What Shot MATTERS THE MOST in LEVELING UP your GOLF game. With PGA Tour player Analyst RICHIE HUNT.
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- Опубліковано 28 сер 2019
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Thanks to Richie Hunt of Hunt Golf Analytics. Check out his book and blog at www.3jack.blogspot.com - Спорт
Excellent video
I think RIchie Hunt, who I've heard before somewhere, maybe on GOlf Smarter, explains this concept to amatuer golfers better than anybody else. Strokes Gained is quite esoteric and a lot of people assume it's only built for tour players, but Richie explains exactly how to apply the same statistical comments to the average golfer. Awesome.
Totally agree ! Great video
I totally agree with points made in this video. My best scores come from driving superbly that day or going to courses at higher altitude, taking my avg driving distance of 250 to the upper 200s and lower 300s giving me a higher GIR on par4's.
I think Hogan said "want to be a better putter? Hit the ball closer to the hole." It's all about getting your swing speed up (with legit better swing mechanics) so you can tighten that approach shot dispersion pattern, call it GIR, strokes gained, it's all the same thing...shorter chips, shorter putts.
People hitting driver on the range definitely do it because they find it much more entertaining
I think this is so interesting. I’m a 9 Hc only hitting 40-50% fairways. I know I score better when the driver is on!
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I’m assuming we have to remain consistent at all of the other shots to improve. I know I practiced my irons a lot and never took out my driver and then all of a sudden I was hitting down on the ball and had to do so work to get my driver back.
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Ritchie - Would love to know what two stats paired together which gives you the best outcome.
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Eg driver and chipping or driver and putting.
My shortgame has always been pretty good but been a poor long putter, I fixed the putting in the off-season and the only thing that a good shortgame + good putting has given me is that I have been playing to my handicap much more often IE less bad rounds. So it has helped with bringing avg score down but it has not helped with getting my scores to the next level. great video.
You improved your anti-handicap but not your handicap very much.
Great video. Clarifies many misconceptions we have. Never heard a teacher or a pro say that working on my driver is most important. Thanks.
I really like your channel because of this type of content! On your quest to be better and help others to be better you tend to find very interesting people at the top of their fields. I totally agree with Richie driving it better is the fastest way to lower scores for most non tour golfers. As for the instruction side of your channel, I generally disagree with the approach of most instructors you tend to gravitate towards. They seem to teach arms first but don’t really understand how to teach body pivot. The majority of your swing issues , and most likely most of your audience as well, are caused by the way you pivot. I wish you would give someone like Lukas Wald , Boyd Summerhays, Jeff Smith, or Myself a chance to fix your structure and pivot and you’d find that you would Catch the sweet spot more often, get on plane automatically, have lag tension, and effortless speed. I wish I was going to be around next time you are in town to talk.
Interesting video. Roughly what carry distance, swing speed & ball distance would you expect to see from a 5 handicapper compared to 10 assuming the same dispersion?
Nice Video! Thank you.
Thanks for watching
I'm sure hes correct. However i have had rounds where i am hitting the ball great and not getting it the hole. I prefer rounds with poor ball striking and getting the ball in the hole. I'm a 5 handicap so my misses are not horrible. I still think the best way to improve is around the green
Great stats. First, you need assess your game to see where you are loosing strokes. If you are a low handicap or a player with tour aspirations, then I think this info can help target 🎯 the areas of your 🏌️⛳️ to work on. Most mid to high handicap golfers loose strokes in all areas of their game, and are simple to address. Short game chief among them. Trying to get longer and straighter off the tee when you can’t control a wedge or get the ball in the hole 🕳 once on the green may be fun, but not likely to make a big improvement in scoring.
if you manage to get your driver further and straighter, it's quite unlikely that your wedge game (approach) will not be at least a little improved. And even if you're really bad at approaches, you'll certainly be better (on average) from 30 yards than from 50 yards. Then, in a similar way, if you're a really bad putter and have a putting match against say Jordan Spieth but he'll putt all the putts from double the distance you putt from, what do you think will happen? Compared to the same crappy putter putting from the same distance than Spieth but having had say 10 hours of lessons and practised much? And when you think in terms of make percentage: to go from 20% at a distance to say 30% will take a lot of work. But whatever the ability of the golfer, the difference between a 30% make ratio and a 20% make ratio will not be much more than a few feet proximity from the hole.
