Are you having trouble with improving your golf game? The other day, I was scrolling through twitter and I came across an article that I thought was interesting and thought I would share it here. The article I am referring too is, The smart-player’s guide to dropping 10 shots — guaranteed, written by Mark Broadie for Golf Magazine.
If you would like to read the full article, you can click this blue link –> The smart-player’s guide to dropping 10 shots — guaranteed.
Now, typically, articles that promise to take 10 shots off of your game are filled with complete nonsense. However, I actually found this article to be very eye opening and helpful. Before diving into the content, I would like to give you a little background into who Mark Broadie.
Mark Broadie: The King of Modern Stats
I was first introduced to Mark Broadie several years ago when I came across his book, Every Shot Counts. In this book, Mark details the development of the strokes gained method of quantifying golf performance and how using strokes gained can help you improve your golf game.
For reference as to who Mark is, below is the About Mark Broadie section from Amazon.
“Mark Broadie is the Carson Family Professor of Business and Vice Dean at the Columbia Business School. He received a B.S. from Cornell University and Ph.D. from Stanford University. His research focuses on quantitative finance and sports analytics. His golf research has appeared in academic journals and many golf publications. He developed the new strokes gained approach to analyze the performance of amateur and professional golfers and worked with the PGA Tour on their implementation of the strokes gained putting stat. Mark works with a number of PGA Tour coaches and pros and he is a member of the USGA’s handicap research team.“
Every Shot Counts is long and it is not the easiest of reads. But, if you plow through it, Mark presents some great data that will make you rethink how you approach the game of golf.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “drive for show, and putt for dough”?
Of course you have.
Mark explains why that is not necessarily true.
If you want to nerd out on golf stats, I would highly recommend picking up this book. You can purchase the book here: (Amazon)
No Doubles!
The article, The smart-player’s guide to dropping 10 shots — guaranteed, is a great cliff notes version of Every Shot Counts.
In this article Mark, gives you some things to think about as you are working on improving your golf game.
He starts with the thesis that it is easier to improve your game by reducing the number of double bogies you make versus making more birdies. Broadie comes to that conclusion based on data that shows that blow up holes contribute to 80 percent of the 10 stroke difference between an 80-shooter and 90-shooter.
Side Note: That’s not good for this brand. I’m all about CHASING BIRDIES…
Throughout the rest of the article Broadie provides data that shows the differences in performance between an 80-shooter and the 90-shooter in driving, approach shots, short game, and putting. He gives pinpoint specifics on what the 90-shooter would need to improve on in order to become an 80-shooter.
The Road to Glory
This article helped me to identify a clear path forward. I have realized that my blow up holes are caused by poor driving and poor approach play. I take too many penalty shots off of the tee, and I am not hitting enough greens in regulation.
My path to getting back to playing my best golf, is by improving my performance in those two areas. If I can drive the ball better and hit more greens, then I can eliminate double bogies from my game.
If you want to start improving your golf game, I would highly suggest reading this article. It helped me to identify a path forward and I think it can do the same for you as well.
Link to the article is right here –> https://golf.com/instruction/smart-players-guide-drop-10-shots/.
Until next time,
Enjoy the chase!
To read more posts from the blog follow this link –> Chasing Birdies Blog.