Golf improvement

The stock benchmarks tell you how you compare to a 10-handicap. They do not tell you whether you are better than you were in May. Here is how to build a baseline from your own data.

Most golfers check their stats too often and change their practice too fast. The fix is not tracking less, it is matching what you look at to how much data you actually have.

You do not need a sports psychologist to spot your mental patterns. First-tee nerves, tentative putting, and post-disaster spirals all leave a signature in your shot data.

Golf advice tells you two opposite things about laying up: get as close as you can, and leave yourself a full wedge. Both are right, and the tracked data tells you which one applies to you.

Almost every golfer believes they fall apart on the back nine. The hole-by-hole data says most of them are wrong, and the ones who are right usually have a specific, fixable cause.

Two golfers with the same handicap can need opposite strategies. Your strokes gained breakdown tells you which parts of your game to lean on and which ones to route around.