Which is more important Dispersion or distant?

Cheep Cheep Cheep!

It's the same sound all Singaporeans make whenever they go shopping in Bangkok. Very funny how they all seem to turn into my brothers and sisters.

Cheep Cheep Cheep Sooooo Cheep Cheep Cheep!

Eh.. must protest. Got every animal up to elephant for picture, but not a single bird!

How can??????

In golf, everybody want birdie some more!!!

Eiji, glad u see it the same way.

Dustin J hit driver 320yd n a flick LW on the 430yd 17th yesterday to set up for his birdie n the win. 'nuff said.

Go to a US driving range and u will see the majority of ppl, even total beginners swing as hard as they can. They sometimes whiff the ball but their baseball background gives them the intuitive nature to hit it hard.

Go to a driving range in Sg and u will notice ppl r more into how good their bags look, their choice of belt n pants color, how certain points of their swing look and whether they look more 'pro' doing this and that.

Oh, I need to clarify about the dispersion thingy. When I mean dispersion, it doesn't mean hitting into OB n hazards. It's the diff between fairway n rough. I can take first cut of rough any day if I blast it 300.

Sibeh cheem....
My game is all about luck.. Sometime dispersion, hit cart path,then get roll and distance, then hope for ball to kick back into fairway!

Golf is like MW2

Some people prefer to have a shotgun, one shot one kill, but in a large map, they get killed by people with the ARs

Others prefer to play sniper and have a steady temperament for it, but we all know these guys get slaughtered in close quarter combat

And yet others prefer to play using ARs and grenada launchers, good all around, but again depends on the map type and the kind of opponents they are playing against.

There are two kinds of opponents to every game - the people who shoot back, and the terrain.

Very interesting thread that SBH has started.

If I may weigh in as someone who is in the same camp as my fellow superhero tituman, one of the smaller sized players who can't quite put it out there with the giants of the game.

For most of the many years that I've been playing this game, I've never been able to crank it past 180 metres, mostly due to bad swing mechanics, partly due to smaller physique. Doesn't help that I'm not the gym going type, and rather be doing whatever little workout I can get outdoors. It was only 3 years back that I was lucky enough to land a job that saw me playing more golf, which has resulted in some semblance of a decent swing and a resultant gain in distance to 210 metres. I've probably maxed out my distance considering I'm not getting any younger and like Ghoonk said, won't be one committing to a distance gaining regime.

Going back, the many years being short and wild (much much worse than long and wild) with a wicked banana slice like you wouldn't believe, has taught me the value of learning to scramble. Being short, I learned the hard way the value of course management.

Again, being short, I also learned how to keep it on the fairway most days. Is distance overrated? Not in my book, but I've also learned how to be at peace with myself and pay little attention to how most of the guys in my foursome all play their second shot after me, sometimes 50 metres ahead.

My driver is my go to club for every driving hole, I don't have the luxury of going to anything less cos I need to get it out there as best as I can pure it and keep it on the short stuff to keep up with the Jones'. I generally don't play well if my driving suffers, losing it in the woods means I lose a stroke getting it back to the fairway, meaning I'm looking at a highly probable bogey since there is no margin for error left with my next shot (anywhere up to a mid iron away) which must make the green. BUT, if I keep all my drives in the fairway, and miss my next shot around the green, I only have a much closer short hop onto the green and a glimmer of hope for par still.

I am therefore in the dispersion camp. But I think most here have neglected to mention the importance of the 3 wood. Being short and on the fairway is not going to help lower my scores much if I can't get it to the green for some GIRs. And we must do that if we want to have any hope of lowering our scores below 100 or 90. The power of a 3 wood off the deck is a very reasonable conclusion for someone with good dispersion. In fact, the 3 wood must go hand in hand with shorter well dispersed drives. Case in point is current US Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin, who has never been a long hitter, but yet has majors to his name cos of his acknowledged prowess with the fairway woods.

The shorter and accurate hitter already has an advantage with good dispersion, and that good dispersion must also be taken advantage of to be good with the fairway woods and hybrids to have any chance of playing alongside the bomb and gougers. And those are the two distinct camps that exist even on the PGA tour. Sadly, the bomb and gougers are the ones who take the spotlight and the media is partly to blame for always glamourising distance (the American penchant for 'muscle' everything).

