Breaking Down Golf Swings Per Round

CobraX51

F-ck Yeah Baby!
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Alright so I was thinking about this and looked at recent scores to find out how many times per round I'm actually swinging a golf club off the deck. Breaking it down recently has really opened my eyes to how little we swing the golf club.

Let's start with a broad number of 85 as your finishing score.

85. Let's say you had 34 putts. That is 51 golf shots. Let's say 10 chips around the green. Down to 41 golf shots. You tee up the ball 18 times. Down to 23 golf shots off the deck. Even if you count your tee shots, that's just 41 golf shots in a round of Golf.

That is less than a small bucket of golf balls that you have to be decent with. Literally just advancing the ball. 23 golf shots off the deck.

Score 95. 38 putts. 15 chips. 18 teed up balls. 24 full swing off the deck per round, 42 full swings total.

Just something to pass along that has really helped me and when you analyze it. I've limited my range time prior to the round to 15-20 golf balls total, and sometimes no full swings at all prior to a round, that has helped prevent burnout and fatigue on the back 9, something I used to struggle with because I would just go swing after swing after swing on the range to find something, which happens. The other day I bought a medium bucket just for the range which is like 70-75 golf balls. The last 10-15 golf balls was a complete waste and I was tired of swinging and started to top the ball, blade, etc.

I usually try and keep Golf very simple, less thinking. I won't be testing air density or ball dimples like DeChambeau anytime soon, but this is simple haha.
 
Never really thought about it, but that is a great break down. Usually when I have a range to warm up on, I hit 3 balls with every club.
 
Pre-round range for me is all about loosening up. I hit a handful of iron shots with the one iron I drag to the range with me, usually a 7 or 8. Then I hit driver to loosen up and see what my tee shots might look like. Only other full swings I take are if I have to hit something other than driver off the first tee. I spend far more time chipping and putting, though it doesn't always help!
 
it's an interesting/controversial/debatable/never-to-be-definitively-decided issue when allocating practice time.

in your 85 above, half of those shots are around the greens via putting and chipping. so it stands to reason that 50% of your practice time should be spent putting and chipping. of the remaining 41 shots, 14 of those are long-game shots to par 4s and 5s, so 34% of the remaining 50% of your time should be spent practicing tee shots with those clubs.

of the remaining 27 shots, how many are fairway wood or hybrids for second shots on par 5s? how many are full or partial swings with wedges into par 5s or shorter par 4s?

in my last round played from 6,800, i hit a non-wedge iron off the deck only 7 times. that's pretty crazy to think about, whereas my dedicated range time is heavily skewed toward irons.

EDIT: to your point about range before play, i am finding that i do it far less frequently than i used to. i'd rather hit chips and pitches and putt. i'd say 3-4 drivers, 3-4 mid-irons, and 3-4 wedge full swings are all i need, then 15-20 minutes chipping/pitching/putting.
 
I was told there would be no math! :angel:

Interesting. I don't know.... to each his own, to me a small bucket is a waste of my time. The time it took me to drive there, the gas I used, etc. I use practice time to work out issues or practice new things and a small bucket just doesn't cut it. Things work differently for everyone though
 
it's an interesting/controversial/debatable/never-to-be-definitively-decided issue when allocating practice time.

in your 85 above, half of those shots are around the greens via putting and chipping. so it stands to reason that 50% of your practice time should be spent putting and chipping. of the remaining 41 shots, 14 of those are long-game shots to par 4s and 5s, so 34% of the remaining 50% of your time should be spent practicing tee shots with those clubs.
Now this really turned my head.

I do spend time chipping when I practice but rarely do I putt.

I especially like the part where you mention a part of your time should be practicing tee shots with certain clubs. I never do that. I hit everything off the deck except driver at the range or prior to a round in my quick warmup only tee up driver. It makes sense to practice a few long irons, hybrids, woods, etc. off a tee.

Thanks Chris! Captain skills made me realize something I never thought of!
 
Now this really turned my head.

I do spend time chipping when I practice but rarely do I putt.

