In Every Shot Counts, Mark Broadie explains the framework for his revolutionary statistics. He calls these new stats "Strokes Gained" (SG). If you're a golfer, you've likely seen them around the PGA Tour broadcasts in the last couple years. With SG, golfers can compare shots of all different types and answer age old questions. For example, what's more important – ball striking or short game? It turns out that ball striking contributes to 68% of top pros' scoring advantage. The other 32% comes from shots inside 100 yards (including putts). The latter chapters contain some great drills and games to play with scoring akin to SG.
Key Takeaways
Memorable Quotes
Ranking: 9/10
I must say, I never understood the SG stats until reading this book. The reading is mathematics-focused, so it's not always the easiest to understand. With some re-reading and note taking though, I was able to internalize the stats. Now that I see their importance, I look forward to incorporating them into my golf training. The drills and strategy presented all make me excited to get outside (once all the snow has melted).
Key Takeaways
- Strokes Gained allows you to compare shots of all types with the same units. Traditional stats like fairways hit, greens hit, and total putts don't do this. These traditional stats don't give a player a true picture of their game.
- Putting contributes to 35% of scoring advantage in PGA Tour wins. That said, putting contributes only 15% of scoring advantage for top players in all play.
- Putts per round is not a good measure of putting skill because it doesn't take distance into account.
- Tiger's huge advantage in scoring comes in his approach shots. From 2004-2012, he gained 1.28 strokes per round on the field with his approach shots alone. That's enough to be top 10 in Total Strokes gained in that same period!
Memorable Quotes
- The definition of strokes gained putting is the tour average number of putts to hole out from a given distance, minus the number of putts taken.
- The best golfers in the world in terms of strokes gained putting gain about one stroke per round compared to an average field.
- Simulation reveals that the long game explains far more of the scoring difference between pros and amateurs than the short game and putting combined.
- The strokes gained of a golf shot is the decrease in the average number of strokes to hole out minus one to account for the stroke taken.
- Across the top 40 golfers from 2004 to 2012, driving contributed 28% to their scoring advantage, putting contributed 15%, and all other shots contributed the remaining 57%.
- The value of twenty additional yards in driving distance is about three-quarters of a stroke per round for pros and about 1.6 strokes for a typical 90-golfer.
Ranking: 9/10
I must say, I never understood the SG stats until reading this book. The reading is mathematics-focused, so it's not always the easiest to understand. With some re-reading and note taking though, I was able to internalize the stats. Now that I see their importance, I look forward to incorporating them into my golf training. The drills and strategy presented all make me excited to get outside (once all the snow has melted).
