do you expect to mishit the ball ?

I never "expect" to mishit the ball but unfortunately it happens. My thought varies depending on where the trouble is. If it's short, I'm obviously going to take enough to get to the back of the green with a well struck shot, but if it misses, it misses over the trouble. If it's long, then obviously I'm going to play to the middle. If it's flushed, it makes the middle but missed, it stays short to where I can get up and down. I don't pin hunt very much anymore, so I'm trying to play for the center. So a flushed shot either goes to the middle or back, while a missed shot, is short.

I think pin location may be partly the issue. If it's in the front, don't even think of trying to hit the front of the green, take enough club to the middle or the back. Then if it's missed, it's right near the pin but if it's flushed, you're still putting. Then obviously the opposite for a back pin.

Try playing a round by taking enough club to the middle or the back of the green, regardless of pin location. You should start to engrave a thought in your head that if "this club is flushed, I'm at the back, even if I miss it, it's still short to where I can get up & down." Once you start forgetting where the pin is, the thought of "expecting to mishit the ball" shouldn't really become a factor.

I think players sometimes think about "hitting that exact number" way too much. Especially when a player is just beginning the game. When I think that 9/10 beginner players don't know or have the slightest idea what their carry numbers are, whether it's a good shot or bad. By not thinking about that exact number, you can't "expect to mishit it" if you don't know the exact number. Try changing your pre-shot routine to negate the time for those thoughts to come to mind. Get those distances, pull a club to the middle or back, then swing away. Don't start thinking "well if I flush this one, it might go over" or "if I don't catch all of this, it will never get back to the pin." You may not do it consciously but subconsciously it's affecting your thought process, consequently your shot.

If none of these work, then I've got nothing for ya. ;) Seek your nearest golf professional. :ROFLMAO:
 
Why is this even a discussion? Who the heck plays to an expected mishit? If you expect to hit it like garbage guess how you will probably hit it.
 
So, in my experience it is VERY rare to find people who can put themselves in someone else's shoes. Rare as in small single digit of the population. By my count, about 30% of the responders to this thread were able to do so. Well done!
 
So, in my experience it is VERY rare to find people who can put themselves in someone else's shoes. Rare as in small single digit of the population. By my count, about 30% of the responders to this thread were able to do so. Well done!

So you’re saying my weaknesses are not exactly the same as everyone else’s? And that a fix which works for some won’t necessarily work for everyone? How is that possible?!!
 
reading the comments and the situation thats written out, I guess id have to say yes id plan to mishit it. If this scenario flat out tells me im going to mishit the ball 7 times out of 10 then yea id plan on mishitting it

If it was a general question of do I myself plan on a mishit then the answer would be no
 
I nominate this for Best Post of the Day!
I'm genuinely not sure who's point you agree with here.

I'm completely puzzled by DG's point. I do not think for a second people who are calculating based off of mishits are hitting alot of greens. Those two things just do not go together. I mean in order for that to even be REMOTELY true we'd have to assume a mishit is straight which is a total coin flip at best?
 
I'm genuinely not sure who's point you agree with here.

I'm completely puzzled by DG's point. I do not think for a second people who are calculating based off of mishits are hitting alot of greens. Those two things just do not go together. I mean in order for that to even be REMOTELY true we'd have to assume a mishit is straight which is a total coin flip at best?

Consider that Tour players club themselves for a mishit while most amateurs club for their best strike. Even Nicklaus or Tiger in their primes did not go around the golf course hitting every shot square-solid and they knew it,. So, a top player clubs for a mishit, which for a 150 yard shot may mean 5-yards of carry difference between a solid-square strike and a mishit. For example to a 150 yard target a mishit for Nicklaus would carry 145 , a slight mishit (his expectation) would carry 150, and a perfectly square-solid strike would carry 155.
 
I'm genuinely not sure who's point you agree with here.

I'm completely puzzled by DG's point. I do not think for a second people who are calculating based off of mishits are hitting alot of greens. Those two things just do not go together. I mean in order for that to even be REMOTELY true we'd have to assume a mishit is straight which is a total coin flip at best?
Choose your irons based on average distance. Not expected strike quality.
 
I expect to miss-hit every shot 😂
 
No I don't ever to mishit the ball haha. Thats bad Mojo and negative thinking.

even when i am playing like crap, I will pick my club, know that it is the right club to get to a certain part of the green.
 
The whole thing is asinine because you play to where you expect your normal good shot to be. You don’t start running mathematical calculations thinking to yourself that you just hit your normal good shot 5-6 times so now you are likely to mishit and come up 20-30 yards short. You continue to swing and expect to hit it just as you normally would. Any other thought is just asking for a problem and creating one where none exists. Get your distance, select your club based off how you normally hit it. Anything else is again, absolutely ridiculous.
 
I'm completely puzzled by DG's point.

“Do you use your average carry distance or your best carry distance as your club’s benchmark?“

That’s the actual question being asked. Rephrasing the question “Do you plan to mishit?” confuses the issue because none of us who use average carry distance consider it a mishit when we hit a ball our average distance. Average is the expectation. If we mishit more than we pure though, playing to average is technically playing with the expectation of mishitting.

