90% OF GOLFERS DO THIS WRONG

[@MrDougeD]

Rob, I do not need the golf balls so instead of shipping them to Texas donate them to a charity for kids learning to play.

[@chucklindgren8914]

Good for you Doug !

[@wyattchapman7455]

Doug Dibble that is very nice of you good job 👍

[@sloebone7399]

Are there charities like that?

[@thomashead-rapson811]

Best comment ever on KZbin.

[@caydenbrown1127]

Doug Dibble good man

[@eddiebro101]

Tiger recently played Torrey Pines (my home course). He hit few fairways, and with 5-6 inch thick rough, it led to him hitting less than 50% GIR's. He still finished tied for 23rd in a professional event. The fact is that learning how to score is not about stats. Stats help you identify your own perceived weaknesses so you can work to overcome such. That is all they are good for. It doesn't matter if you hit every fairway if you can not learn to score from there. How many GIR's you manage to find is meaningless if you can't lag putt and two putt 95% of the time to save pars frequently. Learning to score is about training your mind to focus on the next shot exclusively. The reason shots from 100 yards and in are so important is because from that short range, the shot is not going to take any significant power to create the yardage you are envisioning in your plan. For most, that reduced lower body activity is off-setting. It is not what they train for. Their normal swing has lower body rotation that we work hard to ingrain into our full swing technique. Most failures from these ranges is caused from over active lower body movement that pulls you off of the strike. These shots are most often recovery shots, and THAT is what you must learn to get good at. Finding a way to still save your score. For most AMs, 100 yards is a soft easy PW at most. For those who have found speed in their technique, that 100 yards becomes a less than a full PW shot and usually just a bit more than a sand wedge shot (a gap wedge for most of us). Which is why a lot of players carry multiple wedges. I carry 4 myself. But even then, you as a player must learn to hit softer shots, with less than full arc swings with even these specialty wedges. I practice from 100 yards and in about 80%-90% of the time. Maybe more in fact. I am more than confident that from 80 yards I can post the flag to less than 4 feet. At 100yards it is about 6-8 feet. But get me to 60 yards and I am usually 12 feet away or more. So I have learned not allow myself to get in that 50-60 yard range from the flag if I can possibly avoid it. I have learned to avoid it like the plague, to be frank with you. You can get out of position in the fairway as quick as you can by missing that fairway. And the same is true on the green complex it self. If you hit to the wrong spot on the greens around here (Torrey Pines) the odds are you will double bogey the hole. Being out of position then is the real danger. Whether on the wrong spot in the fairway or short siding yourself near the green you need to learn to use your misses to your advantage if at all possible. You MUST learn to know your misses intimately so you can use that knowledge to stay in position out there, even when you miss. To learn to score, you need to focus less on short term results (that last shot) or on stats because stats show your average only. They don't define your playing ability on any given day to day basis. You need to just find a way into the cup as fast as you are capable of doing, whether it is ugly or not. I am currently a 1.9 cap. (Down recently from a 2.5 because of an adjustment due to recent event scores.) I am in training for regional AM USGA events at this juncture. Stats don't mean a thing when you are standing on the blocks formulating your plan for the hole. The idea is to use your stats to identify what you should focus your practice sessions on. However, even with that said, your short game practice gains you the feel for partial shots you need for recovery purposes. The game is NOT about how far you drive the ball, how many GIRs you hit, or even how many putts it takes. It centers on the players ability to recover from a less than stellar result. The feel needed to read and hit shots that save scores is where your focus must start, no matter what you deem you need to practice more on. 100 yards and in should be 80% of your practice regimen, no matter who you are or what issues you have in the field. You must work towards recovery shots. You must ingrain feel for flight distances, roll-outs, and spin rates. Then you will be able to save pars and score well. Once I got this through my thick skull, I started going low. My low score is a 63. I think I hit half the fairways that day. I did make almost every recovery shot I was looking at. When you can get the ball within 8 feet, you'll score. I shot a 29 on the front that day. No eagles, just 7 birdies. And the two that I parred were kick ins. My recovery shots is exactly how and why I scored that low. I hit fairways more often now days, but my focus is still on getting into position one way or the other because I sure don't play perfect golf. Recovery shots should be your primary focus, especially if you can't hit where you aim. So for higher cappers, that should be their focus point... recovering as best as possible from all the miss hits they create The game is about hitting the ball the proper length. It always will be. And 75% of your game will be recovery shots of some sort or another. Learn how to chip, and how to use the bounce of the club to gain height for pitches. You can learn spin techniques later. Only use stats to identify weaknesses. Not to play to. If you play to your stats, you won't ever learn how to score your best.

