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Short Hitter - How Good Can I Expect to Get?

J

jdsuowner

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I have been playing quite a while but consider myself a short hitter, only hitting my driver about 220 max and 5iron 150-160. I find myself never able to break 80. On the longer holes its very difficult having to come into a green with a long iron and be accurate where most people use a wedge or so. My putting and short game is very good i think. So how much lower can I expect to go being limited to a short hitter? Any of you this short and shoot much better?

Thanks,
JD
 
I have a buddy that only gets 210-220 off the tee due to a bad back and he shoots in the 70's. His short game is nasty and that's what he practices the most.
 
I feel your pain JD. I hit about the same distances but don't feel that is what really keeps me from shooting lower. First off, don't play any tees that make the course over 6400 yards, stick with the shorter tees and don't give in to peer pressure to play farther than you should. That will make most par 4s not much more than 400 yards, so par is not a bad score. If you can make mostly pars, with a few birds thrown in, on the par 3 and 5s, that will help a lot. The key is not to shoot the dredded "others" (scores over bogey). The short game is the key, since we don't have a long game. Good luck :clapp:
 
If you're young enough you can still learn to hit the ball 250 or more. Study the swing and what things increase club head speed. Try the longest shaft in the lightest driver you can hit. Get a driver that launches the ball high. If your swing speed is low you want a high launch angle. Lastly just work out some. Unless your pushing 60 or have bad back problems you can do it.
 
I'm only around 240/255 average off the tee with driver and shoot scores in the mid seventies to mid eighties. Length isn't everything in golf. I'll take accuracy any day over length.
It is important to be fit to your clubs and ball to be sure you are getting the most out of it. You may also want to consider working with a PGA teaching professional to see if there is something in your swing with the driver that can be improved if your not already doing so.
When playing, be sure to select a set of tee's to play from that fit your length and handicap. That is the reason there are more than one set of tee's. If your not having fun, you will not play your best.
 
Short game should be your focus. You should be killer around the greens. If you can hone that, you'll see your scores tumble, no matter how far you hit it.

Also, and a point I find important - don't try to hit it too hard.
 
For years those were my distances and I got down to a 2-3 handicap with those numbers. Its about your short game and course management. Its about not making big numbers because there are not going to be a lot of birdie chances.
 
JB said:
For years those were my distances and I got down to a 2-3 handicap with those numbers. Its about your short game and course management. Its about not making big numbers because there are not going to be a lot of birdie chances.
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You are correct JB thats what my game is all about just need to get a little better at it and single digit handicap will come
 
I agree with everything written so far, I hit the ball similar distances and yet I break 80 many times a year, I try to play at around 6200 yards and will not be pressured to play very much longer. My average score is probably 82-84 and my oob hdcp is 10.3, I am 63 so I am not going to suddenly find extreme distance as part of my game, therefore the short game it where improvement is not only possible but the only way it is doable. Course management is imperative, always hit away from trouble if possible and try to gamble only with your scoring clubs. And of course, lessons would be the quickest and best way.
 
Good thread with some great advice.

Tapatalk keeps me sane.
 
I used to think this was impossible until I joined a twelve man group and watched a 65 year old man routinely shoot low 70's (under par rounds thrown in) never hitting a driver farther than 220. He was a wizard from 100 yards in though. Best hands I've ever seen. Will you ever make the tour? Probably not, but you should have no problem shooting good scores from the whites at most public courses.
 
I always think it is worthwhile to improve and even to make the effort for that matter. As part of that it makes sense to set a reasonable target that allows you to declare success in the effort.

This is something you will want to define for yourself but based on your comments here I would think a 10% increase off the tee would be a manageable and meaningful target. If your current max is 220 and for argument lets say your average is 210 a 10% increase gets you up to about 230 and maybe 240. Some of that can come from club fitting, some from physical strength and the rest from changes in technique that are aimed at better distance off the tee. On average that additional length off the tee might get you as much as two clubs up turning 4Is' into 6Is' and 5Is' into 7Is' as oversimplified examples.

This is not to disagree with the opinion that you should continue to improve your short game. I think you should. However you would get a good deal from an effort to improve your distance off the tee by some amount, including the satisfaction from having set a target and achieving it. With that in mind I think it would make sense to at least analyze where you are today and determine if there is a reasonable target that would result in a high level of satisfaction for you if you can achieve it. i would suggest that you would want to do that much and then maybe go on and make the effort if it makes sense for you.
 
Now that I can type a little more I wanted to share my thoughts.

