Lay up distance

[MaxEntropy]

I like my chances much more with a touchy "feel" shot, especially if I can get to within 50 yards, than intentionally leaving a full swing unless there is a hazard that dictates the play. I don't really have  a "recipe" for the distance, rather a combination of reduced backswing and choking down on the club - it's all feel for me. Generally it works out OK, but I would love to have the time to go hit a 1000 balls with partial swings to really dial in the distances of a variety of shots.

[revkev]

I want to go back to Dave's comment that conventional wisdom dies slowly.  I would add that it never wants to be confused by statistics that contradict it either.

 

Lots of great comments here - just get as close as possible while using common sense and a realistic understanding of your capabilities and you'll be fine.  It's sounds simple and it's often very difficult.

BTW I managed to get one approach shot from inside of 80 yards yesterday and that was my birdie - hit it to about 8 feet.  I made a stupid play from the left rough on the par 5 7th - I thought that I could draw it enough to get it inside of the traps on the right side of the fairway - almost - should have hit more or less club to take the traps out of play (probably less because more could have brought all sorts of other issues in.)  I should have shot the first trap and hit 8 iron over the trees that I decided to go around with the 5 hybrid. 

[jsacraig]

I have the Arccos system and as much as we put faith in their information, I have found that the sensors don't register all the time (I know where to place the phone) and I have to manually enter shots after every round. The club that doesn't register frequently is the putter therefore data on proximity would not be accurate. If I'm in the minority then my comments are irrelevant  but if there is a significant number of us that experience the same problem then.......

[kardboard.kid]

On ‎11‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 5:50 PM, Kenny B said:

I am not that good of a ball striker to vary shot distance by choking down on a club.  I have a hard enough time making good contact with my hands in the same position all the time.  When I choke down, I will most likely hit the ball thin.  I'm much better at changing the amount of backswing.

I find I choke down when in an uphill lie, or heavy rough.  I do like to know averages, as I also know my club averages.  great read.

[EthanSterlingPrice]

I’m a short game player always have been, but I go for par 5s as long as there isn’t a penalty left of the target. My layup distance can vary based on what the hole gives me though. I’ve laid up to 160 before because that was the only spot available that gave me a full club approach. I propose finding a few different distances you can dial in to keep from getting locked into only one option.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[tommc23]

I always go for it unless I absolutely can't. When I lay up it will be 140 and in mainly because that puts a wedge or easy 9 in my hand.

Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[NiftyNiblick]

This is a super interesting thread to me.

Rev is so confident with the accuracy of his driver that he rarely defers to an alternative club on tight driving holes.

 

I hit driver,   if I was bagging one,   maybe four or five times a round--max.

And if a strong-lofted fairway wood was serving as my driver already, I'd still go to driving iron if I didn't see wide open spaces.

 

But as skittish as I was looking at skinny landing areas, that's how bold I was hitting into greens.

I went for greens.     And two things reinforced that inclination.

 

First was the lob wedge.  The lob wedge took the fear out of short siding myself. 

Forget about full swings from closer in.  Less skillful players struggle with that.

But for little shots around the greens, the very low bounce, high loft lob wedge was a miracle invention.

 

Second was joining my club.

Rev speaks, quite reasonably, about vain players under-clubbing themselves.

At my club, in a largely disparate way, long is usually more trouble than short.

The architect loved to frame greens with trees and bushes in the background.

Being optimistic about your length causes less pain than over-clubbing.

 

Thus, the layup was often accomplished by going for it and falling short.

And you have the lob wedge if you do fall short.

 

 

 

 

[NiftyNiblick]

delete

 

[toehold57]

>> But don't you also get the urge to muscle your 7-iron?

Fair question, and that urge is always there. Who doesn’t want to pull off the hero shot? But if I’m 300 out and I’m smart enough to settle for a pair of sevens, I will tend to realize I can’t get there. All I can do is move the ball forward.

>> And if you duff your 7-iron, won't you be further away than if you duff a hybrid or 3-wood?  Why not take the longer club, and convince yourself to make a normal good swing.  If you hit it bad, you still might have a 7-iron to the green.  If you hit it good, you have a wedge, and that's a LOT easier than a 7-iron.  Its honestly NOT that easy to hit two solid straight 7-irons in a row, and if you mishit the first one, you'll be looking at long iron or more to get to the green.

I guess it depends on the person. For me, I have a tendency to pull hook the longer clubs (hence the ‘muscle’ comment). Hitting a pair of seven irons is a lot easier and a place where I tend to be pretty confident.

Play to your strengths!



Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

[PlaidJacket]

I haven't read the blog article. But playing probably 80% of my rounds on my home course I know it like the back of my hand. Which means knowing where my layups should be for a good approach. And most days that's where I am when laying up. I look at laying up in several different ways that don't always mean on a par 5 for example. But I'll start with par 5's which for me always entails a layup shot. Always. My home course is par 70 with only two par 5's. On the longest of the two; my layup results in my having a 7i or 8i approach most of the time. On the other one I layup to about 90-100 yards leaving me with a 52*-56* wedge most days. I also layup so to speak on a couple of par 4's. What that means is not hitting a driver and instead using my 4w for example. But by doing so on certain days and conditions I'll still be hitting my approach with anything from an 8i to PW. Some of my decisions on these par 4's might be due to how I'm hitting the ball that particular day or if I'm trying to play safe and preserve a good round or save a match or something.

Ok I did just go and take a quick look at the article. If I had data - measurements of my approach shots and proximity to the pin I'd probably fall right into the Hcp. category for 0-5 players. Although I do think I'm inside that mark by some measure. Why do I think that? Because our greens are very small as compared to more modern course designs where the greens are huge. I also think by playing on small greens it helps tighten my overall dispersion. 41'-49' (13-16 Yards) could put you off the green many times at my course I think. Anywhoo.... that's my 2 cents.

[PMookie]

Funny, I thought about this thread during my round today! Hahaha! I was inside 80 and hit the greens, but I wasn’t as close as I’d like to have been! Definitely need to work on 50-70 yards!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[cnosil]

48 minutes ago, PMookie said:

Funny, I thought about this thread during my round today! Hahaha! I was inside 80 and hit the greens, but I wasn’t as close as I’d like to have been! Definitely need to work on 50-70 yards!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I thought about my round after you posted in this thread and I need to work on 30-70 yards.   Wet ground made it even more difficult as my club just went right under the ball several times.