Badgolfergreg brought up a point on my first ball flight blog that reminded me about the importance of playing the percentages when you are playing a round of golf.
What do I mean by that? Well, it has to do with never trying to hit a dead straight golf shot. I always want the ball to have some curvature to it, rather than being perfectly straight. The reason is two-fold: Firstly, think about what actually has to take place to hit a dead straight golf ball. First, the club has to be traveling EXACTLY down the target line at the point of impact. Secondly, the clubface must be PERFECTLY square at the point of impact. Then the wind must either not be blowing, or blowing either perfectly into or with the ball-target line. That is too much to ask!
So what you need to do is embrace your shot shape and use it to your advantage. I have played a fade for years, and I feel comfortable with it. Sure, I might sometimes hit that straight ball, or I might fade a little more than I intended (maybe a slice?), but it's almost always a fade to some degree. So with that knowledge, I shape my game around that shot. Let's say I'm on the tee of a nice par 4. The fairway is, let's say, 30 yards wide. Most people would just aim it right down the middle and hope they hit the ball straight. But that only leaves you 15 yards to work with on either side of your target. When you're attempting to hit a straight ball, you are likely to hit the ball in either direction...and when you're dealing with only 15 yards of room to miss and you have a driver in your hand, you're likely to get into trouble.
So instead, I know I hit a fade, and I use it. I aim up the left side of the fairway. Now, if I hit my fade as planned, I should be in good shape. If I fade it more than I've planned, I now have the entire 30 yards of fairway to work with, since I aimed left...so I'll probably still be in the fairway unless I hit one really bad slice. And if I hit that miraculously straight ball, I will either be just on the left edge of the fairway or maybe the left rough. The only real problem would occur if I were to accidentally hook the ball, but that is highly unlikely if I'm setting up to play a fade. So by playing to my shot shape and giving myself the entire fairway to play with--a wide margin for error--I find that I hit many more fairways than I otherwise would.
This strategy works with approach shots as well. But what I've found that I have to accept is that there may be some pins that I can't shoot at. If a pin is cut way on the left side, I would have to aim off the green to allow for my fade, and that can be a risky move, depending on the amount of trouble around that area of the green. So I just take my medicine, aim more or less directly at the pin, and accept that my shot will fade off to the right of the pin. I'll probably be on the green, but I'll have a longer putt and have to play for par. But that's fine in my book! When the pin is cut in a location that my fade will help get me a little closer, those are the occasions when I hope to end up with a birdie.
So play the percentages next time you go play a round. I think you'll benefit from this strategy!