[@9tube135]

Your response was excellent! You really grabbed my attention and made assess what really matters in my game. When I was younger I was always known as a great scrambler. Now, at 68, with greatly reduced distance, I just realized I’ve become a great “stats” keeper as my game just never improves. You’ve made me realize I have to get back to my old scrambling philosophy, forgetting about the “average stats” and focusing on scoring. Instead of working to get that perfect little draw off the tee, I’ve got to get back to getting the ball in the cup, with a renewed focus on 100 yards in. Thank you so much for your response. You’ve really woken me up and now I’m excited as ever to rethink what I’m doing, how I practice, and how important it is that I refocus on getting the ball in the cup. I need to get that scrambler mentality back into my game. THANK YOU!!!

[@gooddeedsbeatbad2625]

If only golfers would listen to your advice. The male ego is a powerful thing and distance is all a lot think about. Golfs what you can score on the day but all you hear is I hit the 6th with an 8 iron.

[@frankparkinson3646]

Absolutely correct, only stat I keep is the percentage of of shots that turn out reasonably close to what I visualizaed, imagined or hoped they would. Requires 5 minutes of mental review just before I fall asleep. Photo of your card phone editor allows writing on photo, each card has a percentage... good little exercise... that's a good stat to keep

[@mrcaddie100]

Rob, I just started watching your videos and find them to be both informative (as I'm taking my golf game more seriously and always looking for ways to improve my game) and entertaining. To increase production value, is there any way you could invest in a windsock/windscreen for the microphone on the device you film with to cut out the sound of the wind when you're filming outdoors? It's like listening to nails on a chalkboard when the wind is blowing.

[@RobMcGarr]

Thank you. I'm mainly just filming on my phone at the moment, using its internal mic, which means wind does cause a problem! I'll have a look into some possible solutions that won't break the bank! Let me know if you have any ideas.

[@mrcaddie100]

Rob, thanks for the quick response, much appreciated. Here is a link to what you should be looking for. Now granted this is for an iphone, but I'm sure you can find something similar to it for whatever phone you use to film and it will seriously cut out the wind noise. Cheers. MC www.amazon.com/Gutmann-Microphone-Windshield-Windscreen-IPhone/dp/B00OBJ3RHE

[@IJHitman]

Agree with this vid. I do look back on a round for GIR as a general indicator on my play but that’s it. Which stats do you take an interest in?

[@RobMcGarr]

I will look at GIR. Like I said in the vid, it definitely has some worth and over time will give you an idea of how your game is tee-to-green. I'll get a video on better stats up soon!

[@tbonezmalone8337]

Probably the realest golf commentary ive ever heard. Well man, you earned a subscriber.

[@RobMcGarr]

Thank you!

[@Yorkibar-sd3nm]

The only stats im interested in is how many shots the round was.

[@RobMcGarr]

Yorkibar 1962 That is an important one 👍

[@harvey785]

I've never been one for stats, I prefer assessing each hole directly after playing it and asking where I could have improved. When playing 9 holes in practice I normally come away with a good idea of my main areas to focus on...which presently is 90y and in shots.

[@RobMcGarr]

I get what you mean, and I kind of do the same thing. It's important to be realistic though and know how good you should be at each part of the game, based on the score you're trying to shoot.

[@golfgirlessex]

100 % of putts left short don't go in. 40 % of Simpsons fans are pretty OK. Only 14 % of all UK golfers are women.

[@billwallenstein3387]

Good points, I’m keeping it simple. No doubles, no 3 putting the par 3’s!

[@jamesbriggsgolf6212]

Fairways&Semi's and %putts made from

[@MarkHainsworthGolf]

I do understand and agree with the points being made though why not just apply a bit of common sense too; don't count a 40yd top onto the fairway as a FIR and use discretion over the 300yarder a foot into the semi. Similarly on the GIR example count them both as a GIR because you used your putter for your next shot. Yes putting stats are notoriously iffy but surely you wouldn't count the example above as zero putts or a chip in just because you holed out from 12 feet just off the green with your putter and didn't count it as a GIR. Stats should be used for an individuals own game, comparison and improvement plan so as long as the method used is sensible and consistent, the secret is don't kid yourself.

[@neilb4297]

Very true, stats have some use but how you strike the ball is far more important.

[@stuartgiles7494]

A video on strokes gained would be good! Loving these vids anyway mate, keep it up

[@RobMcGarr]

I'd have to fully understand strokes gained first! It's amazing stuff but Mark Broadie is a brighter statistician than me, that's for sure.

[@betavulgaris7888]

Agree on the putting - people should be asking questions like 'how many did i hole from 5ft in' or 'how many times did i three-putt' instead of just taking putts per round as a number.

