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Skills Challenge: A statistical breakdown and explanation.

• Noodon 56 Posts

  Tue, Jan 27 2009 11:23 AM

   

  So I have read a number of replies to the Skills Challenge and the variance in club legnth and +/-, spending hours on it etc...here is a little advice to ease your frustration. Learn the greens and the breaks first, if you don't learn these you will never score well,  the breaks in the green are the entire game. The distance control is mimimal if you put the ball within a certain break area of the green. I have found that each green has at least 3 perfect breaks combined with different clubs to always get you within 5 feet no matter what the +/- is. I think the issue I have with the game is the jittery performance of the swing bar depending on the game load, it changes daily and no matter what your settings a tiny miss more or less will screw up any shot. It seems odd to most but in reality I find it (as a 3 times a week real golfer) to be very realistic to actual course play. I know on a real course you play it to the green based on break, and your distance is never perfect. Get on a course hit the same club with the same lie 3 times in a row and if your outcome is exact then you should call Tiger and sign up for the PGA.....

• DeerRun 230 Posts

  Tue, Jan 27 2009 1:40 PM

  Good point Noodon.  That is my big problem in golf, in the real game or on here, I am poor at reading greens.  Thanks for posting it.

• tibbets 1,043 Posts

  Tue, Jan 27 2009 10:00 PM

   Yes, there are definitive breaks on the greens for each hole, and yes they are important to know and use properly.  None of these shots are any different from anything I play in stroke play, and I don't seem to have any issues with understanding the breaks of the greens there. :)

  They still will not help you when your 7 iron(137yd) flies 149 yds with a 1mph crosswind to a hole 140 yds away on #1.  Haven't gotten that result yet?  Play more and you will.  I have video of shots on just about every hole with equal aim, power, and perfect hit that vary hugely in distance.  I have video of a a 6 iron(150yds) going 160 yards on the fly.  I have tried in every circumstance in stroke play, and have yet to be able to get a 6 iron to fly that far there.  I have video of a 3wood(205yds) going 220 yds into a 6mph cross/head wind, and then video of the same 3wood, same wind, setup, power going 194yds. 

• Dragoon 18 Posts

  Fri, Jan 30 2009 11:49 AM

  ^^^^^^------ QFT!  As Tibbets has pointed out there are definitely huge inconsistancies which should be addressed.  Even with "beginner clubs" one shouldn't be capable of hitting a club that much farther than the club is even capable of going.  I can understand left or right but longer?  And 10-15 yards longer at that?  It can be frustrating when you are on the 9th hole in skills challenge with 50 points and end up hitting it 20ft from the pin with a perfect shot.  Especially with money on the line.

• nivlac 2,188 Posts

  Fri, Jan 30 2009 1:49 PM

  The variance in short and long could probably be explained by vertical impact.  Impact too high on the club face, you hit it fat (or hit into the ground itself) and it goes shorter than it's supposed to.  Impact too low on the club face, you hit it thin or "skull" it and it goes flying way farther and lower than it should.

  The yardages given are most likely 'sweet spot' yardages.  Hitting fat or thin will cause a variance, although unlike hook and slice, that particular detail is out of our control. 

  I'm not saying this justifies the amount of variance but, merely the presence of it.

• Noodon 56 Posts

  Sun, Feb 1 2009 1:20 PM

   So one variance I am noticing more and more with the game is the effect of the wind on the flight of the ball. I played a skill challenge round moved the cursor way left because of a strong wind and the ball went dead straight, next hole moved the cursor and the wind actually moved the ball in a somewhat consistent manner. I also noticed on the first hole in skill challenge that the ball will actually move left with a left to right wind even if you play a slice into the hole. Some very odd things at times with this game, I'm not sure pure gamers will ever accept these flaws, as even with real golf you play to improve and this game seems to negate that principle in a number of aspects. Note: you can improve with some basic knowledge factors in the game, but I believe the game decides the outcome based on the randomization of what ever it is trying to factor at the moment, takes the actual player out of the game a bit. Kinda like a slot machine in some aspects.