Play...defense or offense?

[Bigvivec]

Originally Posted by PA PLAYA

One of the worst things you can do in golf is make a defensive swing, and if I'm rushing around to get to the first tee on time, that's usually what happens.

This has been a thread topic that I have been kicking around in my head for a week now, since Tiger came back on Sunday and ate the field for lunch to be precise...here is the premise...

I have noticed that if I get into a defensive mindset, trying to hold things together and just going for fairways and greens, that is the exact time that I start to get into trouble...I have also noticed via personal experiences that when I become overly aggressive, I am bound to slip up and dump my score...my best play occurs when I am pushing myself to make a moderately difficult but positive swing...attacking vs playing totally safe and trying to hold onto a score...it is interesting to see a player like Tiger, who obvioulsy has different gears...on last Sunday it worked out for him, but he was definitely pushing himself more than if he had the lead waking up on Sunday...for him usually it works out...

So the questions...
Do you have an extra gear...can you play more aggressively, albeit more risky golf if you are trying to win a match, beat a PB etc....it is understood that the extra gear holds more risk/reward potential, but do you have and extra gear at all or do you usually play as well as you can taking every chancy shot along the way...

Secondly, can you play defensively? In that do you have in your repitorie a range of go to shots that might not fly as far but are money most every time? Can you play well when you play "safe"? I can't, but curious about if you do or can...

[CG8]

When I play aggresively I tend to get into trouble . If I am playing in a match against somebody I try and not to worry about how they are doing . If a guy I am playing against has me down and I need to catch up I will play more aggresive but not to the point where it is plain out stupid because in golf someone could screw up just as easily as they do something good . But to answer your question about having an extra gear , I don't think so . I think taking chancy shots and coming out of those shots well requires alot of luck
for most amatuers anyways , Tiger and those guys are GOOD .
If I am aggressive at all it's with my driver . I don't like to be aggresive with the putter for some reason . As for playing it safe I really don't think about that . I just try to keep the ball in play and play smart golf . If I get into trouble I try to get out of trouble safe .

[Fileygolfer]

I usually play a boring game, F\W to Green and two putt pars.
If I need to get into "Attack" mode I go for more pins and start charging Putts. If the Putters hot then I can go into the mid 60's if its not then I switch off "Attack" mode.

[C-Tech]

The harder I try, the worse I get.... I find I play the best golf if I can keep myself calm and steady. My nature is aggressive and competitive, so I have to constantly rein myself in not to make stupid decisions like going to tucked pins, trying to "stretch" a club to get over a bunker, etc. If I go for the pins on birdie holes and play to the middle of the greens on sucker pin positions, I score better. I need to make an aggressive pass at the ball when I swing, but I need to manage my game more conservatively.

[CristieKerr]

Like I've said at other times. There is times to be offensive and times to be defensive. In tournament play there are the same, as well as times you have no choice but to be offensive.

I'll pick my spots, get aggressive when it makes sense, play "boring" when it makes sense. Sometimes I make a mistake, but I'd rather make a mistake on the right shot than have my mistake be playing the wrong shot.

[stlcard_25]

I am generally an offensive player, although I'm not wreckless or stupid about it. Having played my course thousands of times, I know where the biggest trouble is and know enough to plan my shots around it...if that means aiming into the right rough where the best case scenario is catching the righthand side of the fairway, but avoiding the trees left, then so be it. On the greens, however, I am slightly more defensive. I don't make too many long putts, but when I get the green light from 15 feet and in, I'm always ready to give it a run.

[GolfSavage]

Wow, this is one of those "write and delete, try again" threads!

I don't really know yet. Some clubs and sometimes I can play with reckless abandon and play well. Other times in other situations, shots I've made many times before I can't duplicate. The only time I am almost always aggressive is on the green. I almost always putt to make it, even if it's a 90 foot downhill snake. To me a lag putt is one that I misread the line a small amount. And if I have a 4 footer to win a big push, or make really low score, I don't sweat it. I get up there and knock it in (usually!).

[CG8]

Originally Posted by GolfSavage

Wow, this is one of those "write and delete, try again" threads!

I spent more time trying to say what I wanted to say on this thread and I still don't know if I said what I wanted to really say

[300Yards]

Originally Posted by Bigvivec

So the questions...
Do you have an extra gear...can you play more aggressively, albeit more risky golf if you are trying to win a match, beat a PB etc....it is understood that the extra gear holds more risk/reward potential, but do you have and extra gear at all or do you usually play as well as you can taking every chancy shot along the way...

Yes, I do have an extra aggressive gear. But, I like to balance agressive, and conservative..

Secondly, can you play defensively? In that do you have in your repitorie a range of go to shots that might not fly as far but are money most every time? Can you play well when you play "safe"? I can't, but curious about if you do or can...

