Lou Stagner's Newsletter #50

Coming Up Short

A big thank you to our sponsors who keep this newsletter free to the reader:

Today’s issue is brought to you by ExPutt Golf Putting Simulator:

I have one of these are they are incredible for working on lag putting INDOORS! Yep, you can use this indoors to dial in your lag putting. You can see a great video review of the ExPutt here.

For the best price use code GOLFSALE 

Get your ExPutt here. (free shipping to USA and UK)

And also brought to you by Hack Motion Golf:

How your wrists work in the swing is critical. The Hack Motion wrist sensor is an amazing tool to help you

For the best price use code GOLFSALE

Get your Hack Motion here.

Weekly Quiz!

To see the correct answer, click the “CONTINUE” button at the bottom of the next page.

Good luck! 😀 

What will the average score be for 10 index players on the typical 465 yard "short" par 5?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Coming Up Short

Today’s newsletter is short and sweet. I am writing this very late on a Thursday night. It has been a busy week and only getting busier. I have a TV crew showing up to the Stat Cave tomorrow to shoot some content and I have been TRYING to rehearse my lines. I am a socially awkward math nerd with a face made for radio, so wish me luck! Some cool stuff coming that I am thrilled to be a part of. Stay tuned!

From the fairway, how often is the ball finishing more than 20 yards short of the hole? I have chatted many times in the past about using more club. Not using enough club definitely plays a part in what you see below. But the main culprit is the quality of your strike. Struggling with your irons is NOT a recipe for good scores. If that is you, go find a good teacher and get to work!

All of this comes from the millions of rounds in the Arccos Golf database (use code DATALOU15 to save 15%).

Table below shows what percent of the time the ball finishes more than 20 yards short of the hole when playing from the fairway.

My Thoughts

Solid contact is so important. Making a good strike and getting the ball up around the green as often as possible is so important for scoring. The table above should give you some good benchmarks!

I have a friend that “sort of” worked on this by gradually adjusting the yardage he played. As he got further from the hole, he would add more yards to the shot. For example, when he had what he used to play as a 150 yard shot, he would play it as 155 yards. When he had what he used to play as 200 yards he would play it as 210 yards. His strokes gained approach and GIR% improved. I am not saying this is the correct answer, just giving you some food for thought.

One other point to make is if you are coming up short a decent amount WHILE hitting the ball solid, you definitely need to get better at picking the right club (and/or adjusting for wind)!

See you next week!

Finally...

  • Advertise your business to 30,000+ readers of this newsletter.

  • Shop Arccos Golf here. (Use code DATALOU15 to save 15%)

  • Join Team Titleist here.

  • Shop StrackaLine Green Books here. (Use code DATALOU15 to save 15%)

  • Listen to the “Hack it Out Golf” podcast on Apple or Spotify.

  • Submit ideas or feedback here.

    Have a great week!

Lou Stagner

33