How do you pick a target?

[jetandollie]

Does anyone have any rules or a thought process they work through when picking a target? Say from different distances of 100-150-200. Do. you think about shot shape, avoiding trouble, the best miss ect? I really struggle with this on the course, and anytime I try to play "smart" it just turns into being hyper conservative and costing me as many strokes as taking a chance at an unlikely pin or part of the green. 

 

Any advice? 

[Petethreeput]

Harvey Penick says “take dead aim.”  Rotella brought “aim small, miss small” from shooting sports to golf.

 

For myself, from those distances, I pick a spot beyond the middle of the green and hit it. I will take into account the prevailing ball flight of the club, ie draw/fade.

 

One thing I have heard is the brain doesn’t process “don’t” “can’t” “shouldn’t,” so I find the most difficult process to be removing those thoughts and thinking “do” “can” and “should.”

[Phabs]

Aim small, miss small was the best advise I’ve received from a college coach. 

[jetandollie]

Aiming small and missing small or taking dead aim sounds great...but how do you determine what to take dead aim at? 

[joostin]

When playing well and remembering to do so, I try to pick a very particular spot on a tree or object to start the ball path (in line with a spot on the ground in front of the ball) with a shot shape in mind.  Towards that spot with a baby draw.  Definitely not "don't hit into water"!

[Petethreeput]

3 minutes ago, jetandollie said:

Aiming small and missing small or taking dead aim sounds great...but how do you determine what to take dead aim at? 

For myself it might be a tree top, mountain peak, fence post, etc beyond the middle of the green.  Or if the flag is in the middle I aim at that.

 

The only time I aim at a protected flag is if I am within 125 yards. I suspect everyone has a distance in their mind. For pros that might 185 yards (or more). For a scrub like me it’s 125 bc I feel confident PW through wedges.

[Petethreeput]

1 minute ago, iSwing said:

 

Now let's think about that for a minute.  If you are standing in a buffet line and your thoughts are don't take the fish it looks spoiled are you suddenly subjected to an uncontrollable action which grabs the fish.   

I get it. Apparently it is in relation to motions. And I am only the messenger, but anecdotally how many of us have stood on the tee and said to ourselves, “Don’t go OB,” and then promptly reload?

[Nels55]

For me there are two parts to this.  The first part is the setup and that is where a specific target is used.  I see pros doing this all the time on TV aiming at the guy in the red shirt for instance.  The second part is the target during the swing.  I have had limited success being distant target oriented while I am swinging even though this is something that I have been taught.  It works great when it works but most of the time being target oriented during the swing makes me anxious and produces poor shots.  I seem to do best when my target during the swing is the ball.  I think specifically of how I want the club to impact the ball and that seems to produce my best results for most shots.  This is possibly due to my swing mechanics being rather variable or maybe my skill level is not that great.  I can successfully think of the actual target during the swing on putts and short game shots but not so much on full shots.  On full shots I do better when I trust my setup to set my aim and then focus on the process of hitting the ball.

 

I have described what seems to work best for me at the moment but I believe that the correct process is definitely something that every golfer needs to figure out for themselves!

[TwistedSister]

27 minutes ago, Petethreeput said:

For myself it might be a tree top, mountain peak, fence post, etc beyond the middle of the green.  Or if the flag is in the middle I aim at that.

 

The only time I aim at a protected flag is if I am within 125 yards. I suspect everyone has a distance in their mind. For pros that might 185 yards (or more). For a scrub like me it’s 125 bc I feel confident PW through wedges.

A 2 capper is not a scrub!! 

[ctmason_98]

32 minutes ago, Petethreeput said:

I get it. Apparently it is in relation to motions. And I am only the messenger, but anecdotally how many of us have stood on the tee and said to ourselves, “Don’t go OB,” and then promptly reload?

Im not trying to nitpick but it was that you said “the brain can’t process.”  The brain can, it’s just HOW it processes and where the focus of your attention is. 

[jetandollie]

I think I did a terrible job of asking the question. 
 

I was looking for advice on how to play golf better, not how to swing a club better. 
 

I get that picking a target and aiming at it is important, but maybe a better way of asking is how do you evaluate the target you are picking before swinging? What is the decision making process in your mind from different distances on the target and why do you pick it over others? 

[jomatty]

Not sure if my answer is what you are looking for or if it is overly rudimentary but  I’m always taking into account my misses and how I want to hit the shot.  I play a fade if I can help it and my miss is usually right.  So for instance if I’m playing to a hole that is tucked on the right side I stand behind the ball and draw a line from myself to the left of the pin, maybe five yards.  This is the line I use to orient my feet and shoulders.  If I hit my line than I’ve played a safe shot to the middle of the green.  If I over cut it a little bit then it works out to being a better shot, even though it is actually played worse.  If the pin is on the left side of the green I will often take dead aim and try to play a straight shot rather than a fade.  If I still fade it then I’m still safe and fine.  Builds in margin for error.  Of course these are two examples of generic situations but that is how I decide where to aim.  The actual target is usually something in the background.  Not sure if this is what you are asking about or not.

