Your Controller Grip

[Ashton Fox]

Since the very first golf game, I have always used my left thumb on the bottom of the left stick. The first problems started in TGC2. Now they continue. I either have:
1. P/P 10% of the time
2. P/F 30% of the time
3. S/P 40% of the time
4. P/P swiggle line out of the stripe 10% of the time
5. Some other goofy shot 10% of the time

The biggest problem is soon as I put my thumb on the stick, the club moves back ever so slightly. I may pump fake a shot 15 times before getting a pull back that feels right and then who knows on the follow thru.

I tried the right stick to no avail.

How do you grip the shot stick? I'm interested to hear what people do and see if there is one that I can try that will have a little better success.

[Deleted]

I'm useless with my thumb, not just because it's difficult to control the stick itself (slips very easily for me), but the standard controller hold method means it's hovering in mid air, which means it's invariably moving a bit when any motion is applied, which just adds another variable interfering with the swing.

I put my controller on my desk, standing perfectly vertically and holding it down extremely firmly with my left hand to ensure the controller itself never moves. Then I use the chess piece method, holding the stick with my right thumb and forefinger, and stare only at the controller (not the screen, I just view it peripherally) and try to move it up and down as straight as possible. I also have to seat myself facing maybe 10-20 degrees left of square to my monitor, because what looks like a straight up and down motion is slightly off with my controller, and adjusting my overall body angle a tiny bit helps produce better results. Also I have to slouch in my chair lol, so I can be a bit closer to eye level with the stick.

[Ashton Fox]

@larrymalone

I read the first part of your reply (after just reading the mermaid thing) and thought oh boy where is this going....

😂😂☠️☠️

[JosiaDB]

Wow, I would have never thought to try that Larry, thats some great info.    I hold my controller normally, usually in my lap, and use the right stick and the right thumb.   Frequently, my thumb will twitch at the last moment, giving all sorts of the goofy movements right at the end of the downswing.

I've tried looking straight down at it with practice swings, and using my finger and thumb together like you said, and sure enough, it goes straighter when I do that.    But... I just can't get past the fact that I like to watch the animation on the screen as it happens!! haha.

I've also noticed to hit it straight up and down, I have to "think" I'm pushing it towards the top right if I'm not looking at it.

[Deleted]

Oct 23, 2018 7:52:57 GMT -5 JosiaDB said:

I've tried looking straight down at it with practice swings, and using my finger and thumb together like you said, and sure enough, it goes straighter when I do that.    But... I just can't get past the fact that I like to watch the animation on the screen as it happens!! haha.

Yeah it was a serous fun-killer when I switched to that method, lost all sense of immersion - there's no willing suspension of disbelief that I'm playing golf at Augusta, I'm under no illusions now, I'm just moving a lever up and down over and over again like an 18th century factory worker.  

[rob4590]

I also have the controller on my desk - holding it with my left hand.

Thumb and forefinger on the right stick. Pressure down towards the thumb with the forefinger on the backswing, then mostly thumb moving up on the downswing.

However - I now only look at the screen when doing it (in TGC2 I looked at the controller on the backswing then the screen on the way through) - with the new game, I get better tempo looking at the avatar's swing than the controller.

[JosiaDB]

interesting!

When its all said and done, immersion is the key for me.    I have make that decision, is the game more fun with me being fully immersed, but scoring in +10, or taking that away and winning?  Its a fine line, and good discussion, and something to think about.

For me, I go full immersion.  But I'm also the type that I will sacrifice winning in PUBG/etc. to play full on first person, to get that effect too. 

[mde8965]

Thumb job here on right controller stick. Hold it with my left hand and the right hand is like a c clamp over the side and just over the R1 button with my index finger. Controller held, pitched to the right about 30 degrees. The crooked controller is an attempt not to slice so far out of the cone due to natural arc motion of thumb. Works pretty good. My swings/drives usually are one of the following:

Starts from slight left of center on bottom, heads up toward right side of cone before a slight left jog

Starts more left of center, maybe even out of the cone st bottom, goes up and out of the cone to the right, results in reasonably straight shot

Starts in center of cone goes up and slightly out of cone on right, veers back in and almost out of cone on left.

Starts pretty centered on the bottom, about ¾ of the way up it veers quite a bit right and out of the cone all the way to the top. Fortunately when this pattern happens I usually swung hard and get a fast downswing which so what offsets the slice.

I also often get the line going ¾ or so up and then having the line coming back down usually at an angle. I guess this means I bounced the swing off the plastic on downswing but for some reason it doesn’t register all the way to the top.

On putts my swings always seem to start left of center at the bottom and end up either in the center of cone or just to the right edge. Unless of course I really really need that putt then it ends up out of the cone to the right and I miss.

