We've launched the new forums! Read more here

What shot are you afraid to hit?

Tee shots where there is water left. Those ones are fun (no, not at all)
 
Right now, I am afraid to hit any fairway wood. It's ridiculous. The club that used to be my strength is humiliating me every time I try to use it.
 
Greenside sand shots. I know I can hit them, and they're not that hard, and I've hit plenty of good sand shots, yadda yadda yadda. But there's a mental block in the way, and I need to learn to get past it.
 
amsmith61 said:
I honestly dread chips over a bunker.. They shouldn't be difficult, but I struggled with them when I first started playing and can't stand them ever since.
Click to expand...

give me 2 hours practice time and I will having you hitting those shots with easy, the flop, the low chip, the high chip, you will be the master of all of them!
 
high draw with a driver, or pretty much any draw with a driver where i can't get away with a smothered hook

forced carry of 180+ off any lie including off the tee

all fairway bunker shots

putts. all of them. seriously.
 
Being a relatively short hitter any forced carry makes me nervous!
 
Medium length pitches. If I'm only taking the club 9-3, I'm good. Once I start getting past that I'm in trouble. 50-90 and 100-115 are my partial swing trouble areas.
 
the next one
 
Anything with a hazard to the right, especially water. I fight a slice. When I'm not worried, I can hit relatively straight. If there's water to the right, I have to really focus on ignoring it or it Shankasaurus Rex time.
 
right now i'm afraid to hit anything into a left to right wind. I typically dont have a problem moving the ball left, but I just dont have it right now. I can play a nice fade, or a wicked hook.
 
Half wedge shots kill me. I don't play nearly enough to have the feel of hitting a 50 yard shot. I try so hard not to decelerate through the ball that I end up thinning it, chunking it, or blasting it over the green.
 
Partial wedge shots from a soft lie. I hit them fat and well short almost every time. I've started putting the ball back farther in my stance and it helps but I still come up short a lot. My local course is fairly short so I end up with a number of these shots from 40 to 80 yards throughout a round and they get in my head every time.
 
Hawk said:
Pull hook, especially on holes where it's bit me before. Happened yesterday in fact.

What's funny is that the big push (comes less often) is the same way though. There's a hole that I hit the giant push off the planet with regularity and it's in my mind before I even get on the tee box.
Click to expand...
When you let go and just trust it, does the hook show up more than the straight ball or ball that stays in play?
 
rbarthle17 said:
Oh, in that case nothing anymore. I am 100% focused on impact these days. I have put all other swing thoughts out of my mind except for where I imagine the club hitting the ball. On the tee it's making an upward strike at the back of the ball, just a little bit left of center. On the grass for a full shot, it's imagining making a square impact on the center of the ball - that has helped me immensely with hitting the ball first. On partial shots, I am still working out the visualization that feels the best but at the moment it is looking a couple of inches ahead of the ball on the line I want it to go to make sure I swing the club through the ball and to that spot - to try and negate deceleration.

I expect the shot to either be straight or a draw. The draw is more likely to happen with my UDIs, my XTDs have been pretty straight. I aim a little right of my target to compensate. If there is OB left, I will aim a little further right just to be safe.

It is still a work in progress, but my first round this season was an 87. My last 10 rounds on that same course last year were 93-97. Right now I am all about impact, it's what works for me.
Click to expand...
I like that uou focus on something other than the miss.
 
150-160-170 yard mid iron shots out of a fairway bunker are tough for me, I usually hit them fat cause' I an trying not to hit them thin!
Practice, practice, practice....
 
Downhill lies with a hybrid or fw.
 
I had one yesterday. Downhill lie chip shot from thick rough and the flag was like 4 paces from the fringe. I opened the 58*, wide stance, hands low and... made it to the fringe lol. I'm just glad I didn't skull it or whiff right under the ball.
 
Trying to keep the driver from fading/push is preventing me from playing better right now.
One single shot is the downhill, greenside bunker shot. I have "experinced" a bunch of those recently...
 
Anything in the tee box. No matter what I hit, I definitely feel myself tensing up before the shot. During the swing I try not to think about it, but I end up pushing the ball hard to the left. From what i remember if my lessons, that indicates I'm not shifting my weight properly, but if I concentrate on that I feel like I keep my weight back farther to the left.
 
Last edited:
Short chip, 30 yards and less. Especially if it is a tight lie, or over water, bunker, etc.

Jack
 
1. Serious downhill lies where I need to get distance. I tend to not hit down on the ball but try and sweep it off the grass. This I recently discovered so I'll be working on it.

2. I'm having serious issues with the 4wood since I've tested another. I know it's in my head especially because I used to love that club. Don't use it that often though so couldn't say it keeps me from dropping my handicap much. Solution for now: use a hybrid and play it a bit shorter.

3. Long carry over water/hazard from the deck where I need at least 180m (195 yards?) of carry. It's a mental block, combined with me not loving the 4wood right now.

4. Long long approaches to the green: again 180m+ I need to cut myself some slack here, from those distances you're bound to miss a few greens and try to make an up and down.

5. Fast, downhill puts. The ones where you have to just tap it a bit in the right direction so it'll trickle down to the hole. Just don't like them.

I've been working on a draw, if I'm not feeling it I'll blade a shot or two. My natural shape is a (towering) fade and I'll go back to that anytime I feel it's needed.
Chipping should be improved, pitching too, but I'm working on it and haven't lost confidence yet :)


Reading this back it seems I'm inclined to say the long shots. But it's the short game that lets me down mainly. That's why I'm focussing my training on that part of the game.
 
Thats my biggest weakness too. I hit them fat and when i try desperately to not hit it fat i blade it. If that ball is laying on some soft stuff i am money but get me on something hard and i suck.
 
Tadashi70 said:
When you let go and just trust it, does the hook show up more than the straight ball or ball that stays in play?
Click to expand...


Tension or thinking about it doesn't seem to help for sure lol.
 
Opening hole at home club. 2 club downhill 170-190 yard par 3, unlevel tee box, concrete green, river just in back of green, woods tight along the right. A pond at perfect choking distance in front of tee box. unraked sand traps with 2' lip that are both larger than the green on left and right. Crabgrass hard clay fairway in front. Tee box for #2 is 15 yards left of pin high. and there is always people waiting to tee off on both tees as well as a huge arrangement of adirondack chairs laid out by tee box for spectators as well as the patio on the clubhouse facing the first tee. It's choke city.

Hole two tee is probably 2nd scariest shot... Hole three tee is probably 3rd scariest shot.




As far as generic type shot goes, perhaps 62-64* full swing lob with people hanging out on the green.
 
Downhill Chips. So much wristy skullage in my memories that I just expect another skull shot across the green.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top