Based on these stats, what should I be working on?

[BuffaloPlunger]

Fairly straightforward question here. I have my thoughts but curious to hear everyone else’s. FWIW, the “short” misses are 2-3 yards short about 90% of the time, not chunks.

 

[*Range Rat]

GIR, followed by hitting fairways

 

[McLovin]

two things stick out to me: greens in regulation, and average putts. greens in reg is the best way to make a par, so ideally that's the one that should improve. unfortunately that's the hardest. so short game may be another place to focus on, because if you miss a green but have a tidy short game, your average putts will drop and you'll shoot lower scores. at 36 putts per round and 22% gir, i don't think putting is your issue. i'd guess you have good pace on the greens, but may not be close enough to the hole for a realistic chance at par.

tl;dr work on hitting more greens in regulation, and also getting the ball closer to the hole when you miss the green

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

two things stick out to me: greens in regulation, and average putts. greens in reg is the best way to make a par, so ideally that's the one that should improve. unfortunately that's the hardest. so short game may be another place to focus on, because if you miss a green but have a tidy short game, your average putts will drop and you'll shoot lower scores. at 36 putts per round and 22% gir, i don't think putting is your issue. i'd guess you have good pace on the greens, but may not be close enough to the hole for a realistic chance at par.

tl;dr work on hitting more greens in regulation, and also getting the ball closer to the hole when you miss the green

That’s what I was thinking. I think it’s more of a mental thing with choosing the wrong club. For whatever reason I always feel scared to go long. When it comes to putts, I am terrible in the 5-10ft range. I can easily chip a ball inside 10ft but I can’t tell you how many edges I burn in a round

 

[jjjgolf500]

100% your short game. You average 2 putts per hole and you hit about 4 GIR per round. That means you RARELY ever get up and down on the 14 greens you miss. And most likely some times you are taking 3+ shots around the green. Chip it closer and give yourself opportunities to make more short putts. Quickest ROI in my opinion.

 

[Puttmaster]

At first glance, it appears you could see immediate improvement by taking a longer club on your approach shots. That should help improve that 44% short number, which could improve your scoring overnight. I'd suggest clubbing yourself for the "back" distance on every green for a few rounds and see what happens.

 

[Chef23]

I would start with short game. If you are hitting 22% of greens and still averaging 36 putts that tells me you almost never get up and down. If you can chip it closer 4 times around and get to 32 putts that will take a fast 4 strokes off your average score.

After that I would go with iron play depending on what clubs you are hitting into greens. Driving stats aren't terrible but you aren't hitting enough greens.

 

[tequila4kapp]

Your stats are not so different than my own.

50% FIR is not terrible. If the misses are playable I say don't sweat it.
22% GIR with most of those misses coming up short is a problem.
36 putts is not as good as you'd probably prefer

IMO you need to work on approach shots and short game. It appears GIRs would be helped dramatically by clubbing up one club. After that, chipping and pitching will give you shorter putts, which will reduce the number of putts taken.

 

[McLovin]

That’s what I was thinking. I think it’s more of a mental thing with choosing the wrong club. For whatever reason I always feel scared to go long. When it comes to putts, I am terrible in the 5-10ft range. I can easily chip a ball inside 10ft but I can’t tell you how many edges I burn in a round

i don't think being scared of going long is unreasonable. 9/10 i'd say long is dead on most golf courses, but short is typically playable.

for misclubbing, i'd leave your laser in the bag. instead, use a gps app, and find the number to the back of the green. take 5 yards off that number, and club accordingly. if you hit 7i 150y, and it's 153y to the pin, leave the 7i in the bag. because it may be 185 to the back of the green and the pin may be in the front. instead, pull your 180 club, swing it smooth, and have a putt for birdie or an easy two-putt par.

for your 5-10' makes, don't kick yourself. pga pros aren't that good from this range either. the best tour player in the 5-10' range this year is cam davis. he makes less than 1/3 of these putts. if you burn a lot of edges, try something like triple track on a callaway golf ball. at least you'll know your alignment is correct, and can work on green reading if you still burn edges.

