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Elevation Shooting

• spam48 97 Posts

  Thu, Apr 26 2012 5:57 AM

  Good morning!!

   

  Still in the process of fine tuning my approach shots but can't seem to come up with a decent means of accounting for elevation gains and losses from my lie to the pin.

   

  Have any of you come up with process of selecting the right club based on the length needed to reach the pin while accounting for the change in elevation?  (For example, add one club length for each 10' of gain, etc.)

   

  I've started playing at Bethpage and some of the elevation changes are 20-25 feet!!

   

  Have a great day.  HIT' EM STRAIGHT!!

   

  Spam

• MioKontic 4,644 Posts

  Thu, Apr 26 2012 9:33 AM

  3ft of elevation, up or down, is equal to 1yd of distance.  If up then add, if down then subtract.  That's what I use, others may use something different.

• mmikkeelee 591 Posts

  Thu, Apr 26 2012 9:37 AM

  correct mio thats how i play too. but sometimes the deviation can be cheeky especially down hill with strong wind ;)

   

• spam48 97 Posts

  Thu, Apr 26 2012 10:01 AM

  Fantastic!!

   

  I'm off to try out your tip.  (fingers crossed)

   

  Spam

• lee22sharon 1,419 Posts

  Thu, Apr 26 2012 10:13 AM

  Frequently my approach shot will be with a wedge.  My cleveland wedges are so touchy when adding backspin that i may have to "up" my club with backspin on it to get the desired result.  The previously stated 3ft  = 1 yard is basically universal here at WGT, except in the instances where the degree of slope/pitch is very high.  Then I abitrarily add to or subtract from the reconfigured distance.  One other step I use is to not break the 75%, or 3/4 rule of thumb of a given clubs rated distance, the only exception being my smallest wedge, which does punch shots to the green extrenely well at even less than the 75% mark, hope it helps.  My Nickle.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Thu, Apr 26 2012 10:52 AM

  It helps to visualize what the arc of the shot would be on a flat surface. Then determine what part of that arc is interrupted early by higher ground. This will shorten your distance so you would need to club up.

  With lower ground, imagine the arc continuing past the end as if it were going below the surface. This will lengthen your distance so you would need to club down or choke the swing.

• spam48 97 Posts

  Thu, Apr 26 2012 2:03 PM

  Okay, I'm back!!

   

  I had a couple of opportunities to try the 3-1 suggestion for my approach shots and it worked VERY well.  Had two that landed inside four feet.

   

  I tried that whole "envision the arc of your shot...." but nodded off into a nap.

   

  Thanks for the tip folks!!

   

  Spam

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Fri, Apr 27 2012 5:22 AM

  spam48:

  I tried that whole "envision the arc of your shot...." but nodded off into a nap.

  LOL. OK, no biggie. It's always hard to try and teach golf to a gamer. At least you got a clue from the simple math from Mio. 

  If you need help putting, take a look at Gold's thread on it. Warning-get a good night's sleep first.  ;-)

• alosso 21,059 Posts

  Fri, Apr 27 2012 6:34 AM

  YankeeJim:

  It helps to visualize what the arc of the shot would be on a flat surface. Then determine what part of that arc is interrupted early by higher ground. This will shorten your distance so you would need to club up.

  This in mind, it's quite clear that the clubs' trajectory will severely affect the necessary precautions. The makability of a shot depends on the clubs you have.

  A good measure is BPB #4. Try the straight shot from the bottom to the green with Starters or other minor clubs - no chance! My G20s fly to the green but they do not stop on the green. What about the high-level R11s?

  Your point above is correct for the carry but only partly valid for the total shot length. Enough space provided for the roll, many uphill shots land earlier but roll longer to approx. the same distance w/o backspin (given my G20s).

• Woodoworkery 3,498 Posts

  Fri, Apr 27 2012 7:09 AM

  MioKontic:

  3ft of elevation, up or down, is equal to 1yd of distance.  If up then add, if down then subtract.  That's what I use, others may use something different.

  Thats what I do,what gets you thinking you figured it wrong is ( IMO ) the wind and how it affects the club you are using