The term ‘Strokes Gained’ is now used in almost every golf broadcast aired these days but what is Strokes Gained and how can it help your game?
Strokes gained is a way of analysing a player’s performance level when comparing every aspect of their performance with other players within a particular dataset. It measures the golfer’s performance, taking into account, the hole length, shot length, lie type of every shot and putt during a round of golf. Using this measurement to analyse performance, allows golfers to gain a greater understanding of which areas of their game they may need to work on in order to improve their overall scoring average.
The Shot Scope mobile app and web dashboard offer golfers Strokes Gained analysis across multiple statistical categories, allowing golfers to see which particular areas of their game are their strengths and their weaknesses. Importantly, we are able to compare each facet of a golfer’s game to a golfer of the same or similar handicap category through handicap benchmarking. This allows golfers to see how they fare against golfers of a similar ability but also to see which areas they may want to improve to take their game to the next level. A crucial area of the game to improve in order to lower your scores and your handicap is putting. So, we are going to take a look at the Shot Scope Strokes Gained Putting data to see just exactly how many strokes per round each handicap category gains or loses on the greens compared to a scratch (0 HCP) golfer.
Strokes Gained by handicap v scratch (0 HCP) golfer
5 HCP
10 HCP
15 HCP
20 HCP
25 HCP
-0.48
-1.83
-3.52
-3.54
-3.77
A quick look at the table above highlights the following. The 5-handicap golfer is losing just under 0.5 strokes per round on average when putting compared to a 0-handicap golfer, not a huge amount but over a month of weekly competitions this totals almost 2 complete strokes – a small but impactful amount on your scoring average. This number quickly jumps to 1.83 strokes lost on average for a 10-handicap golfer, this is quite a significant jump per round. However, the jump to the 15 handicap categories and above is an even greater increase to -3.52, -3.54 and -3.77 respectively. Losing almost 4 strokes per round on the greens on average to a 0-handicap golfer will have a significant impact on your scoring average.
Even this quick look at the Shot Scope Strokes Gained Putting data highlights the importance of putting and the impact it has on scoring, in particular when looking at handicap benchmarking. Indeed, there are lots of strokes to be saved by improving your putting performance. So, if you are looking to lower your scores and your handicap then it is worth dedicating extra practice time to your putting. Hole more putts, gain strokes on the greens and watch your scores tumble!
Strokes Gained statistics are one part of the 100s of statistics available with Shot Scope shot tracking products such as the V3 GPS watch and PRO LX+ laser rangefinder. Products such as these from Shot Scope make gaining data about your game accessible for all levels of golfer. Tracking your game is the first step to improving!
Did you know that 84% of missed putts over five feet finish short?
Or, that your typical drive is nearly 30 yards shorter than your Sunday best drive? These are just two intriguing statistics thrown up by Shot Scope’s performance tracking data platform.
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