New Year, Lower Scores

New goals are exciting until the scorecard refuses to move. We pull back the curtain on why the distance craze hasn’t slashed averages and show a cleaner path to real improvement: objective tracking, targeted practice, and smarter decisions from tee to green. Instead of chasing every tip, we walk through how to benchmark your game with Clippd, read your trend lines, and translate those insights into simple routines that actually change outcomes.

You’ll hear how small edges compound: rolling more 10–12 footers by reducing sidespin, shaving a foot off average chip proximity, and building a bunker plan for the 20–30 yard shot. We get candid about the limits of strokes gained for amateurs, the hidden cost of “feel,” and why diagnosis beats content when you’re stuck. We also dig into coaching and technology—what good force plate use looks like, the questions to ask before you hire, and how to avoid getting dazzled by tools without a plan.

Gear talk gets real, too. We break down driver head choices, spin and launch windows, and why the wrong low-spin setup can rob carry and accuracy. On the greens, we separate putter trends from fit, explaining when zero torque helps and when toe hang still wins. Then we tie it all together with course strategy: choose layup numbers you love, especially on par fives, and play to your stats instead of your ego.

If you’re ready to trade guesswork for gains, this conversation gives you a blueprint: set process goals, practice with feedback, track progress, and commit long enough to see the needle move. Subscribe, share this with a golf buddy who needs it, and tell us what topic you want next at measuredgolf.com or on social @MeasuredGolf.

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Chapters

• 0:00 New Year, Realistic Golf Goals
• 1:02 Distance Hype Vs Actual Scoring
• 2:38 The Case For Short Game And Putting
• 3:21 Tracking Performance With CLIPD
• 4:32 Why Strokes Gained Falls Short For Amateurs
• 6:02 Fixing Putting With Measurable Practice
• 8:20 Data Over Feel And Tiny Gains
• 10:08 Practice With Feedback, Not Guesswork
• 12:14 Coaching, Diagnosis, And Force Plates
• 14:16 The Limits Of DIY YouTube Lessons
• 16:10 Process Beats Outcomes In Goal Setting
• 18:20 Turning Big Goals Into Actionable Steps
• 20:15 Commit Time, Track Trends, Adjust
• 22:02 Equipment Choices That Actually Help
• 24:00 Drivers, Spin, And Launch Windows
• 26:20 Putting Tech Trends And Fit Reality
• 28:20 Objectivity, Coaching, And Tough Truths
• 29:55 Course Strategy: Play To Your Numbers
• 32:00 Layups, Par Fives, And Preferred Distances
• 34:10 Build A Season Plan And Stick To It
• 36:10 Feedback, Community, And Next Steps

