Posted this on another site as well (I need all the help I can get). Is it necessary to give up yardage in order to gain consistency or accuracy? I'm not talking about swinging easy vs. swinging hard. As a high handicapper whose also pretty long, I wonder if making swing changes geared toward consistency will cost me yards.
Distance VS Accuracy
- Thread starter Bigwill
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I'm certainly no one to be answering golf questions but I would really have to think that, as a general rule, 275 from short grass, with no obstructions, would be better than 300 yards, off in the rough, with potential hazards now obstructing your next shot.
Watching Tiger's performance in the three tournaments prior to the WGC this weekend is a testament to this, I believe. In normal cases, he certainly seems to be placing a higher premium on accuracy and consistency than he is on distance.
Watching Tiger's performance in the three tournaments prior to the WGC this weekend is a testament to this, I believe. In normal cases, he certainly seems to be placing a higher premium on accuracy and consistency than he is on distance.
mrodock
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If you are a high handicap player though I think you have to be very willing to do things entirely different. There was an extremely good junior player in our state that would hit the ball 250 yards with his driver during tournaments. Much to our dismay, he won a long drive contest bashing it over 300 yards. For longer courses he may have tried to bash it, but he knew his game, and knew the 6300 yard courses we were playing in our teens did not require the long ball. If you work on a better, more efficient golf swing you may gain 10 yards, you may lose 20 yards, without video of your swing it is impossible to tell, but consistency has to be your #1 priority. Corey Pavin is a tour player at 260 yards off the tee. If you do happen to hit it quite a bit shorter but much more accurately you may learn to like it! Sounds crazy, but I've taken a great deal of satisfaction in kicking someone's butt that hits it 310 while I am hitting it 250-260. As a 4 handicap I feel it would help to gain 20-30 yards to take advantage of the par 5's. The par 5's at my club from the back tee's require 270-280 yards off the tee, or you have to lay up around 230 on 3 of the par 5's. It just so happens these changes will almost certainly produce more accuracy. I guess the short answer would be you just have to learn your game and THE game.
Matt
Matt
Bigwill said:
That actually brings up something interesting. When Tiger was swinging his best, by most "expert's" opinions, his own description of his game was that he "dinks it around the course now". At that point, it sounded like he felt he gave up some distance for accuracy. Unless he was just saying that he chose to hit shorter clubs. Although, I remember when he said this he was saying it in contrast to "some younger guys who hit the ball longer than him".
So, at the point where most people feel he was swinging his best (and his driving accuracy numbers would certainly support that feeling), did Tiger feel like he had lost some distance?
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self-mastery
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The shorter you hit the ball, the more skilled you have to be to play good golf.
Every quality "short" player on tour has to lead the "scrambling" category. I would rather throw the ball out 285+ with a big sweeping pull hook than bunt the ball 250 yards and have to depend on fairway woods and long irons to finish the job. The driver is absolutely the hardest club to hit both long and straight.
Every quality "short" player on tour has to lead the "scrambling" category. I would rather throw the ball out 285+ with a big sweeping pull hook than bunt the ball 250 yards and have to depend on fairway woods and long irons to finish the job. The driver is absolutely the hardest club to hit both long and straight.
Jim Kobylinski
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Ricky1990 said:
Tell that to money leaders on tour.
Most of the guys who are that long can sacrifice a little distance for some better accuracy but they are still hitting less club than the shorter hitter.
Tiger can hit his wood farther than the average driving length on tour. So he can sacrifice the driver distance for the 3 wood distance and accuracy and STILL have shorter irons into greens than the average field driving distance people can.
I would say the only time you want to give up distance to accuracy is if the rough is too penal to be in and you can't get it on the green or if being in the rough means you have to really hit some awesome recovery shots to get on the green meaning trees, hanging limbs, no clear shot at the flag etc.
I'll gladly take 280-290 in the rough and have wedges into greens than 265-275 in the fairway with a longer shorter iron.
Do you think that there's a psycological advantage to being in the middle of the fairway? I know that, for myself, I feel more confident standing in the middle of the fairway with a 9 iron in my hands than I do off in the rough with a wedge. Then again, like you said, it depends on the rough.
Maybe I'm getting a little off topic here.
Maybe I'm getting a little off topic here.
jim_0068 said:
mrodock
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jim_0068 said:
This is a thread started by a high handicapper though. There is a big difference between giving up a bit of accuracy with the driver for more distance, and giving up accuracy to hit a 5 iron 10 yards longer. Anyone worth their weight in salt can hit their irons at least 10 yards further than they regularly do in tournament play.
Matt
Jim Kobylinski
Super Moderator
mrodock said:
Doesn't matter, if you are a high handicap player and your "max distance" with the driver is 220 yards and you have to hit say a 5 iron (estimate of 160 yards based on 220 yard drive) versus you have a more accurate driver than goes 190ish and now you have to hit 3 iron or at that level a hybrid into the green.
Same theory applies it is just even worse for the higher handicap player because instead of wedges or short irons i hit mid to short irons and instead of the high handicap player having to hit mid irons now they have to hit long irons, woods or hybrids.
The only time i give up distance for accuracy is if the extra distance puts me at a yardage i'm not comfortable with. For instance a 330 yard par 4. I can't drive it. I can get close but i'll have 40-50 yards left. I'd rather his 3 wood and bang it down there 255ish and have 75 yards in and hit a full lob wedge or a half sand wedge.
Jim Kobylinski
Super Moderator
And they can do that swinging hard or swinging easy. Just because it's easier for us to swing easier and keep it straight doesn't mean they can
danny_shank
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But isn't it a likely problem in this scenario that the high handicaper associates the extra distance with extra effort instead of more lag pressure?
So he'll be more likely to hit it off line.
So he'll be more likely to hit it off line.
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