distance players Vs accuracy players

[bradley443]

hey guys this is my first post

just finished a good round of golf and on the way home i got to thinkin
what would be better to have
Distance or Accuracy

sure they both have there ups n downs but myself being a accuracy player and my mate whos a distance player we are both pretty even in skill

we are always arguing about what is better so i came here to see what you fellow golfer-holics say about it

cheers
Brad

[Neil18]

Re: distance players Vs accuracy players

Hello Brad, and welcome.

Obviously a decent amount of distance is required to play the game to a good level. But I would say with the courses that the average amateur plays, then drives of 230+ yards and 7 irons of 130+ yards are adequate to shoot around par.

I always argue with distance-heads that if you're straight with every club in the bag, then you don't need to be long. That would be slightly different on tour-level courses where the setup is harder, but we don't play those!

Distance is ego-driven. Accuracy is scoring-driven.

It's the short game that separates the winners from the losers.

[LowPost42]

Re: distance players Vs accuracy players

I'm watching an interesting discussion on this very topic on another board.

If you're talking about the PGA Tour, distance wins, because they're all relatively accurate; however an 8 iron is inherently more accurate than a 4 iron - so in essence, distance brings accuracy.

The concept is learn to smash the ball. Once you figure out how to hit it far, it shouldn't be too hard to learn to control the power. The argument follows that you can't learn power.

[BrianW]

Re: distance players Vs accuracy players

My take is that course management is king. Lets assume we are referring to players who can land the ball off the tee with a reasonable chance of being on the fairway or into the first cut most of the time with moderate accuracy on approaches.

On many par 4 and 5 holes being on the edge of the fairway but the wrong side of a dogleg with your tee shot can ruin your chances of a par or even bogey. I see so many players that do not use the appropriate side of the tee box to maximise their chances. Trying to max out distance often creates forced shots, instability and poor results. When faced with long tight fairways it is a temptation to hit the ball too hard and try to steer the ball down the fairway, again with unpredictable results. On some tricky par 4's I like to get a safe 3 wood into the right part of the fairway then hit a penetrating stinger with a 5 wood or 4 hybrid depending on where the pin is cut, this tends to max my chances.

I guess my vote goes for accuracy as being the priority as long as you put on your thinking head.

[GoNavy]

Re: distance players Vs accuracy players

All things being equal, there are no penalty strokes in the fairway, and the game is much easier without sand traps and water hazards....lol....so I guess that makes me an accuracy candidate.

[ogallalabob]

Re: distance players Vs accuracy players

I am not sure either one is better then the other. One style maybe more suited to a certain style of course or even hole by hole. There are a number of ways a person can get around a course. But in reality it still is a combination of skills and wether a player has a realistic understanding of his game and the course and can manage his round properly. An accuracey player is going to have to be a lot more accurate if he only hitting the ball 180 yds while a Distance guy better be putting for eagle occasionally if he his having 4-5 ob's.

[bill reed]

Re: distance players Vs accuracy players

hi
i think if you look at the pro golfers that win the most or are in the top 3 then in the 70s and 80s you had Jack, Tom, Lee and Gary and none of them were long but did keep the ball on the fairway and were winning week in week out. in the 90 Monty was the same.
i think the only two that really done well with a long game have been G Norman and Tiger. Sandy Lyle was always long and was up there for a while. but no one else winning for 5 or 6 years at a time.
if you look at the longest drivers on tour then most on the top of that list don't win as much as the player lower down with the really good short game that can putt .
cheers
bill

[GoNavy]

Re: distance players Vs accuracy players

hi
i think if you look at the pro golfers that win the most or are in the top 3 then in the 70s and 80s you had Jack, Tom, Lee and Gary and none of them were long but did keep the ball on the fairway and were winning week in week out. in the 90 Monty was the same.
i think the only two that really done well with a long game have been G Norman and Tiger. Sandy Lyle was always long and was up there for a while. but no one else winning for 5 or 6 years at a time.
if you look at the longest drivers on tour then most on the top of that list don't win as much as the player lower down with the really good short game that can putt .
cheers
bill

True except for Jack, he was a double threat, not only accurate, but in his prime he was long. There was no one hitting longer then him, which is why he won so much. People forget all this fuss folks are making about Tiger, was the same for Jack 50 years ago. Imagine if he was physically as fit as Tiger back then..lmao...he did what Tiger is doing as a fat boy, smoking a cigarette every other hole, not to mention, doing it with much better competition against him. He coming up on 69 and still can out drive some of the kids on tour.

[AussieGolfBoy]

Re: distance players Vs accuracy players

so far. i've gotta agree with everyone here on the side of accuracy.

i'm no king hitter, but i am longer than most in the club. eg. a bomb drive for me is 280m (310yards) with my average on a good day being around 250m. and an 8i that i hit 150m (175yards)... for example.

the hard part is hitting long on every shot.. it's far easier to take a little speed off the shot to get more accuracy... and thats one key thing i'm working on in my game now.

strong wind will show any deformaties in your shots, if you slice the ball it will end up going no where except a long way off target.

[LowPost42]

Re: distance players Vs accuracy players

so far. i've gotta agree with everyone here on the side of accuracy.

i'm no king hitter, but i am longer than most in the club. eg. a bomb drive for me is 280m (310yards) with my average on a good day being around 250m. and an 8i that i hit 150m (175yards)... for example.

the hard part is hitting long on every shot.. it's far easier to take a little speed off the shot to get more accuracy... and thats one key thing i'm working on in my game now.

strong wind will show any deformaties in your shots, if you slice the ball it will end up going no where except a long way off target.

And you've identified the reason why distance trumps accuracy. You can always dial back your distance by gripping down, shortening your swing, all these things that usually add up to increased accuracy. You can't "crank up" your distances. Most amateurs are already swinging at 100% - how can you 'step on it' when you're already 'standing on it'?

I'd rather 'dial it back' from 310 to 280 to increase my chances of hitting a fairway than 'giving it my all' to get it 240 with a fairway.