[@RobMcGarr]

Absolutely.

[@Itsthejourneynotthedestination]

Looking forward to the practise vid, had hoped to practise a lot over winter but it's been frozen ground for 2 months solid now.

[@RobMcGarr]

You can understand why British tour pros all move to America! Where are you based?

[@Itsthejourneynotthedestination]

Dundee, 10 miles from St Andrews and 7 miles from Carnoustie

[@td1138]

I use a variation on “strokes gained, putting” rather than counting putts to track putting performance. Here’s how it works: 1. I assume I will 1-putt any ball 3feet or less from the hole. 2. If the ball is 3feet or less and I 1-putt, that’s no stroke gained or lost. If I 2-putt, thats 1 stroke lost. 3. If the ball is over 3feet and I 1-putt, that’s 1 stroked gained. If I 2-putt, that’s no stroke gained or lost. If I 3-putt, that’s 1 stroke lost. 4. At the end of the round, a positive total (strokes gained) indicates a good day of putting. A negative total (strokes lost) indicates a poor day of putting. On days where I’m missing greens and chipping close, strokes gained will be closer to zero, indicating average putting. If I’m chipping close and 2-putting, it will show up as negative or strokes lost and I need to work on putting more.

[@RobMcGarr]

Tom Donnelly Interesting idea but if you always two-putt from 4' you'd be losing strokes? Apparently GameGolf offers strokes gained stats now?

[@td1138]

Scratch Golf You can set the 1-putt distance wherever you can reliably 1-putt, 3’, 4’, 5’ or more.

[@andrewmcrae4611]

agree with you, but what do you suggest as an alternative to these common stats?

[@RobMcGarr]

I am going to make a video on that very soon, keep your eyes peeled!

[@julia-6195]

For us higher handicappers - how about keeping track of which shots we bottle? i.e. hit heavy, duff a chip, can't get out of the bunker, the hosel rocket. Those things?

[@RobMcGarr]

Do you really want to keep a list of all your hosel rockets? I'd have nightmares!

[@johnsouza4391]

The only stat I kept that correlated to my score was "dist to pin in regulation". You just proved my point with a 15 min video. I did this before strokes gained happened to th PGA.

[@SimplePhotoshopTutorials]

Never really considered challenging the legitimacy of these stats since they’re widely used. But thinking about it, I’ll go through a round and hit the driver great, then check the stats at the end of the round and instantly feel as though I’ve drove crap due to seeing the fairway accuracy (without considering I barely missed most)

[@mtothej43]

Great video as always... do you know of any apps or stat tracking software that does things differently than just fairways, greens and putts..?

[@RobMcGarr]

Mike Johansson Apparently GameGolf offers strokes gained versus a scratch average, which sounds interesting. I'm going to look into it.

[@tomnoel1610]

Great vid! I think stats can help become aware of your short comings. Putts need to be specific. How many under 3 feet missed ect.. I found that I choke on the short putts, a mental block to be sure so I am working on it. I hate to practice it helps me focus on that area. We all need to know what to practice. I missed a 2 footer yesterday, cost me the match and a buck! Very depressing!

[@raingirlgolf]

I have always tracked my stats for fun and analyze the data. If i scored well, I like to see if it was because I hit a lot of greens or scrambled well. For drives, I usually put an R or L to see if there is a pattern. Great video.

[@jamiegunn20]

Anouther class video Rob. Well done mate, looking forward to the practise schedule video 👍

[@RobMcGarr]

Cheers mate, hope it lives up to expectation!

[@normandgravel5894]

Hi That is why I wright my GIR by cut my green in 9 scares and I need to hit the good scare to have a GIR, I do the same with my FIR, I cut my fairway in 4 fairway 10 yards each (a fairway is always about 40 yards wide), and write my average putts I do per hole and my average putt I do per GIR.

[@RobMcGarr]

Makes sense. Stats can be really useful if you track them in a way that gives genuine meaning.

[@briantreadwell2206]

What stats should we pay attention to and what action does this lead to?

[@RobMcGarr]

Going to make that video very soon. Stats alone don't make you any better, but they help you identify your strengths and weaknesses so you know what you need to work on and whether a different strategy could save you shots.

[@paulhoughton5431]

Hmmm sort of agree with some of that Rob? I’m following Kristian Bakers book the winning golf swing, which is heavily biased towards collecting data to improve your game. I kept a golf diary for a year which helped me immensely. I now record my stats on line. Writing down your round certainly cements the shots in your memory better, I find Game Golf also helps as to strategy. At the end of the day as you say, stats can be deceiving, but 28 putts is 28 putts I’d take that every round for sure.👍

[@RobMcGarr]

I think collecting data is really important, but it's got to be the right data. There's a reason the pros have all moved towards 'strokes gained' over these old school stats. 28 putts on its own doesn't tell you anything so it doesn't help you improve your game!

