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As simple as hitting the ding

• mhansen2 24 Posts

  Tue, Jun 16 2015 2:53 PM

  There is only one thing to being good at this game. Hitting the ding. You can be great at figuring out which club, how hard to hit it, where to aim, but if you don't hit the ding.....all the figuring is worthless. If you do hit it, your a superstar, plain and simple.

  I wish I could hit it more than 50% of the time...

   

• MBaggese 15,367 Posts

  Tue, Jun 16 2015 3:14 PM

  I would suggest to not be so focused on the ding, but learn how to miss the ding on the appropriate side of the approach shot or putt, when needed.

   

  I/e...you don't want to click early on a down hill right to left breaker, nor hit late with a 20MPH left to right wind.

   

  Hang in there...remember to try new ways to help yourself...it takes time, practice, and trusting that what you've learned in practice, will work in a ranked Round.

• lonniescott711 4,207 Posts

  Tue, Jun 16 2015 3:47 PM

  Hitting the ding is no big deal in fact its a myth of the game . From tee to green I play off the ding and shoot decent scores . Once you learn how to play off the ding your scoring will get better . You also have to learn how to use your clubs . Do some upgrades and get better clubs . You also have to practice , practice , and then do more practice rounds .

  But again hitting the ding is a myth in the game . So stop chasing your tail on the ding myth and learn to play the game .

• StingerWelsh 1,021 Posts

  Tue, Jun 16 2015 4:24 PM

  mhansen2:

  I wish I could hit it more than 50% of the time...

  If you're hitting it 40% of the time, you're a lot better than most of us. Take the advice you've been given, it's sound advice. Most of all, enjoy the game and the company!

  Good luck, Mike W.

• JFidanza 1,676 Posts

  Tue, Jun 16 2015 4:36 PM

  I was just observing on my twitch replays that all these cool shots were off the ding.

  IMO The ding is just the center of the equipment. Just as you figure your calculation of distance and aim for the middle of the club/putter, there is a corresponding spot, off ding, that will drop the ball also. It's just a different calculation.

  If the game is realistic, it's geometry and the ding isn't 'more accurate' than other areas of the club face, it's simply the more known center of the equipment.

  Knowing that off-ding, corresponding spot, knowing the forgiveness of that club, knowing the effects of english on a ball (and how to use that spin to your advantage) then dropping the shot while hitting off-ding demonstrates a more expanded knowledge of the game, imho.

  (yet hitting that spot off ding precisely can be almost as hard as the center, yet the ding is usually where the meter is going fastest, generally speaking)

  See my youtube video on off ding putting on a big slope w/ a slick green and I think you will agree that dinging a putt in such a condition is almost crazy. If you are 99% you will drop it, go ahead but missing the hole has the ball roll away several feet, while it off ding vs the break miss stalls nearby the hole.

  Another point (just an example) is when the pin is next to the side of water (say, to the left of the hazard) , etc. and the wind is blowing left to right, so you adjust aim left for wind and hope for a ding or just before, but you miss the center and the bar moves past to slice, your ball ends up in the water. (as you know, the ding is a point where opposing directions change suddenly, this is one of the cons of the ding area)

  When I used a starter ball I lost less shots by aiming not so much left and hit before the ding and the ball ends up on the green. (like that hole on CCC) Even if I click late I get a ding and the ball doesn't fly heavy to the right as in the 1st example.

  There are exceptions and people can find what works for them. GL in any case.

   

  Here one massive off ding putt on BPB 15, see the ball slow and drop. If it was a dinged shot and it missed, the inertia would have carried the ball further from the hole. 

  [ghost spider putter 92 w/ a 90% past the ding, aim and power adjusted for it]

  http://www.wgt.com/replay.aspx?ID=3ea59b46-dfa9-4bc7-ae88-a3d200598e57

• fatdan 3,379 Posts

  Tue, Jun 16 2015 4:51 PM

  mhansen2:

  There is only one thing to being good at this game. Hitting the ding. You can be great at figuring out which club, how hard to hit it, where to aim, but if you don't hit the ding.....all the figuring is worthless. If you do hit it, your a superstar, plain and simple.

  Lets seeeeeee, hmmmmmm, how can I put this, aaaahhhhh, ok I know...

  {{{{WRONG}}}}

   

• SweetiePie 4,925 Posts

  Tue, Jun 16 2015 5:55 PM

  A ding hit will most often produce a kind result. The problem with it being the object has 3 possible outcomes: early - ding!! - late, and if the wind is blowing right to left and you hit early, the outcome is a double-cross disaster. If you pick early, you will hit it, or the ding eliminating the late. Just as it is in real golf, you must choose fade or draw, not straight, to get good.  ;-}

• SafariMan62 222 Posts

  Tue, Jun 16 2015 6:41 PM

  mhansen2:

  I wish I could hit it more than 50% of the time...

  Use The black max ball....dings are friendly with them....

  Good luck

• JFidanza 1,676 Posts

  Tue, Jun 16 2015 8:12 PM

  Getting out of the deep stuff & sand, etc. might be a lot easier w/ a solid ding. A great example is that edgewood tahoe #7 where it says 2-5% lie or something but it plays much deeper, it seems, a nice ding will help.

• oneeyedjohn 9,581 Posts

  Tue, Jun 16 2015 9:11 PM

  In the days when The R9 was probably the best driver I remember being taught by a very good player how to hit it off ding for longer tee shots. 

  The ding was a  NO, NO