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Power or Accuracy


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  1. 1. Which one should be more important to a beginner: power or accuracy?

    • Power
      11
    • Accuracy
      40


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I was at the range today when a Dad with his young son came up to me and started asking me about my game. Evidently his son is 11 years old and absolutely loves the game. Unfortunately, his son wants to hit the ball a mile already and his Dad was asking my advice. I personally told the kid that power will come with a solid, accurate swing but it got me thinking. If you were teaching a younger player or even an older beginner, which one would you focus on: teaching them to be powerful first and then make them more accurate or teaching them to be accurate first and then add in the power?

T.M. O'Connell

What's in My Bag
Driver - 909 D2 9.5 degree
3 Wood - 909 F2 15.5 degreeHybrid - 909 H 19 degreeIrons - AP2 w/ Rifle 6.5Wedges - BN 60.04 & 54.11Putter - Pro Platinum Plus

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Accuracy then power for sure.

In my Xtreme Sport bag
'09 Burner 9.5*
F50 15* 3 Wood
Burner 18* 5 Wood
MX-19 4-GW SV Tour 54.12 & 58.08 White Hot 2-Ball SRT

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Hands down, accuracy. It's the shortest distance between two points. Bomb and scrape works for the pros because their bombs are nuclear. For the average guy it's sooo much easier to score when you aren't playing Army golf - left, right, left, right
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well accuracy comes from touch and feel something you have to have to score, and who knows he may never be the power type of player, the only reason my handicap is what it is right now is because I tried to make some swing changes to gain more distance and it backfired drastically! It just destroyed my short game and mymid iron game, the guy's I play with are all about power hitting it 285 to even well over 300 on occasion, but I routinly beat them by 5-10 strokes simply because even when we play a course that offers a power advantage they don't know how to use a wedge and don't know how to control there distance. What difference does it make if you hit a driver 330 yds but can't hit a consistant shot from 120 and in.

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I chose power, but that's because you said beginner. You can always straighten someone out. Greg Norman went from never playing to scratch in 2 years, and he always said he learned hit to hit it hard first, then the accuracy came later... I guess that always stuck with me.

If I had to choose myself, I would take accuracy... I know plenty of 2 handicaps that can't drive the ball more than 220... but they are straight as an arrow, and can putt like the hole is 10 feet big.

Cheers, Allan

In my Ping Hoofer II bag: Titleist 975J | Callaway Big Bertha 3 Wood S2H2 | Mizuno Fli-Hi 18˚ Hybrid | Mizuno MP-33 3-PW | Cleveland Tour Action 900 54/60 | Ping Anser II BeCu | Titleist ProV1

My Playground: Northview G&CC

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Seeing as I started out with power (because the long ball is sexy, regardless of what sport it's in, obviously...) and it still haunts my game to some extent today, I'm gonna have to go with accuracy here. Too easy to get into really bad habits trying to kill the ball. Still trying to work my way out of all of'm ten years later.
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accuracy, absolutely.

i've always told people who were beginners wanting to learn the game, there are three very broad steps to golf. in order - making good contact with the ball, hitting the ball accurately, and lastly, hitting the ball a long way. being able to plow a ball 300 yards isn't going to do you the least bit of good if you have no idea where it's going to go. you might be in the woods, in a lake, in the wrong fairway, out of bounds, in four inches of rough, behind or under a tree, god knows what else. and then you have to try to get out from whatever obstacle you're facing, except you once again have no idea where the ball is going to go, so you don't really know where to aim to get yourself out of trouble, which can - and usually does - lead to more trouble.
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Without a doubt accuracy. By focusing on getting the ball where you want, the chances are he won't try to destroy the ball. It promotes a more relaxed and smoother swing. Picture yourself on the tee of a hole with the widest fairway you ever saw. It's 460 yards and you got the driver ready. I think most people would try to hit it a mile.

Now picture yourself at a 480 yard hole with a long fairway, but this time it's surrounded by trees and very narrow. Your swing will automatically slow down to avoid hitting a squirrel.

