Why You Should Avoid Hero Shots in Golf

If you’ve played golf a few times, you’ve experienced something magical — and by “magical,” I mean utterly delusional.

There you are, standing over your ball, staring down a narrow gap between two trees that looks like the doorway to another dimension. You can barely fit your golf bag between those trees, but suddenly, your brain whispers:

“You know… a pro could pull this off.”

And of course, since you watched a YouTube clip of Tiger doing something similar once (in 2008, on a different continent, from a different angle, with different physics), you think:
“I’m basically the same. Let’s go for it.”

Welcome to the world of hero shots — the cursed siren song of golf strategy.

Hero shots are the dramatic, risky, high-reward shots you absolutely do not have the skill, angle, physics, or planetary alignment to pull off… but somehow believe you can.

These shots live in the same part of your brain that thinks you can start going to the gym “next Monday” or that you’ll “just have one cookie.”

In this article, we’re going deep — and funny — into why hero shots are one of the biggest traps in golf, why they’re so tempting, why they almost always go wrong, and why your golf experience (and blood pressure) will be so much better if you simply stop playing like you’re auditioning for a Marvel movie.

The Problem Isn’t Hero Shots — It’s That We Think We’re Heroes

Golfers are, by nature, optimists. You sort of have to be. Imagine waking up early on a Saturday, voluntarily spending four hours chasing a small ball around rolling terrain, and believing:

• This is the day it all comes together.

• My swing will behave itself.

• I will not hit it into a bush that even Google Maps can’t locate.

It takes guts — or delusion. Often both.

So when you’re standing in the trees with a narrow window between branches and the green tantalizingly close, you don’t see danger. You see destiny. You see redemption. You see an opportunity for your playing partners to gasp and say:

“Wow! That was incredible!”

Let’s pause for a moment and reflect on when that has actually happened in your golfing life.
Go on. Take your time. I’ll wait.

Exactly.

But your brain doesn’t care about reality. It cares about glory. And unfortunately, golf has a way of dangling just enough success in front of you to keep the madness alive.

Maybe once — ONCE — ten years ago, you threaded a 4-iron through a gap the size of a sandwich and rolled it up near the green. Ever since then, your brain has archived that one rare, shiny moment in a folder titled:

“Standard Capabilities — Will Work Every Time.”

But here’s the truth:
You are not often the hero.
The trees are undefeated.
And the bushes are hungry.

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What Exactly Is a Hero Shot?

Let’s define it properly:

A hero shot is any shot that has a success rate of around 2% but somehow feels like it has a success rate of 98% when you’re standing over the ball.

Some classic examples:

• Trying to hit a 3-wood out of the forest floor from a lie that looks like the ball has sunk into the Earth’s crust.

• Punching a low stinger through a tunnel of branches so tight squirrels need a reservation.

• Carrying a lake you’ve never once carried in your life simply because “today feels different.”

• Going over a massive tree instead of around it because you once hit a high shot at the range after three Red Bulls.

• Declaring “I’ll hook it around the trees” when the last time you intentionally curved a ball was… never.

• Hitting a shot from a bunker lip that requires the trajectory of a NASA launch.

In truth, a hero shot is any shot where you must verbally explain your plan to your playing partners before hitting it.

Anything that starts with:

“So what I’m going to try is…”

…should automatically be followed by:

“Actually no, I’m going to chip it sideways. My bad.”

Why Hero Shots Are So Tempting

Hero shots are like chocolate cake — you know life would be simpler without them, but they taste so good in your imagination.

Here’s why they lure you in:

1. You want to recover quickly from a bad shot.

You hit it into the trees, and instead of taking a calm, sensible punch-out, your ego says:

“Let’s fix this in one shot so nobody remembers the first disaster.”

Spoiler:
Everyone will remember both disasters.

2. Golf YouTube has ruined us.

We see pros hit miracle shots weekly.
We forget that they also have:

• talent

• training

• experience

• coordination

• balance

• practice

• coaches

• swing speeds above 100 mph

• and also, no branches in their follow-through

Meanwhile, you once strained your back picking up your tee.

3. Ego. Big, shiny ego.

Nothing boosts confidence like an opening par followed by a single straight drive. Suddenly you’re thinking:

“I’m dialled in today. I can do anything.”

But golf doesn’t reward confidence.
Golf rewards humility.
Hero shots reward neither.

4. The brain loves a comeback story.

You want that miraculous escape.
You want the moment people talk about later in the clubhouse.

Unfortunately, the moment they talk about will be:

“Remember when you tried to hit it over that tree and almost took out the family on the next tee box?”

You will not be invited to retell this story.

