Should I Always Aim Straight To Each Hole On The Golf Course? (Video) - by Pete Styles
Should I Always Aim Straight To Each Hole On The Golf Course? (Video) - by Pete Styles

I think if you ask most golfers would you like to hit the ball straight the answer would clearly be yes, we’d like to hit the ball straight most of the time but that is not the same as should I always aim straight. Because I guess straight in this question implies should I always aim straight at the flag and the answer is simply no you should not always aim straight at the flag. If you always aim straight at the flag you will have to go overall through whatever is in your way.

So we need to make sure that we’re aiming our golf shot to the widest part, the safest part of the green or the fairway that we’re aiming for. So we stand back behind our golf ball, we pick our target line and we hit the ball pretty much straight at that. It isn’t always the flag, it might be a tree or a stripe on the fairway or an edge of a bunker that we are aiming for then play a straight shot. And if you plot your way around the golf course there using your course management better that will help you improve your skills. Now there are some golfers, better players maybe that don’t always want to hit the ball straight, they want to hit the ball with a draw or a fade. They want to shape the golf ball to improve their score around the course. So if I see a hole here that doglegs from left to right around the big tree, and my only option is to hit the ball dead straight, I can’t really take off the corner of the dogleg, I would have to go over the tree if I wanted to do that. But a golfer who has the ability to fade the golf ball could aim around a tree and fade the ball back around behind it effectively shortening the hole or widening the effective landing area of the fairway. So what I would generally suggest is most club golfers, handicap golfers with a 12 or above handicap should not be trying to fade or draw the golf ball on demand, you should be trying to hit the ball straight most of the time. Golfers with a 12 handicap and below would start to need a bit of shape in their course management skills if they were to maximize the width of the fairways, maximize the way they can play holes, or try and make more pars and more birdies particularly on holes that require a bit of strategy and a bit of shape to the ball. Now from single digits maybe five handicapped category one golfers down to scratch shaping the ball is pretty much a perquisite, most golfers would want to shape the ball on five or six different tee shots and maybe nine or 12 approach shots into greens but you want to be drawing and fading the ball into tight flight positions or tight greens. But it isn’t something a higher handicap golfer really needs, a higher handicapped golfer can hit the ball straight most of the time or should aim to hit the ball straight most of the time but that does not always mean aiming straight for the flag. So use your course management skills and understand when drawing and fading is essential and when aiming dead straight is going to work better for your game. 2014-08-12

I think if you ask most golfers would you like to hit the ball straight the answer would clearly be yes, we’d like to hit the ball straight most of the time but that is not the same as should I always aim straight. Because I guess straight in this question implies should I always aim straight at the flag and the answer is simply no you should not always aim straight at the flag. If you always aim straight at the flag you will have to go overall through whatever is in your way.

So we need to make sure that we’re aiming our golf shot to the widest part, the safest part of the green or the fairway that we’re aiming for. So we stand back behind our golf ball, we pick our target line and we hit the ball pretty much straight at that. It isn’t always the flag, it might be a tree or a stripe on the fairway or an edge of a bunker that we are aiming for then play a straight shot. And if you plot your way around the golf course there using your course management better that will help you improve your skills.

Now there are some golfers, better players maybe that don’t always want to hit the ball straight, they want to hit the ball with a draw or a fade. They want to shape the golf ball to improve their score around the course. So if I see a hole here that doglegs from left to right around the big tree, and my only option is to hit the ball dead straight, I can’t really take off the corner of the dogleg, I would have to go over the tree if I wanted to do that. But a golfer who has the ability to fade the golf ball could aim around a tree and fade the ball back around behind it effectively shortening the hole or widening the effective landing area of the fairway.

So what I would generally suggest is most club golfers, handicap golfers with a 12 or above handicap should not be trying to fade or draw the golf ball on demand, you should be trying to hit the ball straight most of the time. Golfers with a 12 handicap and below would start to need a bit of shape in their course management skills if they were to maximize the width of the fairways, maximize the way they can play holes, or try and make more pars and more birdies particularly on holes that require a bit of strategy and a bit of shape to the ball. Now from single digits maybe five handicapped category one golfers down to scratch shaping the ball is pretty much a perquisite, most golfers would want to shape the ball on five or six different tee shots and maybe nine or 12 approach shots into greens but you want to be drawing and fading the ball into tight flight positions or tight greens. But it isn’t something a higher handicap golfer really needs, a higher handicapped golfer can hit the ball straight most of the time or should aim to hit the ball straight most of the time but that does not always mean aiming straight for the flag. So use your course management skills and understand when drawing and fading is essential and when aiming dead straight is going to work better for your game.