We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Missing Short on the Course

Go to article
JB

JB

Follow @THPGolf on Social Media
Albatross 2024 Club
Staff member
Joined
Oct 8, 2008
Messages
283,251
Reaction score
432,939
Location
THP Experiences
We have spent the last few days combing through some data that suggests that over 85% of missed approach shots are left short. This could be for a number of reasons including

Poor Contact
Not hitting it as far as we think we do
Playing to a front pin yardage rather than giving enough room for minor misses.
Fear of going too far

We hear a lot of talk on the forum about random balls flying too far, etc. Yet if our stats are accurate, those percentages are quite small. Looking at my own personal data, it appears as though when I miss the green, I only go long on approach shots 6% of the time.

Where do you think your own game falls in this spectrum of stats?

1.jpg

Continue reading...
 
Yup. I’m thinking equal parts ‘better to miss short’ and ‘chunked it!’ :LOL:
CE3ED49A-9AD5-4F39-8FD7-B670CAF8AA8D.jpeg
 
If I miss anywhere when aiming for the green, it's normally short. And right (for me since I'm a lefty).

I've guess I've got the fear of missing long. Or it's a fat shot and I chunk it.
 
Miss short because of poor contact and because I don’t hit the ball as far as I think I should or do. I compensate by trying to club up and accept that going long may result.
 
JB said:
We have spent the last few days combing through some data that suggests that over 85% of missed approach shots are left short. This could be for a number of reasons including

Poor Contact
Not hitting it as far as we think we do
Playing to a front pin yardage rather than giving enough room for minor misses.
Fear of going too far

We hear a lot of talk on the forum about random balls flying too far, etc. Yet if our stats are accurate, those percentages are quite small. Looking at my own personal data, it appears as though when I miss the green, I only go long on approach shots 6% of the time.

Where do you think your own game falls in this spectrum of stats?

View attachment 8993735

Continue reading...
Click to expand...
If I was aiming at that green I would club up (maybe twice) every single time. At my course greens are elevated and slanting toward the approach shot. Everything long is short sided with a slope running away from you on the recovery. Short misses are almost always an easy chip into a slope. Short is smart here.
 
I'm definitely short or right most of the time. I chalk it up to miss hits for the most part.
I think.i have a good handle on how far I hit my clubs...it's just poor execution I think
 
I hit more short than long. My fear is going long because most times long is trouble and a tougher chip. Or my miss would be left, very very seldom right. Sometimes short does't hurt unless your a poor chipper like myself.
 
JB said:
We have spent the last few days combing through some data that suggests that over 85% of missed approach shots are left short.
Click to expand...
I am guessing that the average golfer miss-hits their shots more often then hitting them pure. When that happens you get reduced distance (bladed skulls not included) and shots coming up short.

Reminds me of the story:

Student: "How he can I generate backspin and spin it back."
Teacher: "how often do you hit it past the hole?"
Student: "Never"
Teacher: "So why do you want to spin it back?"
 
The majority of my misses are short with left being the next most frequent miss. Less them optimal contact accounts for the vast majority of my short misses. Typically, my long misses stem from misjudging a head wind.
 
When Tour pros are asked the number one fault they see when playing in Pro_Ams the answer always seems to be "they don't take enough club for the shot they are playing".
 
Lots of reasons for this. Most of which you mentioned. I think it just comes down to poor contact on misses. For me, I know I miss short a lot when trying to hit less than a full shot with wedges on occasion. So shots like that tend to be a bit of a bugger..
 
Percentage wise I tend to miss greens predominately left and right, but I also miss short more than long almost 3-1 rate, 14.7% short vs. 5.4 long..... when I miss short it is typically due in part to mis-hit and or poor club selection, but I also find myself missing short more often on courses I don't play normally or may not know well. This may be a mental block or simply not knowing what the trouble is long.... IDK....
 
I have worked on this specific part of the game. Getting better distance numbers with GCQuad has helped tremendously. I keep 2 numbers in my head: 1) my average distance for a club across say 10-20 consecutive strikes and 2) my flushed distance for that club. And unless there is a specific hazard or reason to no go long, I think over and over that I prefer to be long than short. I use my average distance and know where I could be if I flush the shot. This approach has helped me hit a lot more GIR.

I have also improved my strike consistency, and average and flushed distances are closing on each other. Those differences are largest in the longer irons.
 
My miss is almost exclusively short. Where I play, long is usually a lost ball or serious hurt so if I'm going to miss I'd rather it be front edge rather than long. Although my last few rounds of last year I started taking the distance to the back of the green as the distance to club for and found my GIR stats going up.
 
Stats.png

My stats show that I miss short more often than I hit the green. For me it's mostly a combination of mishits and fear of going too far. On my home course, missing long is far more penal than missing short on most of the greens, so if I have a choice of clubbing up and risking the deep miss or clubbing down and risking the short miss, I'll almost always take the short miss.