5. Hero shots sound exciting.

Punch shot.
Cut 4-iron.
Low-spinner.
High flop escape.
Fairway-wood miracle slice.

They all sound dramatic.
Sideways chip?
Not so dramatic.
Not even a little.

But sideways chips don’t lead to triple bogeys, lost balls, or existential crises — and that’s the real drama.

The Harsh Reality: Hero Shots Almost Never Work

If hero shots had a Yelp rating, they would have:

⭐☆☆☆☆ (1 star)
“Would not recommend. Ruined my round. Also ruined my confidence.”

They fail for many reasons:

1. You’re hitting from bad lies.

Hero shots rarely happen from a perfect fairway lie.
They happen from:

• leaves

• bark

• sand

• pine needles

• roots

• darkness

• despair

You know how difficult it is to hit a clean shot off a mat at the range?
Now try hitting one off a root while leaning on a tree trunk like a drunk flamingo.

2. You cannot curve the ball on command.

“Okay, so I’ll just hit a slight fade around the trees.”

Sure.
And I’ll become an astronaut tomorrow.

If you cannot intentionally shape the ball on the driving range, you cannot do it from the forest floor under pressure with one foot in a ditch while your friends film you “for fun.”

3. Trees are not your friends.

You see a gap.
The ball sees bark.

Trees do not care about your dreams.

And the worst part?
Every tree has secret magnetic powers that attract your ball.
Especially the smallest, thinnest branch on the entire course.
The one you didn’t notice.
The one that shouldn’t matter.
The one that somehow sends your ball 90 degrees sideways into a different postal code.

4. You don’t practise these shots.

When was the last time you went to the practice range and deliberately hit:

• 40 low punch-outs?

• 25 hook escapes?

• 15 off-the-knees stingers through imaginary trees?

Exactly.

Yet somehow you think you can execute them perfectly on the course when it matters.

5. The risk–reward ratio is insane.

The only people with risk-reward judgement this bad are people who buy sushi from gas stations.

Sure, the hero shot might save you one stroke.

But if it goes wrong?
You’re looking at:

• lost ball

• re-tee

• unplayable

• double unplayable

• emotional unplayable

• psychological unplayable

Meanwhile, the boring sideways punch-out sets you up for a bogey — or even par — without drama, chaos, or paramedics.

How Hero Shots Destroy Your Round

Hero shots don’t just cost you strokes.
They cause emotional damage.

Here’s how they sabotage your round:

1. They turn one mistake into several.

One poor tee shot? Totally normal.
Trying a hero shot afterward?
Now you’ve opened a portal to golfing misery.

Before you know it, your scorecard looks like a Wi-Fi password.

2. They trigger spirals.

A failed hero shot leads to:

• frustration

• rushed shots

• poor decisions

• more hero attempts

• mental chaos

Suddenly you’re no longer playing golf — you’re conducting a scientific study on how many bad decisions one human can make in a four-hour period.

3. They ruin your rhythm.

Golf is all about momentum.
Calm. Flow. Routine.

Hero shots are grenades thrown into your mental garden.

4. They pull energy away from smart golf.

Smart golf is:

• strategy

• patience

• percentages

• discipline

Hero shots are:

• chaos

• adrenaline

• delusion

• poor judgement

• “hold my beer, I got this”

They drain you, mentally and physically.

5. They haunt you.

You will replay the failed hero shot in your mind on the drive home.
And in the shower.
And at 3AM.
And every time anyone mentions trees.

The Boring Truth: Smart Shots Save Strokes

Here’s the part nobody wants to admit:

Golf is not won with miracle shots.
It’s won by eliminating disasters.

Punch-outs, layups, sideways chips — these are the shots that 90% of golfers should play 90% of the time.

They may not feel exciting.
They may not make your friends gasp.
They may not produce highlight-reel moments.

But they work.

Smart shots:

• reduce big scores

• reduce lost balls

• reduce penalties

• reduce stress

• reduce murder-level rage

• increase confidence

• increase rhythm

• increase consistency

• increase fun

And most importantly:

Smart shots help you finish the hole still speaking to your golf buddies.

The Psychology Behind Hero Shots

Let’s get into the fun part: why the human brain insists on sabotaging your handicap.

1. Hero shots feel like redemption.

We want one magical swing to erase the mistake.
We want balance restored in the universe.

But redemption rarely arrives.
Chaos usually does.

2. We think we’re better than we are.

Golfers have the world’s most unrealistic self-image.

We have:

• 20-handicaps

• 12-handicaps

• people who haven’t broken 100 since the 90s

• people who once shot 89 and talk about it like it’s a Nobel Prize

But we ALL believe we can hit pro-level recovery shots.

3. We love drama.

Humans love stories.
We want our lives to be cinematic.