[@911alps]

Good video totally agree....also agree with what another KZbin said and that is the most important stat is probably the final score you shoot 😊

[@martinrodger5453]

Good vid. Interested in stats that highlight strengths and weaknesses. General stats not giving me enough detail to pinpoint.

[@RobMcGarr]

Cheers Martin, l'll get that video sorted.

[@charlesmelaisis4872]

As long as I have a shot to the green after my drive I'm not bothered if I'm on the fairway or light rough I'm a new subscriber and love the channel keep up the good work

[@RobMcGarr]

Same here! Thanks very much, I really do appreciate that.

[@Kenbur]

Just watched this - great points! Agreed - stats can lead to very wrong conclusions. Stats for averages etc. give me an 'idea' of what I am doing with that club overall but if I use my 7 iron or 3 wood for chipping, or my wedge to get out to the fairway from behind the trees a couple of times per round, my average distance stats for that club are skewed. My software stat keeper(gamegolf) does give me a ball position and the misses left/right on each hit - so say I hit 15 greens in regulation AND 12 fairways for the round - sounds great, and an improvement for me, however, when I look at my stats it tells me 7 of those fairway hits were less than 160 yards average and to the left when I needed to be right or vice versa. And if it tells me those were 400 + yard holes - I know that I did not have a good day driving. My stats keeper can say I hit 15 greens in regulation, however, it also tells me I was an average of 30 feet from the pin on 10 of those holes, lets me know that my approach shots were 'not so good' especially IF my approach shots were under 60 yards and with my sand wedge. So like you were saying I think it depends on your statistic being tracked AND properly analyzed. BUT it does sound soooo good to say to a buddy based on your statistics, 'yep, hit 15 of 18 greens and averaged 1.4 putts per hole" and leave it there. Without including the statistics that you don't want to be known like you were 10 over for the round because of mishits or out of bounds penalty shots etc. :)

[@RobMcGarr]

Stats are great if you know how to use them, and you clearly do!

[@garyreilly1544]

You can get over indulged with stats, at the end of the day if you are not playing well the reflection of your round is going to be bad. Good Video, Thanks.

[@kyleeverhart3979]

Great video! I will definitely be tracking my rounds differently now.

[@RobMcGarr]

Cheers Kyle, hopefully the next stats video will help a bit.

[@chrisbates7743]

Best ratio to record is shot length to +/- yardage miss left & right. Once you do this your be sub 70

[@andrewhaley9592]

The Taylormade My Round Pro gives strokes gain based different handicaps. Pretty good benchmark

[@RobMcGarr]

Noticed that on Peter Finch's channel. Looks interesting.

[@jamesw3796]

Stats are all relative to score in my opinion pretty much agree with all what you said in the video

[@bobpearson5451]

New subscriber here, really enjoying your videos, have quite a few to backtrack now. Play off 15 and live in the Algarve, nice and sunny here :)

[@RobMcGarr]

Bob Pearson I was thinking this was a nice message and then you had to drop in that bit about the Algarve! We've spoken about moving there ourselves 😎

[@bobpearson5451]

If you can find a way of making a modest living, go for it, or at least have a look. Sun shines (nearly) all the time. Golf is expensive, but lifestyle is cheap. We are members at Penina in the west, been here three years and love it :)

[@TexasGolfer]

This concept is true ... In my humble opinion, the trick is to create what I call negative stats. These are stats with sole purpose of tracking poor strokes. I track the stats by club category: Woods, Irons, Wedges, Putter. For this to work the player has to be objective as well as know their ability range so they can call bad shots on themselves. A bad shot that did not fly as intended, but gets a lucky bounce off a tree back into the fairway is not suddenly a good shot.

[@RobMcGarr]

Yeah, I agree with that as well. Stats can mislabel both good and bad shots.

[@brockedandloaded6034]

The point you're missing is that you're using outliers to justify why the averages dont matter. But they aren't common by nature. You aren't topping it 30 yards on the fairway enough to actually throw off your stats. If you are hitting it that bad, ball contact is way more important than stats.

[@RobMcGarr]

See your point and I do agree. I'm just using extreme examples to illustrate my point. I might be hitting it half a yard into the rough but leaving myself a great angle to the green, or hitting the fairway on the other side with a much more difficult approach.