François Desmoulins-Lebeault power off the tee does not necessarily translate to having touch or a short game. What I said was that if you are a mid to high handicap you need to understand where you loose strokes. The benefits of longer drives for pga tour players does not necessarily translate to the average golfer. The changes needed to your swing or physical strength to get more distance is very involved and requires time and dedication that most golfers won’t or can’t commit to. However, with the limited time the average player has, they can see more improvement in their wedge/short game than spending that time JUST hitting drivers.
Richie disagrees. Both good and bad players have a better opportunity to hit it closer to the hole from closer...period. I'll take a bump and run over hitting over a bunker from the fairway anyday!
Charles Michael you are correct if you can actually hit it farther and straighter. But most can’t and more shots can be saved by mid to high handicap players by working on areas of their game where they loose multiple strokes every hole.
18 handicapper here. How well I hit driver dictates my score on most rounds. I’ve chipped and putted exceptionally well one round, but hit driver off the map. Made a bunch of bogey and double bogey putts...
Excellent video. Thought provoking. Can’t argue with numbers.
Read “lowest score wins” by Barzeski and “every shot counts.” This game is all about driving it as far as you can (in play) and hitting the green. I would add that is supplemented by knowing your “reasonably” struck shot carry distances and dispersion tendencies are key in achieving those goals. Lastly, greenside shots are also very important. You can go and read about Barzeski’s rankings on importance but lag putting and inside 10’ are also important but the biggest indicators of golf skill are definitely driving and iron play.
I don't disagree with the stats - sure I want I better proximity on the green (there are 18 birdie opportunities out there) but when you do miss a green, then you are going to want to get up and down at least half of those times. You certainly don't want 3-on and 3-putts on a typical par 4! A better long game means less pressure on the short game but you still need to chip and putt!
Great video. Question for rich: at what handicap or ability level is the golf swing considered 'game-able' or sufficient, so you can stop tinkering with your swing and start thinking in terms of shots gained etc? 12 handicap maybe?
I'm not sure how to answer that question. I will say that the Tour players I work with are always working on and tinkering their swing. What I do is help them more specifically understand where they are losing strokes. It's also NOT a one size fits all process. Brian Gay shouldn't play Cameron Champ's game and vice versa. And neither of them should play Jordan Spieth's game. Different club speeds, different skillsets, different parts of the game to work on.
For instance, Charles Howell was told for years that he couldn't putt and had a bad short game around the green and that's why he didn't win. But, I explained to him that his ballstriking was overrated and that his putting and short game around the green were actually very good. We then started to focus on the biggest parts that cost him the most strokes...Driving and shots from 175-225 yards. The data also showed that he was missing shots right too often. He worked on both of those diligently with his swing coaches, Dana Dahlquist and Grant Waite while keeping his putting and short game in check. This year he was in the top 20% on Tour in driving. His iron play was still an issue, but it improved to below average. And that got him his first Tour victory in 10 years and he made it to East Lake at the age of 40 years old.
As far as the question goes, I would recommend reading this article. Speed is a big factor and it can help you understand where your speed needs to be to be at certain handicap levels. www.golfwrx.com/531182/how-power-helps-your-golf-game-and-its-not-how-you-think/
Sean Foley says long iron accuracy in the Every Shot Counts book. Makes sense for pros who strive to reach par 5’s and who have some very long par 3’s.
3 putt avoidance is hank haney’s favorite stat.
It’s a given long drives give greatest advantage. Some guys who are super accurate from 40yds, they can make birdie on all the par 5s when they miss in two.
