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Missing Short on the Course

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Using all of my clubs but driver, I am short 25% of the time, and long 12% of the time. Going to 8 iron and shorter, short 19% and long 12%.
 
I'm the opposite, as I hate being short, so I miss over greens regularly but it doesn't bother me. Just try and get it up and down. But upside is I stick it more than others I think.
 
My usual miss on approach shots is short and right. I did better last year on the approach shots and hope that trend continues in the spring.
 
I would like to change my answer to I never miss short 💪🔥
 
Short happens for me when I accidentally hit a weak fade. I can always tell as soon as a strike the ball if it's going to happen. I have learned, recently, to be more comfortable in taking an extra club when I have been inconsistent with ball striking. For me, short misses come, seemingly entirely, from poor ball striking.
 
I miss long 2% of the time, I miss short 37% of the time (and that is out of 100% on both). Main reason I would think is just mishitting shots, I have a pretty good idea of my yardages and rarely strike one well and end up well short.

2nd reason, which is becoming less common, is not being able to reach the green in 2 shots. Yesterday, a hole that normally plays down wind, was into the wind with a hazard short. Would have required about a shot flying 190 in the air and at that distance with the conditions I felt better punching a short iron and then having a wedge in.

3rd reason, at the course I play most of my rounds, you would much rather miss short than long so if I am between 2 clubs, I am usually taking the shorter one.

the vast majority of the times I come up short are just not hitting the ball solidly, but the other 2 are also a factor for me personally.
 
I'm not on that spectrum the same way, as my short and long are typically close to equal. Part at that is because I don't fall victim to some of the common things people have mentioned. As a stat junkie/tracker I know my exact distances, not hypothetical or best shot ones. Stares a guy right in the face when he looks at them. Playing in Nebraska a ton teaches condition-based distance humility, too. I'm not afraid to club up usually.

My misses might be smaller than average, but they still follow a predictable pattern when looking at shot charts. Short right to long left, just pretty balanced between them and usually miss long and short combined about the same as one of the lateral directions. Distance is easier than direction for me.

I also check in fairly regularly on my shot charts, and if there's a recent trend I don't like, I usually work on correcting that issue. That probably helps keep them a little more balanced over the long haul too.
 
Stemmy66 said:
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....
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Yep .... you're mental alright :ROFLMAO:
 
short the VAST majority of the time, and that's typically on purpose. i know what's short of the green, i don't always know what's long. and short is typically much more playable than long. sure some hole designs put traps short or water hazards, but around me long is usually dead.
 
I can guarantee my miss would always tend to be short on my home course. Just coming through each hole and where ti would be best to miss (short or long) I came up with 85% or more of those holes basically ended in death if you missed long. SO.....dont go long. lol
 
I have to say that I am rarely off the back of a green and lots of chip ups.

Reason #1 - not enough club, amateur golfers or at least me remember the one time they hit that club XXX distance and not that 9 other times it was shorter

Reason #2 - Red Flag, why aim for the largest part of the green behind the flag (sarcasm) I can only be short of the red flag... ends up in the apron - skulls a chip runs another long chip...two putts... strokes are adding up quickly...
 
The last time I tracked it about 5 years ago, 16% of my missed GIR were short of the front of the green, but certainly, many more approaches are short of pin high. My most common missed green is left, making up about 60% of my misses usually when I'm trying to take about 10 yards off of an iron and I come over it or don't finish my backswing. Over the green at the courses I commonly play is almost an automatic bogey or worse.
 
I don't know if short is my most common miss as I'm often way too aggressive at side pin locations, but I'm definitely short more than I'm long on most holes. I'm fairly confident that most of this is due to poor contact on my part. I also tend to err on the side of short when selecting clubs as long is pretty much jail/penalty/drop on the courses I play the most. I'd much rather have a chip up or a putt from short than trying to come back at a pin on most greens as well.
 
There is a reason why bunkers usually protect the front of the green.
 
I've been tracking my approach shots in a spreadsheet for awhile now, almost 450 rounds worth. I fall right in with your findings as I miss greens short three times as often as I miss them long. Across the bag I miss left 16.4%, right 13.7%, short 15.3%, and long 4.9%. Short misses are even more prevalent when I look at longer clubs. Not so bad with short irons and wedges. Poor contact is my most likely problem IMO.
 
JB said:
Where do you think your own game falls in this spectrum of stats?
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I tend to miss short, but often (especially if the green design allows for a run-up), that's by design.

I often look to run shots on since I don't generate a ton of spin.
 
I have adopted the strategy of going by the back of the green distance to select a club, and I almost never hit it long. When I do, it's usually because I hit a low liner that lands short of the pin but rolls out too far.
 
tehuti said:
I have adopted the strategy of going by the back of the green distance to select a club, and I almost never hit it long. When I do, it's usually because I hit a low liner that lands short of the pin but rolls out too far.
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Good strategy !
 
I would agree 100% on this. I have started to use one more club if I am questioning the distance.
 
Yeah, I'm short about 10% of the time. My problem is catching the ball/ turf a little on the fat side. With a slower swing it doesn't take much to rob myself of distance.

My thing with approach shots to keep short shots to minimum is club selection.

I will look at the distance I need. If I see an "iffy" 7i distance, I will swing a 6i.

I'm not a golfer who hits the ball the same distance every time, with which ever club I'm using. Example being my PW. I will send the ball between 95-105 yards. This is why I aim for "landing areas" instead of specific spots. I'm not that precise of a ball striker.
 
Honestly I don’t really track mine. I tend to miss left or right more then anything from what I remember. I honestly rarely miss short unless long is big trouble and I am playing it safe. I honestly probably miss long more often then short. I seem to just hit a more pure shot then expected at least 1-2 times per round and send it long.
 
My home course you can miss 16/18 greens short and be perfectly fine. Still on a chipping area. You can miss long on 0/18. Deep rough, woods or OB.

I play 5-6 courses regularly each year. I can't think of many holes at all where it's safe to miss long.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
I have only kept data on 4-5 rounds now but of all approach shots I miss 45% short and 8% long (22% GIR, 7% Left, 17% Right). That translates to about 58% of my misses being left short and 10% long. My most common miss is definitely fat to leave the ball short or not accounting for wind or slope. For me I think the fat and poos struck shots are a much bigger factor then not knowing my distances on a well struck shot.

I have thought about this recently and still don't factor it in to my approach shot. Aiming for the back of the green or over is probably the best scoring strategy for me. The problem is the most frustrating miss is when I hit a great shot and really catch a ball flush and have it go over the green. I can live with a poor shot missing the green but I hate missing on good strikes.
 
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