The Blathering Duffer
24.06
Notes from Raymond Floyd’s Elements of Scoring
So many books on Golf, so little time. So I’ve read this one so you don’t have to. (Hahaha) Raymond Floyd wrote one of the best books on golf in the “Modern Era” back in 1998 before understanding of golf stats in Mark Brody’s book “Every Shot Counts” and Shots Gained was developed. Yet his understanding of the game is held up by the stats we know today and repeated by today’s best coaches. Here are the notes from the 1st two chapters and if you like what you see, you can find the book in the San Diego Library to explore more on strategy and understanding how the lie, course designs and environment effect how you play the game.
Chapter 1-The Scorers Game
10 Mistakes Amateurs Make, Pros Don’t
Pro’s Mistakes (amateurs make also, but above are more troublesome)
2 Principles to play better
“The easiest way to shoot lower scores is to avoid making higher ones.”
Chapter 2-Know Your Golf
Inventory the way you play by answering a few simple questions honestly.
-How Far Exactly do you hit the ball? Under normal conditions, not your 1 time best ever, but your reasonably struck shot carry distance. Most amateurs severely over-estimate their distance and hitting into greens, leaving the ball short is the biggest example of this. Other examples are not taking enough club to hit over water or over a bunker.
“Hitting the ball the right distance is essential for scoring”
-How often do you hit the ball solidly? A solidly struck ball flies farther and straighter and is more stable in the wind. It’s an indicator you’re doing a lot of things right in your swing and more importantly that you have good control over where your ball is going.
-What is your predominant shot pattern and the pattern of your missed shots? Do you hit a fade, draw, slice or hook? Is the flight high or low and do you have much spin? Build your game around your pattern and don’t force something else. Knowing how you miss shots can help keep you away from trouble. Play Defensive Golf! Playing for your miss keeps you safe and keeps your score down.
-What clubs do you hit well? Slower swings tend to sweep the ball and are better suited for fairway woods and hybrids. Faster swing speeds tend to have steep downswings and favor irons. When you know your strengths, play to them. Don’t try to push your weaknesses to unrealistic levels. This holds true even as you improve and become better all around.
-What are your skills around the green? “Your ability to recover from around the green will be based on your technique, the variety of shots you can hit, your ability to read lies, your judgement, your touch and the amount you practice.” A good short game can make up for other deficiencies, but most high handicappers don’t have a good short game. But with some diligence any player can gain surprising competence.
-How well, do you putt from 6 ft and in? “The most important shot in golf is the 6ft putt.” Pros average 50% from 6 ft, but a gauge for amateurs would be that if you make less than 1/3 of 6ft putts, you have a lot of work to do. If you are sound from 6 ft, your target for chips, pitches and lag putts is widened to a 12 ft circle and you become a scorer. (Focus putting practice on lag putting and putts within 6 ft if pressed for time)
-What is your mental approach during a round? The ideal state to play golf is physically relaxed but mentally engaged. Pros embrace nervousness as excitement, but most amateurs take it as fear of embarrassing themselves, fear of bad shots and allow anger to take over or lose composure and their game goes downhill without recovering. To be a scorer, look at golf as a challenge that will get the best of you most of the time. Focus on the fun and how lucky we are to be playing the game.
-How much do you practice? There’s no fixed answer to this. But to be a scorer, it must be enough to gain and/or hold the fundamentals. The next level to be a scorer is to practice in a way to simulate playing on the course.
-How good do you want to be? So many factors influence this answer, time, age and experience, etc. Even with limitations, you can still become a scorer for your playing level with the principles of Essential Scoring.
Answer these questions honestly and give yourself a true self assessment and you can begin to incorporate the elements of scoring.
24.06
Notes from Raymond Floyd’s Elements of Scoring
So many books on Golf, so little time. So I’ve read this one so you don’t have to. (Hahaha) Raymond Floyd wrote one of the best books on golf in the “Modern Era” back in 1998 before understanding of golf stats in Mark Brody’s book “Every Shot Counts” and Shots Gained was developed. Yet his understanding of the game is held up by the stats we know today and repeated by today’s best coaches. Here are the notes from the 1st two chapters and if you like what you see, you can find the book in the San Diego Library to explore more on strategy and understanding how the lie, course designs and environment effect how you play the game.
