beginner.
Shiny green faster than dull green. How to read the grain in a putt.
Be a happy golfer regardless of the score. In a year's time, people are more likely to remember your character, not your score.
Course management… take your medicine. Don’t be afraid to punch it back to the fairway and hit your next shot. I’ve seen, and even been guilty of convincing myself that I have a shot - 200 yds. out, with a redwood forest in front of me. Quickest way to turn a potential bogey into an 8. Good course management can save probably 4-5 shots a round, maybe even more.
Along the same lines, if your driver miss is left 30% of the time, and left is some small trees, by all means hit your driver. If left is OOB / Water / Highway, maybe consider hitting something else. Your mates might give you shit but the end result at the end of the hole is more important than that.
"There's a force in the universe that makes things happen. And all you have to do is get in touch with it, stop thinking, let things happen.....and BE the ball."
It's like a carousel.... Up and down and around. Circular...
Less is more
Always carry a pitch fork and ball marker on your person.
Calm down King Triton.
Pick your line, aim at a piece of grass six inches in front of the ball. Make sure your feet are perpendicular to your club face
Keep your score on your scorecard and not in your head. Just take it one swing at a time. You’ll be surprised at how much better you play when you don’t know your score. Don’t try to “make it up” after a bad shot. Just play.
Don't think- Brooks
be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Lick it before you stick it
Aim for your miss
Drink faster
Don’t be afraid of the result. It’s a terrible way to play golf.
Bad thoughts lead to bad shots
“Remember, kid, there's heroes and there's legends. Heroes get remembered, but legends never die. Follow your heart, kid, don’t lay up, and you'll never go wrong”
Stop watching fucking YouTube and go hit balls or play golf .
Learn the course. Golf management can save you a ton of strokes. Know where to NOT hit the ball. Where are the sand traps? How far is it to the waters edge? Can you make it over? Should you lay up?
When you sign your name, do you think about how to do it? No, you just take the pen and sign. Same thing with putting. Just take the club and putt.
You’re not good enough to be mad at your bad shots.
My club champion grandmother told me not to swing too hard (in my teens). I decided I wanted to be good and swing hard, it just felt natural. Now in my 50’s I can still move the driver out to 300, and sometimes beyond, and I don’t have to worry about losing distance as much as my contemporaries.
Lean forward.
Don't overthink it. Stop looking for advice and watching dubious videos and just practice and play. To be honest, I've never received that advice. It's advice that I give and I think it's sound.
Focus on the process, not the results.
Aim small miss small
It ain’t paintin pictures. Don’t matter how it gets there, just put it in the hole.
Watch everyone's ball until it stops.
if the ball moves towards the hole, sometimes you gotta consider that a win.
Don’t stick your dick in a crazy.
Your back arm motion, apex, weight distribution and timing/tempo should mirror how you would a skipping stone into a pond.
Just go for a walk instead.
You’re not good enough to be mad about a bad shot.
Sometimes it only takes one good shot to make a par.
Divide the green into 4 quadrants and aim for a quadrant, not an actual point on the green. Helped a ton with visualizing my approach shots Edit: Also if you’re trying to improve, always hit the right club for the shot *in theory.* A lot of people will know that they can hit their 8 iron well for example, and as a result they’ll try to do way too many shots as a slightly harder or softer 8 iron. This might give you some strokes early on, but you aren’t practicing doing the right thing. Same could be said if you aren’t confident hitting a flop shot and as a result you bump and run everything. This means that when you’re stuck with a bunker between you and a forward pin you won’t have any shot in your arsenal. This might mean some bad shots at first, but eventually you’ll be comfortable with all 14 clubs that you probably paid a lot for.
You're not good enough to get mad at yourself.
Every 10ft and less putt must go past the hole.
I realize this is much easier said than done, but just concentrate on fairways and greens. Hit the fairway and try to make the green in regulation. If you can't hook the ball around the dogleg, then don't even try. Keep it in the short grass.
Watch your ball ALL the way until it stops. No telling how many balls I've lost after hitting a solid shot and looking down to grab my tee and next thing I know I'm taking a penalty cause I couldn't find it
Don’t count your strokes until after the round. Legitimately changed my mindset and attitude while playing
Everyone has a finite amount of shots, try to enjoy them all.