[me05501]

1 hour ago, jetandollie said:

I think I did a terrible job of asking the question. 
 

I was looking for advice on how to play golf better, not how to swing a club better. 
 

I get that picking a target and aiming at it is important, but maybe a better way of asking is how do you evaluate the target you are picking before swinging? What is the decision making process in your mind from different distances on the target and why do you pick it over others? 

It all starts with your lie. You have way more options with a perfect, flat fairway lie than with anything worse than that. So use your lie to determine your options and your confidence in executing a shot. 
 

The next big variable is your distance from the target and the club that puts in your hands. Is it a club you normally draw or fade? What’s your miss with it? What’s your confidence level with it? 
 

Now consider if there’s a hazard that must be cleared to reach your target. Is the better miss short or long, left or right? Are you better at handling green-side sand, fluffy rough, tight lies or very long putts? All of these have to be considered when choosing a spot to aim your approach. 
 

So you’ve digested all these variables and you’re ready to pick a specific spot. Are you picturing a perfectly struck ball that flies perfectly on your target line and lands at the perfect intended distance? Well...don’t.
 

Instead, picture your established shot pattern with the club in your hands.
 

Maybe it’s a large oval/circle with some clubs and a smaller pattern with others. Whatever it is, imagine that shot pattern overlaying your target area. Where can you CENTER that shot pattern for the best range of outcomes? That’s exactly where you should be aiming: the very center of your shot pattern for the club in your hands. 

Note that your target area might, or might not, include the flagstick. Don’t worry about that. Aiming at the flagstick isn’t required for your personal best outcome. 

 

Once you have that spot in mind, you want to take dead aim at that spot. Don’t be distracted by the flag or water or anything else. Zone in on trying to execute the best shot you can toward that target. If you’ve executed this process correctly your outcome should be very manageable. 

 

Our brains do a very good job at converting a keen target focus into good results. You just have to make sure you’re giving your brain the best target for your game on that specific day. Some days your targets might be smaller than others. But don’t take a swing until you have a clear picture of your target and are 100% committed to it. 

 

 

[Tupperwolf]

Excellent post!

 

My game has always pretty much been "aim down the center of the fairway and give the most room for the two way miss" and "hit the shot that goes the same distance as the flag towards the middle of the green".  That's basically it, and I know there's so much more mental chess that the really good players do.  Not just the good swingers of the club, but the actual good PLAYERS of the game.

 

I've been thinking lately how much work I need to put into course management and managing misses for the best results.  The post above is great motivation.

[DaveMc82]

To try and answer your actual question assuming it’s not silly windy:

 

100 - aim is based on trajectory choice and where the bad miss is based on distance variance. I can assume 10 feet either side of dead aim as a lateral miss so that’s not an issue. Aim to hit a yardage with a shot type that gives no chance of getting screwed by a good shot. E.g. if there’s a run off short and a front pin I will not hit a high trajectory spinning full 56. Instead I’ll hit a lower 52 or 48 that can’t spin off the front. 30 feet putting is far better than 60 feet pitching/chipping short sided. 
 

150 - again based on distance to trouble. Club selection to miss in the best area. If the front edge is 135 and the trouble starts at 170 I’m hitting no more than a 9 iron (assuming no elevation/slope to account for). At this yardage my rule is to divide the width of the green in 2. Trouble left I’m missing right or landing right of centre and vice versa. 
 

200 - I’m weighing up whether flying the ball in is feasible. If there’s bad trouble or a hazard on either side I play a club to get to the front edge with roll. At this yardage I have to commit to a shot shape. I pick a shape where if it goes straight it’s not dead and if goes too much the same. This normally means hitting AT the trouble and moving it off of it. Pick a club where I have to nuke it to get to the trouble. I’ve always found hitting at the trouble to move it off is far easier than trying to keep away from it. This way I can commit and it’ll move too much way more often than not enough. 
 

As far as aiming goes, I hit through an intermediate window about 5 yards ahead and 6” wide. I use 2 pool noodles at the range spiked into the ground and hit balls between them. 

[ltom]

4 hours ago, Petethreeput said:

I get it. Apparently it is in relation to motions. And I am only the messenger, but anecdotally how many of us have stood on the tee and said to ourselves, “Don’t go OB,” and then promptly reload?

Nope never. 😁

[Arn]

At this point, I aim where I don’t want it to go. Odds of me hitting what I’m aiming at are just about nil. 

[Petethreeput]

6 hours ago, ctmason_98 said:

Im not trying to nitpick but it was that you said “the brain can’t process.”  The brain can, it’s just HOW it processes and where the focus of your attention is. 

You can take up the semantic argument with Dr Bob Rotella.

[Petethreeput]

2 hours ago, ltom said:

Nope 

Edited May 9, 2021 by Petethreeput

[ctmason_98]

3 hours ago, Petethreeput said:

You can take up the semantic argument with Dr Bob Rotella.

 

I have. I've challenged him to two out of three falls multiple times. Still waiting.