But let's not forget to look in the shadows and see the ones who play more like us mere mortals, for they are the ones we can more easily emulate. How many of us can bomb it 300 plus yards like Dustin Johnson AND KEEP IT IN THE FAIRWAY? A show of hands please?

As a foot note, I'm a swinger with a very leisurely tempo, I'd love to have the whiplike crack of many players that I've seen on the PGA Tour, sadly, my tempo is more like that from the LPGA Tour. Can I build it up? Perhaps, if I'm willing and able to devote time to do so, but I barely have enough time to devote to the range and get in a game a month now. But there are a couple of other things about shorter hitters trying to gain more distance. We won't ever get that much longer cos a comparative percentage increase will always be less than that of a longer hitter. And two, there is the matter of fast versus slow twitch muscles, of which apparently we have been endowed with 80% of one or the other since birth (Tiger seems to be 100% fast twitch fibers). I can change that by working out it seems, but with the limited time I have, I'd rather be working directly on different aspects of my game and deriving pleasure from the more immediate results.

In short, I'm here to enjoy my golf.

good post, esp the part about the 3w. I guess that's why I try to bomb my driver, but prefer to take my 2nd shot with my 3i instead of a 3w or hybrid. Keeps it in play, and I can play a 7i better from the fairway than a 9i from undergrowth.

Maybe a time and place for each club?

How come no coaches have tossed in their 2 cents?

I just saw your post on your super relaxed swing. Me also like that, my swing on video looks like it's on slow mo 240 fps but sure doesn't feel like it.

When my 3 wood works, I have no fear and play well on long par 4s, and par 5s are a piece of cake for pars. Case in point was yesterday when I was surprised to find my ball on the green on a long uphill par 4 for the first time ever par on that hole. Perfect illustration of what I mentioned above.

If only all days were like that.

if only, indeed...

The other thing about good dispersion is that I hardly ever have to worry about direction on a bad shot, it'll still be straight, just whether it's a top or duff. And I'll take a top any day of the week over a duff. It's what I call a 'good' bad shot.

Better than a 'bad' good shot that puts it in the bunker. Don't you just hate that?

Dispersion and distance would be a huge problem for me if you got her to join us for a round of golf.

I had a lot of 'bad' good shots on my last 2 games. Quite a few bad bad shots too. Hated the round up still shot 89 Would i call it a good day? No. Shot 90 yesterday cos I brought the wrong putter - my Cleveland BRZ #2, which I'm trying to get used to - shot 90 cos I was missing key putts within 10ft. THAT SUCKS.

Tell me about it. Going through a bad patch with my putting too that I'm trying to resolve with my putting mat at home. Feels gone to the dogs and just can't see the line.

Lost my confidence with those six footers too. Just got to keep grinding till the touch and imaginary dotted lines come back.

I thought you got a Zen putter?

I got a new trick for putting - when practicing, leave the flag in the hole and when you putt, tell yourself to play for sound

TONG TONG!

I did, worked great right out of the box, but now that I've settled in, it's the small nuances that still needs some tweaking, like with the length and further fine tuning to get it perfect. A little too long for a smooth flowing stroke. It's only a quarter inch longer than my usual 33 inches but that molehill has turned into a mountain. Thinking of going down to a 32 half so my arms hang freely with no tension for better feel.

TONG TONG is a good trick to keep the head still till after the stroke. One of the secrets of good putting.

Funnily enough, I just learned the value of good 'distance dispersion' with putting too for consistent lags.

eh, don't play guessing games la. Get yourself fitted on your putter once and for all.

I walk up to a putt and I tell myself, come on, tong tong, and I automatically gets psyched up to be brave with the putt

So how? She playing with us when I'm back in November?

Definitely going to take the guesswork out of it.

Who the she? Mloy ah? Dunno, but me for sure.

yeah, about damn time you and I had a round. Maybe we can drag TS in as well, and hopefully S70B

Will prolly be back for 2 weeks this time, and hopefully will make it for 2 SSNs and at least 5 rounds of gold!

Hehe.....dun forget me. 1 round with me too. Ghoonk.

Would love to see yr longness too.

My aim is to maintain my top 2058 ranking in this forum......if anytime, this has to be compromised, I will take the drastic step of training,.

You are right, slicer.
He is not playing that kind of scores.

Buaya in making???