Wednesday, June 27, 2018

What really separates your BEST and WORST rounds?


Do you wonder what changes the most when you're playing your best vs. those rounds you'd like to forget?  I've been providing this perspective to pro tour players for years, but golfers at every level can benefit from this information.  The good news is that it's readily available on ShotByShot.com.  Here are the steps to running what I call a BEST vs. WORST analysis, or specifically the Best vs. Worst of your most recent 20 rounds.

Under Analyze, use the Filter Rounds tab:

1.  Run an analysis of the Most Recent 20 rounds.  It can be more or less rounds and can also be further filtered by type and format (e.g., Tournament, Stroke play... and even by Course).

2.  From the Rounds/Scoring page of the analysis, record:
    a.  Average score
   b. Date of the oldest round analyzed (this will be the anchor date for your BEST and WORST analysis).

3.  BEST - Select:  Score Less than or Equal to:   The average score AND anchor the analysis on the Start Date (2. b. above).  This will produce the BEST analysis.  If it is not exactly 10 rounds (or half of whatever # of rounds you're using), simply adjust the score selected up or down by 1.  Record the Strokes Gained for each facet as I have done in the chart below.

4.  WORST - Select:  Score Greater than or Equal to:  One stroke above the score used in the BEST analysis above.  Again, anchor the analysis with the Start Date.  Record the Strokes Gained for each facet as I have done in the chart below.

5.  Calculate the difference between the Strokes Gained for each facet to determine the greatest differences.  You can then re-run the analysis to determine exactly what is causing the differences.


The case above is an actual study that I did for a Mini Tour player.  Putting came as a surprise as it had long been one of his strengths.  When we looked closer, we found a fairly dramatic drop in his 1-Putt success in the critical ranges 4 to 10 feet while at the same time his 3-Putts nearly doubled.  Clearly good to know, and the information he needed to see where there was work to be done!