3 years ago

Does anyone understand the swing mechanics of this game?

I have been playing this game since it was released, prior to that I played "The Golf Club" series pretty religiously with friends 5 nights a week on average since 2014.

With "The Golf Club" I understood why I missed a shot, that based on my swing (input) I could expect a given result. Not unlike in real life. If I push a shot it will go right (for a right handed golfer), same with a pull. I like the timing component as it added an extra level of difficulty.

However in EA PGA Golf, swings seem pretty random. I am speaking more about the long clubs. Off the tee, I have had prefectly timed shot with a perfect swing path pull far to the left or block out to the right.

Is it in the dispersion zone, maybe... but should a dispersion zone be a width greater than the fairway?

I have had shots where my timing was really slow, the swing plane pushed to the right with the ball on a severe downhill slope and had the ball go left. I have also had the opposite happen.

I have had shots where my timing is really fast, and my swing plane resembles a reverse "S" and the ball goes dead straight... in fact when I do this it usually does go straight.

In fact I have found my most successful way to hit drives straight is to start my swing and ram the joystick to the top of the controller, I may only get about 85-90% of the full distance but it goes straight 95% of the time.

Sorry about the long post, but my complaint is it seems the game really isn't about my ability to make shots. I feel like I am just hitting a ball, go find it, hit another shot until I get close to the green. At that point its is whether I can sink a putt, or a simple up and down with a flop or pick shot.

I like that EA gave shots a dispersion pattern, but the zone is way too large for some shots and the user input doesn't impact the game enough.

But to give EA credit, there facets of the game that show a lot of promise. But even those parts don't feel fully fleshed out yet.

discussion

ea sports pga tour

12 Replies

BarkingSpider7
3 years ago
Yesterday, out of the blue my swing is now in slow motion. It takes forever for the backswing to get to the line. Same thing with putting.
-Roasted513-
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@ELF014 i think of myself to be an "accurate" player, yet i have the same issues, sometimes... id suggest finding a a shot type that works for you
i use maybe 3 shot types for a round depending on conditions.
ELF014
3 years ago
@ragingsaint I really only need to use a handful of shots. Drive, Approach, Finesse, Flop and Pick.

And can take advantage of other shots but I really don't need them.

But it doesn't resolve the problem.
Ultrasonic_77
Hero
3 years ago
Yes this sounds like the dispersion zone mechanic to me. Boosting accuracy via skill points and to a lesser extent specs makes a big difference.
Wind gusts are another cause of wayward shots.
Ultrasonic_77
Hero
3 years ago
Just to add I don't thing the timing or under/overswing affects direction, just the swing plane. I routinely hit drives fast and with overswing for extra distance and they go as straight as perfect/perfects as best I can judge.
ELF014
3 years ago
@Ultrasonic_77 I have maxed out my character and have always picked specs and skill points geared towards accuracy rather than anything else. The game seems to use dispersion over anything else.

Someone on another forum acknowledged my findings... and he uses 3-click stating a perfect/perfect with 1mph wind had his ball off line by 21 feet.
ELF014
3 years ago
@Ultrasonic_77 I agree, I believe timing only seems to affect distance. In fact timing added to over/under swing gives you the first value.

I am not even not sure swing path matters that much.

I have seen terrible swing paths where the ball goes in the opposite direction, even when the lie is slope the other way.
Ultrasonic_77
Hero
3 years ago
@ELF014 wrote:
@Ultrasonic_77I agree, I believe timing only seems to affect distance. In fact timing added to over/under swing gives you the first value.

I am not even not sure swing path matters that much.

I have seen terrible swing paths where the ball goes in the opposite direction, even when the lie is slope the other way.
I'm certain a bad swing path (start and end point) leads to the ball deviating from the intended finishing point more, and when I've mishit shots I'd say they do go the way the deviation would suggest. I mostly see this if I mess up trying to hit a draw or fade using the angled swing plane mechanic.
Ultrasonic_77
Hero
3 years ago
@ELF014 wrote:
@Ultrasonic_77I have maxed out my character and have always picked specs and skill points geared towards accuracy rather than anything else. The game seems to use dispersion over anything else.

Someone on another forum acknowledged my findings... and he uses 3-click stating a perfect/perfect with 1mph wind had his ball off line by 21 feet.
I have the accuracy skills maxed out for all three groups and it does not make the dispersion zones zero but it does make them a lot smaller. That's what I said above. The three click deviation mentioned doesn't surprise me at all, but depending on the shot a deviation of 7 yards isn't much anyway.
LemonDropKid
3 years ago
I fumbled with this sort of thing for a while but have since made a few discoveries that might help your situation. They did with mine.
First, when I am on the tee box or even an approach shot to the green I go back and forth to the fairway and or the green to determine the preferred landing area. To get to that spot I have to change clubs and take the wind into the calculation. What I noticed after the shot did not react to my settings was that when I was selecting the golfer to swing, I did not check that he was ready to swing with the choice of club or wind direction changes that I had chosen. For some reason the game defaults the wind directions. So ... this I check every time now.
The next thing it took me quite awhile to accomplish was getting my golfer completely set up with all his skills in all category's. When having your golfer rated above 90 like the Pros, swing becomes very smooth.
Hope this helps.