 

[SC Golfer]

I would think GIR and short game. As for GIR and coming up short you may want to try something I do that has helped over the years. Front pin hit a center yardage club, middle pin hit a back yardage club, and a back pin hit the club that will get you to the back third of the green. On that back pin just make sure you hit a club that definitely can’t fly the green. You will find that most of the time you will end up pin high when hitting to the longer yardage. Good luck hope this helps.

 

[Scooby45]

I'll echo what most are saying, 36 putts with only 22% GIR points to short game improvements, converting a few more of those up and downs.

I wasn't smart enough to divine through the stats, but figuring out what can reduce the big numbers would be important. A strong short game will help that to be sure, but trying to firm up the cause and focus there. Does the driver miss cause penalties? Hero shots when medicine would be better? Bunkers create issues? Trying to drop that big number should help.

 

[Drumdog]

The easy answer here is your short game. You can never go wrong by impoving that.

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

I would think GIR and short game. As for GIR and coming up short you may want to try something I do that has helped over the years. Front pin hit a center yardage club, middle pin hit a back yardage club, and a back pin hit the club that will get you to the back third of the green. On that back pin just make sure you hit a club that definitely can’t fly the green. You will find that most of the time you will end up pin high when hitting to the longer yardage. Good luck hope this helps.

Hmm I really like that idea actually. Need to focus more on hitting the green than pin hunting. I’ll definitely give that a shot when I play this week

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

i don't think being scared of going long is unreasonable. 9/10 i'd say long is dead on most golf courses, but short is typically playable.

for misclubbing, i'd leave your laser in the bag. instead, use a gps app, and find the number to the back of the green. take 5 yards off that number, and club accordingly. if you hit 7i 150y, and it's 153y to the pin, leave the 7i in the bag. because it may be 185 to the back of the green and the pin may be in the front. instead, pull your 180 club, swing it smooth, and have a putt for birdie or an easy two-putt par.

for your 5-10' makes, don't kick yourself. pga pros aren't that good from this range either. the best tour player in the 5-10' range this year is cam davis. he makes less than 1/3 of these putts. if you burn a lot of edges, try something like triple track on a callaway golf ball. at least you'll know your alignment is correct, and can work on green reading if you still burn edges.

I think I may try leaving the laser in the bag. I honestly feel like I hit more greens when I didn’t use a laser

 

[pattyboy21]

36 putts with 22% GIR seems to indicate a strong need to work on the short game, followed by iron play.

 

[dAS0]

44% of greens missed short would be my first focus; either taking a longer club, or working on ball striking. 36 putts would be second; either working on putting or chipping. Upping your scrambling % will help.

 

[TheDoctor]

The biggest thing that jumps out at me just by looking at those screenshots is the fact that you are coming up short on almost half of your approaches, so that would be the first thing I would be looking at and figuring out why
In conjunction with the missed greens, 36 putts per round suggests you aren't getting up and down very often, so working on short game could hopefully reduce that number

Hmm I really like that idea actually. Need to focus more on hitting the green than pin hunting. I’ll definitely give that a shot when I play this week

What is your handicap? Unless you are a single figure handicap with good control over your ball, I would always advocate playing to the biggest part of the green and looking for no more than 2 putts, rather than going for the pin and missing greens in the wrong spot that can bring big numbers into play

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

The biggest thing that jumps out at me just by looking at those screenshots is the fact that you are coming up short on almost half of your approaches, so that would be the first thing I would be looking at and figuring out why
In conjunction with the missed greens, 36 putts per round suggests you aren't getting up and down very often, so working on short game could hopefully reduce that number


What is your handicap? Unless you are a single figure handicap with good control over your ball, I would always advocate playing to the biggest part of the green and looking for no more than 2 putts, rather than going for the pin and missing greens in the wrong spot that can bring big numbers into play

I’m a 14. I have decent control of the ball and I rarely chunk shots but I struggle to hit greens. Most of the short shots are on line for the middle of the green or in the relative location of the pin but just come up short

 

[Chef23]

For comparison I will give you my stats. I am currently a 2.6 index which is a 12 month low I usually bounce between high 2s and high 4s.

