The Clever Aiming Strategy Tour Pros Actually Use | The Game Plan | Golf Digest

Aiming. It's one of the most underrated strategies in the world of golf. What's the line? Should I try and curve it to that spot? In this episode of The Game Plan, Golf Digest Senior Editor Luke Kerr-Dineen dives into the often underutilized strategy of aiming like a Tour Pro to discover whether or not those aggressive lines off the tee and into greens are actually worth the risk for pros and amateurs alike.
We want to know - have you tried this aiming strategy?
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[@carlertle4586]

Allow me to introduce you to my 200 yard wide cone

[@ronstamer9033]

Exactly...This cone works much better for the tour/low handicapper. If you are a high handicapper your cone could be 125 yards wide making it much more difficult to avoid disaster, then where do you aim?

[@interestedbystander196]

​@@ronstamer9033 Then you aim at lessons and the driving range to get it down to 100 yards wide, then 90 yards, 80, 75, etc.

[@BAG-belowaveragegolfer]

Underrated comment

[@breakthroughwithdr.d]

Lol.

[@KevinSheedy10]

You need to ignore the really really bad shots and just include the shots that were reasonable strikes. I.e. ignore all the tops, double crosses, duffs, snap hooks and shanks. No matter where you aim those shots are going to be damaging. It doesn’t even need to be data driven. Just aim at the middle of whatever area give you most leeway to miss left and right without costing you more than a shot.

[@wannabegolfin24-72]

In all honesty, I'm a +2 handicap & this is mind blowing. Not so much tge strategy but the realization that some of the best shots in history were misses. That kind of puts in perspective the fickleness of golf & should ease our minds knowing we're trying to miss it better.

[@corinakelepouris1463]

Also a + handicap, and the decade app has helped me tremendously. Not only with target selection and course management, but expectation management.

[@industrialpalletworx3548]

There's a specific piece of information missing. Intent. JT intended to hit a draw it just over drew. Cam Smith intended to still hit a cut. It was more of a push cut. Tiger and Matt Fitzpatrick were intending to hit a cut. The point is. They all erred on the side where if they overcooked it, they wouldn't be in trouble. This is why the double cross is so punishing.

[@scottfawcett3290]

LOVE IT!!!! @@corinakelepouris1463

[@sausagembape677]

See anything by decade, this is not clear

[@swisstrader]

@@corinakelepouris1463can you tell us more abt the app?

[@alekbeers4993]

Cone is such a valuable concept. Most mid-high handicappers only consider a one way miss and forget that they also randomly block shots in the complete opposite direction.

[@WarrenVanWyck15]

You're right. There is no such thing as a 1-way miss, as much as we'd like to believe there is.

[@redhed9776]

@@WarrenVanWyck15 then there's the double cross

[@exodeus7959]

Basically a 10 minute video on the concept of hedging risk. Greed is good. Accept in golf.

[@jimiverson3085]

@@exodeus7959 Pigs get fat; hogs get slaughtered. True in any random situation.

[@alekbeers4993]

​@redhed9776 the mere mention of a double cross gives me nausea

[@jordanbradford4793]

As a golf instructor, I would love nothing more than to make every single one of my students watch it. I cannot tell you how many of my students will answer the question “how many pins are you firing at during a round” with a quizzical look and say “well, all of them.” If more golfers had a better understanding of their misses and how to aim themselves properly to make their misses be less destructive, it would change their games.

[@scottp6761]

Concur

[@ShotPattern]

Hey Coach - would love to connect!

[@ShotPattern]

@@scottp6761 Would love to connect

[@mattbedforth9569]

I genuinely think this is one of, if not the most helpful instructional golf videos I've ever seen. Seems like an incredibly simple concept, but I think seeing pros put it into practice - especially producing some all-time shots because of it - really helps the average golfer put their game into perspective. That Ben Hogan quote may have changed my golf game forever.

[@euinhowie2303]

Came on my feed, i nearly didn't watch it but im bloody glad i did, i have never looked at the game like this, brilliant

[@ZHAOJINXIAN]

I think this is the best video I have ever seen, basically, if you try to use theory throughout your game, you will immediately understand how to select a club as well! That means for club selection, the distance is no longer important, it is all about having your dispersion always within the fairways and greens. Great video!

[@plusfour1]

Distance is important as well. Remember what Hogan said (8:26), club up to short pins and make 3/4 swings to back pins so that your distance is more in line with a fatter part of the green. Scott Fawcett says something similar.

[@aliasErEf]

😮😢😅😂❤

[@MichaelShinosky]

Distance control is paramount. Tiger would miss it left or right but he always tried to be about pin high.

[@miketurner2397]

Best golf strategy video ever!!

[@breakthroughwithdr.d]

Both r equally important, but dispersion is often ignored as we all want that perfect shot but even the best only get that about 50 pct of the time according to hogan, but that do miss less far away ie thghter dispersion and proper cone aiming

[@user-oh2hs6jh5x]

This is exactly what people mean when they talk about course management. People who are guilty of poor course management take risks that aren't proportional to the rewards, like trying a 200 yard carry over water when they can only pull that off if they absolutely flush the shot. Or people who aren't good bunker players aiming right at a pin tucked near a bunker. Your scores are much more determined by how good your bad shots are than by how good your good shots are. A great shot won't necessarily end up with a birdie unless you convert the putt. But a lousy shot can put you in a situation where you can't hit a good recovery shot (like behind a tree, in taller grass, or buried in a bunker) and lead to a double bogey or worse. Aim for the heart of the fairway, shade your approaches to the fat of the green, and allow for some error and you will shoot better scores. Signed, a low handicapper with 60 years of golf behind me.

[@crispygolfer]

such a game changer and shows why pros are pros. As a bogey golfer I just dont understand how poeple think of this stuff lol! its great thank you!

[@ianloh2647]

Captivating! Felt like i was watching an indiana jones hunt for ancient relics and found it in the end like the happy ending i deserve 🎉

[@ditrenh]

What a great great video! Will definitely put this to use next time I’m out on the course. Bravo GD!

[@jeffbecker4439]

This is so classic, I am a 2 handicap and when I get in scrambles with people they expect me to be within 8 feet of the pin on every iron shot. they don't understand tap in pars are awesome.

[@interestedbystander196]

Yep. Par is excellent.

[@Jorge_Alvarez1]

Gonna try this! Thanks GD 😎

[@kylejames1766]

I love these course management videos...keep them coming GD!

[@kw12784]

This isn't gd, this is allllll decade/scott fawcett

[@scottfawcett3290]

@@kw12784 We made it together so it's all good...but thanks for the support!!!

[@ryanalley2446]

Very insightful, thanks! Would have come in handy at my club champs this past weekend....LOL! Definitely going to put this strategy into play going forward!!

[@nate-beard]

helpful. Thank you!

[@benjamindains6906]

This is great, thanks for sharing this info!!!

[@luisvaldivieso5217]

I love this series of videos!!!!

[@danielstorton]

These in depth look golf digest videos of late have been incredible

[@montybatra9512]

This is all about course management. Love it!

[@LiberatedStockTrader]

Excellent video, thanks all

[@robertrodriguez4622]

Outstanding details on playing the misses... ty!

[@breakthroughwithdr.d]

Great points here. Use a sim get an idea of ur dispersion for each club full swing , 3/4 and half swing Then apply that to the course. Winning shots are many times misses is eye opening

[@ShotPattern]

Love the way you think!

[@cwhiffen1]

I wish I had seen this video before I played the 18th hole at TPC Sawgrass.

[@digs-]

Coming back to this video because Rory put one in the water on the 18th at TPC Sawgrass because he aimed right down the line of the water and overdrew it. Didn’t put his cone in the right spot

[@BenWaltonNYC]

100%!

[@tru3sk1ll]

Such a cool video, thanks for this

[@kaigeewong4200]

Going to try this today!

[@MsRocketRoy]

Wow!! Never thought about this. Thanks.

[@steve1085]

Going to try this today - thank you

[@dimtgco1428]

That's really good advise. Contrary to intuition which says "I gotta go for it or I'll lose anyway ". It applies to everyone except Moe Norman!

[@user-ou3uu2hu6h]

Really like the video but you could also talk about where you miss, most people don't have a cone but have a regular miss albeit left or right and therefore use your own shot shape to build your own private cone. obviously if you are a beginner or double crossing it's different. just an idea.

