Anybody got any advice for practice routines that will help improve your GIR percentages

I work on my 7 iron and 8 iron shots from 140-160 yards because thats how long I usually have left on a par 4. For longer hitters work on your wedges and for short hitters work on 3 iron-5 iron. With more than 50% of holes being par 4s on an average course it helps to have the shots to hit greens on those holes

downhill and uphill lies.

seriously, my biggest leak right now is that after the tee shot, i am way too often left with a shot i haven't practiced. sideways, uphill, downhill, rough.

great advice thus far.

i think if you find yourself certain distances away from the green quite common, work on that iron and the one above and below it. IE, 150 yards away being common, i would work on my 7-9 iron. soft 7, solid 8, and hard 9. on the range, i would try to flag this shot down. you never know if you'll be going into wind, have a funky lie, etc. you may find that a 3/4 swing will give you more consistency instead of trying to force a shot that if you hit a little off center may fall short. this is a game of percentages and risk.

on the range, it is quite common that i will hit range balls to distances of 100, 125, and 150 with 3 clubs on each.

how far is your usual drive? i see your FIR's aren't too shabby, so you are addressing the part of your game that needs work. my assumption is your chipping game is pretty good, although that is something you can improve to cut down the putts per hole.

short game bible out from your local library. The majority of the book isnt helpful, but the first few chapters where he talks about getting three swings for each wedge (3/4, 1/2, and 1/4) has been invaluable to me.

So far I only have the 1/2 swings down, but now I have confidence over any shot that is 105 (1/2 PW), 80 (1/2 Gap Wedge), and 65 (1/2 SW). This has made a huge difference as before I would just be guessing from 125 in.

iluv5pam wrote:

great advice thus far. on the range, it is quite common that i will hit range balls to distances of 100, 125, and 150 with 3 clubs on each. how far is your usual drive?

This is a very intersting approach...that I will definately try. My drives average about 240-250...though I have been hitting some vey long drives lately around the 280-295 range.

I do practice hitting to different distances with my driver to improve my timing.

I usually need 3 to get to most long par 5's but as my confidence with a 3 wood and hybrid has grown...i will occasionally go for it if my scorecard allows it.

I am usually hitting my approach shots on par 5's from about 225-240 if going for it in two and 125-135 if I lay up.

Par 4's....average yardage on approach shots is is probably 100-130 yards....Why do You ask?

I may be going for too many greens on par 5's?

he is asking about your drive distance to figure out how far your average second shot would be to figure what clubs would need the most practice. With 100-130 for par 4s GW-8i would need to be practiced and focus mostly on PW and 9i in my opinion.

Anybody got any advice for practice routines that will help improve your GIR percentages Question
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start playing nine hole par 3 and shoot par....
the greens are smaller and tougher to make putts on.
so if your good off the tee with the big stick, go to par3's and shake it up a bit... another cool thing about a par 3 is usually theres not many people on there, so you can hit a few shots on each hole and really get your short game dialed in....

M.Nugent wrote:

he is asking about your drive distance to figure out how far your average second shot would be to figure what clubs would need the most practice. With 100-130 for par 4s GW-8i would need to be practiced and focus mostly on PW and 9i in my opinion.

Mr. Nugent is correct. You'll find that the "130 yards and in" game is vital. 8i-GW are clubs i myself find using a whole lot by the end of the day. and i know i've had a bad GIR day if i can't seem to connect with these guys. the idea i had with practicing approach shots with 3 different clubs is that most amateur golfers, myself included, seem to want to push the limits of a club to get onto the green. if i know i have to smash an 8i to get to 160 yards, i leave myself little room for error. this game is about "acceptable misses." i would rather play an "easy" 7i and know i'm not over-exerting myself and leaving myself the chance that i may not make perfect contact. just a thought. i mean, if that's a solid club for you, what can i say.

in regards to going for it on par 5's, there's no problem with that, and that in itself is a whole new topic with course management, but really, the focus in this thread really is finding a way to get yourself on the green to get you some birdie attempts so you can at least 2 putt to par. going for it on par 5's depends on what's in front of the green, or behind it, or basically "what would happen if i pushed or pulled or left it short?" if you have the muscle and moxy to go for it, that's your call, as long as you access the risk. you don't want a beautiful par 5 drive to turn into 6, when you could have easily came out with 5. IMO, par 5's should be gimme pars, but that's just me.