Fairways hit 63%, GIR 43% (13% left, 31% short, 5% right), putts 31.

I know my GIR are low but at my club from the tees I usually play there are 5-6 holes I have 190 yards or more to the green which is a fairway wood plus a 245 yard par 3. In addition the correct place to miss is short so frequently I will play the distance to the front and am okay if I am short.

A major difference is the number of putts. I average 5 putts less than @MONTANTK which I don't think is necessarily because I am an awesome putter although I am pretty good inside of 5 feet but rather because my short game is better and I miss in places I think I can get up and down from.

 

[TheDoctor]

I’m a 14. I have decent control of the ball and I rarely chunk shots but I struggle to hit greens. Most of the short shots are on line for the middle of the green or in the relative location of the pin but just come up short

In that instance, I would look at a gapping session to get a better understanding of your average yardages, then it all becomes how you adjust to the different conditions (wind, lie, etc) and taking the appropriate club

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

For comparison I will give you my stats. I am currently a 2.6 index which is a 12 month low I usually bounce between high 2s and high 4s.

Fairways hit 63%, GIR 43% (13% left, 31% short, 5% right), putts 31.

I know my GIR are low but at my club from the tees I usually play there are 5-6 holes I have 190 yards or more to the green which is a fairway wood plus a 245 yard par 3. In addition the correct place to miss is short so frequently I will play the distance to the front and am okay if I am short.

A major difference is the number of putts. I average 5 putts less than @MONTANTK which I don't think is necessarily because I am an awesome putter although I am pretty good inside of 5 feet but rather because my short game is better and I miss in places I think I can get up and down from.

This gives me hope! My major goal for this summer was getting down to a 10. I don’t think it will happen but I don’t think I’m am that far off

 

[Chef23]

I’m a 14. I have decent control of the ball and I rarely chunk shots but I struggle to hit greens. Most of the short shots are on line for the middle of the green or in the relative location of the pin but just come up short

Based on that I have two suggestions. Play a round when you take an extra club on every approach shot. You still need to be committed to the swing but take the extra club and see how that impacts GIR. Second suggestion is to work on your short game from where the misses happen.

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

Based on that I have two suggestions. Play a round when you take an extra club on every approach shot. You still need to be committed to the swing but take the extra club and see how that impacts GIR.

I’m going to try that tomorrow. If I’m 145 away I’ll play my 155 club etc.

Im thinking it could just be a matter of me misjudging how far I actually hit each club or just overcomplicating the shot

 

[McLovin]

The biggest thing that jumps out at me just by looking at those screenshots is the fact that you are coming up short on almost half of your approaches, so that would be the first thing I would be looking at and figuring out why
In conjunction with the missed greens, 36 putts per round suggests you aren't getting up and down very often, so working on short game could hopefully reduce that number


What is your handicap? Unless you are a single figure handicap with good control over your ball, I would always advocate playing to the biggest part of the green and looking for no more than 2 putts, rather than going for the pin and missing greens in the wrong spot that can bring big numbers into play

@JB can confirm, but i believe arccos data shows that the vast majority of golfers come up short on their missed gir. i know i do. some of that may be ego thinking i hit a certain club farther than i do, but more often than not for me it's just a mishit and resultant loss of distance, but also knowing that short misses are almost always less penalizing than long misses at the courses i play.

 

[JB]

@JB can confirm, but i believe arccos data shows that the vast majority of golfers come up short on their missed gir. i know i do. some of that may be ego thinking i hit a certain club farther than i do, but more often than not for me it's just a mishit and resultant loss of distance, but also knowing that short misses are almost always less penalizing than long misses at the courses i play.

I think that is the case.