[@Thepippinator2]

Great video! Important takeaway is to be realistic about your potential misses. Aim for a conservative spot that can still supplement a miss hit.

[@CLR13]

My late Grandfather, a 25 year PGA professional, told me "Play the shot that makes the next shot the easiest.". That has stuck with me every round.

[@johnhughes2043]

Brilliant! This is precisely why Hogan was such a master of the game. Being a “student” of his game this was something I lost in studying it. I can’t wait to apply this to my game. Thanks

[@electronicpen]

Great vid. It's what's meant when you hear pros talk about "where to miss it"... they never aim to miss, rather they understand they will miss some shots so they factor that in to avoid missing it in a really bad place.

[@steveperry1344]

this makes a lot of sense, i hit mostly draws and a lot of pull draws and i don't aim enough right to allow for it and aim down the middle. i'm gonna try this cone method, thnx for the info, it's what i needed.

[@azcarteranderson]

Learn to hit a fade on command and always play the fade or Draw with the Wind. It's a game changer

[@steveperry1344]

i can hit a fade well with the driver and i should use it more often, the draw is my usual shot.@@azcarteranderson

[@aidanspalding]

Great video but i hate when people misconstrue concepts to best fit their arguement. When talking about the tiger and matt fitzpatrick aiming more left when they were meaning, you decided to draw a straight line off of the feet instead parallel on the ball.

[@ryanmegyesi104]

If I’m not mistaken I thought the decade method wants you to be somewhat aggressive going into pins. It’s just the same principles over again going into a green as off the tee. Knowing your shot pattern as it relates to the club your hitting then picking your landing zone. If it ends up being the middle of the green so be it, but its not an absolute of always going for the middle of the green

[@habitualflipper5640]

Decade is an algorithm that dictates where you centre your shot pattern, taking into consideration variables such as distance, hazards, pin location, etc.

[@thorbart7279]

excellent visualization of Hogan's genius I notice myself falling for the shooting at the flag more than I like to. Looking for that perfect shot ... now... I see that I should be looking for that perfect miss.

[@ChrisMarkTvv]

Thanks for sharing ❤

[@iiZAPPx]

Scott Fawcett is a quality dude. If you know you know. We appreciate you Scott

[@scottfawcett3290]

Thanks a million! Helps when scrolling through cynicism and whatnot to see some are being helped and happy! 😂🤛🤛

[@iiZAPPx]

@scottfawcett3290 you helped me at random and set me up with the app. I don't forget those who extend random acts of kindness.

[@Michaelj22ff2st]

This is genuinely such an important video

[@lilbrusselsprout8261]

The part that most golfers struggle with this strategy the most? Actually sticking to it.

[@timjoebob1]

Really good video. I’ve been trying to do that, but it takes discipline.

[@diegocabello3852]

I never ever thought about golf like this.. mind blowing

[@TheBeefTrain]

This is awesome and so helpful

[@sigmundsakoman7448]

That makes so much sense and is so simplistic in logic that it is in a way laughable that a golfer of any level does not know that theory of the game. I now feel like an idiot as I have never considered such logic, and as such have self sabotaged many years of golf. Great content, thank you.

[@andrewgudgeonobe2721]

That was excellent advice

[@jdcah9750]

Awesome video. Now if I can remember it. I now have an 847 swing

[@DA-bp8lf]

I shoot in the upper 70s on average and I stumbled upon this strategy years ago, by myself. In my mind, it was just common sense. Yes, it does keep my game score consistent, but in the end, if I wanna shoot better, I need to play more and I just don’t have the time.

[@the808life]

You didn’t come up with this on your own. We all saw a better player do it first.

[@Raoul684]

Great content, and now I'm desperate to get out there and try it.

[@viet5929]

Going to try this tomorrow.

[@ArtIsNotAlwaysEasy]

Wow - simple, clear, and makes sense.

[@edmundricco6728]

Definitely an "ah ha" moment. Going over my last few rounds, I can see that this approach would have improved my scores. Thank you for an informative and well presented video.

[@ShotPattern]

It makes a huge difference!

[@Justso65]

The only hole in one I ever had was aimed at the middle of the green. I pulled it slightly and in it went.

[@roblove9976]

This is fascinating and such a great strategy (though my cone is pretty wide!)

