[300Drive]

Where are you losing your strokes? Putting? Chipping? Tee ball? There are some good sites that you can use to calculate your handicap in critical areas GIR's Putting short game.

If you hit it decent enough to be an 11 there are probably some pretty significant areas where you are "losing" it and you could focus your efforts there. You should be able to shave some strokes pretty easy.

Another area is course management. You MUST have Playing Lessons by Jack Nicklaus. As an 11 you gotta learn the principals of POSITION PLAY. Play for pars on every hole . . . not birdies. How can I par THIS hole TODAY. That may mean hitting a 3 or 5 wood off the tee of a par 5. Conservative strategy and cocky swing.

As an 11 you are pretty good at something and you probably are really weak in 1 or 2 areas. If you can improve 20 or 30% in those weak spots you'll probably be on your way.

I was and still am somewhat in your boat . . . acouple of years ago I was a 12. Now I'm a 7. A lot of it was about eliminating one bad shot (snap hook). I can now work it both ways. I try to get the ball in play and keep it UNDER the hole. I dropped the 9 degree driver for an 11.5 with a shorter but stiffer shaft. I can get it in play, move it around, and it's easier to hit. I'm a pretty strong 7. I just don't get to play much. The difference between me and a 2 to 4 is our BAD shots. My bad shots are FREAKIN' BADDDDD!!! Their bad shots are manageable. I read this somewhere and hit made a lot of sense . . . golf is not about hitting spectacular shots . . . it's about NOT hitting spectacularly BAD shots. So make your bad shots better. Whatever they be.

Another thing is thinking smart. For instance we have hole that is pretty long and up hill. If I rape a driver I'm about 185 out straight up a hill. That's a 4 iron for me. Rather than hit driver I hit 5 wood or 3 wood off of the tee and then hit my peckerwood. I can hit it higher and softer than the 4 iron even though it's a longer shot.

Figure out where the FAT of the fairway is and play there. There is an optimum route on every hole to make par for YOU. Figure out what that is. If it means not hitting a driver . . . big freakin' deal.

Learn to hit a punch shot and don't hit your wedges more than 70%.

thanks, that was very helpful 12 piece.