Pitching, chipping and splashing with new swing mechanics

[lazarides]

I was playing my PGA tour season yesterday arvo and noticed the big difference on splash shots. They used to be my go to anywhere within 35 feet. Now I am just pitching from anywhere within 60 feet, bunkers or rough.

I would rather leave a 6-10 foot putt from a pitch than chunk a splash/flop a couple of times in a bunker. Now I am just waiting for them to catch onto this and change it for pitch shots too !

[HoneyBadgerHacker]

Main thing I picked up on with splash shots is if the game gives you a partial splash shot do not do it!!!! You have to maximize it to 100% or it will go 2 feet if you don’t. So for example if you are 10 yards away in the bunker go ahead and max it to the 16 yard distance depending on what clubs you are using. Then try to make a partial swing and it seems to work fine.

[Rad Ad]

I'm on CC-A, logged over 300 hours on the game, and I probably went at least six months without recalibrating my swing. Since they started messing around with trying to nerf the 'red fasts', I've noticed frequent differences in yardage outcomes with red fast and slow full swings and partial shots. It's at the point where I have to hit the range and often recalibrate my swing every few days because of these changes.

Just today I noticed some changes that have completely thrown my swing out of whack. I'm sitting T8 in this week's CC-A tourney and was hitting perfect shots with ease earlier this week but today I can't hit one to save my life using the same technique. I'm not 100% sure how much of it is reality vs perception, but I've logged enough hours to recognize changes are very likely occurring. I'm getting a little fed up with the moving target every few days and I'm thinking of hanging up the virtual clubs for a while.

[jayraygun]

I've decided to not use splash shots from anywhere, even from the bunkers. In fact, I don't use anything but full, pitch, and chip shots. I'll pitch out of all bunkers now and because of that I've started carrying the second shortest 60 degree LW in my bag so I can bring my pitches down to a minimum distance of around 8 yards.

I play with vibration on but the swing meter and distance control off, so for those partial pitches, what I've found works for me is to not try any "practice" strokes where you might pull back on the stick to try and find the spot where the vibration starts. I found that when I do that, inevitably I will end up anticipating the vibration and either come up way short because of an underpowered shot or I will rush the downswing and create a red fast to very fast.

So now I will pull back for the backswing and let the vibration surprise me. The delay between the vibration and my transitioning to my downswing is enough where I don't rush my downswing and I'm usually 1 or 2% within the "correct" power range. This works for me on any length pitch from any lie. You have to practice with it and you have to hit a lot of shots to figure out your roll out enough to get close to the cup.

And no I only chip if the shot is less than 8 yards and I can chip with my LW.

[BillySastard976]

Splashes were a get out of jail free shot, now they're a go to jail immediately shot from bunkers, unless 100%. Pitches I find are greatly improved, so now a shot I avoided like the plague is my go to shot.

[twofor22]

I actually hit a partial splash out of a bunker yesterday to within a couple of feet of the hole. It's ridiculous how slow the downswing has to be on those compared to every other shot type to get it in the white or grey areas.

[zooby97]

I’m using Max clubs now and my lowest pitch shot with wedge is 66yds.

When an actual shot is say 35 yds what is the best way to partial? I pull back all of the way to get the 66 yd feel and then try to time it by pulling it half way but more times than not it goes 50 and another overshot or I swing too fast and it goes 12.

Any tips?

[zooby97]

May 21, 2021 19:33:08 GMT -5 twofor22 said:

I actually hit a partial splash out of a bunker yesterday to within a couple of feet of the hole. It's ridiculous how slow the downswing has to be on those compared to every other shot type to get it in the white or grey areas.

I’m trying to avoid bunkers that are too close to hole. I’m either digging a hole with 3 attempts or just take punishment with an overshot. And when I try to avoid that bunker I end up with a red slow and you know where it goes? Right in that bunker.

[zooby97]

May 20, 2021 17:01:14 GMT -5 BillySastard976 said:

Splashes were a get out of jail free shot, now they're a go to jail immediately shot from bunkers, unless 100%. Pitches I find are greatly improved, so now a shot I avoided like the plague is my go to shot.

Partials are my issue...I always seem to still overshoot them.

[mega8deth8]

I think I might be done with this game. They have just changed it too much. I was never really a red faster. In fact, after they nerfed it, I started making cuts in platinum. But the swing is just too volatile. There were always "out of blue" red slows, but they knocked you off course 20 yards or so, so we just dealt with it. Now, those swings, which felt perfect, are round killers. Some times you swing and you just know its fast or slow and you except that. But when it feels perfect, how much could it be off? Greys maybe, but a perfect feeling swing that is in the red? These are the swings that keep me from having fun with this game lately. Now combine that with splash and flop shots. I had a green side bunker last week that it took 3 shots to get out of. Other short shots coming up 20 yds short and ending up at your feet. It's infuriating. We'll see if I feel like the grind next week or not. But as I opened this comment with, "I might be done". I'm looking forward to see what EA is coming out with. Except for TW11 and the Rory disaster, I really liked their golf games.