[@anonymousfu]

I think this applies to other shots, too. Like don't try the flop shot over the bunker; just play a normal pitch to the other side of the hole. Take those big numbers out of play. Great video 👍

[@scottfawcett3290]

it's all relative to YOUR abilities, but yes, you are thinking about this correctly.

[@GolfBusters]

Love your videos!

[@DavidDeviney]

Finally a good explanation of Decade I can wrap my head around

[@ReysBoomBoomRoom11]

Funny. This light went off for me during covid when we were all playing a lot of golf. I actually started doing this to save money on lost balls off the tee because I was playing so much and losing so many at the hilly tree-lined course I played. By the end of that first covid year it became a regular occurrence to play 18 with 1 ball after easily going through 2 sleeves per round sometimes more. It became 1 ball and occasionally 2-3 at the most and even that wasn't always because they were lost. Often it was because some were approaching a near 10 rounds of play and just felt slightly worn out... My scores dropped like crazy, broke 80 a lot more often and my handicap got REAL low even though that wasn't my intention. Especially when I started only shooting at fat parts of greens. And to think it all started because I wanted to save money on balls. Best golf season of my life. 🤷‍♂️

[@aspoonfulofknowledge]

This was great!

[@stefanopapurello7736]

Thanks!!!!!

[@abhyudayarawat2495]

Being a 1 handicap player this is really amazing, playing conservative golf is key to shooting low scores

[@scottfawcett3290]

I don't like the words conservative or aggressive as they have emotions attached to them. It's just correct!

[@Gaber1983]

the best piece of advice here

[@danieljd6776]

Jack Nicklaus was probably the best at this. His record in Majors speaks for itself.

[@ryantobin1007]

Amazing video

[@Droogs]

The most consistently great golfer of all time, Jack Nicklaus, played this way. 😉

[@alecmacknight]

great vid

[@francus7227]

I'm glad I was taught by my grandfather. I've got excellent fundamentals. I learned this in 1977.... He taught me.... Proper etiquette and integrity above all..... Then, he moved to the grip. I was hosting at TPC Oak Bridge, and my friend griped at me about the 13th hole, "Someone could really get pissed off golfing with you." I started scrambling for why. I talk a lot, but not while someone is addressing the ball. I didn't walk across a lie. Hmmm? "Mike, what's the problem?" His reply....."You're always in the fairway." I just laughed and told him..."I haven't hit a drive over 200 yards all day. I shot 90. Too many below average golfers take their golf too seriously AND have unrealistic expectations that are regularly unmet. Drive for show. Chip and putt for dough..... even though I never bet on golf. I did tap the thumbs up 👍 button to feed the algorithm monsters.

[@elliotl7021]

Awesome video and great advice. However, let's keep in mind that not all tour players setup perfectly "parallel left" !!

[@tm-wc3fp]

Funny that he used that Tiger fw bunker shot as an example cause when Tiger has been asked about hitting perfect golf shots he said he’s only hit two of them that did exactly what he envisioned and that was one of them.

[@lawbinson]

Check out Practical Golf by Jon Sherman. It’s super easy to understand and you only really need to cover the first half to drop a ton of strokes with no swing changes.

[@scottfawcett3290]

Jon's book is great and he cites me more than anyone else in his book since the vast majority of his strategic advice is based on DECADE. He's a great writer and even better guy!

[@lawbinson]

@@scottfawcett3290 absolutely! Definitely a decade-style approach to the game. Thank you Scott. Have watched many of your interviews as well and recommend others to do so too

[@Livebetter12]

This is awesome! I am just getting started with golf. For someone who is barely an amateur, is there a good way to define your own cone? Just go to the range and try and watch every shot?

[@interestedbystander196]

Basically, yes. Some ranges have ball trackers, etc., but you can learn a lot about your trends by just eyeballing it as well. Even better if you tally/write them down (e.g. 50 balls, 40 actually in the air, 5 big left, 7 little left, 3 straight, 16 little right, 9 big right). You see your trends and you get a sense where to aim for best AVERAGE outcome. In my example above, more than half of the shots go right, so you should aim left on average to give yourself a better change of a good result.

[@deldridg]

Some say Moe was the best ball striker of all time. I guess it depends on how you measure it. Excellent video!

