Golf term
Short-Siding
Short-siding is missing an approach shot on the side of the green with the least room between the ball and the hole, leaving little green to work with on the next shot.
Every hole location has a "fat" side and a thin side relative to where the pin is cut — one side leaves plenty of green to land a chip or pitch and let it release toward the hole, the other leaves almost none. Missing to the thin side, or short-siding yourself, turns a routine up-and-down into one of the harder shots in golf, because there's so little green to work with.
Short-siding is a location problem more than a distance problem. A shot that finishes the same number of feet from the pin can be a simple two-putt-range miss on the fat side, or a difficult flop shot on the thin side, depending only on which direction it missed. That's part of why raw proximity to hole understates how costly some misses really are.
Course-management advice to "favor the fat side" is really advice to avoid short-siding: choosing an aim point a touch away from a tucked pin trades a little proximity for protection against the expensive miss.
Related terms & guides
Glossary
Fat Side
The fat side of a green, relative to a given pin position, is whichever side has more room between the edge of the putting surface and the hole — the safer side to miss on.
Glossary
Aim Point
An aim point is a specific target on the course a golfer is considering hitting to when comparing shot options, as distinct from wherever the ball actually finishes.
Glossary
Proximity to Hole
Proximity to the hole is the average distance your shots finish from the cup, usually measured for approach shots from a given range.
Glossary
Scrambling
Scrambling is the percentage of holes where you miss the green in regulation but still make par or better.
Guide
Strokes Gained Around the Green