Punching out sideways is not cinematic.
It’s sensible.
And golfers hate being sensible.

4. We fear looking weak.

Punching out sideways feels like “giving up.”

Hilariously, the real giving up happens when you have to announce:

“That’s… uh… three off the tee.”

5. We are addicted to hope.

Hero shots feed that tiny spark of belief:

“Maybe. Just maybe.”

Even though the probability is somewhere between lightning strike and winning the lottery while being bitten by a shark.

How to Quit Hero Shots (Without Feeling Boring)

Here’s the good news:
You can stop taking hero shots and still feel like a legend.

1. Play the shot you KNOW you can hit.

Not the one you WISH you could hit.
Not the one your buddy said you could hit once.
Not the one you hit in 2016.

Play the one you’ve hit hundreds of times.

2. Adopt the “next shot test.”

Ask yourself:

“If I play the smart shot, where will my next shot be?”

If the answer is:
“Safely in the fairway with a normal approach,”
Congratulations!
That’s probably the right move.

3. Use the “if a pro wouldn’t try it, neither should I” rule.

Pros avoid hero shots constantly.
They take their medicine.
They pitch out.
They don’t try to bend 5-irons around trees like Harry Potter spells.

If pros — actual superheroes — avoid hero shots, so can you.

4. Think in strokes, not drama.

Ask:

“Will this decision save strokes or just feel exciting?”

If your heart is pounding with excitement, that’s a red flag, not a green light.

5. Pretend you’re coaching someone else.

Imagine your friend is about to hit the shot you’re considering.

Would you say:

• “Great idea!”
  or

• “Please don’t do this. I’m begging you.”?

Your advice to yourself should be just as honest.

6. Celebrate smart decisions.

Be proud when you punch out.

Say things like:

“Wow, that was a mature golf shot.”

Or:

“Look at me being responsible. Growth!”

Or:

“Tiger would be proud.”

(Tiger would not be proud. But it’s fine.)

7. Count how many strokes you save over a full round.

When you start avoiding hero shots, something wonderful happens:

Your score quietly drops.

No fireworks.
No fist pumps.
Just fewer disasters.

You’ll end rounds thinking:

“Wait… did I just… not implode today?”

Yes.
And it feels fantastic.

Real-Life Examples of Why You Should Tame the Hero Shot Instinct

Because nothing is more persuasive than stories of other golfers’ misery.

Example 1: The Tree Gap Lies

You see a gap that looks huge.
Then you hit it.
Suddenly the gap closes like automatic sliding doors.

Physics. Optics. Cruelty.

A simple sideways chip would have worked.
Instead you’re three feet away from your original position, one ball poorer, and reconsidering all your life choices.

Example 2: The “I Can Go Over That Tree” Shot

No, you cannot.

That tree is 40 meters tall.
Your highest shot ever peaked at approximately… your eyebrows.

Example 3: The Fairway Wood From the Rough

Why?
Why would you do this?

When you take a fairway wood from thigh-high grass, you’re not even playing golf anymore — you’re conducting archaeology.

Example 4: The “I’ll Hook It Around” Fantasy

You know what happens when an average golfer tries to hit a big hook?

Two possible outcomes:

1. A dead-straight ball into a tree

2. A low screamer that travels sideways into a retirement community

The big beautiful hook exists only in your imagination — and in the slow-motion montage you play in your head while falling asleep at night.

In the End, Avoiding Hero Shots Feels Heroic

Here’s the ironic truth:

Choosing the smart, boring, responsible shot…
…is actually the most heroic thing you can do on a golf course.

You know who hits sideways out of trouble?

• Experienced golfers

• Strategic golfers

• Calm golfers

• Respectable golfers

• Happy golfers

• Golfers with low handicaps

• Golfers who enjoy their weekends

• Golfers who don’t scream internally

You know who tries hero shots?

• People who create triple bogeys

• People who lose six balls a round

• People who look at their scorecard and whisper “why”

• People who could be playing better if they just chilled

Final Thoughts: Be the Hero Your Scorecard Deserves

Hero shots tempt us because golf is emotional, dramatic, frustrating, addictive, and occasionally sprinkled with joy.

But consistency never comes from miracle recovery shots.
It comes from:

• good decisions

• proper strategy

• respecting geometry

• understanding your limits

• and refusing to reenact scenes from golf highlight reels

Real golf heroes are not the ones who pull off miracle escapes.
They are the ones who avoid disaster in the first place.

Be that hero.

Punch out.
Play smart.
Lay up.
Chip sideways.

And remember:

Every time you choose the safe shot, your future self gives you a high-five.

Your ego may not love it.
Your playing partners may not applaud it.
But your scorecard will absolutely thank you.