It's making a lot of sense. Very much connected to strokes gained. And I've very much seen that in practice. When I'm driving well, I set myself for better approach shots, which end up closer to the pin, and even if I'm not putting great, the score will be "acceptable". However, If I'm putting well but the driver is not working, I end up having long or badly lied approach shots, resulting often in long putts, and well... putting like a baus I manage to have a look at the hole often but they rarely fall from this far away: the score ends up not great, despite the satisfaction of having hole one 8 yards putt and having had a few 5 to 10 yarders flirt with the hole and often remaining close. Give me 280 yards straight where I want every day, my irons will make the putting almost irrelevant!
Excellent video, Brendon. Strikes me as obvious that if you're hitting more greens then dependency upon short game is lessened. Only at the elite level would 'up and down' and putting stats make the difference..
The testing/training problem you bring up is very familiar. I used to try every swing thought, every gimmick for a range session or so, "that's not 300 yards so that can't be right, next" and round and around - for years i'm afraid to say. I think that the search space of possibilities can be reduced by fundamentally asking what is a golf swing, accepting that certain swing thoughts will be counter-intuitive, and that you will not have immediate results - you must train.
really interesting. thanks
I can clearly see a correlation of the things said in my own strokegained stats I recorded since Jan 2018 and today. Got stuck with my hcp for 2 years around 11 while practicing hard. Took like 10 lessons early this year on driving and irons with some technical changes (Grip, Path. Impact). Compared to last years stats FIR gained from 45 to 57%. I’m not a big hitter like 95-100 mph 230-240y carry but now gaining like 1-2 strokes compared to hcp 7 players ( measured with bebrassie app). My GIR got better from 45 to 54% still loosing like 1-2 strokes to hcp 7. I feel that putting now gets more important while my wedges and approachshots now get closer and I have a better chance to capitalize on that. Best of all my hcp came down this year to 9,2 and it shows that after years its possible to improve. Hcp for me only is a measurement of a potential outcome, but now even bad round results in like 2 - 3 shots higher than my hcp.
Thanks for the valuable and detailed information! So it sounds like 102mph is lowest demanding swing speed for playing on tour/pro golf. Now hypothetically let’s say a player swings right at 102mph consistently and is able hit every single fairway even when under pressure, and my question is, for this particular player what is the next most important shot for HIM to have a chance making it on tour? In other words, for two PGA tour player that one is significantly longer than the other off the tee, what major differences would Richie expect in terms of their training/focus of the rest of their game?
Gaining speed on that driver would be most important because at 102, no matter how good he is, he is going to have longer Birdie putts and that is going to put a lot of pressure on his putter.
Richie will probably see this post and chime in
If it is physically impossible for the guy to get faster he would have to be one of the all time great putters, like Brian Gay
The problem with hitting it so short is your birdie putts, on average, are going to be longer and thus more difficult to make. Thus, a long hitting poor putter like Bubba Watson can *sink* more birdie putts in the end than a short hitting good putter like Brian Gay simply because Bubba has less difficult putts (solely based on the length of the putt). Once you get below 103 mph, you're just not likely to find somebody that has the putting to make up for it. Particularly since putting is a pretty volatile part of the game (meaning that you can putt well one week and putt miserable the next week). Even the very best putters struggle on certain greens. And if they don't have the distance, then they are basically SOL for that week.
Makes total sense....a golf buddy of mine hits his drives great but the rest of his game sucks but he scores well! On the other hand, when can't hit his driver, on a par 3, his poor ball striking really shows up.
Great video and a really interesting discussion.
So the closer you get to the hole the closer you'll hit the next shot to the hole.
quite an interesting stat is the distance left on the green to first putt. That is also why this 175 shot is important.
Great points. Remember to apply context before choosing your training plan. The 18 handicap player will benefit more from a different training plan compared to a 10 handicap, 5 handicap or +5 (tour) player. Thanks for sharing.
