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

[mtbloco]

@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.

My arccos sats confirm your assessment. @jjjgolf500 is in my head all the time, pull the next club up and swing smooth. It really has helped.

 

[Chef23]

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

I think the key is to understand how far you hit your average shot. Having access to a simulator is huge for this. Hit 10 shots take out the best and worst then take the average of 8. Many I would even argue most golfers base how far they hit irons based on their 1 or 2 best swings not their average results.

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

I think the key is to understand how far you hit your average shot. Having access to a simulator is huge for this. Hit 10 shots take out the best and worst then take the average of 8. Many I would even argue most golfers base how far they hit irons based on their 1 or 2 best swings not their average results.

I do hit on a trackman fairly regularly but never really look at averages. I think on my next session I’ll set up a profile and get some average distances. Early 2020 was when my swing mechanics fell apart and I’m just starting to feel like I’m getting my old swing back so hopefully I find some success. My last round I hit 44% greens in regulation but I had some absolute blowup holes

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

My arccos sats confirm your assessment. @jjjgolf500 is in my head all the time, pull the next club up and swing smooth. It really has helped.

How do you like the arccos? Does it get annoying having to tap a button on each shot or has the technology changed?

 

[mtbloco]

How do you like the arccos? Does it get annoying having to tap a button on each shot or has the technology changed?

it's changed. I do not tap anything. I do have to tighten the sensors all the time.

That said, my distance dispersion is not what I want it to be, so with my Hogans, the Caddy feature is completely worthless. It just suggests the same club for every situation. (4i PTxPro). But the real world data, I really know my average (total distance). because I have to live and die with playing for roll out. So I can play golf with that knowledge.

I really love the GPS course map. I am the sort of player that like to identify my target and the simplicity and speed of just touching the screen to that location and then pull the correct club is great! I'm paid up through January, so I'm eager to get some time with the ZX5s and Arccos to decide if I re-up or switch to a GPS watch like the Voice Caddy A2

 

[Chef23]

I do hit on a trackman fairly regularly but never really look at averages. I think on my next session I’ll set up a profile and get some average distances. Early 2020 was when my swing mechanics fell apart and I’m just starting to feel like I’m getting my old swing back so hopefully I find some success. My last round I hit 44% greens in regulation but I had some absolute blowup holes

I would change the trackman setting to look at carry distances vs total as well and look at averages. You can't assume you are going to hit your best shot every time. For example I know I am capable of hitting 7i 160 yards if I flush it. I also know that my average is 153 yards with the 7i. If I had to carry water or a trap and it is 153 yards to carry the trouble I would hit 6i not 7i.

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

I would change the trackman setting to look at carry distances vs total as well and look at averages. You can't assume you are going to hit your best shot every time. For example I know I am capable of hitting 7i 160 yards if I flush it. I also know that my average is 153 yards with the 7i. If I had to carry water or a trap and it is 153 yards to carry the trouble I would hit 6i not 7i.

I think one problem is definitely me looking at total distance and not carry

 

[Raiderboost]

Lots of good advice on here. I'll go another direction for something to think about. That's looking at the stats of how you play each type of hole. You are averaging 4.10 strokes per holes on the par 3's. What is the main reason you are making a bogey or double? Is it because you are leaving it short too often and not chipping close enough or are you missing on the wrong side of the hole. If the later than look at each hole and see where the best place would be to miss and give yourself a chance for up and down. That could vary depending on the pin location that day or it may be the same spot either way. Say the bad miss is right but missing left is ok the favor that left side. If you play a draw then you may want to aim at the middle of the green to bring it back to the left side some but if a fade you may aim left edge of the green and fade it towards the middle. Same can be done with the par 4's on approach. With these I would also factor in how many approaches are from trouble and are you going for the green and messing up or are you hitting a club that will get you as close to the green safely to give a better chance of up and down. If you can get the par 3's under 4.0 and the par 4's around the 5.0 then you will drop several shots.

The par 5's are another place to look. Everyone likes to hit a good drive and then play a long club to get on in two or close to the green. I'm a 2.8 but I don't hit my 5w consistent at all and my 3h can be streaky. I really look at the risk/reward for trying to play those. At my course that's usually only two of the par 5's and those it can vary bases on where my tee shot is. The layup on all of these to give myself a sw-9 iron in is a pretty easy and safe shot with some room for error. I often see a bunch of the guys I play with from the 7-20 hc range that will play 3w's on all of these for their 2nd shot and bring in water, OB, or trees into play. If they took a 5-6 iron though then they would be in the fairway much more often with a pw-8i in hand hitting 3 instead of dropping or chipping out. Course management is one of the most effective ways to save strokes but it can also be a little more boring sometimes and hard to keep to. We all want to hit the bombs and score low and it's hard to keep to if you just hit a few good shots.

Course management is one of the things I'm getting ready to look into a bunch over the next few days before our club championship next weekend. The last few years I've gotten myself into trouble with the driver on the first day and scored poorly. I want to play it safer and at least keep myself in range to compete the next two days.

 

[WLG1952]

I kind of had the same problem. Low GIRs, and too many putts. I was usually short on my approaches, which caused more putts.

My fix, using my easy tempo swing, was if I saw a 7i distance, I would hit a 6i. Mind game I guess.

I also spent a lot of practice time on my chips, and pitches to help with 1 putts. This also included reading greens prior to those chips, and pitches. These reads created shorter first putts. Some times no putts.

All this got me as low as a 6 handicap at the time.

