Dealing with Plateau
 

I just started playing golf again March of this year and really dedicated myself to getting out there 2-3 times a week and hitting it hard. I've come a long way since then, my drives are better (even though I'm constantly battling a heavy draw now), my irons are more consistent, and my chipping/putting is mediocre at best. I started out scoring around 115-120 and had never broken 100. I've played off and on (maybe 3-5 times a year) since 2006.

I broke 100 in June, and have since then pretty much stayed under. I've broken 90 (with a 89) 3 times, and stay at low 90s. My improvement has plateaued here and I'm not sure whats next. It angers me to score in the 96-99 range and I guess I'm happy with 90-95 but I'd really like to start making strides and consistently getting into the 80s. How have you guys dealt with this and is it fairly common?

chipping / putting. Everybody can improve their chipping and putting.

What is your sand save percentage. How many strokes are you taking inside of 100 yards? How many penalty strokes are you taking a round.

In order to know where to get better, you have to track where you are losing strokes.

Gave a little Rep to BG on this response. He hit the nail on the head when tracking your stats and shots within 100 yards. Even playing at my handicap I get upset at the shots inside 100 yards that cost me strokes. Right now my biggest misses are the shots that are within 30-40 yards in. No matter how hard I practice with different clubs I struggle to get this shot down.

There's no better way to take strokes off your game than working on chipping/pitching and putting. Become successful at your up and downs and eliminate three putts, you'll see your scores get better. Well, done Blugold!!

http://www.oobgolf.com/golfers/jrmy - I track my putts per round but that's about it.

I would say my biggest issue is probably consistency with drives and chipping. One day I can get up and down like its nothing, the next I'm running them off the green on the other side. I chip with a 52* which may be my problem as its more of a scooping shot an run on to the green as opposed to what I see most people do. Would it be more beneficial to pickup a 60* and work on hitting down on the ball (for more spin) and hit a higher arcing shot?

It is very hard to stick approach shots on my course, a lot of the times I can land the ball on the green but it will bounce and roll off pretty regularly. I could probably work on pitching the ball with more spin and improve that. There's a course about 30mins away that I sometimes play with better greens and I usually average about 5-6 GIRs there, but the closest course is just terrible.

This might not work for everyone but I found it's made my chipping and pitching around the greens a lot better than it was. I've learned to use only one club for these shots. (I talking about green side shots) For me I use a 52*, which works great for chipping, and I've learned to use the bounce if I want a higher shot. Other people uses everything from 7i to 60* around the greens but you have to find what works best for you. I felt if I could get good with one club it would be better than being ok with a lot of them. Try each and see what works best for you but it's going to take a lot of practice to figure it out.

When you talk about hitting your approach shots on the green and them running through is this because you hit the ball low with little spin or is it because the greens are hard?

I went through your last 8 rounds just looking at your putting and you're avg. 3.25 three putts per round. If you could even cut that in half with some work on the putting green you'll gain almost two stokes per round. I know it doesn't sound like much be they do add up.

I briefly looked at your scores. One thing I would work on, get more par putts. Even if it is a 45' double breaker. Just get on the green with a chance for par.

The bolded part kinda answers your question. If you work hard on your chipping and putting, I would almost gaurantee that your scores will drop considerably. One thing I would caution is not to neglect other parts of your game, having a good short game will mean squat if it takes you 5 shots to get near the green.

Just look at probably the 2 best golfers without a major. Lee Westwood is a great tee to green player, but I think most would agree that his chipping and putting have kept him from winning a major. On the other side there is Luke Donald, arguably one of the best short games on tour, however his tee to green play is not that great (compared to tour standards), and I would say the top reason he hasn't won a major.

Golf is tough, you are going to have to balance your practices. Shooting in the 80's is going to take more work than it did going from 100's to 90's. Each stroke matters more and more the lower you try to go.

Shot mid / high 80s for years couldn't improve. Went to golftec for lessons now I'm much better and breaking 80 consistently. Best thing I ever did for my game.

my breakthroughs have come in 3 areas:
swing tempo with the driver: slow down and concentrate on hitting through the ball. I am hitting 50% fairways pretty consistently now
striking irons: concentrating on hitting down vs. sweeping. this has been the single biggest factor in hitting GIRs...still working on this but GIRs are getting easier...a lot less R-L green misses
leaving the wedges in the bag for level chip shots: I use my 8 iron now and bump-run alot....getting within 8' of the hole alot more now...even chipped in for a bird and 2 eagles in the past 2 months

the common thread thru all of this has been 3 things:
keeping my back straight and rotating shoulders....I was bending my back previously resulting ina too-vertical swing plane...I'd stike things well but never knew where they were going to go
keeping my head down: concentrating on watching the club hit the ball....you lose a few balls here and there cause you didn't see where they went but for the most part....the good shots far outweight the badd
swing tempo: slow down, slow down, slow down. you hit further when you hit it right than you do when you murder it.

My handicap has dropped from 20.3 to 13.5 since April 1st. While I still have bad days, my peak scores are smaller than they were before

good luck

Greens are very hard, I've had high pitch shots with a 58* bounce up from the middle of the green like a trampoline and off the green. I never leave ball marks and rarely see any on the green (not bc everybody is fixing them, bc I don't think other people are leaving them either)

Short game. If your mid 80's consistently it will come down to short game. Gotta make those sand saves, gotta get up and down on missed GIRs.

This has been the single most difficult plateau for me - and I am still fighting this also. "Golf is not a game of perfect" comes to mind, you need to figure out how to play and score from your bad shots. It takes a lot of practice.

The single biggest help to me has been a 9 hole par 3 course at the course where I take my lessons.

It's usually completely open, and my coach instructed me to take full advantage. Drop a couple dozen balls in a bunker and work on it. Put myself in situations that I'm not comfortable and force myself to learn how to play that shot correct. I really feel that this par 3 course has helped leaps and bounds.

100 in is what will help! Putting chipping and short shots. This is what I have been working on and my strokes have begun to fall. I think that you will be amazed how many strokes you cut off your scores with a good short game

Same for me, except I went to a local pro. In your position, this is really the only answer. You'll never break the plateau unless you get some help. You can beat it around and practice all day every day, but if you don't know what you're supposed to be doing, it won't help.

id even go as far as going for a playing lesson early to let your instructor see where you need the most work. thats what i did. we immediately worked on short game in the summer and then worked on my full swing during the off months to fix some glaring issues.

You are where I am at right now. I am starting to get much more consistent from tee to 100 yards out but then it can become a mess with my wedge. I have really made this much more of my focus at the practice range and starting to spend more time on the putting green. I have started to rethink my bag with the idea of getting more wedges into the bag to help with the shots from 100 and in.

Short game and putting work will really help get your scores in shape. I went to work on that this spring and its starting to show up on the card.

I was where you are wondering when it would show up on the card and suddenly in the last couple weeks boom... a personal best and a slew of mid 80's numbers to go with it and now I want to go lower.... I guess I need to head back to the short game practice area and to the practice green.

Thanks for the help, I'm going to start working on my short game more. Pitching from 100 yards in, chipping, and putting. Would a 58* or a 60* be the better choice for chipping around the greens?