If you’ve ever had to hit a decisive shot under pressure, you’ve probably heard the well-known golf adage, “Aim small, miss small.”
Sure, it’s simple and even a bit cliché, but in a game where a fraction of an inch can be the difference between birdie and bogey, it feels like sage advice. But just because something sounds good doesn’t mean it’s true.
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Is aiming at a smaller target actually more likely to miss? That’s the question that GOLF Top 100 Instructor Eric Alpenfels and Dr. Bob Christina of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro set out to answer.
To determine how target size affects on-course performance, they conducted a study across a variety of shots, including tee shots (driver, 3-wood), irons (9-iron and 6-iron), and short game (pitching, chipping, and putting).
All of the studies revealed some pretty surprising conclusions, but the results from the driving part may be the most unexpected of all. The results may even help you hit more fairways.
Bottom line: Set big goals to hit more fairways.
Contrary to the idea that “aim small, miss small,” Dr. Alpenfels and Christina’s research proved that aiming at a larger target improves driving accuracy and tee shot distance performance.
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how did they get there
To reach this conclusion, Dr. Alpenfels and Christina tested 32 right-handed male golfers with an average age of 65 years. Players were divided into two skill levels: low handicap golfers and high handicap golfers. The USGA index ranged from -1 to -11.8 for the low handicap group and -13.4 to -30 for the high handicap group.
A pre-study survey revealed that, like many of us, most of the players in the test preferred to aim at small targets off the tee and, given the choice, would typically choose a driver over a 3-wood.
To determine whether a small or large target was more effective, each player hit 12 tee shots, six with a driver and six with a 3-wood, using the same ball as their club for consistency. For each club, three shots were made with a small target (0.30 meters wide) and three shots were made with a large target (29.26 meters wide). Performance was measured by three data points: distance from fairway center, fairway hit, and total distance.
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After analyzing the data, Alpenfels and Dr. Christina found that players performed better overall when aiming at larger targets.
instruction
Teach students to watch as they line up to hit a golf shot
The average driving error (distance from the center of the fairway) was smaller when players focused on a larger target (12.39 m) than when using a smaller target (14.11 m). The number of fairway hits was also significantly higher when using large targets (64 fairway hits) compared to using small targets (48 fairway hits).
Players also saw a slight increase in distance (about 5 meters) when using larger targets off the tee. The average distance for players using the large target was 210 meters, while the average distance for players using the small target was approximately 205 meters.
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Using data from this study, Dr. Alpenfels and Christina demonstrated that the old saying, “Aim small, fail small” doesn’t hold true. In fact, they proved that “aiming big” may be the key to improving your tee shot accuracy and distance.
The post This common golf advice will impair your driving accuracy appeared first on Golf.