Great video to advance the debate and bring other point of views to light. The amount of effort seems like it can vary greatly depending on what you look to improve. Focusing on short game vs driving could be much easier to execute in real life. One requires more fitness and challenging your physical capabilities.
It would be nice to have a table for different aspects of the game that details where you rank. That way you see where you have the most to gain. You might already be between a Scratch golfer and Tour level for putting so you are better off closing the gap in another area (chipping, driving, 175-225 yd approaches). How much is there to gain vs the amount of effort required, detailing the strokes gained from one level to the next in each category.
I think there's a lot of truth to FRL. If you hit a driver 290 fairly strait, you probably hit a 7 iron 165-175 yards. Meaning you can hit shorter, more accurate clubs for the approach shots. Speed can make up for a lot of inaccuracy. I've noticed if you hit it over 280 off the tee you clear a lot of trouble at avg length courses who put trouble at 230-250 yards from the back tees.
yes speed, and distance equals greater accuracy when it comes to be closer to the hole with your first putt or chip. This is the most important relationship on tour.
FRL is not as accurate as Strokes Gained, but there's an extremely strong correlation between the two. If you measured all of the shots on Tour by proximity to the cup, you would find that almost all of the time the shot closer to the hole gained more strokes. Of course there are times when somebody is closer to the hole, but in the bunker and thus lost strokes to the player further away and on the green. But not only do most course designs dictate that as an unlikely scenario...so does player performance. The shots that are the most offline tend to end up in the bunker or deep rough the most.
One thing I wanted to clarify in the video was the amount offline I was talking about. So from 150 yards from the fairway/par-3 tee box, the average Tour player hits it to roughly 27-feet (150 * 18% = 27). The average offline is about 5% (or 15% if we are converting to yards). So the average Tour player will hit that 150 yard shot about 22.5 feet offline (150 * 15% = 22.5 feet). That's offline either right or left of the target (45-feet range). So the average Tour player from 150 is going to hit it 27 feet from the hole. It will be 22.5 feet offline on average and the combination of offline and short/long to the hole will be put the ball, on average, 27 feet to the hole.
You are 100% correct! Furthermore, the short game covers for the ball striking failures (and occasional chip on par 5s). If you review the statistical analysis on putting, a 5 HC is not really that far behind a tour pro in that category. And poor driving leads to most of the penalty shots that amateurs face as well.
Thanks for the great view - good discussion point.
Thanks Les. The other thing is the status on short putts are misleading because short putts are so much easier to make when the greens are absolutely perfect the way they are on tour. When they are super bumpy in the cup is half collapsed it gets really hard to make the short putts.
Dave pelz covered this in his book. Approach shot accuracy is the shot that matters most. He correlated it with money won.
Great video! I agree with everything you said.....but. A lot of golfers don't have the confidence in that next shot after the drive. (Like me) I realize that the longer drive leads directly to a shorter next shot. That is good! I still need to work those shorter shots as well, to make them automatic. Not everyone is at the level that a longer drive slides their game up a notch with a shorter second shot. The weekend golfer SHOULD work the driver more! But they need to work the rest of the clubs as well. The most frustrating thing for me was hoping that next mid-iron shot is good.......instead of expecting it to be good. That being said....I think I will work on driver more than I have in the past....it makes sense! Love your stuff! If nothing else, it makes me think about my game. Thanks:)
Long is good, but I'd put accuracy in there as priority one for the higher cappers at least. Most amateurs struggle hitting a straight drive opposed to getting distance.
Fantastic video!
i think a lot of people try to figure out "the way" of their own swing and its a very long journey.. i will start taking lessons where if i go practice i have a purpose and not just trying to figure it out myself. awesome video about statistics, anything above 5 handicap correlates to short/inaccurate drives.
I totally agree, for 10 handicaps like me, driving determines you score!
What can u do to improve your driving Larry?
