Provisional ball strategy

[Moxley]

When you hit a shot , a genuinely bad shot rather than an unlucky one, which looks to have found trouble, do you do anything different for your provisional ball? For the purpose of this discussion, I'm largely talking about holes/courses you are familiar with and can be confident about your initial strategy. 

The logic for sticking with your original plan is obvious - if you were playing the correct type of shot and the problem is in the execution, then it makes sense to stick with this and chalk it down to poor execution, but I've found on some occasions that when I take a provisional ball, I manage to reproduce a near replica of the shot that just got me into trouble. Equally, I sometimes try and avoid the error I've just made and unsurprisingly find the other side. 

I'm thinking it might be better to club down and hit an iron or hybrid into the fairway with these shots, on the basis that :

a) I avoid repeating a mistake I'm likely to repeat

b) I avoid over compensating and now having to find balls either side of the fairway

c) I can maximise my groups time on finding my original ball. 

and most importantly 

d) I avoid the shame of having to take a 2nd provisional, or , even worse, trudging back to the tee to do so.

 

And a question for those up on the rules, does you get an additional 5 minutes to look for your provisional if this ball also strays offline, and if so , how is it determined which ball you have started searching for should they be in similar areas? 

[NM Golf]

How I would proceed is completely dependent upon the situation. Tournament vs casual round and even the type of hole. I have hit the same club before and I have clubbed down to not make the same mistake. 

 

As to your question:

DECISION 27/4 

Time Permitted for Search for Original Ball and Provisional Ball

Q.Is a player allowed five minutes to search for his original ball and five more minutes to search for his provisional ball, or just a total of five minutes?

A.If the two balls are so close together that, in effect, both balls would be searched for simultaneously, a total of five minutes for search is allowed. Otherwise, the player is allowed to search five minutes for each ball.

[billchao]

If it's a course I'm familiar with then  I trust my strategy and blame the execution so I'll hit the same shot. I tend to evaluate my course strategy often and adjust as my shot patterns change so my strategy is usually sound.

The only time I'll hit a different shot is if something unexpected happens, like I hit a good drive that runs through a fairway I wasn't expecting to or something, or I reached a hazard I didn't think was in play. Then I'll hit a shorter club.

[dennyjones]

My big miss is a duck hook with my driver.    If I hit a second shot, I realize the face was closed at impact and my swing was from the inside.    I choke down on the club making it shorter, make sure my grip is correct and try to remember to have a positive angel of attack.  I don't change clubs.

[p1n9183]

If i hi t it OB or to serious trouble it´s because i hit it really poorly outside my dispersion.
So I commit again to the same shot ones and again..  

[Pretzel]

Like others mentioned it can depend on the circumstances, but in the vast majority of circumstances I'll hit the same shot.

If I did something like misjudge a tailwind and just pound a drive past where I wanted to hit it (into thick rough or potentially OB, etc.) then I will take one club shorter to avoid that. Another scenario that I'd change my strategy for the provisional is if I didn't see some kind of ravine that was hidden and ended up failing to do my homework to know it was there, but hit into it with my first shot.

98% of the time I have to hit a provision ball this isn't the case though, it's just a bad shot by me. In those cases I just hit the same shot because the one preceding it was most likely a fluke (or it just went into the rough during fall and I'm concerned I won't find it otherwise thanks to the leaves.

[Piz]

I usually play the same shot.  An exception, as others have noted, would be after an unexpected result on an unfamiliar course.  Most of the time I am already aware of the perils and have clubbed accordingly.

[HJJ003]

Typically same shot. I may grip down a bit for a little more control...depends on the miss though.