Three simple ways to pick smarter targets, according to a strategy expert – Australian Golf Digest

by Admin
November 26, 2024

So many golfers – too many golfers – operate with a hit-and-hope mindset. They pick a club, aim basically directly at the pin, then swing for the fences.

No more – it’s time to be smarter about how we do this. Which is why we asked DECADE founder Scott Fawcett about the mindset of picking good targets.

1. Look for small (but safer) targets

An inherent problem golfers face is that the pin is both appealing and distracting. Your eyes can’t help but be drawn to it. The problem is that from the middle of the fairway, aiming directly at the pin is rarely the smart play. As you can learn about in our Scottie Scheffler video below…

“The pin is distracting,” Fawcett says. “It just is.”

The way you navigate something distracting, though, isn’t by not thinking about it. That’s impossible. Instead, focus on something else – a target towards the middle of the green that is equally as small as the pin. You may need to get creative; Fawcett offers some suggestions:

A bunker rake
Sprinkler heads
Dark spots on the green
A specific tree branch
Lips of bunkers

2. Pay attention to the Y-axis

Golfers are obsessed with the direction they should aim, but often overlook the more important quality: not direction, but the distance you hit your ball. Check the stats, and you’ll find that amateur golfers miss their intended target more than half the time.

On your approach shots, think about the left-right direction of your shots as the X-axis, and the long-short distance as your Y-axis. The goal is to plot your way to the middle of both. If moving along the X-axis means picking the right target, moving along the Y-axis means picking the right club. It’s something many golfers don’t think enough about – and for you, it could mean taking an extra club.

3. Think big picture

Fawcett says golfers will often tell him that aiming away from pins is the smart thing to do, but that sometimes you simply “need to hit the shot”. Think about a closing stretch in a match with your friends, or after a bombed drive when you have a wedge in your hands. Fawcett’s message is simple: don’t take the bait.

“Being able to ‘suck it up and hit the shot when you need to’ is just not how it works,” he says. “If it was, why didn’t you do that the whole time?”

Instead, try to adopt a ‘zoom out’ attitude. Instead of thinking about the shot you want to hit, think about what would happen if you hit 100 shots from exactly the same location. Your goal is to leave as many of those in as good a spot as possible.

As for those shots you really need to hit close? The strategy doesn’t change. Aim for the smart spot away from the pin, then every now and again, you’ll accidentally hit a shot right next to the hole.