Hit it straighter, I'm 66 but average about 270 off tee. Just never straight. Blocks or pull hooks
Great job Brendon! So, if you can learn to hit the sweet spot on your driver more often, with the proper swing path and club face angle, you will hit it longer than when you don't...and, learning to improve in that area will spill over to your iron play...makes sense to me.
I really like what you said about Phil using bunker practice to improve driver performance...I have found that if I spend time on the range hitting wedges and short irons from left arm parallel in the back swing, ALL my full swing shots improve immensely.
And, Brendon, thanks for RockChalkin' the JayHawk Club Hat!!
Thx JK! Left arm parallel is Monte’s fav
A lotta “if’s” but true! No one said it was gonna be easy
A 100% right. I find if I am driving the ball, my 2nd shots are with shorter irons that I am more comfortable with. Therefore I score better by hitting more greens in regulation.
TRUE!
Great video...very well done and informative. It would interesting to factor equipment choices...but that would certainly be individual and a difficult data analysis...not to mention the financial motives.
Hi and thanks great info. I find if I drive and hit my irons good I have many more three putts then when they are off a bit and I have more missed greens and am chipping more. I keep track of driver direction and GIR. I'm hitting more greens but with longer putts.
Just played today, shot a 78 with 5 three putts, with 14 GIR. Think my putting needs work.
Thanks for all your help
Tom
Nope, your putting is just fine... What you need to work on now is the accuracy of your approach shots. It's much easier to place them closer to the pin that it would be to make more putts from the long distances you have (just have a look at the PGA tour make averages from different distances: it's unlikely you'll putt better than them and even if you reach that level, you'll convert very very few 8 yards putts and more ofthen than not have 3 putts from 15 yards).
This is usually due to you not hitting your approach shots close enough, particularly on par-5's. It's not 'poor' iron play, but it's not particularly good either. What it does is prevent the double bogeys or worse which is when your final score really climbs. That's also the thing about driving it well, it doesn't guarantee a great round, but your really high scores will really diminish.
thanks again for your insight. i can pretty much attest that any great driver of the ball has an elite wedge game. the reason they have a great wedge game is pretty simple, whether through training, practice or something they learned organically as a junior golfer, they figured out how to max out their wedge performance, more often than not, junior golfers don't even carry a driver until they get really good with their other clubs. in other words, they have an innate understanding of the club face and how to use it. this understanding bleeds into all facets of their game, whether it be hitting towering draws from tight lies, or wrapping the ball around a pine tree from a fairway bunker, their base expertise in putting the club on the ball with the correct parameters is what makes them elite. i think you put it quite elegantly "how" you become a better driver of the ball is what ultimately determines your success as a golfer.
Appreciate that Mitch Thx
That's not really true. DJ was one of the elite drivers of the ball for years and he had a poor wedge game up until recently. Rory is the best driver of the ball in the world right now and his wedge game is awful. Graeme McDowell was about as good as it got with the driver for somebody under 110 mph club speed and he was a poor wedge player. Same with John Senden and many others.
Wedge shots from 70-125 yards is the most overrated part of the game on Tour. The same goes with the corresponding distance based on amateur handicap levels.
While I don't have a One Size Fits All approach, I do focus on what I call The 5 Cornerstones of the Game with each of my clients. Those are:
1) Driving Effectiveness (how well you drive the ball)
2) Ball Speed
3) Shots from 175-225 yards
4) Shots from 10-20 yards
5) Putting from 5-15 feet.
What I have found for Tour players is if they are at the average or better at each of those areas, they are very likely to make a ton of money and their win probability goes way up.
The guys that accomplished it this year are McIlroy, Koepka, Schauffele, Niemann, Cantlay, Matsuyama, Fowler, Fleetwood, Oosthuizen and Sung Kang.
There's a variety of ways to be a successful golfer or greatly improve your handicap. But those areas are what matter most on Tour. For amateurs, it's shots from a closer distance since they play shorter courses (probably something like 150-175 yards) and I'd extend the putting metrics to 3-15 feet.
