Hitting to the middle of the Green

[Mugs050]

Played a round today started off poor but ended good. Three things I changed: 1. Aimed my tee shot to areas that had the most real estate and would allow for the biggest miss 2. Took more club, hit a few longer left me with long laggers but wasn't in the bunkers short 3.Aimed for the fattest part of the green. Flag be damned Wow way less stress I didn't feel like each shot was life or death it felt like I had margins of error I took over the match and won. What say you trappers?

[billchao]

Played a round today started off poor but ended good. Three things I changed:

1. Aimed my tee shot to areas that had the most real estate and would allow for the biggest miss

2. Took more club, hit a few longer left me with long laggers but wasn't in the bunkers short

3.Aimed for the fattest part of the green. Flag be damned

Wow way less stress I didn't feel like each shot was life or death it felt like I had margins of error I took over the match and won.

What say you trappers?

I read all of this in this book I have

Unfortunately for me, there's no such thing as enough real estate to allow for my misses off the tee.

[vangator]

I will aim for the flag most of the time except when the pin in near an edge. I will try to avoid short siding myself (unless it's not a problem) by aiming to one side of the pin.

[iacas]

I read all of this in this book I have

Uhhh, yup. :)

[Aguirre]

Yeah, I don't own iacas book but when I was reading the OP I was thinking, "I bet all this is in iacas book."

Seems I was right.

[Aguirre]

The more interesting question, of course, is at what individual skill level/distance/trouble combination do you take more aggressive lines.  That's harder to define, and of course depends a lot on current form.  That's the one I struggle with.

[RolfeDawg88]

I will aim for the flag most of the time except when the pin in near an edge. I will try to avoid short siding myself (unless it's not a problem) by aiming to one side of the pin.

I will do exactly the same unless I'm hitting my irons horrendous that day.

[rkim291968]

I play to safe part of the green, not necessarily to the middle.   E.g, if water is on the right, I hit to left.  If bunker is in front, I try to hit 1/2 club longer.

[Scotsclaff]

If I hit the green in regulation I'm in paradise.

[MacDutch]

Middle of the green with some exceptions. Some greens are 40 yard deep and have more then one plateau. I try to hit it on the right plateau. When I am within 120 yard, I go for the flag.

[saevel25]

Unless I have my 52 degree wedge or better it is aim at middle of the green 99% of the time.

[GHIN0011458]

155 and in I am usually aiming at the pin. 155 -192; not necessarily in the middle of the green, but the side of the flag that allows me to miss. So let's say the Pin is on the right side of the green. I am aiming a few yards left of the flag because there is plenty of green to work with. It also gives me a little room right to miss. 200 and out; Center of the Green. Learning where to miss a tee shot is key to playing well. The only thing I don't really do is take more/less club. It really depends on the hole location and how much trouble is around a nGIR, but for the most part(90%), I am trying to be hole-high or just below a back pin location.

[Shindig]

I play to safe part of the green, not necessarily to the middle.   E.g, if water is on the right, I hit to left.  If bunker is in front, I try to hit 1/2 club longer.

This, I believe, is correct. It's about prioritizing GIR, not about the geometric center (which might not always be the safest shot).

[Mugs050]

Uhhh, yup. :)

Going to buy it as soon as I am complete the back log of books I am reading (3 non golf books right now) sounds like there is some good theory in it.

I think I will experiment more as I keep playing. I had a bad habit of firing at pins and taking aggressive lines which although I got down to an 8.4 factor last year, it made the game a lot more stressful. When I was on I was shooting good scores but when I was off I would blow up. I really want to raise my floor and break through my ceiling. Again us golfers always feel like we are capturing lightning in the bottle but this strategy seems to have some merit.

[Tgb02]

Read this in the book and I normally aim near the middle of the green but my go to miss is a slice and I naturally play a fade so sometimes if I miss big I end up off the green on the right or if I hit a controlled fade I end of nicely.

Off the tee though it is a lot harder depending on the course, I can usually shoot mid to high 80's on my home course and a course I play at least twice a month because they have open fairways and allow me to miss a few tee shots but be ok. But in my last tournament we played a place where every singe tee shot gave you very little room and I hit a few balls ob and shot a 103. Should of hit hybrid more but meh

[Phil McGleno]

Yeah, I don't own iacas book

Why not? [quote name="Aguirre" url="/t/81685/hitting-to-the-middle-of-the-green#post_1135172"]The more interesting question, of course, is at what individual skill level/distance/trouble combination do you take more aggressive lines.  That's harder to define, and of course depends a lot on current form.  That's the one I struggle with. [/quote] Depends on your skill level but even at scratch you almost never aim directly at flag. Still about your Shot Zone even then.

[Strandly]

I pick the club that matches the distance I need (to the flag) and hit at the green.  I don't think it's particularly helpful at hit at the middle of the green regardless of where the flag is.

[Mugs050]

I pick the club that matches the distance I need (to the flag) and hit at the green.  I don't think it's particularly helpful at hit at the middle of the green regardless of where the flag is.

I disagree. I think the most important stat is GIR even if your lets say 30-50 feet away, sure your not going to be getting birdie very often by you should be able to get up and down 4/5 or 80% of the time. The odd pin might be in the middle, and the odd time you might pull or push your shot towards the pin. At the end of your round having more GIR's no matter where the ball ends up on the green is going to lead to lower scores.