New GolfWRX Column: The Myth Behind the 1 Way Miss

[Richie3Jack]

We often hear from professional golfers how important it is to have a “one way miss’”and to be able to “take one side of the golf course out of play” in order to drive the ball more effectively. However, statistical evidence indicates that this is not quite an accurate depiction of how the best golfers in the world effectively drive the ball.

A metric that I have explored quite frequently is “miss bias.” This is the percentage of time a player misses a fairway right or left. What I have found is that there is no direction that is better to miss the fairway. Having a right miss bias is equal to having a left miss bias. Typically, what is more important is the ratio of the miss bias.

Read More: www.golfwrx.com/115076/the-myth-behind-the-one-way-miss/





3JACK

[jeffy]

I didn't see Mickelson listed; as I calculate it, his miss-bias today is 67%L. Is that the highest?


Jeff

[Richie3Jack]

His miss bias is 59.6% left.

www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.02422.html





3JACK

[jeffy]

Thanks, I didn't see that stat. I was looking at left/right rough tendency.


Jeff

[Ringer]

I'm not sure "Miss bias" would really get to the heart of what they're saying.

I've always taken it to mean either miss with a fade all the time or miss with a draw all the time. Not to just pick one half of the golf course to drive to. If you can count on hitting it either straight or a fade, you aim at the left side of the fairway and if it fades at all you'll still end up in the fairway.

[teeace]

I see this is great example how statistics fools us. I don't believe on way miss, but I strongly believe that player should have ability to take one side of the course out of play. So in some holes he has to be able to swing the way right side is out and in some other holes left.

[Richie3Jack]

I believe almost all Tour players can take out one side on any hole a great majority of the time.

There is no strong correlation here. Somebody who has a miss bias of 50/50 is not going to be better off than the guy who has a 54/46 miss bias. But, we start to see problems with players that have a miss bias of 56%+. These players have *tend* to not drive the ball nearly as well.

The interpretation of that could be many things. I believe it's a case where they struggle to take out that one side of the course. If a golfer is hitting 60% of his misses to the right...then if he gets on a hole where he cannot miss to the right...he's going to have an issue doing so.

Meanwhile, there are many golfers...even very good and experienced ones....that tend to believe that a miss bias on Tour is best to be on one side most of the time. So, while you may not have viewed it that way, there are people that have felt differently as I had many readers tell me that they didn't realize their fallacy until I showed the statistics.






3JACK

[mchepp]

I am 58% left rough bias. Is the 56+% number the same for hacks like us?

[Richie3Jack]

Aug 28, 2013 10:11:47 GMT -5 mchepp said:

I am 58% left rough bias. Is the 56+% number the same for hacks like us?

I believe so. It has to do with not being able to avoid that one bad shot and Tour players are typically better at it.






3JACK