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How to use statistics to improve your golf game

Male golfer taking a swing

If you are an avid golfer, always working on your game and looking for improvement, then recording your statistics can help you enhance your game and achieve your golf goals. There are many ways to improve your game, from taking lessons with a PGA Professional, to taking 100 practice swings a day or practicing with your worst ball. 

Tracking and figuring out your statistics can help you identify and work on your shortcomings before your next game. It can provide you with valuable insights like recognizing your weak spots, so you can practice to improve them. 

And don't worry, even the best of golf players are working all the time to take their game up a notch and get even better at it.

Working on the right parts of the game is essential, so knowing what facet of your game you should focus on is critical. And here's where statistics come in to save the day.

Begin With Tracking

To evaluate your performance, you need to document it . You can use pen and paper or a spreadsheet, but Golf Pad makes it much easier. Golf newbies need guidance to conquer the game, so tracking and generating the data will help you pinpoint a trend that leads to poor results. 

When you gain such insight, you can focus on fixing your weak areas by proper practice. 

Let's take a more in-depth look at some of the most important stats and insights that will help you identify the areas you need to improve.

Statistics of Fairways Hits From the Tee

These statistics are invaluable to those missing the fairway on a hole, as it will help them pinpoint why it is happening. It may be that a different club from the tee would be a better choice or that your action needs to be adjusted. 

And if you want to take your golf game to the next level, you can use a little help from technology! Golf Pad GPS is a free, easy, and fun app to use that will be your ally in improving your performance. 

You get to keep your score, track strokes, putts, penalties, sand, and fairways while having access to accurate GPS distances. You can even see the recommended club for each shot, based on sophisticated algorithm that takes distance, elevation and weather into account.

In-depth statistics, including accuracy, putting, and shot dispersion, can help you enhance your game. 

Greens in Regulation (GIR)

One of the most popular statistics worth tracking is how many greens did you hit in regulation (meaning you reach the green in par minus two strokes). Tracking GIR indicates the quality of your ball striking. 

To improve your performance, you need to increase your greens in regulation numbers. Sometimes, choosing the right club is all it takes to enhance your GIR and your game.

But to be sure this is the right move, you need to track your stats regarding GIR and identify trends. Golf Pad does this automatically as long as you keep score using the app.

Chip-And-Down Percentage

When it comes to the short game, one of the key stats is how often you need just one putt to finish a hole after a chip. The other important stat that will help you enhance the short game practice is the average distance to pin on chips. 

For instance, when off the green, working on getting the ball closer to the hole may do the trick. 

When green is missed, the ability to get the ball up and down is what it takes to hold together a good round. Identifying the specific type of shot, club, or distance you had trouble with after a round of golf is useful in resolving the problem and elevating your game for the next round.

Number of Putts in the Round

Understanding your putting performance is incredibly important. What you need to keep your eye on are putts per hole, putts after GIR, and your one-putts percentage. Tracking those stats will help you get a better insight into your putting performance, and identify your weak areas that need improvement.

Identifying the length of your putts is also valuable information.

It may be a poor stroke or something else, but tracking the right facets of the game will help you dial into your putting performance. 

The trick to achieving your golf goals is to work on the parts of your golf game you are not so good at. And statistics, even the basic ones, can help you pinpoint the areas you need to improve. Golf Pad app makes tracking statistics easy, from the basic ones all the way into detailed analysis like Strokes Gained, shot dispersion and course strategy. Give it a try if you want to improve your game.


Bio: Noah Markin is the editor in chief @ Runnerclick.com and one of the editors @ HombeGolfClub.com