Thanks to Arccos Golf, Improvement Is in the Data
Two things are different about golf in the 21st century.
One is how absurdly far players hit the ball now. (Well, not me, but I’m not bitter … much.)
Two is the data.
The distance debate continues. There is no debate about golf data. It has led to a whole new field of golf analytics and it’s not just for PGA Tour players. Golf data and analysis is available for everyday hackers who want to use the numbers to improve.
Arccos Golf is the company that runs the numbers. It began nearly a decade ago with one product — sensors that were inserted into the ends of a player’s clubs. The sensors measured and stored each shot during a golfer’s round. I wrote about it then thinking what a great way to find out how far an average golfer really hits every club in the bag — something most average golfers don’t know. Seeing beyond that back then, though, was difficult.
Now, Arccos has a total data package, including Caddie Smart Sensors that can help a player choose which club to hit, a rangefinder app and the most valuable (and underrated) tool in the arsenal, Strokes Gained Analytics.
Based on over 400 million strokes played and recorded by Arccos’ several hundred thousand users, Arccos has an impressive data platform that launched a year ago. Average golfers can use the company’s data platform to measure where they stand using strokes gained. On the PGA Tour, strokes gained is used to measure where tour players rank in different parts of the game — driving distance, accuracy, approach shots, putting, total — compared to other tour players.
Golf statistics have dramatically changed ever since the PGA Tour birthed ShotLink in 2004, a way to track every shot by every tour player in every tournament.
“We knew we had to capture data and analyze it, but when we started we didn’t know how analytics was going to evolve,” said Sal Syed, Arccos’ co-founder and CEO. “The PGA Tour has 156 players whose data is being tracked by 300 volunteers every day. You and I can’t afford to have 300 people with us when we go golfing.
“We have sensors, 14 of them. And luckily, smart phones have gotten smarter, GPS technology has gotten better and we applied that framework to the average golfer.”
Here’s how Arccos’ strokes gained platform works: Let’s say you’re a 10-handicapper, which means you usually shoot in the 80s. You can set a target handicap that you want to reach through improvement. Arccos recommends a realistic goal of three to five shots in a year.
So, if you’re a 10-handicapper who wants to be a 7, where are those strokes going to come from? The strokes gained platform breaks your game down into sections so you can see which parts of you game need the most work to reach that goal.
“Maybe you have to work on your putting from over 50 feet because you play on big greens and you get two or three putts of that length per round and you’re three putting,” Syed said. “You’re probably losing half a stroke against a 7-handicapper each time you three-putt. So there’s one-and-a-half strokes right there.”
The data may also show you’re losing strokes from 50 to 100 yards, for example. The Arccos strokes gained data platform provides its top three insights — three areas a player should work on to get better.
“That enables golfers to focus on the right parts of their games,” Syed said. “It empowers them and unlocks them psychologically like, ‘All right, this is the answer,’ versus thinking, ‘Oh, I’m a 10, how am I going to get to a 7?’ You have no answer, you’re stuck. We help you get unstuck.”
The strokes gained platform analyzes the various areas where strokes are either being gained or loss.
Arccos
The Arccos program offers drills to address a player’s problem areas. You can look for this area to expand in the future. “We want to close that loop by giving you feedback from top instructors,” Syed said. “We’re going to get richer content but right now, we’re dipping into that area with drills.”
Let’s use Syed as another example of how strokes gained works. He was the captain of cricket and tennis teams at Ohio Wesleyan University, by the way, and got his MBA at Yale University. He began this year with a golf handicap index of 0.9. He’s a stick, in other words.
This summer, Syed’s data showed he was underperforming with long irons, mainly his 4- and 5-iron. His target handicap in the Arccos data platform is plus-2.0. The strokes gained program showed he was losing 0.9 shots per round against a plus-2 handicapper with his long irons.
He acquired a new club, a 4-iron crossover-utility club that dramatically helped him on shots of around 200 yards. He also conveniently got a tip from Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee at a dinner one night. Syed lives in Connecticut right across the inlet from Golf Channel’s new headquarters in Stamford. Chamblee suggested hitting exaggerated punch shots on the practice range with a 5-iron to get the feel of compressing the ball.
The data update: Syed is now gaining 0.8 strokes with his long-iron play.
Another change is that while he had been putting well, Syed started using a new putter that he picked up and liked. The data showed that his strokes gained (putting) numbers declined, so he promptly went back to his old putter.
“Golf is dynamic,” Syed said. “You can’t just analyze things one time. Different parts of your game get better and different parts get worse over time. Bad habits creep in because you’re playing too much and not practicing enough. Your game isn’t static.”
Currently, Syed’s best area is putting inside 10 feet. He gains 0.7 strokes. The numbers say his weakest part is driving distance, where he’s losing 0.8 strokes (although he is gaining 0.4 strokes in accuracy).
“My average distance off the tee is 259 yards,” Syed said. “To be a plus-2, I need to be at 272.”
A set of Arccos sensors is $179.95, which includes a first-year subscription to the strokes gained platform, a $120 annual subscription.
Syed’s plan to get longer off the tee is an off-season workout regimen to gain strength and flexibility. Thanks to the Arccos data platform, he has a specific plan.
Two plans, actually. His second plan is to be careful.
“I want distance,” he said with a laugh, “but I don’t want to get injured in the process.”
That would mess up the data.