Stats

[golfdub]

So who keeps stats ? Last week I decided to take a note book out and just record where the ball landed of the tee I.e left rough, fairway, right bunker etc also how many gir and how many putts. I'm planning to record these for the rest of the year and see if I improve. So far I have relised I hardly hit any gir and vastly need to improve in this area.

So just wondering if anyone else does something similar any if it helps ???

 

[davidy233]

Why would you need a notepad on the course to do it? - I played yesterday and can recall all the shots - and given your handicap is nine lower than mine it should be easier to recall yours?

 

[golfdub]

Why would you need a notepad on the course to do it? - I played yesterday and can recall all the shots - and given your handicap is nine lower than mine it should be easier to recall yours?

Just so at the end of the year I can compare mad truly see how my season has gone

 

[ColchesterFC]

Just so at the end of the year I can compare mad truly see how my season has gone

If you set up an account on golfshake you can input your rounds on there. You can get a free account or pay for a subscription one. I've just got the free one and it will track your FIR and GIR as well as putts per round and other stuff.

 

[golfdub]

If you set up an account on golfshake you can input your rounds on there. You can get a free account or pay for a subscription one. I've just got the free one and it will track your FIR and GIR as well as putts per round and other stuff.

Cheers I will check that out

 

[MadAdey]

Got a GPS app on my phone that does all that sort of stuff for me. Makes interesting reading.

 

[pbrown7582]

I have golfshot lite free app on iPhone, keeps all stats you've mentioned I just sit down after round and load info in. You can but the full gps app and do it automatically. Scoresaver2 is another popular stats program free download now.

 

[AMcC]

I have a tendency to keep my stats, and used to take a spare card and mark in fairways hit, gir, putts etc. I have my records for the past few years as well. I always did this thinking I wouldn't be able to remember after the round. The problem that has transpired with writing down these stats keeping score etc I found I was getting too far ahead and thinking about the final score instead of staying in the present.

I have been playing in a winter sweep and only one of the four keeps everybody's score, so I have found I have played and scored better not keeping a note of everything. I was even able to sit down last night and go through the round and was able to remember every shot. That's an achievement in itself

 

[patricks148]

can't say ive ever kept any stats or wanted too at the end of the day.

if i shoot 75 gross I'm Happy and if it 85 I'm not.

i can't see how keeping stats helps , you must know after every round if you played well or not, ie sank lots of puts, missed a load of fairways etc?

How do you not know after every round what the week points were?

 

[Imurg]

The way they help is to pinpoint the consistent weak links.
To be fair they have limited use - as you say, play well and it's a good score, play bad and it's a telephone number
And you can hit no fairways or greens and still score well, conversely you can hit every fairway and green and miss the buffer..

Taken in context they do have a use but it's very easy to over-analyse, for example, anything over about 3 months old only has historical value..

I keep them on SS2, more for the challenge of trying to beat my "targets" but it can also outline particular holes you don't play well regularly and can unmask the reasons.....

 

[MadAdey]

I did not play much golf last year, but when I did I kept stats to try and see what the consistent week point was. I think at times as golfers some of us have a habit of overlooking the obvious and not seeing what our week points are. When ever there is a thread about drivers you always get higher handicappers come on and say how they are really solid off the tee, I wonder how many would still say that if they could look back at their driving stats.

I do agree though that stats only paint a small picture as I have gone out and hit more or less ever fairway and scored badly, but gone out the next day sprayed it everywhere from the tee and scored well.

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

I use score saver 2, only for the basic stuff, just recorded today's round from memory and the scorecard. It gives really good feedback although I don't use all the functions

 

[Ian_S]

can't say ive ever kept any stats or wanted too at the end of the day.

if i shoot 75 gross I'm Happy and if it 85 I'm not.

i can't see how keeping stats helps , you must know after every round if you played well or not, ie sank lots of puts, missed a load of fairways etc?

How do you not know after every round what the week points were?

The simple answer to that is most people overweigh the importance of the short game by assuming they lose more shots there than anywhere else, usually due to golf coverage showing a disproportionate amount of holed long putts and chips to an inch. The pro's don't get up and down as often as people think, and your 5 handicap club champ gets up and down even less often.

Suppose you get up and down 25% of the time when you miss the GIR, and 2 putt each time when you hit the GIR. One day you hit 14 GIR and score 75, another you only hit 6 and score 81. Some people would think back over the round and think "jeez my short game let me down today, I just could not get up and down" whereas what actually cost them was the fact that they kept missing the green.

Actually writing it down and analysing it can help to flag up those facts.

