I've made that adjustment to my mental game recently.  Not only on par 5s, but par 4s.  I try to get my approach shots somewhere in the 120-170 range.  I'll even pull a 6 or 7 iron off the tee of a short par 4 to try to give me an approach in my "sweet spot."  Made a huge difference.

Learn to embrace the par threes.  Make them your friends.  3's look so good on a scorecard.  I would like to birdie more par 5's.  I can not reach them in 2 anymore so I have to set up the third shot better.

Great question Andy !

For me I would have to say putting,not that I am a bad putter ,but of all the stokes made with in a round of golf putting has the lead in the total amount of strokes made in a round of golf. If I only 2 putt every hole in  a 18 hole round  that's 36 stokes.Add a couple of 3 putts and I want to scream.

Good luck on the par 3's Andy! I am going to work on course management and my recovery shots. Those shots are the ones I don't practice enough. The ones that could either save you a par or make a sure double if you can't pull it off.  I'm done improving my lie when I practice too. I am purposely going to practice from bad lies, into the wind; shots I may need at an important time. Because with practice comes confidence and with confidence comes better overall performance.

 Hey Chris,

The practice facility where I do most of my work actually has an area where you can practice punching under trees and over a bunker to the green, or you can hit over some trees from about 120 yards away  to the green to simulate a wayward tee shot.

One shot that is difficult to practice is fairway bunker shot's, there is not any area to practice that. We have an indoor facility with  green side  bunkers so occasionally when it's not too crowded we can simulate a fairway bunker and try and pick a couple 7 irons clean from the bunker.

As you said Chris being able to practice those breeds the confidence to play them with conviction during a round.

That is the key.

Great post Andy... 

For me it has to be my stance and keeping my body down through-out the whole swing..   I have a bad habit of picking up my head/body on the downswing and topping the ball.  Mostly happens with my iron and wedge shots..   Need to work on that this winter but not sure how.. I'm sure i'll figure something out..

I know you said "one area" but another big one for me are the bunker shots..

2015 can't get here fast enough...  

I agree CoolBreeze. My confidence in greenside bunkers is terrible. That being said, if I could hit just 10% more fwys. My game would improve alot. I know how putt for dough goes, but if I'm driving the ball well, my whole game just falls into place. I guess I'm saying the shorter my approach shot is the better I play. Just saying.

Play well.

Steve S.

I agree Steve S , especially for amateurs  everything starts with hitting  fairways as scrambling is usually not a strength for most of us.

Play well !

The one area that I definitely need to improve to retune my index to the mid-single digits is putting, specifically sinking more 3-9 foot putts.  I've taken one major step this week, turning in my 46 year old Bullseye putter for a consignment sale so I can no longer fall back on it when my putting goes south.  I am now working to dial in my Scotty Studio Select Fastback 1, which I picked up last year but haven't gotten really comfortable with.  My immediate goal is to keep putts per round under 30 for every round--and no, not by missing greens and chipping well for one putts.  Look out 5 handicap, here I come again!

Biggest issue now is iron/wedge distance.  Purchased new ap1 714s and sm5 wedges and am creating much more spin.  Need to carry ball further and allow for backup rather then rollout.  O and putting...oy it can be ugly haha.

Working  on  being  not  so  quick from  the  top  and  trying not  to  kill the  ball all the time. 

 Mine is a mental check.... Trying a shot I've got no chance in Haddes of pulling off, but I'll try it anyways. Then after a bad shot not letting go and prep for the next!

Christopher , believe me I have way more than one area that needs attention but the par 3 thing really bugs me, I did have it going in the right direction my last few rounds but the cold weather arrived.

I would have to say my next focus will be to get my GIR % to above 60, I am confident enough in my short game that if I do that the 80 barrier will come down for good.

To me bunkers are all about practice and being consistent in where the club enters the sand. That will give you the confidence to go at it  to a full finish. Kyle and I have begun our cold weather practice session at a somewhat local indoor facility and they some bunker areas where we try to spend a 1/2 hr min. 

Those great Titleist Vokey wedges provide the confidence that I will be able to get some spin on it and leave reasonable up and down chances.

Hopefully it will be a short winter and we can get out there and keep getting better.....

This is a great topic and it has really made me take a step back, assess my game and what I need to improve on in order to get to the level I want to get to.

For me it is going to start with putting, specifically lag putting. To many times this year did I find my self on a par 5 in 2, with a 30+ footer for eagle and I end up walking away with 5 or worse.

The second thing I am going to work on it flexibility and strength. I have spoken with a TPI trainer in my area and we have come up with a few things that I can do to help with this. For anyone who has not spoken with a TPI instructor..I highly recommend it. Much like getting fit on a TrackMan system...it is a truly eye opening experience.

The final this I am going to work on is consistency with my driver. I see a number of Saturday mornings at the driving range in my future. I need to narrow the dispersion and I think the flexibility / strength program will help with this as well.

I would love to hear what others are working on as well.

Fairways & Greens,

Will

I am with you on the par 5 strategy Don, too often I leave myself in between wedges after going for it in two , Gonna focus on laying up to a full SW giving my self reasonable  birdie chances.

Nothing drive you nuts more the piping  a drive into the fairway, hitting a reasonable second shot then ending up having to scramble just for a par.

Makes my hair get a little grayer each time  ............

