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to ding or not to ding

Thu, Jan 12 2012 2:10 AM (48 replies)
  • JaLaBar
    1,254 Posts
    Fri, Jan 6 2012 11:52 PM

    If you miss by a tiny bit with the wind, your ball will carry farther.

    For example, on a drive with a tailwind R-L angled to 10:30, I'll play slightly farther right than needed and slightly hook the ball.  It will carry farther in the wind.

  • JaLaBar
    1,254 Posts
    Fri, Jan 6 2012 11:53 PM

    Richard4168:
    I wonder if the off-ding putters will eventually have to use 100% of break to sink a putt? LOL!

    I have...

  • JaLaBar
    1,254 Posts
    Sat, Jan 7 2012 12:04 AM

    160 yards out, 22 MPH wind dead left-to-right... I will leave the cursor on the flag and hit a strong hook to neutralize the wind.  The only time I move my cursor other that drives is if the break or wind is stronger than the curve or spin I can play.

    But yes, because WGT didn't have the foresight to allow all playing styles the same chance for success, hitting the ding and judging the wind or break is the safest way to play.

    There is X amount of spin needed to neutralize Y wind.  Deviation shouldn't have a damn thing to do with it.  If I move the cursor to the right place and hit the ding, I'll stick the pin.  The same should be true as consistently if I leave the cursor and play the right amount of spin.  However, in their infinite lack of wisdom, WGT didn't allow for this following of the laws of physics.

  • labordayk
    389 Posts
    Sat, Jan 7 2012 3:11 AM

    I think I need some more nomenclature to explain how I play.

    First off, I think calling my method "missing the ding" is inaccurate and potentially offensive, so I prefer the more pc term "playing outside the lines".

    Second, since the lines before and after the ding are important markers when playing outside the lines, I think they need names, too.  I think the line before the ding should be called the dang (many folks might call it that now as in "Dang, I hit the wrong line."), and the line after the ding should be called the dong (if the holidays teach us anything, it's that a dong always follows a ding, unless you have bats in your belfry).  The lines before the dang and after the dong should be called dung, because hitting on or near them usually results in a mishit and extreme loss of distance.

    On drives, even with a straight fairway and no wind, I aim the marker off to the left or right, so that I have to hit in front of the dang or behind the dong.  I think this gives me an area to shoot at rather than a line.  Even if I miss the area by a bit, I'm still hitting in the same direction.  If you aim for the ding and miss it by a bit, you're going left or right.  My method also naturally adapts to crosswinds and the shape of the fairway.  I move the marker, so that I'm hitting a big draw or big fade against the wind and/or with the fairway.  You can hit pretty far in front of the dang or behind the dong, but stay well away from the dung.

    On approach, with slight or no crosswind, I usually just move the marker a little if needed, and try to hit the ding, maybe favoring the side against the wind or away from trouble.  With moderate and heavy crosswind, I move the marker and hit in between the dang and the ding or the ding and the dong, against the wind.  Of course, closer to and around the green, I scale things down, but play the same style, taking more into account the break of the green, and the type shot I am using.

    On putts, with small to moderate breaks, I don't move the marker, and hit anywhere from right in front of the dang to right behind the dong.  Heavier breaks require moving the marker and trying to hit on or near the dang or dong.  On longer putts the effect is exaggerated, so it's advisable to aim more towards the ding and within the dang and dong, even with big breaks that require moving the aim marker.

    I developed this method, particularly on driving, when I played EA PGA Tour for PS1 back in the last century.  But on that game you gained yardage by hooking and lost yardage by slicing, so I learned to hit big draws even on holes that called for a fade, and I also learned that this gave me a lot bigger sweet spot.

  • PRIESTESS
    10,721 Posts
    Sat, Jan 7 2012 3:26 AM

    labordayk:
    and hit in between the dang and the ding or the ding and the dong,
    I agree,sometimes im always Dang Dinging and Dong Donging and sometimes im Ding Donging and Dong Danging,Its all Beta!!!

  • zagraniczniak
    1,984 Posts
    Sat, Jan 7 2012 4:08 AM

    The ding, the dang, the dong ... doggonit where's the shamma-lamma-ding-dong?

  • YankeeJim
    25,827 Posts
    Sat, Jan 7 2012 6:44 AM

    Ok, all sing along.....

    "Oh my ding a ling, everybody sing

    I wanna play with my ding a ling

    Oh my ding a ling, my ding a ling

    I just want to play with my ding a ling."

     

    Thanks, Chuck!  :-D

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaEC-lWSlmI

  • thebigeasy707
    5,885 Posts
    Sat, Jan 7 2012 7:04 AM

    Ding Dong was Number 1 for a wee while when i was living in Vienna.

    tbe

  • labordayk
    389 Posts
    Thu, Jan 12 2012 2:10 AM

    I'm glad to see that none of y'all touched the Dung.

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