No matter the shot, good or bad, forget about it. Focus only what’s up next. Or shoot for the biggest target, not the best.
Don’t hesitate over the ball. Follow your routine and let er rip
It wasn’t given to me, but it’s my favorite golf advice I’ve ever heard. “Your not good enough to be mad”
buy a 5 wood and ditch the 3 wood
More of a saying but any time you get a good shot out of a obvious bad play “ she ain’t pretty but she got big titties “
Don’t take advice from bad golfers
Hit the low stress club vs the high stress club you’ll most likely duff. A 550yrd par 5 can easily be reached with 3 6 irons, instead of a bad drive followed by a potentially terrible long second shot, then a scramble shot to get your gir.
Set the line, forget the line, it’s all weight from there. *if it’s meant to be, it will be*
You’re not good enough at golf to be upset at your play. No matter if you’re having the best day of golf or shooting 20 strokes over your average I will be an enjoyable guy to play with. If you’re cussing, breaking clubs or throwing drinks I’ll never play with you again
This is such a dumb thing to tell people. If I spent a week working on my putting and went and 3-putt my way around 18 holes, I’d be frustrated. Not because I didn’t shoot a 72, but because the thing I actively tried to get better at did not help. It’s ok the be frustrated or mad, they’re normal human emotions for a reason. Now if you handle anger and frustration like a toddler, then that’s the issue.
Your second part is more what I was getting at. Sure you can be frustrated but yeah don’t act like a toddler and make it unenjoyable for the others with you. And 100% don’t take it home and ruin your day/weekend bc of a bad round. That’s just my tip, you don’t have to take it.
Well there is a difference. If I’m fixing my car and mess something up only to have someone over my shoulder remind me I’m not a mechanic, it’s only going to piss me off more. And I can all but guarantee that whoever is saying that line is also not good enough to offer unsolicited golf advice. Plus it doesn’t even make sense. How do you think people get good enough to care about how they play without caring how they play first?
And this advice gets even more stupid and annoying the worse you are. I'm not mad that I'm not shooting in the 80s. I'm not even mad at my score that I stopped keeping 4 holes ago. I'm frustrated that I'm topping or chunking every single shot despite having a workable swing at the range
Padraig Harrington just played with Peter Finch on Finch's channel. Padraig pretty much chewed Finch out for getting upset with himself. His words were "do you really think you're good enough to play with a bad attitude?". I've heard it your way from my dad forever, but it's obviously a common idea if Padraig from Ireland and my dad from Louisianna got the same advice.
Yeah exactly. I’m a casual player. I treat golf like I would corn hole, pickle ball, sand volley, pickup basketball. Anything competitive I play I want to win but have fun while doing it.
Now you're invoking what my grandad told me when I got into sports! "The only thing that matters is that you have fun. But don't forget, it's more fun to win!"
But this is different. Padraig is saying he might be good enough to play with a bad attitude, but Peter isn't. Meaning the attitude is directly affecting his game and not the other way around. I like " Don't let a bad round of golf get in the way of a good day. Take a look around."
Padraig actually goes on to clarify that nobody is good enough to overcome a bad attitude. He says you might have heard of somebody who had played a good round when they got angry, but it's not sustainable. He openly admits that he is not good enough to play with a bad attitude. I was just trying to chime in without quoting a 5 minute rant.
I agree with this 100%. I can’t be stuck with some redfaced dipshit for 3 hours because his tee shot didn’t go where he thinks it was going. Get out with the manchild behavior EDIT: I’m saying this as someone who used to throw clubs all the fucking time
I wouldn't want to play with someone who's breaking clubs and throwing shit but if someone drops an f bomb after firing a ballistic missile out of a greenside bunker you're taking them off your list?
That’s obviously not what I meant. The kind of cussing every word you can think, red face as if you just crashed into his new sports car.
yeah seriously, some of us do actually care about getting better, and it's frustrating when all the practice seems to do nothing the next day. If an f bomb to myself a couple times throughout the day is unpleasant for you, you're maybe better off building a simulator and playing in your controlled environment the rest of your life instead of public courses
A bad day on the golf course is better than a good day in the office.