 

[MadAdey]

The simple answer to that is most people overweigh the importance of the short game by assuming they lose more shots there than anywhere else, usually due to golf coverage showing a disproportionate amount of holed long putts and chips to an inch. The pro's don't get up and down as often as people think, and your 5 handicap club champ gets up and down even less often.

Suppose you get up and down 25% of the time when you miss the GIR, and 2 putt each time when you hit the GIR. One day you hit 14 GIR and score 75, another you only hit 6 and score 81. Some people would think back over the round and think "jeez my short game let me down today, I just could not get up and down" whereas what actually cost them was the fact that they kept missing the green.

Actually writing it down and analysing it can help to flag up those facts.

But to be honest it was their short game letting them down. You are not always going to hit the green, but shooting low scores depends on getting up and down to make par. But I do agree that at times people do not realise exactly where their problem is when analysing their game over a period of time.

 

[BTatHome]

Stats should be there to help you, recording stats like FIR and GIR may not give you the info you need.

For instance, I drive the ball slightly left and it doesn't stop on the fairway, do you record that as a failure? What if its only 2 inches off the fairway, what if its 20 feet, what if its twenty feet off but behind a row of trees, what if its thirty feet but on open ground with a perfect lie up and unobstructed view to the green? Same with missing a green, pin is 6 feet from left side, and you miss on the left on the fringe. Putt is only 7 feet and perfect lie to use putter. Missing to the right but on the green could mean a 30 foot breaking putt. Do you count the putt if its off the green?

Basically stats can be made to read how ever you want, when I have looked at my round I've looked at "trouble off the tee" rather than FIR, and GIR similarly too.

 

[MadAdey]

Stats should be there to help you, recording stats like FIR and GIR may not give you the info you need.

For instance, I drive the ball slightly left and it doesn't stop on the fairway, do you record that as a failure? What if its only 2 inches off the fairway, what if its 20 feet, what if its twenty feet off but behind a row of trees, what if its thirty feet but on open ground with a perfect lie up and unobstructed view to the green? Same with missing a green, pin is 6 feet from left side, and you miss on the left on the fringe. Putt is only 7 feet and perfect lie to use putter. Missing to the right but on the green could mean a 30 foot breaking putt. Do you count the putt if its off the green?

Basically stats can be made to read how ever you want, when I have looked at my round I've looked at "trouble off the tee" rather than FIR, and GIR similarly too.

It is possible that stats can give a false reading. Normally if I just miss the fairway and not in trouble I put that down as fairway hit as there is no reason that I should not be able to hit the green as if I was on the fairway. Also if I am just on the fringe of the green using a putter I put that down as green hit. I want to know how many shots I have lost because I have hit a drive into the crap or cocked up an approach shot.

 

[Robobum]

Basically stats can be made to read how ever you want, when I have looked at my round I've looked at "trouble off the tee" rather than FIR,

I like that.

I missed 8 greens yesterday. 5 of the missed greens were in the fringe within 12ft of the hole. Real birdie chances even though its a missed green

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I have used scoresaver2 for a good few years. My pro has got me an account here as part of my tuition package. Looks hugely detailed and not sure I've the inclination to run with it but he says it gives him far more data than SS2 and wants me to persevere. As he has got me a years subs then why not http://www.strokeaverage.com/

As we've not had a full 18 open yet and I haven't been on a course in 2014 I'll come back to you about its functionality once I've used it

 

[golfdub]

Iv always said why keep stats as I know if I play well or not but I thought I give it ago and my last round I found only 4 fairways and Iv always thought this was my best part of my game but now I know I was kidding myself and I have to have a serious look at my course management and concentrate on finding more fir as I'm os ing shots as I'm playing so many recovery shots don't get me wrong my hcp is ok and I'm currently playing to 9 in my swindle hcp but imagine how much lower I could get if I found more fairways a bit lower I hope

 

[Ian_S]

But to be honest it was their short game letting them down. You are not always going to hit the green, but shooting low scores depends on getting up and down to make par. But I do agree that at times people do not realise exactly where their problem is when analysing their game over a period of time.

Well it was a very stylised example, but the only thing that changed was his long game so that was what let him down.

But you're right, if his short game was better, say he gets up and down 50% of the time, the rounds would have been a 74 and a 78.

I just think some people believe their short game should get them out of everything. You see golfers slice a shot into the trees, find a line out to 50 yards from the green, chip on and two putt and then walk to the next tee grumbling about a sloppy chip. Of course you have to work at it, you can't score low if you bogey every missed GIR, but I would guess that if you asked most club golfers after each round to split their dropped shots into long and short game, the majority would assign more to the short game than the Mark Broadie research suggests.