Play well 

I put in a chipping mat in the yard and what a difference. From75yrds in I have so much more confidence and I'm making great shots with the one putt. Just going outside for that 15-30 minutes a day.

  Chris O

For me its chipping, Im just not getting up and down enough times when I miss the green. Would like to be in that 5 foot radius for a chip but to many times its 10-15 ft radius. I'm a 5 handicap with a GIR of about 50-60% so those misses just off the green I need to do a better job.

The area I need to work on in the spring is the little 30 - 50 yard pitches.  This is the area that in the past I've been pretty consistent at, but this part of my game really fell off this year.  The biggest factor in the fall off was lack of practice in this area, so next spring I'll be hard at work on this along with the rest of my game.

Scrambling is an area where all amateurs have room to improve I am sure.

My thought in bunkers is to hear that "thump" and bring the club to a high finish [for most shots]. and then trust the putter.

Play well !

for me, it has to be putting, putting, putting.  We have 3 majors at our men's club.  Last year one won, but lost one by 1 stroke and over the 36 holes involved, I had 5 three putts.  This year's club championship, 54 holes, 8 three jacks.  One round, 75, with 4 three putts.  Yeah, I stink!

I'm going back to the putter I used to win the club championship with last season, and I'm just going to practice, practice, practice.

That aside, Andy, we have a similar uphill par 3 that plays about 190 - it just kicked my butt this year as I didn't really have a club that fits that yardage without choking down.  I'm tempted to drop the 3 wood out of my bag and go driver, 915H 18*, 910H 21* & 913H 24* hybrids and then my AP2's.  That 21* hybrid wasn't in the bag this year, and when I think about how many times I use a 3 wood, it just makes sense.

Boy Andy my downfall is the par 3's as well.  My everyday course this past season which was a 9 hole course has two par 3's that would ruin a lot of my games.  Both are between clubs, small contoured greens, easy to hit over or fall short.

But to your question, what area to improve.  In my case hitting greens closer to the pin.  I was playing from senior tees this past season so it was mostly a driver and a wedge to the green.  Way too often I left myself with a long putt for birdie.   Next year I hope to be in close enough for a kick in birdie.  That's where I want to improve most.

Allen kick in birdies is something we all can strive for that is for sure.

Sometimes on Par 3's I found myself  trying to steer the ball off the tee instead of just trusting it and hitting thru the ball,  I started to turn it around my last few rounds so hopefully I can carry it over to next year.

Cheers

Mine would be shots from 70 yds. in. Sometimes I'll use an 8 iron and punch it from 70 yds. otherwise I will try a GW from there. A 54 deg. at 50. With a 9 iron pitch from 30 yds or a 60 deg. wedge. Just gotta find some faith in my short game. I'll also have to make a habit of watching and trying TT tips more often. All have your best rounds. Thanks TT.

For me its 110 yard and in shots or maybe specifically the non full swing shots.  Missing the green or leaving long puts after a perfect and long drive just kills my score.  I carry 3 wedges to give me the least amount of gaps or non full swing shots, but am still struggling when I get into that position.

Interesting question. Reflecting on my last serious match of the year it's pretty clear that it's play from 50 yards and in. Short pitches, chips, and bunker shots -- the whole 10 yards. Basically played almost to my handicap even though my short game looked like something you expect from someone with a handicap two or three times my handicap. Still irritates me but maybe if it provides the fuel necessary for me to practice more.....

My one area would definitely be my second shot on par 4's and 5's

Andy, there always seems to be room for improvement no matter how much we improve :)

Even though I would like to be longer with the driver, I did straighten it out nicely this year, short game and putting is good, even approach shots are hitting more greens.  What I really need to work on for the next season is my mental game.  I can play great alone or with my usual crew, Tournament play was hit or miss.  More confidence is what I need to strengthen.  I know I can make shots because I have made them before, I just have to keep that confidence through out the round.

SD GOLFER   As Yogi Berra once said " the game is 90% mental and the other have physical "...

I guess that's why the Pro's stress pre - shot routines so that certain parts of the game become almost robotic in that they are able to repeat things  no matter the course they are playing ,the weather or the stress levels..

Cheers

Off the tee. Hard to score from the rough or OB.

I think much like everyone my game improvement areas are inside 50 yards, pitching/chipping/putting.  I don't think there is anyone in the forum that couldn't use improvement in these areas.  Outside of that, I'm always looking to hit more fairways and not have the mental lapses in course management.   Sooooo as you can see, it is never just one area of my game that i'm looking to improve upon.

Well I'm going to admit it up front and let everyone know the myth is true. Im a consistent long ball hitter, I'm talking average 290-310 range with the driver and 250-285 with the 3 Wood. So my problem is the short game, lets go with anything in the 10 yard in I'm just horrible and with my long game thats normally where I'm at. So my plan for the 2015 is to try and figure out my short game, 100 yards in, pitching and chipping, and putting, just can't get up and down and thats where my scoring is killing me, if I made half the putts and within two strokes i would be a consistent low to mid 70s player, heres to 2015 and some great practice time on the range. 

Jeff Y.

Hit em straight , Hit em long 

for me it is definitely my short game, i tend to get a little anxious and get wristy or chop down at it...resulting in either 4ft of earth going further than the ball or a blade shot that goes 20yds over the green.  any tips/tricks that anyone can recommend i think i have tried everything.