I especially like the part where you mention a part of your time should be practicing tee shots with certain clubs. I never do that. I hit everything off the deck except driver at the range or prior to a round in my quick warmup only tee up driver. It makes sense to practice a few long irons, hybrids, woods, etc. off a tee.

Thanks Chris! Captain skills made me realize something I never thought of!

dude you're in trouble if you're taking advice from me...

sometimes i get a wild hair and want to hit some longer shots off tees before the round, time permitting. and i always try to move the ball both ways, just to see what i'm working with.
 
I was told there would be no math! :angel:

Interesting. I don't know.... to each his own, to me a small bucket is a waste of my time. The time it took me to drive there, the gas I used, etc. I use practice time to work out issues or practice new things and a small bucket just doesn't cut it. Things work differently for everyone though
I actually agree with this.

Last time at the range when I got that Medium bucket I literally did full swings every single swing. I already know how to do a full swing or make decent contact, it was a waste of time.

What I SHOULD of done was use half that bucket if not more on a knockdown/three-quarter swing. Something I do not have in my arsenal. When I try it in a given round it's a bladed shot or slice to the right because I simply don't know how to hit one yet.

To your point of practicing with a purpose.
 
it's an interesting/controversial/debatable/never-to-be-definitively-decided issue when allocating practice time.

in your 85 above, half of those shots are around the greens via putting and chipping. so it stands to reason that 50% of your practice time should be spent putting and chipping. of the remaining 41 shots, 14 of those are long-game shots to par 4s and 5s, so 34% of the remaining 50% of your time should be spent practicing tee shots with those clubs.

of the remaining 27 shots, how many are fairway wood or hybrids for second shots on par 5s? how many are full or partial swings with wedges into par 5s or shorter par 4s?

in my last round played from 6,800, i hit a non-wedge iron off the deck only 7 times. that's pretty crazy to think about, whereas my dedicated range time is heavily skewed toward irons.

EDIT: to your point about range before play, i am finding that i do it far less frequently than i used to. i'd rather hit chips and pitches and putt. i'd say 3-4 drivers, 3-4 mid-irons, and 3-4 wedge full swings are all i need, then 15-20 minutes chipping/pitching/putting.

If golf is a game of misses, aren't more apt to miss with an Iron that with a Wedge? If you miss with a iron, you lean on you wedge, if you miss a wedge, it means you lean on your putter.
So I'd rather not miss with an Iron than with a wedge and therefore practice more with the Iron approach shots than the wedges.

Not that my game is indication that I do any of this to any type of perfection.
 
To me putting practice is the most important part of warmup, if the practice green speed are the same as the play greens, then you can save a lot of strokes. If they differ considerably then it causes issues.
 
I tracked this for awhile along with each swing results to see how many good swings I was putting on the ball each round. It was pretty interesting.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
A few thoughts:

1. If you can hit 200+ balls on the range, you shouldn't burn out on the back 9 right?
2. There is nothing wrong with hitting a large number of balls, so long as they are broken up and you practice with a purpose
2(a). Practice with a purpose - hit/putt with alignment aids (rods/tees/balls/etc.), chip and putt out to practice up-and-downs, etc.
3. Pre-round should be a warm-up, learning the green speeds, and a mental game. Once you are loose play a few holes in your mind using targets on the range.
4. Unless you are hitting every green, you should have more chips/pitches factored in (regardless of number of putts)

ETA - In regards to thought 4, I'm not knocking your numbers. I mean for those reading this and wanting to break down their own stats.
 
I've certainly taken it account. My home course is 9 holes, par 31. One of the par 4s is driveable. The other is driveable when the fairways are really hard. So during a normal round (we aren't taking into account errant tee shots here), I take 11 full swings, and 9 of those are tee shots.

~Rock
 
This is a good thread. I've allocated a greater percentage of my practice time to around or on the green in recent years.

That said, if you're hitting 23-24 shots off the deck, wouldn't the QUALITY of those shots go a long way in determining how many more shots you needed from there, and thus justify the full-swing practice time? A ball on the green is most likely going to get you down in two more than a ball off the green, a ball 10 feet from the stick more likely to get you down in one than balls farther away, etc. ...