The distance in length won't be tremendous as long as you complete a smooth and rhythmic swing, but you are much better off on the fairway than in the trees. Also, when you reach the stage where you are very accurate it's easier to try to swing a little faster to get the ball even further. In my opinion it's easier than to normally try to hit it as far as you can and after you've developed a pretty heavy swing try to get it accurate.

A 150 yard 5 iron is better than a 180 yard 5 iron in heavy rough or hazard.

Making a plan can be helpful. Let's say you're on a hole and got 190 yards left. The only club you possibly could hit 190 yards is the 3 iron, you dont have any suitable woods or hybrids for the task. You pick up the long iron and try to really hit the ball, it ends up 30 yards ahead. The chances of getting on the green are remote for a high handicaper. So, let's rethink this. Should you reach the green, you are still probably far from the hole and got a difficult putt. Instead, let's take the 5 iron and make a smooth and nice swing to land the ball 30-40 yards short of the green and wedge it onto the green. This is an excellent way for high handicappers to have a chance for par on a hole. The key is short play and putting. Swinging like a scratch handicapper is not likely to happen over night, and takes a lot of practice to achieve, but the short play and putting is something anyone can practice and see huge improvement on. It's easy and it's pretty fun too. Once you get your wedges onto the chipping/pitching green and fool around for a couple of hours you will soon notice a huge improvement and great confidence. Some shots might even go in the hole. You lern to pick the spot where you want to land, not where you want to end up and get really good. the next day you practice putting, set up some tees on the green and experiment with different distances, put some in a downhill slope, some uphill, some curving left to right, some right to left.

Not only will it improve your short game by leaps and bounds, but you'll maybe be able to see the oportunities on the course. Accepting the fact that you are not good enough to hit the ball from 190 yards to the green, but feeling so confident about your short game and putting that you don't fear coming up short. You almost anticipate it since you know you can get pretty close with that wedge. A friend of mine who does not play golf, but sometimes likes to walk with us on the course and hit some shots once fooled around at his home backyard with a wedge for an hour. Just chipping and pitching the ball around. He has never learned to play golf and often don't reach the womens tee box. The next day we won't to the course and he came along. His swing and iron play was terrible, as always, but once he was within range of the wedge, he was playing pretty solid for his skill level. He played much better around the greens than two others with green card who have probably never practiced that part of the game.

So, the moral is, choose accuracy over power and practice your short game. Don't try to do something you won't be able to do 95% of the time. Play safe, don't be a hero.

Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23º | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15º | Titleist 910 D2 9,5º | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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Tour Pro J.B. Holmes was asked this exact question, and you know what his answer was?

Power.

Why? I'm paraphrasing, but he basically said that when you're new to the game, it's better to be going all out so you can really push your strength and flexibility. When they start to hone their own swing and learn more about the game, that's when you get them to dial it back and find a more consistent swing. "It's a lot easier to get someone to dial it back than it is to push them to swing harder."

Obviously accuracy coupled with a decent amount of power is a lot better for your score than tons of power with poor accuracy. That goes without saying. But for a beginner, I understand Holmes' point. Personally, I'm not sure what the answer is here, but I do hold accuracy over power 9 times out of 10.

Constantine

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I've gonna against the grain here and said power. I remember in Cink's playing lesson he was talking about this and his suggestion was that kids should be trying to hit the ball hard. He said its easy to later have them slow down, or hit it easier, but its hard to teach them to hit it harder.

We can all agree that in the end you want accuracy. But to begin the game, I think learning to find the power to really hit the ball in your body is most important.
Bag: Flight SS
Driver: 10.5* r5 draw with Pro Launch blue 65 Stiff
Irons: CCi Forged 3i-pw
Wedges: 56* CG12 black pearl and 60* low bounce RTG 900
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Well, truthfully, I think you should teach about power first. To a beginner, they will most liekly feel behind initially if they're not hitting it as far as the next guy, great confidence booster. Also, once you develop that powerful, efficient swing that he wants to repeat, you can learn how to control it. If you tried teaching a swing that is weak and inefficient to repeat, it gets pretty hard to unlearn it. Learn how to hit the ball first before you learn to control the ball you know? Swing's become habit and changing a habit is incredibly hard.
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I go for accuracy because if you are a short hitting kid then you have to develop a razor sharp short game to compete, which will still be there when you become bigger and stronger. Look at someone like Padraig Harrington; shortish but straight hitting as an amateur but with a great short game which has stood him in good stead as he has learnt to hit it longer. Much easier to learn/ train to hit it further than to develop great touch!

