Well, I will do my part to prevent this thread degenerating into the oft repeated "airframe 'chutes are good or bad" thread, to each their own opinion, and I do not have balancing Cirrus statistic to support mine.
However, I do not agree with:
Don't go for the grass strip as you will have too much forward energy and will kill yourself.
An adequately executed landing is still a landing. If you do it on an unprepared surface (by which I mean a rough or debris strewn surface not groomed for the purpose of landing aircraft), while dissipating the energy, you could exceed the aircraft's ability to withstand landing loads, and break something. Going for the grass strip, or less good the unprepared surface, is a long way away from killing one's self.
Were I to have to land your average retractable gear up, and could choose between hard top, and grass, I would choose the hard top. For all other operations, a firm grass strip is perfectly fine with me, and indeed preferable sometimes!
There are some rather extreme circumstances were a vertical arrival would be the least hazardous, but a controlled landing has always been my preference.