I agree with Blake about the short game bible from Dave Pelz. Earlier this year my pro suggested that the next area of improvement should be in my short game. I read the Short Game Bible and (very important) got a range finder (again, recommended by my pro).

While I don't have all my wedges dialed in, I'm now very comfortable with the following:

PW: 125
GW: 115 & 95
SW: 100, 80, 65 & 50
LW: 85, 70, 55 & 40

The range finder is really important so that you can measure how far you actually hit your wedges. Then when you're on the course, the range finder can give you the exact yardage to the pin.

I played today and knowing these yardages helped me get a string of nine pars in a row. Now I need help with my putting -- missed about 4 birdies from 12 ft and in. :-0

par 5s. par 5 are very easy to hit in regulation. i know most of you hit it in the 200-275 yard range. par 5s are usually in the 490-650 yard range so, on a par 5, they can be easily reached in 3 shots. some are reachable in 2 shots! all you need is 3 shots to hit a par 5 green in regulation. 3 shots.

Well I don't know of any drills you can do, but game management can definately help. For instance on par 5's you said that you usually have 220-240 in on your second shot and that if you decide to lay up you leave yourself 125. In my opinion that is just poor game management. From 230 why not hit a 5 or 6 iron down there leave yourself a 60 yard pitch that you can control trajectory and accuracy much easier. I would think it would be a lot easier to hit the green from 60 with a nice controlled swing than it is from 125 which is some sort of full swing with a PW probably. Also I mean it does depend on the hole but if you only have 230 into a green and you can drive it as far as you say why aren't you going for it? As long as there isn't much trouble hit your hybrid or whatever and just miss the green on the correct side. I always say to myself that its a lot easier to get up and down from 20 yards than it is from 120. I mean even if I leave myself with some sort of tough chip over a bunker I'm still going to be able to flop that to 15 feet, and I'm not hitting a full wedge to inside 15 feet every time so I might as well go for the green in 2

Jake Bogardus wrote:

Well I don't know of any drills you can do, but game management can definately help. For instance on par 5's you said that you usually have 220-240 in on your second shot and that if you decide to lay up you leave yourself 125. In my opinion that is just poor game management. From 230 why not hit a 5 or 6 iron down there leave yourself a 60 yard pitch that you can control trajectory and accuracy much easier. I would think it would be a lot easier to hit the green from 60 with a nice controlled swing than it is from 125 which is some sort of full swing with a PW probably. Also I mean it does depend on the hole but if you only have 230 into a green and you can drive it as far as you say why aren't you going for it? As long as there isn't much trouble hit your hybrid or whatever and just miss the green on the correct side. I always say to myself that its a lot easier to get up and down from 20 yards than it is from 120. I mean even if I leave myself with some sort of tough chip over a bunker I'm still going to be able to flop that to 15 feet, and I'm not hitting a full wedge to inside 15 feet every time so I might as well go for the green in 2

I'm with you Jake. I just say bomb and gouge it as far as possible. The little chips are simple, routine shots that everybody should be mastering before they step onto a golf course. Practice your chipping, pitching, and putting and have no fear of any par 5. NEVER LAY UP!!!!!!

Its really just a different kind of laying up. Rather then lay up to 120, lay up to the safe side of the green at worse, with a chance of getting on the green

I agree about never laying up but sometimes it's just not practical, especially with water or OB near the green.

My problem is that I play with guys who like to tee it up one box from the tips so most Par 4s are close to 400 yards. My best tee shot is 225 so that leaves me a long ways in, usually a 9 wood or 5 iron.

Everybody tells me that I swing over the top and I tried all the "cures" for it, my next plan is to get the DVD from overthetopgolf.com that advertises to teach how to swing over the top "correctly" whatever that means-I never heard that before.

If I can get another 20 or 30 yards out of my driver the "no lay up" rule is definitely in. Until then I'll have to play three to the green and hope my putts go in.