Yes. I have a flop shot that I hit accurately. It has saved me quite a few times, and it is one of my best defensive shots.

My chips around the green are good, and I can control the ball, but my putting has always been sharp. Which makes chipping easier for me. I am a believer in getting it done on the green.

[CristieKerr]

Originally Posted by stlcard_25

Having played my course thousands of times, I know where the biggest trouble is and know enough to plan my shots around it...if that means aiming into the right rough where the best case scenario is catching the righthand side of the fairway, but avoiding the trees left, then so be it.

An excellent point. I am much more aggressive on my home course, because I know it so well. It makes a huge difference to know where you can miss, where you can't, and all the little intricacies of the course.

[JPsuff]

.



The way to look at golf is also the way to look at life in that the solution to most problems lies between two extremes.
A question that asks whether one plays defense or offense is indicative of such extremes

The way I look at it like this:

Say you have an eight-foot long 2x4 lying on the ground and picking it up represents solving a problem or adopting a strategy.
Each of the extreme positions, in this case an offensive strategy versus a defensive strategy, represent one end of this 2x4.

If you say that you prefer to take an offensive position and you try to lift this 2x4 by grabbing it at one end, (the offensive end) you can't lift it at all, or at least not without great difficulty.
Now if you switch to the defensive end and try lifting it, once again, it's next to impossible.

But if you grasp the 2x4 somewhere in between, it's easy to lift it with one hand. The moral of the story, of course, is that the solution to this dilemma (as well as most others) is moderation or compromise. The 2x4 doesn't have to be grasped directly in the center. It can still be lifted rather easily even if one end is favored over the other, in this case, more towards the defensive end or more towards the offensive end. But the lesson is that no matter what strategy is preferable or even dominant, the other strategy (the other option) has to be part of the solution as well, or it will be impossible to lift the 2x4.


Life itself is very much like this as well.


Golf is life, life is golf.





Zen




-JP

[PA PLAYA]

I think that each of us has our own unique golf DNA. So what I consider aggressive might not seem aggressive to others, and vice versa. Part of that is our own personalities, and another part of that would include our individual skills and abilities.

In general, my confidence level on a particular day usually dictates my style of play. But I've found that playing too conservatively has just as much negative impact on my game than playing too aggressively. Or at least the scores would support that.

I think there's definitely a need in certain situations to be very aware of positioning before anything else. Angles to the green/pin have just as much to do with our scores as how far we hit the ball. Obviously the more skill one has, the more angles he has to recover from than lesser-skilled players.

But playing too conservatively has two major influences... For starters, it takes us out of what might be a good playing rhythm. I see it a lot with some of the guys I play with -- they get through 12 holes hitting drivers or woods great off the tee, then opt for an iron off the tee on a slightly tighter hole. And more times than not, I hear this comment immediately following the bad shot: I could've done that with my driver, for crying out loud!. The truth is that the result with driver probably would've been much better, or at least the history from using driver that day would seem to indicate as much. The second thing playing too conservatively does is it puts us in a defensive mode that's very difficult to get out of. We start to lose confidence through the very act of trying to maintain confidence with the overly conservative play. Not only have we changed our playing rhythm, we've started playing to avoid high scores as opposed of playing to score. Huge, huge difference.

Not to over analyze this, but it is interesting to note that I typically play my best golf when I'm playing more on the aggressive side than more on the conservative side. But I take the pain to differentiate aggressive and stupid aggressive. The latter is seldom conducive to a good outcome, for even the pros. Mickelson's infamous meltdown at Winged Foot in 2006, or Jean Van de Velde's implosion at Carnoustie in the 1999 Open are more than good examples of what happens when a player loses composure and fails miserably while playing stupid aggressive.

[JungleJ]

Well I hate playing out-and-out conservative golf. So I hit driver unless there is a really good reason not to, I will go for the green unless there is good reason not to. I always evaluate the percentages though - if I have to carry 200+ to the green over water, I will probably lay up because the chances are I'll dump it in the lake.

I'm not good enough to say on the tee "I'm playing for bogey here" and take double out of the equation, although I can say "I'm playing for bogey here" and take par out of the equation!

[Wazmankg]

Originally Posted by JungleJ

I'm not good enough to say on the tee "I'm playing for bogey here" and take double out of the equation, although I can say "I'm playing for bogey here" and take par out of the equation!

I'm with you JungleJ. The former assumes way too much about my game.

[EddieC]

Lets see, Tee box defensive and everything else agressive. The driver has kept me scared for the past year...and I've replaced it many times, just can't find one that I trust. Still looking...any suggestions?

[Bigvivec]

Originally Posted by EddieC

Lets see, Tee box defensive and everything else agressive. The driver has kept me scared for the past year...and I've replaced it many times, just can't find one that I trust. Still looking...any suggestions?

The answer is within you grasshopper...trust, practice and trust...