As most members know last week I visited the 2014 Srixon PGA Coaching Conference. As a Golf Professional it is important to continue to improve yourself and your coaching through further education. The Srixon PGA Coaching Conference is Australia’s leading event for further education for Golf Professionals, this is the fourth PGA Coaching Conference I have attended.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some of the information learnt.
One of the most interesting sessions was held by Mark Broadie who has done an exceptional job in sifting through the mountain of Shotlink data generated by the PGA Tour over the last decade. A Columbia Business School professor and avid golfer, Broadie is widely credited with coming up with strokes gained – a measurement of how much better or worse a golfer performs off the tee or from any given distance when compared with all other PGA Tour players.
The PGA Tour has been using strokes gained putting for a while now, but Broadie has also developed strokes gained driving for tee shots; strokes gained approach for shots of more than 100 yards; and strokes gained short game for shots of less than 100 yards, excluding putts. Add them together and you get total strokes gained.
From 2004-12 the top 10 players in total strokes gained were: Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson, Luke Donald, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson. A pretty impressive list and arguably the best players in the game over the last decade.
Mark in his presentation showed how these proven golfers outperformed their counterparts – “Two-thirds of the strokes they gained were from shots outside of 100 yards and one-third was from inside 100 yards,” Broadie said. “Putting accounted for just 15 percent of the scoring difference between the top 10 golfers in the world and the average PGA Tour pro.”
Here is the order: (followed by the player who gained the most strokes on their competitors over the last decade)
Approach shots outside 100 yards (Tiger Woods)
Driving (Bubba Watson)
Short game shots inside 100 yards (Steve Stricker)
Putting (Luke Donald)
To me this order is hugely important as it should influence the manner in which you go about improving. I encourage all my students to increase the amount of long iron, hybrid and driver practice they have been doing.
Essentially, good golfers are good because they hit it good. I encourage you to book a golf lesson to help improve the quality of you golf shots today.
Mark also discussed the importance of length and what an asset making the ball go a long way is. Bubba Watson has dominated his competitors off the tee with brute power and speed. I encourage all members to get correctly fitted for not only irons but also for your driver to increase your clubhead speed as much as possible.
The session by Mark also discussed drills for putting and even ideas on how to approach challenging tee shots dependent on your ability.
