WGT Pinhunters

Make sure that when you practice, take a lot of mulligans and figure out if your math was wrong. A mishit will happen, and practice your math by doing the same problem until you ding the dingerand see the exact result. Only then will you see that the math is perfect and then subsequently begin to trust it.

Trusting that math is the key to repetitive exact solutions that are not affected much by a slight mishit. You'll find that there is some "forgiveness" in shots and you will end up close enough to the hole for a birdie or eagle chance, or right near the hole on a shot just off the green that will save par with a short one-putt.

As you make more birdies and pars versus pars and bogeys, you'll become used to doing the math very quickly, and will even be able to do the six putting calculations in around 27 seconds without pressing very hard once you know your calculator buttons and use certain short cuts to figure percentages. I do a quick one that saves two calculator strokes such as dividing by .2 (two tenths) for a 20-foot swing meter calculation instead of dividing by 20 and multiplying by 100. Obviously, if you divide 20 by 100, the result is .2, and I have calculations like that down to a quick science when I am in Alternate Shot, when you only have 90 seconds to figure out the entire putt. Fairway shots take a lot less, and those are only 4 calculations each, however, I have gone out to 5 and 6 calculations when I am in between clubs or the type of shot I want to hit.

When you ARE between clubs, you may have to choose the type of shot you need to get as close to the hole as safely as possible. Your club will not defy the math, no matter what. Attempting to hit that "impossible" shot every time will get you in more trouble and cost you more strokes than you really want or should take on a hole. Knowing how to get out of any trouble will make you more confident, and you will see that the game designers did a great job of figuring out the math for the solution of a shot out to the third and fourth decimal places, but I recommend you only do your math to the second decimal place since the swing meters are so small (they are REALLY small on my laptop screen that I use) and even getting to the point of 1% on the tiny swing meter when you wind it up is hard enough, let alone PARTS of that 1%, although HALF of a percent is not out of the question. Not dragging the meter out to the EXACT point on the swing meter can radically alter your shot and your math solution goes out the window if you just GUESS at a point on the swing meter when you drag it back to make contact. The closer you get it, the more you will get used to it, and it will be frustrating at first, because you won't be trusting the math.

That math is the result of TENS OF THOUSANDS of mulligans that have been carefully worked out with systematic statistical analysis, geometry, trigonometry, and advanced algebra. Most of the math can be boiled down to the same ballistic calculations they use for projectiles that are hurled through space, whether they be rocks, balls, bullets, or artillery shells. Launch angle of the ball using the button can be changed, and you will find that PARTIAL spin, halfway down, will produce a 45-degree angle of launch, thus creating a trigonometric solution for maximum distance. You can also use partial spin on a shot where you are in between clubs and can't really pick the type of shot for a full swing at 98-100%. Being in between clubs can be solved by partial spin and moving the button on the ball PART WAY DOWN instead of all the way down if you are using balls that have more spin than starter balls. The more the spin rating on the ball, the higher it will go, even when hit without moving the red dot on the ball. Nike balls with a spin rating of 4.5 to 5.5 will travel MUCH higher and land MUCH softer than starter balls, and have a "bite" factor even without spin. In fact, my Callaway Hex Chromes (level 33+ and only 250 credits per sleeve) will bite all by themselves with no spin put on them as far as 155 yards away without any "dot" movement. They will roll just a bit farther than when I put spin on them, and if I put full spin on a ball, I can make a 225 to 230-yard shot bite and not go more than a yard or two after hitting. When you get to that point with the math and understanding YOUR clubs, and YOUR balls, combined with the math that works, you will have arrived and won't fear anyone on the opposite team when playing Alternate Shot, and you will enter tournaments and start placing in the top 100, and ultimately in the top 10, and even win a few credits once in a while.

It took a lot of practice and a lot of mulligans, but I've worked out the math for your benefit. Even if you are using starter balls, you can make Tour Master eventually. I used to think I would never make Master, and that Tour Master was out of the question, but as I learned the putting grid from both the horizontal and vertical, my putting has improved, as well as not being worried about a miss when I aim at the pin or very near it from the fairway. Figure out on each fairway shot, drive, pitch, chip, sand shot, mulch shot, punch shot, and putt just what your "best miss" is, and you will learn the art of safe golf and capitalizing on scoring opportunities. Most of this game is designed to teach good course management, NOT to play "go for it" golf the way Tiger Woods or Bubba Watson play. Sure, they are great champions and have exceptional ability and equipment, but look and see what happens when their swings or timing break down. It's awful. LOL.

Take the "safe" mentality at first until you trust the math, and you'll eventually get that confidence to shoot for the pin, because you will know how to get out of trouble. This way you can see how the math works with your clubs and your balls.

Another thing that should be included is a dissertation on ball rating. I have to subtract 3% on my meter for distance on my final calculation, because the distance rating on my ball is 3, so remember that if you use a ball that has a higher rating than a starter ball. A starter ball will go exactly 200 yards on a flat fairway with no wind if you hit it with a club that is rated at 200 yards. It will go 206 yards with a ball that is rated at 3 (3% more than a starter ball) and it will go 210 with a Nike ball rated at 5. (5% farther) Remember, EVERY physical factor is involved in making a shot. Distance, elevation, lie, wind, green speed, grain, club rating, ball rating, contour, and timing of the swing. You will find that the ball even goes a bit higher and catches the wind a bit more when you hit late, and the ball goes a bit lower and farther and is not affected by the wind as much when you hit late. This mimics REAL golf, and the pros on television have it down to the millimeter when they shoot good scores, and they talk about the "zone" that they get in when they are putting or shooting.

I've been there, since I've shot 22-under on Best of Par 5's. Sure, the green speeds were dialed down to "fast" by the tournament creator, and wind, tees, the pin placements were all at their easiest, but YOU try to make  8 birdies and 7 eagles in 18 holes sometime. LOL. I was MAD when I made those three pars. LOL. I also finished in 2nd place, since the one of the Legends in our club beat me, but I have been steadily moving up the Legend ladder in my country club and used to be the best Tour Master at the time, and I only made Tour Master in February and moved up to Legend in April, so I was pretty proud of that and knew the math worked perfectly when I used it and paid attention. The hardest part is concentrating on my swing timing for 18 holes on every shot, but on most par 5 holes, there is at least one shot of "forgiveness" that you can get in trouble on and still make birdie or par. You'll get to that point, and you will see what I mean when you practice.

PERFECT practice makes PERFECT, not just going out and trying to beat hole after hole. PracticeTYPES of shots, not just one certain shot. Having as many TYPES of shots, and what I mean by that is learning to "work" the ball left and right, short and long for your advantage and the safest shot you can make if you end up short or long, left or right, will end up making you a better "mental" golfer once you get the physical part down of timing and the math. Many times, I'll end up very close to the hole on a mishit and get complimented by other players in Alternate Shot, and I'll know damn well that if I had dinged the meter, the ball would have gone in from great distance or danced around the hole while everyone said, "WOW." I hit shots like that in individual tournaments ALL the time EVERY DAY, and it's almost blase after a while. (not really...I replay those shots, but don't record them anymore...I'm waiting for that elusive double-eagle in a scored round...LOL)

Enjoy the advice, and make your practices PRODUCTIVE. LEARN, LEARN, LEARN. You'll see JUST how good that math is after a while. Tour Masters, Legends, and Tour Legends swear BY it and not AT it. LOL. Good luck. Work on it and HAVE FUN.