[Ashton Fox]

I'm intrigued by the tilting the controller. I may have to give that a try.

[Deleted]

Controller/System: Dual Shock 4 on a regular PS4. It is the kind that can be played plugged in to bypass the bluetooth connectivity, but I use it unplugged via bluetooth.

Style: I hold the controller with two hands, swing with my thumb on the right analog.

Grip: Free floating hold, not on top of anything flat, just that the outside of my wrists lay on top of my quads. I need movement (slight rotation) of my left wrist/hand for my swing, so loose fitting clothes work better for less friction. The controller is noticeably held fairly tight in my left hand. I form the letter C with my left thumb and pointer finger when viewed from above. Left thumb is below the two analogs while the left pointer finger goes around the side of the controller and ending above the L1 button. With my right hand I am holding the controller very loose. I don't use the pad of my right thumb for the swing (right analog), but I actually use a kind of "grip" with my first knuckle to grab the analog on the downswing, so my right thumb when viewed in a grip from above covers the entire right analog, the square button, and the option button.

Swing: I think other "flickers" may do something similar to this, but I think my actual swing, or movement of the right analog, is pretty unconventional. For the backswing, simultaneously I tip the controller down/forward with my left hand to tilt it and I slightly pull back on the right analog once my right knuckle meets the very top of the analog. I usually don't look down at the analog to try and hit it center. I did this religiously in TGC2, but find I do not need it anymore in TGC2k19. I have a look at my golfer on screen and once I see/anticipate the slightest pause at the top of the swing I execute the downswing. The downswing for me is a flick, but not a flick of the analog, but rather a flick of my left hand to recenter the controller back from the downwards tip/tilt I put on in the backswing. Given that the pressure of my thumb on top of the right analog is always very light, I make a small little burst forward with that thumb so that it lets go of the analog. This is what creates the "short swing" feedback that doesn't get to the top of the feedback circle.

The above method of actual swing I have used for all of the TGC games and back to TW10 or TW11 in the other golf series. The only differences during my TGC days is that in TGC1 and TGC2019 I do not look down at my right thumb, but in TGC2 I did.

[grantcrichter]

ps4 controller held vertically in left hand (90' rotation clockwise from normal hold), resting on left knee. flick the left stick left and then right using right pointer finger while right wrist is resting on left knuckles

[digsb]

1.Hit the driving range
2. Google “metronome”
3. Set between 62-69 bpm
4. Practice until your ears bleed
5. Win tours
6. Get a real mermaid for a wife.

[QuantumSparks]

I hold the controller vertically in front of me about 15 inches away from my face so I can see both the controller and the TV with my peripheral vision. This is important as I look at the controller for the whole of my swing. I swing with my right thumb rested on top of the right stick, keeping the controller as still as possible. For the down swing I really concentrate on the stick to try and get the downward part of the swing as straight as possible, as I find it helps with the transition into the upwards motion and keeping it straight. The funny part of my swing is that a few years back someone posted a video that it said helped them deal with nerves when playing, which is to say the word smooth in your head on your back swing and elongate the o's until you reach the apex of you swing. I did not need this for nerves but it has helped me with my tempo as it keeps me steady and gives me a smooth transition. When I do reach the apex of the swing I then push forward o the right stick not too forcefully and not a flick, but pushing forward and keeping the stick forward once I have reached the end of the swing. This has helped eliminate slight movement at the end of the swing that would slice the ball in weird ways.

[illinoisgator]

the day i have to play putting the controller on a desk and not even looking at the screen is the day this is too serious for me. I play with a normal grip using my right thumb. What helped me immensely was changing the feel of my "swing" to where it has to feel like I'm pulling my thumb to the left and pushing it out right (kind of like a draw swing in golf). I'm not very good at this game but that did help me be able to actually use Masters clubs now and be respectable...at least compared to where i was.

[nevadaballin]

Oct 23, 2018 6:53:35 GMT -5 Ashton Fox said:

Since the very first golf game, I have always used my left thumb on the bottom of the left stick. The first problems started in TGC2. Now they continue. I either have:
1. P/P 10% of the time
2. P/F 30% of the time
3. S/P 40% of the time
4. P/P swiggle line out of the stripe 10% of the time
5. Some other goofy shot 10% of the time

The biggest problem is soon as I put my thumb on the stick, the club moves back ever so slightly. I may pump fake a shot 15 times before getting a pull back that feels right and then who knows on the follow thru.

I tried the right stick to no avail.

How do you grip the shot stick? I'm interested to hear what people do and see if there is one that I can try that will have a little better success.

Right-handed but use the left stick.

I use thumb on top of stick to start the back swing but then i seem to roll it towards the bottom of the stick during the backswing and then push the edge up for the downswing.