on the wrong track vs wide of the mark

on the wrong track

prep
  • using the wrong general approach to a particular task or problem; pursuing something in an unpromising way 

wide of the mark

adj
  • Of a projectile: missing the target. 

  • (Very) inaccurate. 

How often have the words on the wrong track and wide of the mark occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )