Anybody else find that taking risks or aggressive shots are contagious?

I know that if I want to play well that I just keep it down the middle and play it safe.

BUT

There is just something about hit that risky shot that we know we will only hit 1 out of 100.

I took a couple of those shots last week and 3 out of 4 were in my favor. I found my pretty conservative league partner to try some risky shots that he normally doesn't do and his results were a little less rewarding.

Indy, I sometimes found it was the opposite for me...2 of the women I played with in the tournament were not long hitters, I think one couldn't hit more than 150 yards. Their style of play was just advance it down the fairway...boring and safe. One played real "bump and run" shots a lot. I, on the other hand, felt like I "should" be able to fly over bunkers and cut yardage off the hole. I wouldn't say they were really risky shots like cutting over water, but certainly I could say they were more aggressive.
Next round I have to get back in to my "play it safe, shoot for bogies" mentality and get back on track.

It's like Palmer vs Nicklaus. The aggressive play vs the calculated conservative play where your misses are still playable.


I've had this question too. Nowadays my view is if you want to shot the lowest score you're gonna have to make some shots like that. And no one's writing a check at the end of our rounds so why not try them when we're not in competition so you'll be able to hit them when you need to?

I've many times taken the conservative route so to ensure I don't have a high score on a hole but now I'm more inclined to go for it because hitting a 5w from 230 yards to setup an eagle putt on a par 5 is a good feeling. Now I'm not stupid. If there's lots of hazards and danger, I'll factor that in but I won't default to the safe play just because.

I must confess to being on the conservative side, except for being fast. I don't take a lot of time, but the shots are pretty straight forward. I know my abilities and I guess I don't really take a lot of risks in this regard.