IN THE BAG
By Gary Van Sickle
Welcome to golf’s Information Age. Thanks to sophisticated launch monitors, shot-tracking data apps, and other high-tech gear, we have access to more data about our golf games than even Luke Skywalker could imagine.
I’m a senior player whose game has begun a downward spiral, and while I like data, my numbers remind me of Charlie Brown in a memorable 1960 Peanuts comic strip. Charlie’s pal, Schroeder, analyzed their horrible baseball team and noted that they were outscored 3,040 to 6 and out-hit 4,900 to 11. As Schroeder started in on total errors, a glum Charlie Brown barked, “Tell your statistics to shut up!”
I feel his pain. Golf stats are fun until they become your harsh reality check. But, as the saying goes, the truth will set you free, so take advantage of this technological tsunami to improve your game from an ever-growing list of shot-tracking data apps. Here are few good ones worth a look (if you can handle the truth):
Arccos, which launched in 2014, is the biggest player in this field. Arccos sensors ($249) seamlessly plug into the ends of your club handles or may already be included if you bought Ping or Cobra clubs. Once each sensor is paired with your phone, the sensor knows what club you hit and, when you play the next shot, calculates the distance and dispersion of the previous shot and stores the data for later analysis.
Arccos is hard to beat for ease of use and important on-course data, such as where you missed fairways or greens. Arccos has a trove of data and charts. I like one that handicaps each part of your game per round. If I were listed as 4.2 off the tee and 15.3 on the greens, that meant I drove it like a 4.2 handicapper but putted like a 15-handicapper. It’s nice to be measured in terms I can understand. My putting sucked? Yeah, got it.
Arccos stores a trove of data, including hole-by-hole results from each course you play. Have you got a nemesis hole that has your number? Arccos has the damning stats. Minor downsides to Arccos? Sensor batteries that last about two years and an annual subscription fee ($13 to $17 per month).
Decade ($250) doesn’t just track your shots, it aims to make you better. It was founded by Scott Fawcett, a Texas A&M golfer who reached the Korn Ferry Tour and, after sidelined by injury, delved into what made players successful. His research grew into an app and along the way, he tutored a pair of Texas teens – Will Zalatoris and Bryson DeChambeau. Zalatoris described Decade this way: “I basically got 25 years of experience in five days. Pretty awesome.”
Decade leans toward serious players with a focus on course management and actionable data analysis, which is the whole point of tracking stats. Fawcett created “The Tiger Five” that good players avoid: double bogeys, par-5 bogeys, three-putt greens, bogeys from inside 150 yards, and two-chip greens. An express data-entry method for those provides insight into all areas of a player’s game. A Decade membership comes with access to a large video library, plus tips on shot-shaping (it pays to be a one-directional driver and hit a fade), aiming (front pin locations are the hardest), and more. He holds a monthly conference call in which he answers questions from Decade users (8,200-plus members). Decade’s pro-level insights may reveal that you’re not as good at course management as you thought. Another perk: Using Decade, you can print a course map-yardage book with distance and dispersion arcs for most courses.
GameForge ($99) and Clippd ($240) are coach-friendly apps that are also useful to solitary players. GameForge tracks player performance and identifies strengths and weaknesses, then uses AI algorithms to assign drills designed to improve those areas. Course management is a big focus. Putting stats are broken down in 1-foot increments in the makable range instead of bunched into statistical “buckets” such as putts holed from 4 to 8 feet or 9 to 15 feet, so the numbers are more precise. It also has easy-to-understand graphics that include a multi-color “Importance to Scoring Chart.” A website example: Approach Shots, 47%; Putting, 25%; Off the Tee, 16%; and Around the Greens, 12%. Clippd’s algorithms combine a stroke’s importance and opportunity to create a quality rating for each shot, which gives a player an idea of what to work on with appropriate practice drills.
The FlightScope Skills app delivers the most accurate data of any on-course app. That’s because it is paired with the FlightScope Mevo Gen2 launch monitor ($1,299), which you bring to the course and set up 8 feet behind the ball for each shot during your round. The Gen2 uses 3D Doppler radar combined with fusion tracking technology to track the actual ball flight. It works for putting, too. The Gen2 is barely bigger than a Kindle and easily fits in a golf bag. The payoff is the geeky data that only a launch monitor can deliver, such as angle of attack, ball speed, clubface path, and the rest. As a bonus, you can use Gen2 on the range or indoors and play simulator golf on famous courses loaded into its database. Super accurate, super versatile.
The Stack System runs a triple option. It offers a swing-speed training program for distance gains, a wedge-play improvement program (who doesn’t need that!), and the only serious putting app I could find. Here’s how it works: You input details of each putt from every round, makes and misses, and The Stack app creates a directional bias chart based on the info. Most golfers don’t realize they tend to miss putts the same way – short, long, right, or left. (Guilty as charged, your honor!) The Stack app then creates drills and a putting course for a player to complete by moving around a practice green to find, say, a 10-foot, left-to-right down-hiller and then a 25-foot, right-to-left up-hiller, and so on. It’s a smarter and better way to practice.
How are my putting stats? Don’t ask. If they know what’s good for them, they’ll shut up.