Water Skipping

[Mr_Flowers_-]

Has anyone found an effective use for skipping the ball across the water? I have only found about 3 holes where there was an opportunity to do it on the initial drive. Are there other uses? Also, what other factors can cause the ball to drown even if you did 100% strong and 100% accuracy with super top spin? Can it only be done with the woooden clubs?

[koudman]

Has anyone found an effective use for skipping the ball across the water? I have only found about 3 holes where there was an opportunity to do it on the initial drive. Are there other uses? Also, what other factors can cause the ball to drown even if you did 100% strong and 100% accuracy with super top spin? Can it only be done with the woooden clubs?

1. I regularly use it in online point matches.

2. I have used it once or twice in a tourney on the last or before last hole to close a point gap between me and the leaders.

3. As far as shortcuts go I have never found one worthwile of the risk.

4. I never used it when the wind is blowing in my face :)

[flare074]

I only deliberately water-skip in OT2, where it lets you go after a green in 1 that you couldn't get by land alone, so I've only done it with the 1W, and if you get STS, the only thing I've seen firsthand to stop it is hitting a bank on the other side and rolling back in.

[johnboru]

1. I regularly use it in online point matches.

2. I have used it once or twice in a tourney on the last or before last hole to close a point gap between me and the leaders.

3. As far as shortcuts go I have never found one worthwile of the risk.

4. I never used it when the wind is blowing in my face :)


Regarding point number 3.

Oceania 18 when using a novice (or intermediate on LT) presents a good opportunity to waterskip onto the green for an eagle opportunity. Also the same goes for Safari 14 (I think) - the par 5 with that nasty rock before the green - You can waterskip the drive with lower-powered players to set up a shorter approach shot.

[The-Dreamcaster]

i water skip a few times.. sometimes in tourns, depends on the spin rating of the character i'm using, anything above A, i'll try it.. from experience, although i've been told otherwise, i've found playing supersidespin/topspin bounces better, especially when you don't hit PI. number of holes, which i can't remember, but the safari par 4 with the cliff, uphill. theres a lake with a small strip of fairway, i water bounce to that, and a few oceania holes where its a good option.

[MasonR]

1. I'd pretty much always recommend using STS or TS, but you can actually skip with any type of spin depending on the circumstances. Water skipping is not limited to woods, it can be done with irons as well it's just less likely than a wood. A general rule of thumb for me (that I break frequently with mixed results) is that if you are able to spin the ball using a club with SBS, then chances are you are NOT going to be able to waterskip with that club using STS. Not claiming this as 100% fact always true but if you want to water skip "safely" I'd suggest heading this advice.

2. I almost never do it in a severe crosswind, unless it's a spot where I very rarely see a direct plop. Never in very high headwinds or tailwinds. I used to play severe downwind as a green light but seems to knock your ball down a bit.

3. It's doable into the wind but less likely than say downwind or no wind. Anything under 3mph or so shouldn't negatively effect your chances too much though. More downwind the better...up to a point as I suggest earlier.

4. Spin rating doesn't seem to make really any big difference. Most of my common skipping areas I do with (distance being the biggest factor, as in a novice isn't skipping the far pod in Oceania 10LT) If anything lower spin stat seems to have an overall better success rate, but not by much.

5. Even in optimal conditions it can just...well fail. You can hit the exact same shot and fail on a pi while succeeding with an non pi, or you can hit the same PI 5 times and end up dry once, or four times. It's not a luck only dice roll, but there is some failure rate. And of course there's judging the bounce(s) too, not getting into that.

6. Anything more than three skips is just begging for it to sink. I've had 5 skips a few times in actual gameplay but I've seen the 4th skip attempt fail dozens of more times even in quality conditions. That's not to say you can't do 3-5 frequently in several places, but most areas won't allow for more than two skips.

7. Large elevation drops...absolutely not. The most you're getting away with is the 2nd shot from the 12th fairway to the 12th green on silver peaks. Dozen or so yards down but reliably skippable.


As for which holes to skip on, there's a couple dozen at least. I actually started a list in this post but it would've been too long. Start at Oceania, that has the most holes you can skip on.

[Mr_Flowers_-]

Thanks! Is there a topic with all the terms and definitions? I don't know any of this golf slang :(

[The-Dreamcaster]

http://www.hotshotsgolf.com/community/showthread.php?t=1523

walk this way, my own post i made a while back, tehre are a few in jokes on there, but a lot of useful slang.

oh and this guy above, he knows what hes talking about, but the best thing really is try things for yourself and see whats works, what mason said is completely different to what i said, but thats just from my personal experience.