[@craigshewchuk9018]

I have been able to make my misses left or right depending what I want the ball to do, irons always have a good right to left fade, driver I can hit fade or draw 200-225 and most chips can place exactly where I want, I use a similar method to play half decent, usually shoot 80s. Just got 78 first time the other day

[@scottfawcett3290]

you just broke 80 for the first time and think you have this level of control?

[@craigshewchuk9018]

@@scottfawcett3290 it's in set ups and taking a lot of lessons and playing a lot to be able to draw of fade and playing the right shot, I am not saying I don't have misses, just a set up that is able to play the correct shot and score half decent

[@stephencolor2010]

Insightful

[@rorygillmore6555]

Lmao... over 9 minutes on the longer you hit the ball, the more you should account for left and right misses... and Moe Norman is the greatest ball striker that ever lived. The PGA would rather remember Hogan since they didn't laugh him off the tour for being a little kooky. Couldnt even get that right, though... 😂

[@AntonVanDerSar]

Never knew I was so lucky to have my dad explain this to me at 13 years old. Doesn’t mean I never attack a pin, though!!

[@JasonDoubleYou]

I've stood in that bunker at Glen Abbey's 18th hole. It literally looks like a mile away... over water

[@GinoHawkins]

Great vid. I thought he was saying "Tall" players ha!

[@stephenbuckman4463]

also they try to move the ball fade or draw to maximise target area

[@chrispannerz4084]

amazing concept here, just 1 more swing thought

[@marshallhinojosa7501]

Classic TY! 😎

[@jeffs7255]

It's important to note that the left side of the cone has longer shots and the right side of the cone has shorter shots. This is for right handed players. Pulls to the left deloft the club and go longer. The opposite for right. This is a crucial stat to know for most of this to be useful.

[@mikechar17]

Did JT use his cone last weekend?

[@darioc.1196]

mind blowing realization

[@ryno7437]

This guy’s voice is something else

[@rayjones1455]

LOL! Yes! It's as if he is the voice of "smart golf"

[@crackspider101]

Without wanting to sound like a shill, this is exactly what Shot Scope offer with their strategy planner, which you can use before your round to determine the best club for each tee shot

[@sethmorales1519]

This video and format was really cool, I wish these KZbinrs like you became more popular… nobody cares about a DOD king lol

[@muntjunk-plk3171]

Cone is a great system but a bit of a stretch to say Tiger wasn’t playing the fade on that shot 😂

[@vivektulja4516]

This is how Jack Nicklaus won 18 majors: His cone was not an isosceles triangle but was a right-angled triangle. He never missed left. Every ball faded just the way he wanted.

[@RARochester]

A good read would be Hank Haney's " The Big Miss "; he talks about some of this.......

[@ronbork8454]

My playing partner who's a bogey golfer has always joked that his best shots were his misses. He needs to watch this.

[@ryanith2]

Just to clarify, he says you dont get to just suck it up and hit a good shot. You can certainly shrink the cone with exhausting focus but no one (save tiger maybe) can stay in that mental zone all the time. In other words there are possibly 2 variables, the mechanical and the cognitive, the 2nd set being manipulable much more than the 1st. I think thats what is intuitively meant by suck it up and hit a good shot. But yeah hes right you cant change the cone size very much mid round.

[@Crazy-Ish]

3:04 what if the top of my curve is 3 different fairways?

[@darylhoskins5696]

😂😂😂😂

[@MaartenAnna]

Best advise I’ve never taken 😂

[@KetaManiacc]

This is a great video I love it. I watched an iron session with Colin morikawa and Tiger Woods recently and they both said the same thing. Tightening the miss range is the real goal most pros are after, and it's really intuitive actually. Even as a 7 or 8 handicap player who could hit some excellent shots in comparison to other players of similar handicap, my misses are so big sometimes that it'll just ruin a round with a couple of big scores. Will definitely try and think of this the next time I'm out on the course!

[@adrianl6811]

Discovered this today after 15 years on the course and then it pops up on my feed. 😢

[@ToddPlaysGolf]

"What keeps my ball in play," is the only thing I try to think about as a new golfer. Then I pick my most confidential club to achieve that.

[@matthias19850]

"best ball striker ever" Moe Norman has entered the chat.

[@nowaythatnamewastakn]

😅