I won’t doubt your experiences that have led you to that conclusion, but I did think that things like DECADE have shown (and have the stats backing them up), that most people really are better, the closer they are. Even if it means a 1/2 shot or a long chip vs a full shot.
I thought @jon had a post stating such? EDIT: I really wonder what the datasets from things like ARCOS says on the subject for non-elite golfers?
I’ll enter this into the “Naive things…”. Applying DECADE conclusions across the board. If bigdaddy is comfortable playing to a certain full yardage, then he is applying Jon’s principle of simplifying the game. Best of luck to bigdaddy.
This is 1000% a personal situation. I completely agree that for most golfers the closer you are the better. This is also very dependent on elements, pin placement, etc. But more often than not, for me, I’d rather be 75-100.
I’m kindof playing a hybrid strategy right now… I’ll try to put the ball as far forward as possible but I don’t think it adds a ton of value, so I’m incredibly risk averse and will prioritize making 100% sure I’m in the fairway…
I’m hoping my wedge games gets it’s act together… but that would require me practicing.
That good golf is a bunch of birdies. When really, good golf is a bunch of pars, a couple birdies, few bogeys, and no doubles or worse.
That I was lined up square to the target
It is WILD how your brain can change your perception of alignment
It really is something you have to check systematically
Which is why I acknowledged that your experiences have led you to that conclusion. Your style is right for you.
I will point out though, that you have to be much less accurate with these hypothetical close-up shots than a full shot, in order for your miss distances to be less with the full shot. “Accuracy” here being, “the size of the angle between your target and where the ball ended up.” If you’re twice as close (100 vs 50, say), then if you’re better than half as accurate, your misses will be closer with the close shots.
Something to think about, and as @kenk alluded to, not something to just blindly apply.
Your 2nd para makes a good point, @Jayjay. How close (to the hole) can you get by being close (to the green).
I’m one who followed the old advice, and I was much more comfortable from 80 than I was from 50. Once I gave myself a chance, I found I was consistently closer from the “uncomfortable” 50 yarders than I was from 80. Comfort doesn’t always mean closer.
So for me, I can generate a lot more spin from that 75-100 range. I very much prefer hitting a spinny approach that hops and stops - and from the stats I kept last year, which were not 100% of shots, I do tend to get it closer by a couple feet from that distance than I do from 40-60. I can hit and release, but I’m much better when I can generate the spin I want. Comfort creates a shot I trust that produces quality results.
I do wonder if I were to switch back to the ProV1 from the Snell MTB-X would I be able to spin the ball better from the shorter yardages.
The Snell is performing so well everywhere else for me this year that it doesn’t make sense to make a change for such a specific yardage, but it’s something in the back of my mind on occasion.
Yeah, I’m still trying to sort out where I need to leave my ball for third Shots… I think confidence / focus are a huge factor and it’s probably better to hit confident shots from slightly farther back.
But also should be working on confidence from closer shots.