How To Actually Lower Your Score

Join The Force Plate Guy from the lab at Measured Golf in Ann Arbor, Michigan as he discusses how to not only lower your score, but how to keep it lower forever.
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[@algernonwolfwhistle6351]

This is good information. I think that what you are saying is, improve your short game from inside 30 yards from all possible situations, sand, rough, fairway etc. and the average 15 handicap should be able to get close to par on an average length golf course in normal conditions with constant improvement.

[@measuredgolf]

Yep. The best golfers in the world miss greens, it is unavoidable. They also miss fairways and 50% of the field on tour is considered “short” off the tee by comparison. Scrambling and double bogey avoidance is always going to be the normal golfers best friend when it comes to shooting better scores. All the best.

[@roadfert]

Great video and it hits home for me, I carry a 7 hndcp with a short game so deplorable it should make it in to the Hall of Fame! 😂 I know if I could get better at 30 yds and in I would be hovering close to scratch.

[@measuredgolf]

As good as Scottie is, he still misses greens and always will. Have to be able to chip/pitch to protect score and momentum.

[@kilkeni-cl6jg]

Interesting but I think there are some issues with your calculation which defeats the purpose of the video. 1) You forgot 4 approach strokes from the par 5 second shots - so best total is 80, not 76. 2) Scrambling performance should not affect the number of strokes around the green (12), it is already reflected in the number of putts (32). 32 putts indicate most probably 12 putts in the 6 GIR and 20 putts in the 12 missed greens, so a scrambling ratio of 33% (4 up-and-downs out of 12), so a fairly decent day of short game. When you add 6 strokes in the 50% example, you say we need to add 1 more stroke if we still miss the green from 30 yards so adding 18 instead of 12 is technically correct in this case (but I think it's not what you meant - missing the green from 30 yards 50% of the time is really bad). But then on the 10% example you start talking about making "up-and-down" (now you really talk about making 1 or 2 strokes to get in the hole, not on the green!) So adding 23 in this case is incorrect. I think what you meant is we still hit 12 strokes to get on the green, but with more putts (23 in that case). So that would affect only the number of putts (total 35) and produce a total score of 83, which is still beating his handicap with a healthy margin. So overall your model indicates that having 6 GIR and 12 chances of scrambling is actually first and foremost a rare great day of ball-striking for our 15 hcp player and an opportunity to shoot low scores, even on a bad chipping day.

[@measuredgolf]

Point 2 in wildly incorrect. 33% scrambling is an awful day for even a decent scrambling 15. I may have missed the four strokes but what you assume is not what I stated. 32 putts is the stat I used, which is what a 15 averages per round. If they want to average less putts than they have to chip/pitch the ball closer to increase the odds of make over the course of a season. Thanks, and all the best.

[@kilkeni-cl6jg]

​@@measuredgolf Thank you for the response, I appreciate it. But data collected from TheGrint suggests a 15hcp averages 17% in scrambling par (but it seems they don't take distance to green into account - some blow-up holes might be counted when there is no chance of saving par), another source (shotscope) say it's an average 35%, so I guess it all depends on how scrambling is calculated (which remaining distance to the green is taken into consideration). But I know that for my game (around 15hcp), 33% from inside 30 yards is quite decent, and I would be really happy with 50%. I checked current PGA tour stats, and aggregating the 3 scrambling averages (

[@measuredgolf]

@@kilkeni-cl6jg I am not talking about a tour player, I am talking about an average 15 HCP with stats provided by Arccos. The Average 15 is not going to get better by hitting better full shots, due to not being able to hit it well enough to increase the stats enough to lower the score. Where the 15 can gain an edge is by improving their scrambling due to the fact that no matter what, they are always going to miss greens, and this is the biggest correlation to score variation for the 15 HCP. That is the only thing I am stating. Thanks, and all the best.

[@railroller]

You don't have to spend a penny to practice!

[@measuredgolf]

Assuming you can find a field and can, you are spot on. Best things in life are free, lol.

[@roadfert]

@railroller so much truth to that and believe it or not short game is my favorite kind of practice. I recently moved into a new home with a huge backyard so I’ve been pitching and chipping more which has helped!