On a hole like the one pictured in the OP/article, I'd be more likely to club up and take the chance with a long miss (assuming there's no bunker hidden back behind the green). I'd rather be chipping out of the back rough than hitting out of that front bunker. If there is a bunker behind the green, I'd aim to the right side and either hit the green or miss short right and have at least a chance at an up and down. I have a lot more control with my chipping than I do with bunker shots.
 
Traditionally, when I miss a green, it is short, not long. I usually try to leave a putt below the hole, so if my contact is not great, I am going to be short much more frequently than long.
 
2 thoughts on this.
1. Being below the hole is beat into our minds from when we are young.
2. People want to think they hit it farther than they do.

My miss is short right when I do.
 
It's short and right for me. I remove my shanks from my tracking data and it is still overwhelming short. I never noticed that...Screenshot_20210216-102413.png
 
I play a mid to high iron shot so yes my misses are more often short. Except where long is safer due to a forced carry then its probably closer to equal. I have one friend who does miss long more often than all the others I play with. He plays a very low shot and a lower spin 2 piece ball (mostly) so he runs right thru greens fairly often.

I would say the reason the vast majority of amateurs leave it short, is they are playing each shot based on best case potential. Flushing a 9 iron will carry 145 yards, one hop & stop leaving me a tap-in birdie. There a many mishits that will leave the ball short & really only one, a bladed iron, that will go long...
 
1BB348C9-9E4A-4546-8DBB-8FC6D82CA2DF.jpeg
I rarely ever go long according to my Garmin stats. I can confidently say I come up short with my miss because of poor contact. But counting my right and left miss, I’m usually pretty spot on with my distance(accuracy notwithstanding :LOL:). Just comes down to contact for me
 
smgoldstein said:
I am guessing that the average golfer miss-hits their shots more often then hitting them pure. When that happens you get reduced distance (bladed skulls not included) and shots coming up short.

Reminds me of the story:

Student: "How he can I generate backspin and spin it back."
Teacher: "how often do you hit it past the hole?"
Student: "Never"
Teacher: "So why do you want to spin it back?"
Click to expand...
That story is exactly why I wonder about so many golfers emphasizing maximum greenside spin when choosing a ball. The vast majority of us don't hit the ball well enough or consistently enough to generate significant spin, and the vast majority of us don't have the ability to control how much spin we put on the ball and match that with how far past the hole we hit it. Sure, it looks cool to zip one back on the green or get a drop and stop - but for most recreational golfers, trying to do that is going to hurt your game more than help it. Land it short with a lot of spin and it's going to zip back and make your putt longer; land it long and not get as much spin as you planned and it's going to roll out and make your putt longer. It's another example in golf of trying to emulate the pros when most of us shouldn't be trying to emulate the pros.

Next time you watch the pros play, pay attention to how many times their ball zipping back leaves them a longer putt versus how many times it leaves them closer to the hole. And those are pros, who have distance and spin control that most of us can only dream about.
 
Funny, as I was thinking about this, and this is off of memory with no science to back it up, I feel like I typically miss right or left more than I miss short. But, I think a multitude of factors dictate to be where a "good" miss is.

Instead of always going for the flag stick, I will survey the hazards, pin placement, slope of the green, etc. Then, based on that, take a line that gives me the best shot at a 2 putt. 1 putt is always ideal, but if it's a long approach, I don't have many one putts. If I can minimize hazards, and maximize results, that's what i'll aim to do.

So no hazards, go for the pin.
Water or sand, avoid it at all costs, even if that leaves you a long putt
Putt uphill, if given a choice.

Since most of the courses I play don't have lots of hazards, it affords me the ability to go for most greens. My contact is usually consistent, but direction not as much. Obviously will go short on a chunk, or long on a blade. I'll be tracking it this year, so can't wait to see what perception vs reality is.
 
Not short that much but could be better. I am expecting this to improve quite a bit this year. First 2 rounds with the new irons the GIR was much higher %
D6170CB6-F46E-4037-9550-8D212C638248.jpeg
 
Well I’d say between the normal 6% that you have @JB you can add 6% more for bladed wedges for me. So I’m likely long 10-12%. Which seems about right, 1x a round assuming I hit 50% or so of the greens. I have as many pin high (or close) misses as I have short misses. Most of my short misses are due to bad contact. I rarely have the wrong club now that I play the right ball.

I just don’t have to worry as much about wind.
 
i think it's been covered, but agree that long is often much worse than short on my course.

on my minimal arccos data, similar to most that have been posted.

10% long
38% short
32% gir
15% left
7% right
 
Short for me, but is something I am aware of and mentally working on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top