[twofor22]

May 30, 2021 7:03:47 GMT -5 zooby97 said:

May 21, 2021 19:33:08 GMT -5 twofor22 said:

I actually hit a partial splash out of a bunker yesterday to within a couple of feet of the hole. It's ridiculous how slow the downswing has to be on those compared to every other shot type to get it in the white or grey areas.

I’m trying to avoid bunkers that are too close to hole. I’m either digging a hole with 3 attempts or just take punishment with an overshot. And when I try to avoid that bunker I end up with a red slow and you know where it goes? Right in that bunker.

Sometimes I'll use a pitch for those, but I've found over the last week or so that if I overswing the partial splash it will get out and close to the pin even with a red fast. I still feel like I'm really slow on the downswing and it still red fasts it...that particular shot is broken to me but I've found a way to make it work at least.

[jayraygun]

May 31, 2021 7:54:15 GMT -5 mega8deth8 said:

I think I might be done with this game. They have just changed it too much. I was never really a red faster. In fact, after they nerfed it, I started making cuts in platinum. But the swing is just too volatile. There were always "out of blue" red slows, but they knocked you off course 20 yards or so, so we just dealt with it. Now, those swings, which felt perfect, are round killers. Some times you swing and you just know its fast or slow and you except that. But when it feels perfect, how much could it be off? Greys maybe, but a perfect feeling swing that is in the red? These are the swings that keep me from having fun with this game lately. Now combine that with splash and flop shots. I had a green side bunker last week that it took 3 shots to get out of. Other short shots coming up 20 yds short and ending up at your feet. It's infuriating. We'll see if I feel like the grind next week or not. But as I opened this comment with, "I might be done". I'm looking forward to see what EA is coming out with. Except for TW11 and the Rory disaster, I really liked their golf games.

I actually did a little experiment a while ago where I filmed my controller at 120 FPS while I was on the driving range (Master difficulty, standard TGC settings) and counted the frames to time three points:

1. The time it takes me to pull all the way back on the stick.
2. The time between pulling back and pushing forward
3. The time it take to push the stick all the way forward.

What I found was:


1. There was no correlation between the timing of the back swing and the downswing. How slow or fast I pulled back the stick did not affect the shot.
2. The difference between a Perfect tempo and a Red Fast/Red Slow was between 3-5 milliseconds. The average human blink lasts for 100 milliseconds so you can imagine that feeling the difference between a Perfect and a Red Fast at 5 milliseconds is almost impossible. Almost, but obviously not quite impossible as you say, there are times you know you've swung slow or swing fast but these are usually times where your "thumb mechanics" feel off so you may be feeling more the difference in your swing rather than a perceptible timing difference.
3. With a timing window that small, getting consistent perfects is going to be very, very tough. It takes some real muscle memory and minute muscle control to "find" the perfect swing and then repeat it.

All this to say, I hope you don't give up and figure something out that keeps you in it.

Good luck.

[tylannister]

May 31, 2021 7:54:15 GMT -5 mega8deth8 said:

I think I might be done with this game. They have just changed it too much. I was never really a red faster. In fact, after they nerfed it, I started making cuts in platinum. But the swing is just too volatile. There were always "out of blue" red slows, but they knocked you off course 20 yards or so, so we just dealt with it. Now, those swings, which felt perfect, are round killers. Some times you swing and you just know its fast or slow and you except that. But when it feels perfect, how much could it be off? Greys maybe, but a perfect feeling swing that is in the red? These are the swings that keep me from having fun with this game lately. Now combine that with splash and flop shots. I had a green side bunker last week that it took 3 shots to get out of. Other short shots coming up 20 yds short and ending up at your feet. It's infuriating. We'll see if I feel like the grind next week or not. But as I opened this comment with, "I might be done". I'm looking forward to see what EA is coming out with. Except for TW11 and the Rory disaster, I really liked their golf games.

Fully agree with this comment. If it wasn't for this community and the societies I am enjoying playing in, I think I would have been out of this game since a few days. HB/2K studios have managed this game horribly. You can't update with a major controller mechanics change every month or two for a game that is based... on controller mechanics. I was never a red-fast player, I aimed for perfects since the first day, so I am not angry about them having destroyed my game and scores. I am angry about the absolute inconsistency of the changes. I don't know how many times I have recalibrated since the last update. It lasts for an acceptable round or two (given that you can accept dropping from average -8ish scores to rather -5ish) and then the red tempo nightmare comes back.
I know that we are so dependent of this game for this nice community of players, but 2k deserves nothing than a major drop of players as soon as Tiger is released. Maybe with that they learn the lesson.