[@marklester6435]

Great video, logical really but highlighted the problem perfectly. Let's now see a vid on stats that do work please. Regards Mark.

[@RobMcGarr]

Mark Lester Thanks Mark 👍 Will get that video done soon.

[@akrickm1]

Thanks made great sense to me sometimes we get caught up in the numbers

[@RobMcGarr]

Numbers can be useful if you use them right, but the only meaningful one when it comes to the crunch is your score!

[@chrislemb]

Great points about stats, totally agree, great sense of humour .. especially the dry delivery about postage cost to a small African village for the potential comp winner. Great respect for your honesty and hopefully you'll do more dodgy Aussie character accent in the future again as it's absolutely hilarious. Dead giveaway regarding where I'm based. Keep up the funny commentary..

[@RobMcGarr]

There'll be plenty more dodgy accents in the future, no wuzzas about that.

[@derek2787]

Stats? Meh, (as I believe the hep cats used to say). While the app I have does record all of the usual; GIR, fairways hit, dispersion etc. the main reason I use it is to try to build up, over time, a truer picture of how far I hit each club. By the way, when I say it records GIR and fairways hit, that's strictly true, but they are such rare occurrences that, when I come to check it later, all it shows is a helpful suggestion; "Ever thought of taking up crown green bowling?"

[@garyrae5413]

Very good points,enjoyed that,Doug Dibble sounds like an extra from Boogie Nights!

[@acemakerjay]

In our golf league, we play fewest putts as a prize on our field day. So guys will just hit it short of the green in hopes to win the fewest putts prize.

[@RobMcGarr]

Just goes to show what a joke of stat it is!

[@ilovemybeard]

Good vid. I was keeping stats last year and always though my fairways hit stat was low. Then I had a round where I hit nearly every fairway. Ended up with the worst score of the year that day!

[@RobMcGarr]

Haha, I've had some of my best rounds hitting two fairways!

[@kevinfriesen5081]

Haha that’s cuz us hacks don’t know how to play off the fairways 😂

[@olemarting.olafsson3234]

Good video! Just what im working on to understand 👍👍

[@RobMcGarr]

Thank you! Glad it helped.

[@edmundbenson7069]

I only keep one stat and that’s how many 3 putts I’ve had!! Useful stats guide would be good.

[@RobMcGarr]

What about four and five-putts?

[@davidprice6655]

Another solid video.......off to buy some Colgate! Definately do a video on useful stats....

[@RobMcGarr]

Cheers chap. Maybe my next video will be 'top five personal hygiene products that can get you to scratch'.

[@kevinfriesen5081]

The only putting statistics I keep track of is my 3 putts and I’m sure 100% of your subs want to see the other stats video! Congrats to the winner of the giveaway as well 👍🏻

[@RobMcGarr]

I will get it made. Practice schedule first though!

[@kevinfriesen5081]

Scratch Golf maybe Rodney could make another appearance in the video?!?! 😃👍🏻

[@skeough362]

All stats are relevant. I keep Fairways hit but also if I miss a fairway, I keep if it was 1st cut, rough, deep rough, trees, sand or water hazards. I only hit 43% of fairways but I also hit 40% of 1st cut & playable rough for a total of 83% of drives that are quite playable. With green, I keep GIR but also my misses whether they were short, long right or left or short right, short left. I also keep how many short short shots I take from 35 yards & in plus putts. Ideally I would love to see 36 shots total between short sots & putts but have never been that low. I also kept track of my approach shot club & the distance to the green. I keep a lot more stats than that. I have been keeping them for many years now & I can see year over year improvements & declines. If you use them properly, they can help you manage your game. I also realize most people don't and wouldn't keep all those stats. I keep a score card for myself & write in the stats while walking between holes.

[@RobMcGarr]

That's a good way to keep stats and does make them useful and relevant, much more so than the classic ones people do look at.

[@cliffburt6027]

I don’t need an expensive piece of kit to tell me I’m crap at golf I know that already.

[@RobMcGarr]

Ah, but do you know *why* you're crap at golf? ;)

[@Liffey_TM]

Stats are useless without proper context applied to them

[@RobMcGarr]

That's what I was trying to say, really, in my probably roundabout way. The problem is that people use a device to track their stats over a period of time, by which time any relevant context is long forgotten.

[@dooglevox5067]

Don't have a stat thingy...like the video. Very true in what you are saying.

[@dadmaxx8641]

proximity to hole is probably the key stat.

[@wlee31]

So whats the way to score lower?

[@RobMcGarr]

Going to do a video on some better stats v soon.

[@3steveo3]

one stat i always track is GIR.... deffo makes a difference in my score...

