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Aggressive or Conservative - Your Style of Play

Used to be aggressive when I was less of thinker and more of a free-swinger.

Now between the combination of overthinking and lack of focus (yes, I think that's possible), I'm in a place now where I don't trust my swing with the long clubs so I'm playing pretty conservative all the time.
 
Aggressive definitely. I sometimes shouldn't go for it but hey, it's only a golf ball. I have plenty of them to lose! :act-up:
 
I would say aggressive based off of what the situation is. If its match play and my opponent is in trouble, Im ultra conservative making sure I dont lose the hole when its there for the taking. Im probably most aggressive on Par 5's
 
I'm more conservative than the John Birch Society.
 
jdtox said:
I tend to be aggressive since I will almost always "go for it". That being said the last few years I have been leaning more the other way as I get older and wiser haha
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I am definitely getting older, but none the wiser. I am too aggressive to a fault. I keep telling myself that one day I will learn to back off.


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Conservative - 18 pars is a good score


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I am trying to teach myself to be conservative. My goal right now is to avoid blow up holes and that - for me- comes from too many hero shots (gone bad).
 
Gotta go with Aggressive. Because I have to pick one!
 
Honestly, I don't know how to answer this question because I don't know how others define.... I hit a Driver and that to me is aggressive :banghead: If I hit a tee shot into the rough and I have a tree which may impact me reaching the green, mostly I'd try to avoid a big number and I'll try to punch out to advance the ball to a distance I'm comfortable hitting the next shot, which I would define as conservative . If, on that same hole, I hit driver into the fairway and I have say a 200 yd shot at the green but the green has water on the right and bunkers in the front, I'm still going for the green, some may say aggressive others would say that's the correct play? Conservative would be to avoid the water at all cost and lay up short where I am sure (never sure as usually my ball is a magnet to trouble) to avoid the water.

To me, aggressive is trying to pull off a shot that you either don't have in the bag or one where you have a high probability of making the situation worse. In the case above, I have a 200 yd shot in the bag, but I still have a chance to make things worse (into the water) so I say aggressive.
 
Sounds like aggressive, with some logic applied there Stemmy!
 
Conservative. Just kidding. Aggressive is my style. I can't help myself and I like the challenge of going for it.
 
Aggressive, and it gets me in trouble , sometimes big trouble...lol but the payoffs are worth it sometimes

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My mind feels like the key is course management and avoiding the miss that could land you that big number that can single handedly ruin a round.
Unfortunately my mind thinks I am WAY better than I really am so often don't think about pulling a three wood when I need to carry the creek 240 yards out to a pin that requires a high fade, or threading a 4 iron under the branches of three trees to an elevated green 204 away.

Yep, can definitely say I value conservative course management and think I executed it once. Pretty sure that lasted for like 4 holes and by then I was 5 over because my swing was so tentative. After that red A** quickly over ruled all conservative thoughts. Having said all that, overall I think my style can be summed up somewhere between conservative and aggressive...if stupid belongs between those two :) I really have difficulty being smart for an entire round or tourney. Sometimes the golf gods just feel sorry for me and only charge me a stroke or two on a round for stupidity and I can survive that sometimes to post a decent score.
 
Definitely conservative. I’d much rather hit a poor shot and lose half a stroke than make a poor decision and lose 1.5 or more


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Aggressive. And perhaps that is why there are days of incredible scoring.....and even more days of some blow up holes that leave me wondering why I 'went for it.'

~Rock
 
I'm very selective.

I love hitting my 5 iron off the tee on short par fours/doglegs because I'm so damn consistent with it. Otherwise, putting I always lag and play the two putt. If I putt at the hole from over 12 feet, I ALWAYS zoom by, and it become a 3 putt or worse.

Otherwise, I'm always hitting driver off the tee, and 3 wood into every par 5 green. Hitting whatever club I need to to get to the green.
 
It really depends on the situation. Overall I play pretty conservatively, take the smart shot in to greens and play it safe off the tee even if that means taking a 3 wood instead of driver.

On the other hand when it comes to circus shots through or around trees I'll take that tough shot 85% of the time. When it comes to short game I'll try any shot, any time. I have full confidence in my wedge game around the green that I can pull off any shot I need to.
 
Great question and leads into my hopes to shoot better scores with course management in 2018.

I think with longer clubs in my hand I'll take a conservative approach, or if I do go for it, make sure I miss in a decent spot. But with 7i-wedges I'll be aggressive. I'm not reaching any Par 5s in 2 shots, getting inside that 150 stick on my 2nd shot will be the goal instead of trying to muscle a hybrid or wood and leave myself those uncomfortable 40-50 yard shots.

When in a spot where I'd have to hit a miracle shot, just get back out in the fairway.
 
darthweasel said:
done properly aggressive is conservative.
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This^^^^imo is so true.
I mean is playing to manage to strengths and avoiding weaknesses really considered conservative? If that's what nets you the lower average scores round to round then how can that really be considered conservative. The goal is to put up better scores and drop the cap round in and out. Managing to strengths, making smarter decisions, and avoiding potential for disaster is imo not conservative when the result is on average better.

I play with the intent of getting closest to the hole I can get on every shot yet within my means of best success given the scenario and shot choices. I do understand one cannot puttputt there way around the course and each shot needs to have significant respectable and productive advancement in reaching the goal of sinking the ball soon as possible. And with that, I weigh the choices in front of me taking into consideration of what I feel success rate is. Its kind of like walking a fine line between more execution success vs less success playing shots that may get you there quicker but only when they work. There is a curve there imo with each scenario we face. When the curve (for a given next shot) of failed execution becomes a bit too great then I would argue the more aggressive play is to actually play the shot that offers the successful execution more often vs the other choice/s.

Imo that's the most productive form of my golf round to round because that's what leads to the lower average scores per round. And again, how can that technically be considered conservative if it results in better scores more often. So for me...its play the shots that get me closest to the hole but consider the success rate and try to keep that rate (via shot choices) on the stronger side of my playing scale of ability. Of course you cant be a detriment to yourself either way. Lean too far one way or the other and productivity falls. So I try to keep that curve living right on the edge of being productive as possible while still maintaining as high success rate as possible within the given choices presented for the scenario. Tip too far on either side and productivity drops.

That's my brain twister point of view. If one wants to call that conservative so be it. I think its neither but is simply just managing to be productive as possible on a regular basis. That's not conservative to me.
 
I have to say Conservative at this point, but I would rather play the opposite.
 
Conservative.....
 
A little of both but if I have to choose one, then aggressive.
 
I play aggressive in moderation...shy of being stupid. I can mess a conservative shot up just as easy. lol
 
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