Golf is about turning three shots into two (or so some great golfer, Hogan perhaps, famously said). It's a lot easier to do that when you have control over the distance and direction of your 23 shots from the deck (and your 18 tee shots) than when you don't, even if you have a well-practiced and tidy short game.

As with most things, there has to be a balance. I've played with guys who hit 12 greens in a round with pitching wedges and shot 83, and with guys who hit four greens and four fairways and shot 75. It's all about (and others have said it here) identifying the weakest parts of your game, whatever they may be, and working on those in practice.
 
I think there are two different thoughts in the thread. One, how many shots do you take with each type of club. 2, where should practice time be spent.

I actually had typed up and deleted a post about strategy where I broke down, ironically enough, the 85 I shot Monday. In my case, it was 28 putts. I had 1 bad drive, 3 bad 8 irons, 3 bad wedge shots, 2 bad chips and 1 bad 5i. Conversely, I had 8 drives to write home about, 3 good 6i, 4 good chips (hence the 28 putts...), a good wedge, and 2 good 5i.

Where am I going to save the most strokes?

First I am going to look at my putting. Am I sinking the putts I should? Spend "maintenance" time on putting, if not spend extra.
My wedges cost me 3-4 strokes and saved me zero. Clearly I need to spend a lot of time on the wedges. A lot.
My normally reliable 8i stunk 75% of the time, but my 7i and 6i were magic. So I need to spend iron time, but maybe skew it towards the 8 to see what I am doing different.
Long irons I feel like were saving me strokes, putting me on or next to the green all but once. I am not going to emphasize the long irons all that much, again going to spend "maintenance time" on that practice.
Same with Driver, even the one really bad one, had I struck my 8i well I would have lost no strokes. As is, two bad strikes led to a bogie. I am going to spend maintenance time on it.

So for me, I am looking not so much at what club I hit the most as what area of the game can I save the most strokes. If I have an hour I might spend 5 minutes apiece putting, long irons, driver and the other 45 minutes on my wedges up through 8i.

That is just based on the recent round of course, another day the answer might be different.
 
Since I got the one lengths it's gotten weird.

I usually just hit the practice green and lag putt. Then loosen up by stretching and take some swings with my orange whip, then a few with my irons. I tee off with my 5i or 6i for the first hole. That leaves me with a 7 or 8 iron approach. If I put it on it's two putts and a par. If I miss it's my **** short game and a double bogey. Hopefully the chipper will lower it to a bogey. I'm really just feeling out the course. 2nd hole is the same thing. I won't hit a driver until the 4th hole.

But like I said this year it's weird. I'd really panic if I had to pull out a short wedge because I either would come over the top and it would be a pull or I'd compensate and shank. Then I just embraced the pull shot with the wedges and line up for it. This year I have to think 7 iron. It's a 7 iron not a wedge. If my brain works well and tunes out the wedge stuff I'll put it dead straight onto the green.

So how many shots am I taking.... 18 tee shots. 10 par 4 fairway shots (7 irons even though they're different clubs), 8 par 5 fairway shots, 35 putts. PLUS - 4 bunker shots (should be 2), 12 chip shots (should only be 6 due to the 6 chili dips), 2 lost balls, 2 penalties. Let's not forget that I might duff a shot on the fairway here and there. It's why we're called amateurs.

Someone is going to say: Strokes gained say I should practice approach shots so I don't miss those 12 greens. But I can't hit off mats a lot because it aggravates tendonitis. I just have to deal with it. Nearest grass range is Chambers Bay and costs $25 to use - granted it's an unlimited day pass for the range, short game area and putting greens. But I can play 9 holes with a cart for $23.

Practice on approach shots can probably net me about 4 more GIR realistically. Okay, but that's still 8 missed. I have a bad back so practice is limited.

I think if I spend my practice time on my chipping with my new chipper and bunker play, with some wedge stuff thrown in I might be able to save myself about 8 strokes. This will probably get me to a round of 85-86. I'll be very content.
 
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