Golf Practice: A Data-Driven Approach
Hitting 100 balls at the driving range isn't an effective way to practice golf. You need to analyse real data collected during your rounds; determine where your game is the weakest; and focus your practice effort on these weak points.
Online, March 21, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Very few amateur golfers actually put enough time and effort into their golf practice. Even the few that do rarely make the most of their efforts, because they don't have an effective strategy.
They typically arrive at the driving range and then just mechanically work through the clubs in their bag. They hope that by hitting lots of golf balls they will miraculously 'groove' the perfect golf swing into their muscle memory. Sadly, it's not quite as simple as that.
What the best professional golfers do is to capture data from their rounds (e.g. percentage of fairways hit, percentage of greens hit in regulation, percentage of recoveries from sand etc...), and use this information to design a practice strategy which targets the weakest parts of their game.
In the article below, Chad Gibbs explains how data-driven practice sessions enabled Gary Woodland to win his first PGA Tour event.
A Lesson Learned: Better Golf By The Numbers:
Over the last year and a half, Gary and his Dallas based coach, top PGA Instructor Randy Smith, continually took inventory of his game. Gary and Randy used data driven instruction to identify weak areas and focus practice time. They used his tour statistics to identify areas of need and then aggressively sought to remedy those parts of his game.
This year has already shown the results of their efforts. With a lot of hard work on his wedge and short game, 2011 has been a great success thus far, even before this week, as evidenced by one second place and two other top ten finishes.
The last addition to his repertoire was strategy work with Justin Leonard and tutelage from all time putting great, Brad Faxon. In Gary's own words:
"One thing that helped me was putting, and today it saved me."
Woodland took only ten putts on the back nine and 23 for the final round.
"Luckily, it won me a golf tournament."
Winning his first PGA tournament didn't come easily for the Kansas native, Gary Woodland. Out of high school, Gary chose to play Division Two college basketball, rather than golf. After a year, he transferred to Kansas, not to play for the powerhouse J-Hawk basketball team, but to rediscover golf. And that is where he landed and won four college tournaments.
Early on he was known for the power of his 400 yard drives. Through data driven instruction he has now achieved the balance of a well rounded game.
As a player, you can collect your own data to drive your practice time. Take a look at your own game. Instead of just guessing, take some of your own stats. You can be as detailed as you like. You can use the internet, get software, or do it on your own.
I suggest that you track greens in regulation, fairways hit, putts, sand saves, and shots inside 100 yards. Once you have your data collected, analyze it, with the help of a PGA Professional, to decide where to spend your practice time. Add discipline to your game and commit to driving your practice where the data bears it out. You may not get your first Tour win like Gary Woodland, but you will see the benefit of better scores quickly.
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http://electricgolftrolleysonline.co.uk/blog/golf-tips/golf-practice-data-driven-approach