I found this to be true. I found something in my driving this year, some distance with more accuracy and my scoring has been much better😊 . Still don't make all the putts though.😒
Brendon - really juicy stuff on hot topic - like the analogy of stop testing and start real training for real results. I have kept stats on this sort of thing but not really known which was the most important (7-9 h.cap) shots gained has helped - interesting that I hit about 275ish yds average total distance and thats the weakest part according to shots gained.
(Garmin) Great Video keep up the good work👍👍
It's always the 3rd shot...
Nice video! I think I read that missing the fairway was statistically equivalent to losing 75 yards with the driver. In other words, my avg proximity to the hole is the same from 100 yards in the rough as it is from 175 in the fairway. So extra driver distance is great, but ONLY if you can control it.
Also, if your average miss directionally is up to 5 degrees, your ball lands further off the center line the further you hit it. For example, long hitters have to be within 3 degrees to hit fairways while a short hitter can spray it 5 degrees.
I do completely agree that great drivers score well.
It's about a 60 yard difference on Tour. The greater the handicap, the distance increases. However, that causes a false equivalency because doing something like laying up off the tee doesn't guarantee you will find the fairway. And if you lay up and miss the fairway, now the penalty is even worse. Essentially, when you look at the factors such as the hit fairway % of the driver vs. the hit fwy % by laying up and then all of the other possible outcomes it's not very wise to lay-up off the tee *solely* to find the fairway. Now if you want to lay-up off the tee to reasonably avoid penalty areas, OB or trees, then that's a different story. But even then, I see too many players laying up off the tee when they have a very minute chance of finding them off the tee
@@richiehunt5097 I think you're right about laying up... using a shorter club. I'm saying that swinging harder to get more distance is not usually a good idea. It's far better to stay in control of your driver and be in the fairway than to swing out of your shoes and spray it all over the place. It's obviously not always that simple... too many variables to control, so we have to speak in generalities.
Also, the tour rough is a lot more punitive... so my stat about 60-75 yards might be overstated for the weekend golfer. Some of the courses I play have rough that's not much worse than fairway. Bottom line... it depends.
Golf is all about ball striking. Good vid Brenden
If u can’t putt u can’t score
But if u can’t Drive YOU CAN’T EVEN PLAY!
Thx Greg
I totally believe this. I am a single digit, I don't have time to practice at all really. I drive the ball quite well and accurate. The rest of my game kind of sucks really.
I’m a 7 hi, and the biggest thing that I notice when playing with guys under 5, is that they hit it 20-40 yards past me. I’ve spent a lot of time on my short game, so I’m right there with them on that part of the game. They end up with a big advantage on a lot of holes. I’m a week into working with super speed sticks, we’ll see how it goes.
About 6 years ago I got with some instructors and used Trackman and took golfers with a USGA handicap, ranging from 25 handicap to mini-tour players. The correlation between handicap and club speed is very strong (+0.9). We tested 137 players and found that 0 handicaps usually equate to about 106 mph while a 5 handicap will equate to roughly 100 mph. The standard deviation was +/- 4.5 mph. You can read more about it at:
www.golfwrx.com/531182/how-power-helps-your-golf-game-and-its-not-how-you-think/
What shot matters so much? The next one.
Have to get somewhat proficient,IMO, at the short game. But I think an analysis at this level would reveal individual differences. Some need to work on 3’ putts, others might benefit by hitting more fairways, etc. it’s one thing to look at the aggregate stats vs individual games and shortcomings.
Nice
Thx Alex
I would like to question the data around FRL. Ask highly skilled golfers ( I believe one gentleman said this on a recent video on this channel), they are only hitting the ball directly at the pin a handful of holes during an 18 hole round. I don't know the data set that Richie uses for his stats but I would be curious to know how he determines how far off line a shot into the green is.