I'm basically in the same boat as you. I hit my driver around the 220-240 mark most of the time and can stretch it out to 250 if I'm lucky. I think the biggest thing that helps me is not playing from tees that are too far back for my distance. I've found that 6,000 yards is a perfect distance for me. I get some par 4's that I can hit a short iron or wedge into and some that I have to use a longer iron or hybrid. Short game skills definitely help more than imanigeable too. I played with Erica's grandpa last year and a long drive for him was 220. He killed me on the scorecard because he got up and down all day long.
 
having a killer short game is good advice... but being a short hitter you need to be deadly accurate with all your clubs
putting yourself in trouble off the tee sets you up for a long approach shot most of the time
not to mention possibly punching out then a long shot then a chip/pitch into the green so thats 4 on without even putting opening the door to instant bogey land or worse
if you cant get the ball into that "short game area" its pretty rough even if you have phil mickelson short game skills
i am by no means a long hitter and those guys have a distinct advantage but a par is a par whether you hit 200 or 300 off the tee
its not "how" you get a par its "that" you get one
3 bad shots and 1 good one is a par/bogey/birdie depending on the hole
accuracy and course management will get you good scores
keep a ball in play and you should be okay
 
I'm reminded of an amusing conversation between a young member and the club champion at my club a couple of seasons ago....

dude - what did you hit at 6?
champ - eh, decent 7 iron.
dude - ha, I hit 9. What about 11?
champ - full 6 iron.
dude - really? oh, I hit 9 again. *smug*

Champ - what did you shoot?
dude - 82, how about you?
champ - 70. Good going on that 9 iron, though.
 
I have to echo all the comments here. I was as low as a 5 index a couple of years ago and rarely drove past 230. But, I had a great short game and could putt a little. With a good putting round I could shoot in the low 70's. My average score was 77 on a 6200 yard course.

After some health issues and not playing as often I am working to regain a little length and have to hone that chipping and putting but I will get my handicap down to 8 again.
 
For me, 220-230 would be a godsend....A real good drive is 200....I've never been long...So I've accepted it and work real hard on my short game....And use the correct tees...It's funny how much a change of tees can improve your scores...On the courses I play, on a few holes there is a difference of about 100 yards between the blues and the whites....That's huge...So I practice my short game, try to keep the ball in play, avoid doubles and only take chances if the game is clicking that day...It makes a big difference...But lessons are coming up...1st time ever, after playing almost 40 years...figured it couldn't hurt....Never stop looking for that extra 5 yards....And +1 on the longer shafts.....I tried a TM Superfast (not the white one)...What a cannon...I ordered one that day....But as we all know, every club works good until you buy one.....
 
Great thread. As a short hitter myself I always thought that I couldn't be very good at the game. But playing with longer inaccurate partners and shooting lower scores has proved me wrong.(not that I'm great or anything) The advice about playing from the proper tees is spot on. I check my "macho" ego at the door and play from where it better suites my game and I have more fun.
 
Guys thanks alot for all the feedback. Awesome advice. I will hone it on accuracy and course management...
 
always put yourself in position to score no matter how short you are off the tee
 
Point 1 - Luke Donald, not a long ball hitter.

Point 2 - as they've said, short game is where it's at. I'm probably average off the tee. Maybe 240-280 with the driver, depending on the condition of the fairways. I can shoot about 42 on a standard 9-hole par 36. I shoot about 42 on my local 9 hole par 31. The reason is that my short game is not that great at the moment. Last season I just couldn't get up and down from within 10 yards of the green that often.

So yes, you can shoot plenty low scores as a short hitter. The only thing that may be different is course management/strategy.
 
Thainer21 said:
Maybe instead of trying to attack the green and miss in a bad spot, lay up close to the green in a good spot and try to get up and down for par. Thus echoing what everyone else is saying- course management and killer shortgame


From the iPhone.
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Awesome advice. I always kick myself for not laying up and hitting a chip in - instead I'll go for it, and usually that doesn't work out well.


Tap before talk.
 
The pro I've worked with at my home course is not a long hitter by any means, in fact I out drive him most of the time. He's in his mid 60s and a former touring pro and routinely shoots under par. His average driver is in that 220 - 230 range, but at 150 yds and in he's a monster. His philosophy is, the key to lowering handicap is the short game and putting, with him we work on short irons and putting at least 85% of the time. I have come to embrace the 240 yd drive on the short grass.
The old adage, drive for show, putt for dough.
 
I have seen a few comments here on using the proper tee, that is very interesting. How do I determine what the proper sized tee is?
 
Just echoing what others have said in this thread, but drive for show, putt for dough. The short game is the key of all keys.
 
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