 

[Gyro25]

I agree, coming up short is holding you back big time. But any info on strokes gained from chipping? A chip and a 1 putt is the same as gir and 2 putt, so if the chipping isn't getting you close then work on that extensively as well

 

[HarlettoScara]

@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 know for a fact that my GIR stats show that I miss about 30% of greens short which is something I'm working on. At my course, on pretty much all 18 holes, long is not only penal but is most often a lost ball into the deep deep rough or trees so I tend to err on the side of being short. I'm aware that one extra club probably won't put me over the back too frequently, but is still hard to get into the habit!

 

[leftshot]

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.

^^^^THIS^^^^ and there is really no debate based on your stats. This analysis is right on. Specifically, this should be your priority.

1. Chipping from around the green with an emphasis on tight lies since most of your misses are just short. Your goal is to be able to chip from that distance to inside of 10 feet from the pin almost every time. With 3-4 feet as your average distance from the cup.

2. Putting from inside 10 feet.

3. Approach shot distance control. 44% of your misses are short (and you say mostly just a bit short). 11% are long. That means 55% of the time your approach shot misses are due to poor distance control. Diagnose the problem and go after it. Common problems are:

• Trying to hit it as hard as a tee shot leading to inconsistent contact. The fix is take an extra club and learn to make a smooth swing with no real effort.
• Not knowing how far you carry with each club. Nail down your numbers with the swing described above and you'll see your GIR soar.
• Inconsistent contact no matter how hard (or not) I swing. These are typically club manipulation issues or balance issues that are so pronounced they happen even with an easier swing. Obviously, if you are manipulating the club you aren't going to have a repeatable swing. These problems are best addressed with the help of an instructor. Same for balance issues that are that severe.

In your case, I suspect the issue will be found in one or both of the first two bullets. Those that suffer with the third bullet will also have a significant right to left dispersion problem, which you don't have.

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

I agree, coming up short is holding you back big time. But any info on strokes gained from chipping? A chip and a 1 putt is the same as gir and 2 putt, so if the chipping isn't getting you close then work on that extensively as well

Chipping hasn’t been bad but definitely not ideal. More often than not I am two putting after a chip

 

[leftshot]

@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 know for a fact that my GIR stats show that I miss about 30% of greens short which is something I'm working on. At my course, on pretty much all 18 holes, long is not only penal but is most often a lost ball into the deep deep rough or trees so I tend to err on the side of being short. I'm aware that one extra club probably won't put me over the back too frequently, but is still hard to get into the habit!

As JB said, this is the case. Which is why the OP comment about most of those being just short of the green was so significant. If you pop up a tee shot or put it into the woods you can easily have a GIR that is missed short, but it had nothing to do with your approach shot and is a big reason why most missed GIR are short. In this case, because of the additional information provided, as well as the fact that most of his misses are short or long (55%), we know that in his case the main issue is distance control with his approach shots.

 

[Jaoffo]

Why is it when I posed the exact same question and posted my stats, everyone said..."start looking for another hobby"?

 

[Rummpd]

GIR whatever it takes. Lessons etc / might consider playing lesson. Strong correlation with scoring.

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

So I wanted to give an update today. Went out for 18 and shot an 89 at a fairly difficult course. Couldn’t find a fairway but went for the safe play with my clubs and hit 40% in regulation. It would have been higher but a few of the shots were using a provisional so technically not in regulation. Only 22% left short as well compared to 44%. Also had 33 putts so the short game was somewhat better but still felt like a left a lot out there.

Overall, I’m happy with these improvements

 

[leftshot]

So I wanted to give an update today. Went out for 18 and shot an 89 at a fairly difficult course. Couldn’t find a fairway but went for the safe play with my clubs and hit 40% in regulation. It would have been higher but a few of the shots were using a provisional so technically not in regulation. Only 22% left short as well compared to 44%. Also had 33 putts so the short game was somewhat better but still felt like a left a lot out there.

Overall, I’m happy with these improvements

Your quest begins... Thanks for the update.

 

[Flipit]

I heard something a time or two about taking a longer club on approach until over half of the shots are going long. Work on hitting the club number. Seemed far fetched at the time but it has worked out. Now for me it’s the left and right. The other is putting. Although it can be deceiving, bad chips often lead to extra putts.

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

I heard something a time or two about taking a longer club on approach until over half of the shots are going long. Work on hitting the club number. Seemed far fetched at the time but it has worked out. Now for me it’s the left and right. The other is putting. Although it can be deceiving, bad chips often lead to extra putts.

I’m not to worried about the left to right. It’s more of a feel thing because I got some new irons and the grips are too narrow which I think is impacting my feel. Short game definitely needs some work. Did more harm than good today

 

[McLovin]

So I wanted to give an update today. Went out for 18 and shot an 89 at a fairly difficult course. Couldn’t find a fairway but went for the safe play with my clubs and hit 40% in regulation. It would have been higher but a few of the shots were using a provisional so technically not in regulation. Only 22% left short as well compared to 44%. Also had 33 putts so the short game was somewhat better but still felt like a left a lot out there.

Overall, I’m happy with these improvements

40% gir is VERY much improved. well done! stick with those concepts, and once you find more fairways i imagine the gir will increase even more. 33 putts is fine. sure it can improve, but i think gir is your key for now.

 

[Flipit]

I’m not to worried about the left to right. It’s more of a feel thing because I got some new irons and the grips are too narrow which I think is impacting my feel. Short game definitely needs some work. Did more harm than good today

That’s the area plaguing my game right now. So I spend 2-4 times a week chipping 20-25 balls after work.

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

40% gir is VERY much improved. well done! stick with those concepts, and once you find more fairways i imagine the gir will increase even more. 33 putts is fine. sure it can improve, but i think gir is your key for now.

More fairways will help for sure. I didn’t miss them by much but I drew some brutal lies. Also sucks when one goes OB