Also, what matters the most for a 1 hdcp player is drastically different than a 5 or a 20 hdcp. I do agree that by the time highly skilled players are accomplished enough to play professional golf, they hit the ball off the tee "good enough" to be there. A tour player playing on a course that is 7300 yards has drastic different tee shots with much more penalty for off line drives compared to the Long Beach open.
I heard Ben Curtis speak at a event and his opinion was that everyone on the PGA tour hits the ball about the same (within reason, toss out outliers like DJ, McIlory or Woods in his prime). He said for the PGA tour it comes down to putting and chipping. I know that Ben Curtis did not have the most accomplished career when compared to some others but I would consider him very "in the know" with his amount of experience.
When I watch Brendan play some of his shots on these videos, I'm guessing that he would play to about a 5-6 handicap if he played on a consistent basis. I see him hit drives "good enough" for the tees that he plays and the courses that he's on. I see him have many approach shots from around 125. I don't see him play many holes where he has 175 - 200 left into the greens on par 4's.
I would be curious to know if Richie would consider an optimal strategy for a player like Brendan to just aim for the middle of the green on approaches outside 125 yards and then aim for maybe 8-10' towards the middle of the green from the pin when inside 125 yards. So, play for par from 125+ and play for a "makeable" birdie putt when inside 125. Yes, you may make less birdies but maybe you eliminate making bogey from 150 out in the middle of the fairway.
I think it's absolutely hilarious that here in the comments you still have people arguing with statistical data! Great work here keep this stuff coming sir!
Interesting video. Sounds like there is going to be a focus on speed training and the gadgets that can help you get to the next level. Curious on one thing though, isn’t there a zero lag tension for the driver for appropriate efficiency? You mention there is a need for lag tension with the driver in the video.
Distance means lower scores it’s simple when u can drive par 4’s at 310 yards and 2 putt for birdie u can’t say it doesn’t matter or you’re hitting mid irons into par 5’s for your 2nd shots it’s such a big average , yes short game and putting mean a lot too but when it really comes down to it, distance is the key. U don’t shot 62 if u hit the ball 210 yards with your driver on a par 72 courses.
Before we all go dropping balls 300 yds out in the middle of the fairway...
What are you going to hear at the 19th hole:
A. “I went driver-wedge and brought that course to it’s KNEES!!”
B. “I benched the driver, hit 5 wood off the tee, and shot my personal best!!”
Saying “just improve your driver distance” is equivalent to saying “just make more birdies”. It’s simply a platitude.
Now, let’s all go and drop some balls 300 yds out at the hazard line of the woods and say “hitting three”.
I would argue that shooting your personal best by using just your 5-wood off the tee is not nearly as likely to occur as shooting your personal best using driver.
Laying up off the tee and hitting the fairway are not mutually exclusive. In fact, when measuring certain holes on Tour where the split was close to 50/50 between hitting driver or 3-wood off the tee, Tour players were actually finding the driver more often with the *driver* than the 3-wood. It's a very troubling club to hit for most Tour players. For instance, in the latest Driver vs. Driver series on The Golf Channel, one designer wanted to design a driver that looked more like a 3-wood and the pros like Kevin Streelman stated that they don't like hitting their 3-wood off the tee.
But from what I've seen from instruction and golfer's beliefs is that they believe that hitting a ball further will mean they will automatically become more inaccurate and more imprecise. And I've seen some quality instructors prove otherwise.
Conundrum: The Stina Sternberg question: Can a 4 handicap man beat an LPGA Pro?
The consensus seemed to be that even a low ranked Futures mini tour woman would wax a 4 handicap man, let alone a tour pro.
If that is true, then distance off the tee is irrelevant (as it would pertain to Be Better Golfers). You only need 230 off the tee to play really good golf from 6500 yds. If I remember correctly, most scratch amateur men are roughly 240 off the tee on average anyway.
Anyone I know who has played a competitive female golfer has the same reaction: they beat you to death with boring, consistent, low drama play.
The big hitting man has one OB drive, one fat pitch in the water, one flubbed chip and loses by 5.