[@RobMcGarr]

Yeah, like I say as a general pattern you're better off hitting greens than missing them! How many GIR do you hit on average and what's your handicap?

[@3steveo3]

Scratch Golf it varies mate... but average is between 9/10 but I have rounds where I hit as low as 6 or as high as 12... I play off 5 and atm I'm struggling from 100 yards in.. yet give me 145/150 (9iron) and I'm confident I'll hit the green with ease.... mad game!

[@RobMcGarr]

It certainly is! Sounds like your GIR situation is similar to mine. I've started using knockdown PW (or even 9/8-iron) for shots inside 125 because full shots with wedges weren't doing the business for me. It's going a lot better, but it's fine now when the greens are soft 'coz I can fizz it in low and stop it - not sure if it'll work in the summer!

[@petei3972]

Literally never pay any attention to ‘traditional’ stats and just use Strokes Gained analysis on my rounds. There’s one or two issues with the analysis on apps that do this (Game Golf has Scratch putting as in line with PGA Tour performance, neither Game Golf nor MyRoundPro can cope with dog-legs which puts your performance off the tee out and MyRound Pro has a scratch player having better short game than a tour pro?!?!?) so I compare directly with ShotLink data from the PGA Tour then count back. At the end of the day ‘bad’ data can be worse than no data. Average PGA Tour round was analysed at about +5.5 (ie 5.5 strokes gained vs scratch) and split +2.5 off the tee, +1.5 in approach, +0.5 in short game, +1 in putting. From that data, and analysing each shot vs ShotLink (a guy I know wrote me a spreadsheet that does this) you can accurately analyse your game vs average scratch performance. Hope that more or less makes sense :)

[@RobMcGarr]

Pete Iveson Interesting! Fancy sharing the spreadsheet?

[@petei3972]

Scratch Golf I’ll need to get in touch with the guy who wrote it and get back to you 👍

[@petei3972]

Scratch Golf The guy’s happy for me to send it to you but it’s not for ‘public consumption’ - for you alone please. I’ll need an email address so I can explain how to use it and will probably need to Dropbox it to you due the the amount of data embedded in the spreadsheet. Also, it’s written in Pages for Mac so Mac or iphone /ipad only, the coding won’t work on anything else.

[@RobMcGarr]

Understood. [e-mail]. Thanks Pete, and to your friend.

[@petei3972]

Scratch Golf This is the spreadsheet: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5Clc56lfcydeLM You should be able to see the numbers etc if played in HD. First pic are the shot codes. First hole: 384 yards from the pin on the tee - 384t 128 yards from pin on fairway - 128f 17 feet from pin on the green - 17g 3 feet from pin on the green - 3g Second pic gives the strokes gained or lost based on Mark Broadie’s research using shotlink data: 1st drive gained 0.09 strokes etc If you were to add up all the strokes gained and lost you’ll get to 5.5 strokes lost. This was shot on a par 72, SSS 73 course. CONGU say a cat 1 golfer will average about 2 over handicap so 3 over is average for a scratch golfer on this course. This research says an average PGA round is at plus 5.5: www.golfwrx.com/386250/the-statistical-differences-between-a-scratch-golfer-and-pga-tour-player/ So the maths all works out exactly....... and it always does. The advantage of this is you not only see what areas need improving, but also exactly which shots are costing you and exactly how much by.

[@tracymcdonald8648]

Great video. Makes perfect sense

[@RobMcGarr]

My Little Man Golf Thank you 👍

[@olivierd.4042]

I think the best thing to do is track after every hole FIR, GIR, #putts and up/downs!

[@crispybacon501]

Use T-cut to polish out the sky marks. Previous owner? That old chestnut!

[@RobMcGarr]

I swear!

[@timwang8449]

Can u please cover 'pure iron strike for mid to long irons.

[@RobMcGarr]

I think you're better off going to a coach for that?

[@andrewlinduschka1358]

Damn you Dibble!! Ha enjoy the balls mate. ooo Mark Twain! Can't argue with your logic though, putts per round is a pants way to monitor performance.

[@tomnoel1610]

PS Toothpaste does work on cleaning the haze off plastic headlight covers! LOL!

[@brianyoung3]

The only stats I keep is my gross score and my differential for my handicap. Last game, my driving was lousy which is usually my strong suit but I had a shot at the green on every hole, my irons were ok, my chipping was lousy and so was my putting BUT I couldn't miss from 6 feet and closer. The end result was a score that was a net 0 which every golfer knows is better than average. I have played better and scored worse many times. We also know that golf was invented by a crazy man.

