How good is "Good?"

[Slowhand]

I guess I'm curious how high the bar is. It's been years since I've attended a professional tournament and I've never had a chance to watch the pros warm up on the driving range.

So, for the "average" tour pro, on the range with a driver, with no pressure and no wind, how many balls out of 100 would he/she be able to hit within 10 yards either way of where they were aiming? What percentage of shots would they consider "good?" I know it varies by the player, but what do you think the average would be?

 

[thefuture37]

what does it matter what they can do on the range? what makes a player good at that level is what they can do on the course when there is no second chance.

 

[birdie_man]

Watching The 2004 PGA @ Whistling Straits.....I didn't follow guys as much as I would have liked to.............

.........and I didn't get to check out any of the real Top Dawgs or bombers so much......no Goosen, Mick, Els, Daly, Bubba, JB (if Bubba and JB were around then).......and only limited and from weird angles of Tiger, Sergio.

But I did watch Vijay on the range for a good length of time. (he eventually won)

He was hitting the nicest little low, faded 3 woods to a back-right green.........and I just remember thinking that these things were all pretty much the same.

So that gave me an idea of how a guy who is playing well enough to win a major championship can get it going. (at least on the range anyway...)

And BTW I'm not even sure of the yardage but it was however far away a low (under the wind in thoses crappy conditions), faded 3 wood goes for him. It wasn't spectacular or anything but very respectable of course. (natch) But the consistency was what stood out.

And Padraig was right beside him hitting DRAW 3 woods to a back left green. Same deal. Very very consistent. (like putting in a tape) Looking at the stats he ended up at +1 and T45 that week. 9 back of Vijay. But with a 78 on the last day.

...

One more thing that stood out to me was that not all of em bomb it.....but there seemed to be a lot of guys whose balls looked exactly the same. (uhhhh...) What I mean, is............

Same consistent strike and trajectory, pretty consistent direction (on or around the the fairway/green), similar distance. It was like watching the same player over and over again.

None of em really stood out but they were all of course very good. (natch)

But like I said I didn't get to watch any of the rippers or the Top Dawgs much.....or follow particular guys/groups for a length.

 

[Slowhand]

What I mean, is............

Same consistent strike and trajectory, pretty consistent direction (on or around the the fairway/green), similar distance. It was like watching the same player over and over again.

None of em really stood out but they were all of course very good. (natch)

Thanks for your reply birdie_man.

What I'm really interested in is two-fold:

One, given that the golf swing is a complicated proceedure where even the pros "let one get away" now and again, how consistent are the best players in the world when they're on the range with no pressure vs. (as thefuture37 says) how they do on the course when there is no second chance? IOW, how many missed fairways are due to the pressure and other factors and how many are due to just a miss-fired loose shot?

Second, for a measure of how far I still need to go in my own practice I'm wondering how good is "good?" If I can hit 90% of my drives where I'm aiming is that "good?" (And that's a big IF!! ). I know it's very individual, but I still feel a need to know how high the bar is.

So, since no one knows an "average tour pro," would you folks be willing to post/discuss your "percentage of good shots?" On a good day at the range, out of a bucket of 100 balls, how many shots are you happy with, and how many do you chunk, curse or otherwise despise?

 

[Kevin Shields]

I've been to dozens of tour events, even played in a few. After watching I can assuredly say that the top players are not missing it on the range. If you think they are good on TV or on the course, you should sit behind Nick Price or Faldo in his prime for an hour and watch them practice.

 

[Lindsey Newman]

I would have to agree with doubled. If you were to attend a Tuesday morning driving range session on the PGA tour you would be utterly shocked at the precision of contact. The question is what do they look like when they are changing their swing patterns in the off season. Most of them don't have the courage to do a full plane overhaul like Faldo or Tiger, so we rarely get to see the transitional ball flight. My bet is that they look pretty much like everyone who is implementing major swing changes. We never get to see them because they go underground or off the tour. Seve, Duval, Baker-Finch.

 

[birdie_man]

Thanks for your reply birdie_man.

No prob.

Second, for a measure of how far I still need to go in my own practice I'm wondering how good is "good?" If I can hit 90% of my drives where I'm aiming is that "good?" (And that's a big IF!! ). I know it's very individual, but I still feel a need to know how high the bar is.

Well the fairways hit average on Tour is not anywhere near 90%. According to PGA.com it's 63.16 @ 281.4 yards.

If 90 IS where you are at now you are doing pretty good man!!!

...

I want to be able to hit it solid pretty much every time (like any pro) and (seperately) eliminate big misses on both sides of the course when I want to.