The driver had little or nothing to do with it.
It all makes sense; as for me, I would gladly give up a little accuracy off the tee for 20 more yards; I'm not saying I'm accurate, but I recently retired a ball that I played with for over a month....I don't lose many golf balls.
Tour pros are *crazy* good at 175-225, but isn't that partly because their courses are 7.2k+ in yards? What about the average player on 6.4-6.6k (or shorter) courses?
He referenced Harbour Town which has several approach shots in the 150-175 yard zone, which is a distance range that 4-12 handicappers find themselves in very often.
Yeah that’s the reason that those yardages are so important if they did play shorter course is the shorter iron shots would be really important like we said El Dorado in the Long Beach sOpen
Probably more close to 150-200 yard shots for you. And driving as well. From putting, work on putts from 3-15 feet. Work on right to left and left to right breaking putts. Figure out which breaking putt gives you the most problems and then seek a qualified instructor to fix the problem. For short game shots around the green (chips, pitches, bunker shots) work on shots from 10-25 yards. Higher handicaps need to work more on bunker play than greenside rough play. Hope this helps.
I agree if I hit my driver in play more often score much better!!!
good stuff ! keep up the good work
Thanks John
I need that distance dammit !!! :). I play off 7 and always blamed my 240-250 driving distance on my 5’8 140lb size, then I saw Justin Thomas carry 290. Hmph :). I’m pretty sure better lag, more club hinge whip and more powerful hip is what I need to piece together. Great vid. My best rounds have always been my best driving days,,,it just feeds into your confidence in the round.
@Benghali In Platforms I think 5'9"
This seems to explain why a professional Long Driver has no advantage transitioning to the Tour. A Long Driver's skill is not the most important and its impact isn't enough to compensate for their lack of skill in other areas.
I'd like to see Tour level comparisons of scoring average for different skill sets. For example, a group of people that are top 20 from 175-225 approaches but rank low in driving distance and then vice versa, people who rank top 20 driving distance but low on 175-225 approaches.
Where is this video of the training / testing thing?
Good video could you give some training for the range?
Yes!
Interesting information. But I'd disagree with driving being the fastest way to up your game. IMHO mid-irons and putting will get you there faster, though a long drive will help set things up. Can't have one without the other.
Show your accrued data and resulting stats ..Brenden did.
@@kimfank1716 As I said, this is just my opinion based on my game. Your results will vary.
If I could hit my driver consistent I KNOW I’d take my game to another level
FACTS. We gotta test this.
Drop a ball 300 out
Or
Up and down from anywhere inside 30 yards
Lotta times u need to chip is because u hit a poor drive, then couldn’t go for the pin.
We need to shoot a vlog with dropping a ball in the fairway after a “300 yard drive” and playing the par 3 and see how much better or equal it is 🤷🏻♂️
Just play from blue or red for while. That will get you more fairways. And also develop your play to the green. Plus boost confidence.
I can attest to this idea. Finally broke the 90 score after 20+ years. How I did this was hitting my driver longer and straighter than I've ever hit in recent memory. +1 on the front which is my best 9 ever ending w/ an 84 my best score ever.
WTG!!!!!!!!
If a guy can’t putt worth a shit he’ll 2-putt a 30ft putt the same as he’ll 2 putt 9ft putt.
That is clearly not the point here. Most golfers and amateurs can putt really well. Also consider the fact that it is technically and physically possible that an amateur and pro have similar short game qualities
After reading the comments , it’s amusing how some golfers here still believe their own personal observations of a few count more than the ideas of someone who has done scientific or statistical study of hundreds or thousands.
Math is wrong.
Go troll somewhere else.
@@arjanpetersen Go fk yourself. Assuming I am trolling is imbecilic and rude
Absolute rubbish even the pros miss greens and it's their ability to get up and down from around the green and bunkers that separates them. An 18 hcpc golfer could play the drives from a pro and he would still be an 18 hcp golfer.