Personally, I think there are much better ways to impart knowledge than confusing the actual question being asked like this, but it sure did elicit discussion.
 
So you’re saying my weaknesses are not exactly the same as everyone else’s? And that a fix which works for some won’t necessarily work for everyone? How is that possible?!!
Sarcasm is sometimes difficult to detect in the written word. But I'm pretty sure your post was dripping with it! Enjoyed the comment. By the way, there is a name for the foible you described. It's called "Everyman's Syndrome".
 
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“Do you use your average carry distance or your best carry distance as your club’s benchmark?“

That’s the actual question being asked. Rephrasing the question “Do you plan to mishit?” confuses the issue because none of us who use average carry distance consider it a mishit when we hit a ball our average distance. Average is the expectation. If we mishit more than we pure though, playing to average is technically playing with the expectation of mishitting.

Personally, I think there are much better ways to impart knowledge than confusing the actual question being asked like this, but it sure did elicit discussion.
I could make the argument that the shots that go FARTHER than the average are also "mishit."
 
Ben Hogan said that he only hit about 3-4 shots per round that came off exactly how he visualized them. The rest were good misses. “Golf is a game of misses. He who misses best wins.” – Ben Hogan. You’ve probably also heard of Dr. Bob Rotella’s book titled “Golf is not a game of perfect”. A good round comes down to how good your misses are.
 
I'm genuinely not sure who's point you agree with here.

I'm completely puzzled by DG's point. I do not think for a second people who are calculating based off of mishits are hitting alot of greens. Those two things just do not go together. I mean in order for that to even be REMOTELY true we'd have to assume a mishit is straight which is a total coin flip at best?
I think the term mishit is what's holding up a lot of agreement. Exchange it for 'less than perfectly flush' and it might be easier. Either way, in this scenario, it just seems to be a roundabout way of asking if you play to the most likely outcome or the most hopeful one.
 
That's fine, but how do your club yourself ?
For example, Jack Nicklaus stated that for him 2 or 3 pure-perfectly struck shots per round was exceptionally good. So, his policy was to club himself for a slight mishit.

You underestimate the distance control of someone like Jack when he is having a "normal" day. A slight miss-hit for him with a 9 iron will still travel within 4-6 yards of normal distance. With no wind or elevation, I bet they rarely club down if they have a good number with a short iron/wedge in their hands. I certainly don't and I suck compared to the pros.

Higher handicappers should absolutely club down if 7 out of 10 shots are the large misses in yardage you describe.
 
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Taking more club because I might mishit it is a terrible idea for me. I won't swing aggressively.
It's like being afraid to ask the hot chick for a date, so when you do, you mumble something stupid.
 
The whole thing is asinine because you play to where you expect your normal good shot to be. You don’t start running mathematical calculations thinking to yourself that you just hit your normal good shot 5-6 times so now you are likely to mishit and come up 20-30 yards short. You continue to swing and expect to hit it just as you normally would. Any other thought is just asking for a problem and creating one where none exists. Get your distance, select your club based off how you normally hit it. Anything else is again, absolutely ridiculous.

You've used the words "asinine" and "ridiculous" a couple of times now. Have you considered that is is well known (apparent at any regulation length golf course) that most amateur players leave their golf balls well short of the green. And that when asked the number one fault they see during Pro Am play Tour players reply "amateurs don't take enough club for the shot at hand".
The OP is about club selection, and if it's common for players to come up short with approach shots to the green , suggestions for a way to improve that situation is not "asinine" or "ridiculous".
 
Your ball lay in the fairway, 150 yards from a center of the green hole location. Good lie, level terrain, no wind. Front edge of the green is 140 yards, back edge of the green is 165 yards.

A seriously mishit 7-iron carries 120 to 130 yards.
A slightly mishit 7-iron for you carries 130 to 140 yards.
A well struck 7-iron carries 145 yards.
A very well struck-pure 7-iron carries 155 yards.

Your game is at a level where seven swings out of ten you either slightly mishit or seriously mishit the ball. Do you club yourself hoping/expecting for one of the three out of ten swings that will carry 145 to 155 yards? Or do you club yourself expecting a mishit and carry the ball 130 yards ?
This is a good and interesting question.

How many times do I slightly mishit + well struck a ball? Those two options offer a 25 yard range (130-155). I might think about making decisions based off these options and look for opportunities to use my 7 iron when the center of the green is 142-143 yards away.

Under normal circumstances I would probably play expecting a well struck shot. But there is a part of me that says if we are playing golf (on a course) we should course manage by playing to the swing we actually have that day, which means playing for your slight mishit numbers. Then I'd spend time on the range working to improve my swing to increase the number of times I can have a well struck ball.
 
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But there is a part of me that says if we are playing golf (on a course) we should course manage by playing to the swing we actually have that day, which means playing for your slight mishit numbers.

Absolutely this is good golf thinking. Tour pros use their warm range up time, as well as the first few holes of a round, to learn what their swing is producing that particular day. Some days their stock left-t-right ball flight is not moving as much as it usually does, so they accept it and use it to choose the best sense lines of play.. Other days the ball might not carrying as far as it usually does, so they choose clubs accordingly for that shorter than usual carry which is happening. Good scoring is about being aware of one's shot tendencies and making productive use of same.
 
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