Chapter 1-The Scorers Game
10 Mistakes Amateurs Make, Pros Don’t
- Underclubbing
- Swinging too hard
- Shooting at the Flag
- Not Playing away from trouble
- Missing green on short side
- Trying for too much out of trouble (Hero Shots)
- Trying shots never practiced
- Panicking in sand
- Misreading turf and lie (Not reading or understanding it!)
- Under reading break on green
Pro’s Mistakes (amateurs make also, but above are more troublesome)
- Impatience
- Playing over aggressively
- Thinking swing mechanics on course
- Dwelling on shot already played
- Thinking about score and anticipating shots
- Rushing under pressure
- Practicing w/o purpose
- Neglecting short game practice
- Over meticulous on green
- Forgetting to have fun
2 Principles to play better
- Play comfortable: Understand what is your best possible golf, playing for a little less. Play for what you know you can do. Take what the course gives you. This is road to consistency.
- Avoid the big mistake, the big number.
“The easiest way to shoot lower scores is to avoid making higher ones.”
Chapter 2-Know Your Golf
Inventory the way you play by answering a few simple questions honestly.
-How Far Exactly do you hit the ball? Under normal conditions, not your 1 time best ever, but your reasonably struck shot carry distance. Most amateurs severely over-estimate their distance and hitting into greens, leaving the ball short is the biggest example of this. Other examples are not taking enough club to hit over water or over a bunker.
“Hitting the ball the right distance is essential for scoring”
-How often do you hit the ball solidly? A solidly struck ball flies farther and straighter and is more stable in the wind. It’s an indicator you’re doing a lot of things right in your swing and more importantly that you have good control over where your ball is going.
-What is your predominant shot pattern and the pattern of your missed shots? Do you hit a fade, draw, slice or hook? Is the flight high or low and do you have much spin? Build your game around your pattern and don’t force something else. Knowing how you miss shots can help keep you away from trouble. Play Defensive Golf! Playing for your miss keeps you safe and keeps your score down.
-What clubs do you hit well? Slower swings tend to sweep the ball and are better suited for fairway woods and hybrids. Faster swing speeds tend to have steep downswings and favor irons. When you know your strengths, play to them. Don’t try to push your weaknesses to unrealistic levels. This holds true even as you improve and become better all around.
-What are your skills around the green? “Your ability to recover from around the green will be based on your technique, the variety of shots you can hit, your ability to read lies, your judgement, your touch and the amount you practice.” A good short game can make up for other deficiencies, but most high handicappers don’t have a good short game. But with some diligence any player can gain surprising competence.
-How well, do you putt from 6 ft and in? “The most important shot in golf is the 6ft putt.” Pros average 50% from 6 ft, but a gauge for amateurs would be that if you make less than 1/3 of 6ft putts, you have a lot of work to do. If you are sound from 6 ft, your target for chips, pitches and lag putts is widened to a 12 ft circle and you become a scorer. (Focus putting practice on lag putting and putts within 6 ft if pressed for time)
-What is your mental approach during a round? The ideal state to play golf is physically relaxed but mentally engaged. Pros embrace nervousness as excitement, but most amateurs take it as fear of embarrassing themselves, fear of bad shots and allow anger to take over or lose composure and their game goes downhill without recovering. To be a scorer, look at golf as a challenge that will get the best of you most of the time. Focus on the fun and how lucky we are to be playing the game.
-How much do you practice? There’s no fixed answer to this. But to be a scorer, it must be enough to gain and/or hold the fundamentals. The next level to be a scorer is to practice in a way to simulate playing on the course.
-How good do you want to be? So many factors influence this answer, time, age and experience, etc. Even with limitations, you can still become a scorer for your playing level with the principles of Essential Scoring.
Answer these questions honestly and give yourself a true self assessment and you can begin to incorporate the elements of scoring.
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