rule of 12 - club selection

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I agree with scope...I have 3 clubs I use around the green and I practice a lot with them, too many clubs and all this rule of 12 stuff would interfere with my flow or feel within the round....IMO.

I'm with you guys on this too. I'll use up to my 8 iron, but mostly 56, 52, and pw.
 
Chip Putterman, opined, "softconsult, the internet has practically made intellectual property a thing of the past. If you don't believe me, just ask any musician. It is just as easy to find the "Rule of 12" on the internet as it is to find a recipe for a bomb."

I responded that it may be so, but that didn't mean I agreed with the situation.

Looks like it may not quite be a thing of the past. Check out this Drudge Report link.
Newspaper Chain’s New Business Plan: Copyright Suits | Threat Level | Wired.com
 
I think that this is really well said and thought out, for the majority of people. A system is good, maybe for beginners, and for those people who don't practise that much. I can understand someone who is analytical like 3 Jack liking it. I do think that the person who uses 'Scopes' concept will be far better off in the long run, and possibly the short run. It feeds one's creative side!

I'd agree with that Damon. As you know, I'm a higher handicap - but that is because of my driving. I've played with low HC golfers and my short game is every bit as good as theirs. I seldom use more than my 52' wedge, and actually use my lob wedge much more than any club. However, I actually hit a lot of shots that are just off the green ( 1 - 3 yards ) with a hybrid. That shot has really elevated my short game. I have always had a natural feel for the short game..I don't know that that can be taught. I think maybe for players that struggle with the feel of the short game, the 12 club system probably is a good method to use... but I defer to the better players on here to determine if that is a valid statement
 
My dad has used the "3 club" short game system for years. He uses an 9 iron if the shot he's facing is a chip shot. He uses a GW if the shot is a pitch and run. He uses a LW if the shot is a pitch that needs to stop quickly. Simple enough to be stess free and covers the basic shots that you will face.

Am I going to say he has an amazing short game? No. But does he get up and down about half the time he misses a green. Yep. And when was the last time he actually practiced his short game? The 80's.

You get the idea.
 
If you practice the Rule of 12 enough, you'll find that you rarely use more than a 9-iron on a chip. When I lived in Atlanta, where it's very hilly terrain, using more than a PW was pretty rare. Now living in the much flatter Florida, I will get some more chips calling for a 7-iron or so. I almost never get one calling for more than a 7-iron.

Even still, I find those 5 or 6 or 7 iron chips to be extremely easy. Why? Because it almost always means that the 'safe zone' is probably no more than 2 yards away from me. With a pitch/chip with a SW, the safe zone could be 8 yards from me. A lot of it is just sound chipping technique and trust. If you don't have those, you're probably going to fail. But you're going to fail pretty much no matter what style you use.

But there shouldn't be a notion that using the Rule of 12 means that you're going to be using 6 irons and 8-irons all of the sudden. Far from it. I played 9 holes the other day and only hit 4 greens as I just missed a few of those greens, so I was left with Rule of 12 chips and pitches. Only once did I use a PW. The rest of the times I used a SW or a LW because that's what the Rule of 12 called for. There was one time where I putted from the fringe, but I was less than 6 inches from the green and the pin was up on a tier.








3JACK
 
3Jack/others, I'm confused about when the rule of 12 would tell you to use a SW or LW. It seems logical that a PW is a "10-iron", a GW is an "11", the SW is a "12", and the LW is a "13". Assuming a ratio of equal carry and role, the rule of 12 dictates an "11" , or GW. The rule of 12 seems to breakdown for shots where the carry exceeds the role and you just have to divide up the shots with more carry than role between the SW & LW appropriately.
 
3Jack/others, I'm confused about when the rule of 12 would tell you to use a SW or LW. It seems logical that a PW is a "10-iron", a GW is an "11", the SW is a "12", and the LW is a "13". Assuming a ratio of equal carry and role, the rule of 12 dictates an "11" , or GW. The rule of 12 seems to breakdown for shots where the carry exceeds the role and you just have to divide up the shots with more carry than role between the SW & LW appropriately.

I may be wrong, but that seems like shots like that are more like pitches? Think the rule of 12 was designed for chipping.
 
Thanks BB - that was kind of where I was going. Do you agree witht he number assignment? I chip with a 56, 60, and even a 64. The latter is mostly for entertainment value, but I manage to play a lot of quality shots to super tight pins with it.
 
Thanks BB - that was kind of where I was going. Do you agree witht he number assignment? I chip with a 56, 60, and even a 64. The latter is mostly for entertainment value, but I manage to play a lot of quality shots to super tight pins with it.

The number system definitely makes sense, even though I don't use it. I really think it depends on the player. Seems to me people who have naturally more short game "feel" tend to play like myself & you. I play with some guys who just don't have that feel, no matter how hard they work on it. Seems as though lower chips tend to work better for them. I do chip once in a while with a PW or 9 if it's a long chip, or if there is a lot of danger behind the pin, just on the off chance that I hit one thin. I really think having all the shots ( if you have enough time to practice ) is the best solution! :D
 
11 is supposed to be SW. 10 is PW.

Of course, the player doesn't have to be 'married' to the Rule of 12 if they use it.

For instance, there's one course in Georgia called Cateeched. Awesome greens, probably a 12-13 on the stimp. I can go to the practice green, hit a few chips using the Rule of 12 and can easily understand that I need to take less club than the Rule of 12 designates. How much less? Well, see what happens on the practice green. If anything, the Rule of 12 is a good way to understand the speed of the greens before you go out and play.

As Brian said in the video where he had a 6-iron going a little long and a 7-iron going a little short on the chip. Try to figure out the other things like the green speed, slope of the green, etc.

I don't think the Rule of 12 is such an analytical thing...although it helps. I think the big key is that if you can trust it, the landing spot is a lot closer than if you are going to use your typical wedge chip and spin is far less of a factor so you don't have to worry about hitting your spot and it checking up on you as often.

But, I do think you need to practice this. When I first tried it I had success, but then shortly after had some struggles with it. So I had to practice with it to work out some of the kinks and figure out some of the pitfalls. In fact, part of it was that I had been pitching and chipping with the wedges for so long, I wasn't used to chipping with say an 8-iron. I needed to practice that for a bit (although not too long) to get that stuff down.

I won't say it's cut and dry the better way to do it. When I think of the all-time great chippers and pitchers of the ball I think of Mickelson, Paul Runyan, Raymond Floyd, Langer and Hubert Green.

Floyd and Langer used a variety of different clubs pitching and chipping the ball, although I don't know if they subscribed to the Rule of 12. Runyan essentially invented the Rule of 12. Green used basically his SW for all shots. Mickelson used to use the SW or the LW, but now uses more of the Rule of 12 approach.










3JACK
 
BTW, I did not mean to indicate that don't chip with lower lofted clubs - I certainly do. Rather, that I was just trying to understand where the higher lofted clubs fit into the equation. I honestly can't agree with going from the PW (10) @ maybe 48D to the SW (11) at 56D. I understand the compensations needed to fine tune for green speed, slopes, and lie angles and plan to try the system as a guide. Thanks!

Does the wind blow @ Cateeched :eek:? I was working with one of Mark Sweeney's AimPoint guys last weekend (he knows Brian) and he said the greens are consistently stimped @ ~10.5 for the PGA tour.
 
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