[@derekross7569]

Great video, Use of Hommer is a great way to get the message accross! :)

[@o2johnnybravo]

Hi Rob, I agree that these blind stats are misleading, potentially misleading, or extremely accurate, so are therefore largely useless. I would say that a more useful system for the amateur needs a pad and pen for every shot to give a rating on that shot for distance (i.e. intended distance) and accuracy (i.e. intended accuracy). ) One to four is absolutely adequate for this purpose. It allows for the 300 yard drive to run 6 inches into the rough, without the binary score of regulation. Also, if a golfer relies on looking at, say, a putting stat at the end of a round to know whether he/she putted well or not, I would fear for his own brain- did he not know that he hit satisfactory longer putts, and finished them off well/badly? Goldfish?!

[@RobMcGarr]

That's an interesting idea. I guess it's a bit open to subjective opinion though. On some days you feel more positive about things than on others, so could rate the shots differently? I see what you mean. But it's surprising how often golfers will think one thing has let them down or gone well, when the reality may be quite different. Again, emotions play a part. Stats are to provide clear data, without emotion, over a longer period so you can identify trends.

[@o2johnnybravo]

It's not perfect, by any means, but: It essentially measures the gap between your own objective, and actual result, for each shot played- the stats, as you showed, may or may not do this, so this subjective data could be more telling than the objective binary data. You are the only one to know your specific objective for a shot, so in that sense, you are the only one to measure the gap. It would also be relevant if you were tapping out from a bush or behind a tree to get in a position to hit. Whichever way it is recorded- putt distance needs to be measured or classified in some way to give the perspective to identify putt trends anyway.

[@Plowville]

Mark Twain also said golf is a waste of a good walk. 😔

[@RobMcGarr]

Jeff Diekemper Ah, yes, good point. Well he can only be right 50% of the time 😉

[@icepiglet853]

Love the analogy of the beer! hahaahh

[@chucklindgren8914]

Never tracked putts in my life. Not when I was a twelve in 1983 or now when I am 20 plus off the senior tees. The only stat I keep is my score. I do try to write a brief sentence or two on every hole now that I have the time to study my golf instead of rushing from work, running to the first tee for my golf league and shooting between 38 and 44 for 9 with a persimmon driver and mis-matched clubs. It's great to be young; too bad its wasted on millennials. Love your vids. They're more fun than some of your countrymen that aren't all that better golfers. I'd take you with 3 a side against any of them...I'd take me at plus 22 ! By the way, judging by your clubs, your lessons, country club membership etc, at least here in the states you'd be considered by the average bloke as "rich".

[@RobMcGarr]

Thanks for the superb comment, Chuck. Your score is definitely the only stat that really matters. They don't give out many prizes for most fairways hit! I'm healthy and have great friends and family - that's rich enough for me!

[@chucklindgren8914]

Plus country club fees, type of line clubs, pro level balls etc. and above all time ! I love your quest but when I was 32 and playing to a 12 I am sure I could have gotten to a 5 or so if I could have taken a year off. What really impresses me is making progress in the God-awful weather of GB ! It's 25C here again today but 20mph wind so I might not play today. ;)

[@ianallen167]

I think you're missing the point of statistics in golf. They are a measure of performance all things being equal. To drive 280 yards and miss a fairway is not as good as hitting 280 yards and being in the middle of the sort stuff. You should be discounting the topped shot off the tee as it polutes your stats. Putting should be isolated in the sense that golf is based on 2 putts per GIR. Any more than that and you're off target. Golf is not a game of perfect, yet you do have to apply common sense to your tracking. So I agree with you there.

[@RobMcGarr]

Totally agree with you, but most people use a device to measure their stats and then look back at them, having long forgotten the detail of each individual shot. I've perhaps used exaggerated examples to make my point, but I wanted to make it clear that the data may not always be what it seems.

[@tomdowling5728]

Please make your videos with higher audio volume.

[@alanwrigley]

Puts gained would be good 👍

[@adambuthead]

Please do the vid on useful stats

[@RobMcGarr]

Adam Butters Will do 👍

[@jbeeches1]

Sounds like the right way to see it .

[@martinhill4130]

Not sure this helps at all. I keep all the three main stats and have done for a couple of years. Over an extended period of time the stats average out and I am able to then focus my training against averages for other 3-4 handicappers vs scratch players. This has helped me massively so to discount them out of hand without providing anything else is a bit daft. Sorry.

[@RobMcGarr]

No need to apologise whatsoever! More than happy to hear anyone's opinion, whether it aligns with mine or not. I definitely think GIR is useful as a general pattern, as I said in the video. But if you compare your putts per round against scratch players, how does that tell you whether they're putting better than you or chipping better? Also needs to be taken in context of greens hit, no?