In my Tour bag
Driver - Cyberstar (9*), cut to 43.5 inches long with tonnes of lead tape attatched to the head.
Fairway 909F2 (13.5*), Diamana blue 83 shaft, 42 inches long
Rescues Heaven wood (17*)
909h (21*) Diamana blue shaft Irons Pro M (3-PW), Rifle 5.0 shafts Wedges KZG TRS (52* +...

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Interesting conversation with Tiger on Distance vs. Accuracy

http://www.thegolfchannel.com/golf-v...459/?ref=26000

Cheers, Allan

In my Ping Hoofer II bag: Titleist 975J | Callaway Big Bertha 3 Wood S2H2 | Mizuno Fli-Hi 18˚ Hybrid | Mizuno MP-33 3-PW | Cleveland Tour Action 900 54/60 | Ping Anser II BeCu | Titleist ProV1

My Playground: Northview G&CC

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Let, me tell you something. When you can hit it as long as Anthony Kim or Tiger Woods, you wont need to work too much on power.

the end game is accuracy but learning with power has it's advantages aswell.
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If I were teaching a kid to play, I would say "Hit it as HARD as you can, but you have to finish in balance." They will grow (fast) and come across swing changes, but if learn how to hit it hard, and stay in balance, accuracy can come. I think Tiger mentioned something to the Tune of this. Then again, I like to hit it long and 3 putt.

Driver: Adams 9015 proto (ozik matrix shaft)
3w: TM V-Steel 15* grafalloy blue (42 inches)
3-pw: Miura Tournament Blades w/ rifle 5.5
wedges: 588 Clevelands 47* 51* 56*
putter: Scotty Cameron oil can (97)

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I'm going to go against the grain and vote for power. You can teach accuracy later, and you can always gear down a notch, but not everyone can gear UP a notch.

The modern game is a power game. Cite someone like Bubba Watson all you want - but Corey Pavin hasn't exactly been tearing it up (and yes, I know he won a podunk tourney last year or whatever) the past decade.

You can teach accuracy later. Learning to hit the ball far, though, I haven't seen anyone do that.

Besides, "power, then accuracy" was the model for Jack and, to some extent, Tiger Woods. Seems to work.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
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You put a lot of words in J.B.'s mouth when you paraphrased there. Go see it on YouTube (search for "Holmes on power"):

"let em swing hard. Because you can always back off. If you're taught to swing real smooth it's just harder to gear up. You see those people who grew up like that, they can't really gear up. But somebody who grew up [and taught to] swing as hard as they can, can definitely gear down." My vote was for POWER.
Tour Pro J.B. Holmes was asked this

What's in My Bag?

Driver: 10.5° KZG SP-700 with Fujikura SIX Regular Flex Shaft | 2h: Adams A7OS Stiff | 3h: Adams A3OS Stiff | 4h: Nike Slingshot Steel | 5i-PW: Adams A2OS | Sand Wedge: Cleveland CG14 56° 3-dot | Lob Wedge: Cleveland CG15 60° 3-dot | Putter: Fisher CTS-9 Polyurethane Face
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In a perfect world I would want both but if I had to choose just one I would definately go for accuracy. I mean the ball has got to be in play in order to be successful right?

I have had 2 "professional" Lessons since I started playing golf and one guy had me swinging a speed chain for an hour and the other told me that it is better to go for distance first and then work on accuracy, but I always get a wicked slice when I swing for the fences so now I just work on accuracy. I think its better to be humble anyway...

What's in my Nike Sasquatch Tour Stand Bag:

L4V 9.5F Driver
909F2 13.5* VooDoo Stiff Flex Shaft
VR Forged Split Cavity 3-PW Custom Newport 2.6 Vokey Spin Milled 56.11 Wedge 60.10 SV Tour Wedge Diablo Golf Balls / ZIP Golf Balls SG 2.5
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Note: This thread is 5488 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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