How measured short-long dispersion changes target selection on the golf course.
In the Practice Lab, we had collected an important piece of information during a chipping task from around 10 metres: the distance dispersion of the shots was approximately 3 metres from short to long.
Later on the golf course, that information suddenly became strategically relevant.
The two golfers in this lesson played at around handicap 40. This level is particularly interesting for us. The golfers can already do many things: they get the ball into play more or less reliably, know the basic types of shots and have already heard quite a lot about technique and course strategy.
And that is exactly why a new phase of learning now begins.
It is no longer only about making contact with the ball. Increasingly, it is about avoiding unnecessary shots.
And this is where topics such as target selection, safety margins, playable windows, special shots and shot planning suddenly become very concrete.
The intuitive target often only fits the good shot
The flag was positioned on an elevated section on the left side of the green, relatively close behind a bunker. The shot distance was around 20 to 25 metres.
For many golfers, the task in a situation like this initially seems obvious:
The ball needs to land directly behind the bunker.
That sounds reasonable. But it is only reasonable if the shot comes off almost exactly as intended. If the intended landing point is only just beyond the bunker and the golfer has a normal distance dispersion of around 3 metres with this type of shot, a problem immediately appears. Part of the golfer’s normal miss is no longer on the green. It is in the bunker.
That is exactly what happened in this lesson. The chosen target was not fundamentally wrong. It was simply based too heavily on a good or perfect shot. It did not provide enough safety margin for the golfer’s normal short miss.
A good target also needs room for mistakes
That changed the real question during the lesson. Instead of: Where should the perfect shot land?
We asked: Where does the target need to be so that a normal short miss – which can certainly happen from this semi-rough lie – still produces an acceptable result?
That is an important difference.
A good target is not simply the nicest or most direct point on the green. It has to take the golfer’s normal shot dispersion into account.
Especially in the short game, dispersion is often understood too narrowly. Many golfers immediately think about left and right.
But in situations like this, something else may be more important: short and long.
If a golfer knows that chips or short pitches can vary by several metres in distance, that dispersion needs to become part of the target-planning process.
It is not the perfect ball that matters, but the normal shot
My own demonstration shot was particularly useful in this situation as well.
It was not perfect. The ball came out shorter than planned.
But it still stayed on the green.
Why?
Because the plan contained more safety margin.
That made the situation particularly valuable from a teaching perspective. A perfect demonstration shot would almost have weakened the message. It was the imperfect but still acceptable result that showed what really mattered:
Good planning does not only protect the perfect shot. It also protects the normal miss.
These details become especially important for mid-handicap golfers
This is exactly why I particularly enjoy taking golfers in the mid-handicap range onto the golf course. Many of these golfers have already heard numerous concepts. They know that you should not always attack the flag. They are familiar with terms such as risk, target zone or course management.
But there is a big difference between having heard something and being able to apply it reliably in your own game. On the golf course, these concepts suddenly become visible.
The golfer experiences directly why a certain target was too aggressive. Why an apparently safe line left no room for the normal miss. Or why the next shot should already be part of the current decision.
This is why knowledge without tested application is only one part of the puzzle. Understanding a concept does not automatically mean being able to use it reliably on the golf course.
For stable application, golfers need a cycle of trying, making mistakes, receiving feedback, understanding, adjusting and trying again.
For a moment, the golf course becomes less of a competitive environment and more of a teacher and testing ground.
The golfer needs to be allowed to try new solutions, discuss the result with us as golf coaches, reassess the situation and then test a different solution.
That is how knowledge begins to become more stable.
Reading an article about shot planning, playable windows or special shots can create understanding. For most golfers, however, that understanding alone is not enough to apply these concepts reliably under real playing conditions.
Not every lost shot needs a technical correction
This is an area with considerable potential, especially for golfers with a mid-range handicap.
During many rounds, additional shots are lost from situations under or behind trees and bushes. Other shots are lost through poor target selection, misjudgements or shot planning that does not sufficiently account for the golfer’s normal miss. Then there are special shots that are not yet reliable enough technically or strategically.
How many shots this actually costs during a particular round depends greatly on the golfer, their playing level and the golf course.
But the important point is:
Not every shot lost on the scorecard requires a technical swing correction.
For golfers who can already get the ball into play more or less reliably, these areas can therefore become some of the next major opportunities for improvement.
Sometimes the score improves not because the golfer learns a better shot, but because they learn to use the shots they already have more effectively.
The focus of the lesson changes with the golfer
During this particular week, however, we still needed to spend a significant part of the lesson time on technical topics. With the driver in particular, we worked intensively on strike location and directional control.
That had priority.
If a golfer has significant strike problems, we spend a lot of time working on those fundamentals.
As a result, there was less time available for playing strategy during the week than we would ideally have liked.
After the lesson, we therefore sat down together for another 30 minutes or so and went through several situations and decisions in detail. That is also part of the learning process for us.
Once a golfer can basically play the ball with their different clubs, the emphasis naturally begins to shift. Other possible sources of lost shots become more important: perception, shot planning, target selection, risk, expectations or preparing the next shot.
These areas also play an important role in Chapter 1 of our Strategy Lab handbook.
From the Practice Lab to the golf course
The subject therefore did not end with the bunker situation. We looked for other positions around the green and repeatedly asked the same question:
Where does the target need to be in this situation if we take our own short-long dispersion into account?
This made it clear that the Practice Lab and Strategy Lab are not separate worlds.
In the Practice Lab, the golfer learns something about their own shot pattern. In the Strategy Lab, that information becomes a concrete decision. And on the golf course, that decision has to be adapted to the real situation.
This creates a learning cycle:
recognise your own dispersion → derive a target area → assess the situation → plan the shot → observe the result → adjust again
Connection to the Golf Learning System
This is where an important principle of our Golf Learning System becomes visible.
As long as strike quality and ball control are still major problems, we work intensively on those fundamentals.
Once a golfer can basically play the ball with their different clubs, the focus increasingly shifts towards other areas where shots can also be lost.
- playable windows,
- shot planning,
- playing strategy,
- target zones and dispersion,
- and special shots for real on-course situations.
For golfers who can already do many things technically but feel that their handicap is no longer improving as they would like, a large part of the next development potential can often be found here.
Not every next shot is saved through better technique.
Sometimes progress comes from using the shots you already have more effectively.
Another example is the way we practise with real on-course situations and special shots, where technical possibilities are always connected to the actual task faced by the golfer on the course.
Monnard Widmer Coaching Insight
A good target is not the target for the perfect shot. It also needs to leave room for the normal miss.
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