[@MrDougeD]

Wow, I won. That was fun watching and surprising to see my name come up.

[@RobMcGarr]

Doug Dibble 👍 Message me your address please sir.

[@levitateme]

Pretty sure 90 percent of golfers don't keep stats

[@RobMcGarr]

110% sure you're right.

[@MrUnzzz]

quality vid. Fall into the limited category of golf youtubers who aren't boring as f...rance

[@RobMcGarr]

Dan Unsworth Cheers Dan. I quite like France.

[@j2martnz348]

Putts per G.I.R. is a better stat

[@RobMcGarr]

Joshua Martins Definitely more useful.

[@TheChiaraNoja]

Nice to see you back on course. Now we can start the scratch challenge. Who is first?😜

[@RobMcGarr]

Well I don't have a qualifying competition until mid-April! How about you?

[@TheChiaraNoja]

Scratch Golf starting next week in Cyprus🙈

[@RobMcGarr]

Grr.

[@TheChiaraNoja]

Scratch Golf i think I’m leading now. Smashed a 79, 70 and 78 in Cyprus. New handicap 4. 😜

[@RobMcGarr]

I think we agreed that's an unfair advantage on our race to scratch, so you'll have to deliberately get your handicap back up to where it was now. (Well played!)

[@breakinggates]

Isn't that the point of tracking season statistics and all of them so you don't get a one sided view?

[@thomashead-rapson811]

5:08 holy ears as well as holy balls.

[@RobMcGarr]

???

[@RT-ks2zi]

Colour a chip in the driver with a sharpie

[@RobMcGarr]

Will that work?! It's not really a chip, more a graze.

[@stephenpoole3923]

I wasn’t going to subscribe. But you used a Simpson clip so that gets 6 thumbs up. And a new subscriber.

[@RobMcGarr]

Six thumbs? You been going to see Dr Nick?!

[@adambuthead]

Good points well made.

[@RobMcGarr]

Adam Butters Cheers brah 👍

[@danbarrett588]

Snaparoo! Bahahaha!

[@tonywestwell]

Better stats would be great, thanks

[@RobMcGarr]

Cheers Tony, I'm on it.

[@johnmurray5935]

Useful stats will be useful......see what I did there 🤐

[@RobMcGarr]

I did indeed!

[@nicholastugwell6831]

I have subscribed to your channel this week. Great work. Have a look at some useful statistics. I'm a 4 handicap player, that struggles from 100 yards in. Cheers buddy.

[@RobMcGarr]

Thank you, and cheers for subscribing! I think knowing exactly what we need to improve is even more important when you're off a low handicap.

[@scottchalk7808]

A vlog would be great

[@rickoh7578]

Sure, let’s see the stats that count. Thanks for the vlog.

[@RobMcGarr]

Rickoh75 Will do, thanks for watching 👍

[@deanhederington5683]

That makes sence cheers

[@twinkedits8095]

I keep stats but I'm realistic with them I will make notes etc etc.. putting one I don't use as yes 28 putts hit ball rubbish 36 putts hit ball lovely waste of time .. GIR I take more notice of means hitting ball well 👍👍

[@TruthDefender]

IF THE STATS ARE BAD THAN HOW/WHY DID YOU CALCULATE THIS 90% OF GOLFERS :) ?

[@thomashead-rapson811]

Statistics, being, in a real sense, a summary of a much richer underlying level of detail, are always a reduction in information about the system they summarise. Incidentally, this, for me, is why Quantum Mechanics is not at all a theory about atomic and subatomic phenomena, of the individual constituents of the system itself, but rather, just a statistical mathematical description of the higher level behaviour of a much richer, finer system underlying and producing the same. A bit, no, a lot like temperature and pressure are higher level statistical properties of materials made up of much smaller molecules or atoms. Just thought I'd throw that out there. Same goes for Gravity, actually. What is the underlying structure of spacetime that produces the behaviour that Einstein's equations only mathematically describe?

[@jammer5375]

Liars figure and figures lie....

[@RocketRobinCMS]

Statistically, 94.6% of the time I play 💩

[@RobMcGarr]

5.4% of the time it works every time

[@RocketRobinCMS]

Scratch Golf how do you feel about stats using strokes gained like the ones game golf offers? I agree with your theories on fairways hit and greens hit etc but I've been aiming alot of practice at where game golf tells me I'm loosing the most shots based on strokes gained, for me it suggests I'm loosing sometimes up to 8 shots per round on approach...

[@leonneab6019]

Just come across your channel and like it . Hit me with good stats then dude

[@RobMcGarr]

Cheers Leon, I'm on it.