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:02

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Measured Golf Podcast, where you, the listener, sit down and join me, Michael, as we discuss all things golf. And it is a new year. So without further ado, happy new year to you. Wherever you're listening, I hope that this is a great year, your best year yet. And if you're a golfer, I hope that you go out there and set the course record and play your best golf and do all those great things that every golfer wants to do. And it's definitely the time of year where there's a lot of goal setting, uh, expectations, things that we want to see come true in the new year, and you know, also a time of reflection and how we got here. And I think that's uh that's an interesting time for golfers because of a lot of the sports, I think golf is sometimes the most difficult to really understand what we need to do to actually shoot lower scores. And if you're paying attention on Instagram, YouTube, social media, anywhere you look, you know, it's kind of been a trend the past few years, but everybody says, well, just hit it farther. And, you know, we've been in this now for a couple of years with everybody trying to hit the ball farther, but we're not really seeing the scoring averages drop. We're on tour. We're not seeing, you know, people going out and gaining five, 10 yards and shooting all of a sudden way lower scores. These things just really aren't happening uh the way that the industry keeps trying to sell it. So I think it's important that golfers realize that you know, driving the golf ball is a key component of the game, but it is just a component, it's not the whole game. And a lot of people that go and chase speed this time of year tend to really look past the other areas of their golf game to where maybe they aren't as proficient as they think they are. And I know that for me as a coach, you know, being inside, not being on a golf course, you know, a lot of what I do is I work with people on their golf swing and hitting the ball better. But at the end of the day, if they're already a good ball striker, if they're already somebody that's, you know, hitting 10 to 12 greens around and doing good things like that, you know, is that really going to be the thing that pushes them over the edge? And I struggle with this as a coach because deep down I kind of understand as a golfer that you're not going to go out and ball strike the golf course to death very often. Uh, it just doesn't really happen that way. So, you know, being able to putt, being able to lag pot, being able to chip and pitch, get up and up and down out of a bunker, you know, those are some really important skills that I think really get overlooked, especially during the indoor season, which we're currently in here in Michigan with the snow that just won't quit falling. But I think, you know, in addition to, you know, looking at the physical components to the game, like driving, approach play around the greens, you know, putting, um, I think it's also a good time of year to really do some of that reflection and to sit back and and kind of think about, you know, what did last year look like? You know, not so much what did it feel like, but what did it look like? And that's the thing that I think is so interesting is there's so many apps now that are so good at tracking our performance and just you don't see anybody using them. And I don't know why that is, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. But, you know, the app that I prefer and use is an app called Clipped C L I P P D. Uh, and it does an amazing job of helping you understand like where you are as a golfer, and then where each one of your buckets is kind of contributing to your overall ability, and it gives a very clear snapshot of you know who you are as a golfer and what you need to do to improve. Now, a lot of people tend to think that the traditional stats, fairways, hit, greens and regulation, total putts, like are stat keeping, and that's just that's nonsense. Like that, those stats don't tell us very much at all, if anything. So I think the cool thing about clipped is it really takes a deeper dive, allows us to really look into things, and more importantly, allows us to benchmark where we are, where we're going, where we want to be, and if we're gaining on that or not. And I know I said the magic word when it comes to stats, which is gained, meaning strokes gained. And I don't love strokes gained. I I think the pure math of strokes gained is good, uh, but it only works on tour. And the only reason it works only on tour is because they have fairness of fields and they have staggered T times, and every shot is tracked the exact same way, and they're actually creating a benchmark because they capture every single person's shots. Uh, and that's not what we're seeing when we go out and play a round of golf with our friends uh or comparing ourselves to a scratch player that's like this ghost player. Uh, that's that's just it doesn't really help anybody. But the ability within clip to kind of analyze your own game, compare yourself to yourself, see if you're getting better, see if you're struggling, see where the gaps lie, I think is key. And I know two years ago, uh, had one of my better years ever. And, you know, for me, I I kind of attribute it to using clipped. And, you know, when I looked at my grade overall, I was uh my high watermark was like a 92, but I was a 92, and then I was like a hundred, I was like a 98 with my driving, I was like a 96 with my approach, my around the green was really high as well. I think it was in the 90s, but then my putting was like in the 70s, like it wasn't even you know anywhere comparable to the other buckets, and I kind of like knew this, like in the back of my head, it was just that fear I didn't really want to address. And what it did for me was it it it finally put a definitive foot down and said, Hey man, if you want to play better golf, you gotta hold more putts. And you know, we all kind of get a little upset when we miss an eight-footer, and we're like, oh man, if I just would have made a couple more eight-footers and things like that. But in reality, you know, there's a lot of putts that people beat themselves up about that we're just honestly statistically not going to make all that often. But getting the ball in the hole is key, and it's still probably the biggest component when it comes to golf. And by seeing how deficient I was with my putting, and not only understanding like I'm deficient at putting, but understanding how I was deficient. And I didn't three putt a lot, but I didn't make a lot. And I set out to really work hard uh from that like 10 to 12 foot range. Now, statistically, right, like the best in the world are making one out of two, one out of three from there, uh, not really lighten up the scoreboard, but I needed to make more of those to really help my putting. And by going through and doing the work I needed to do, which turns out was I needed to get a little less side spin on the ball. Uh, I know a lot of people don't talk about that in putting, but it is a real thing. The golf ball has an axis not only when we hit it, but when we roll it. And getting that access to stay a little more up and down is pretty key when it comes to making putts and not having so much side spin on the golf ball. But when I was able to really hone in and work on those 10 to 12 footers, the downriver byproduct of that was I got a lot better from like six to eight feet as well, and I made more putts. And because I made more putts, I went out and had a great year. And the funny thing was is I didn't really drive any better. I didn't really hit my approach play any better. My short game wasn't really all that much better, but I made more putts. And, you know, I think for a lot of golfers, when they think about their golf game, when they look back and reflect on it, you know, we remember the big emotionally charged moments, like the one we hit out of bounds when we were in contention, or the one we hit in the water when, you know, we shouldn't have. But those kind of have those big effects because A, they feel embarrassing. They feel like we're failing, they feel like, oh my God, who hits it in the water? Nobody hits it in the water. Well, everybody hits it in the water, but you know, we feel like we've done something really wrong. And then we're just kind of marginally a little distraught when we miss that eight-footer. But I think for a lot of us, when we're able to really drill down and kind of look at things, uh, I think it's important to figure out like where are the actual deficiencies versus where do I feel like they are? Because generally we're gonna feel like they're the ones to where we hit out of bounds, we hit in the water, we do things like that, versus the ones to where we are a little bit more in control. One of the one of the crazier things I've heard, um, you know, tour players have they used to have, uh, I mean, they still do, but statisticians aren't nearly as big on tour because we now have so many of these apps and so many, so much of this AI really that does the work of the statistician. But I was talking to a statistician who's still out there on tour, and I was talking to them about a particular player, and that player was really playing well that year, was really having a good year. And I talked to the statistician, I was like, Man, what what did you guys figure out? Like, what what's the plan? Like, how did you get this big turnaround? And they said, Well, they said, you know, we we tore into the data, we looked at everything, and what we found out was that they just simply weren't chipping it close enough to the hole. And I said, Well, like, how bad were they chipping? He goes, Well, we basically figured out that they needed to, on average, chip it a foot closer to the hole. And I was thinking to myself, like, that's not that big of a deal, like chipping it a foot closer to the hole. And he proceeds to lay out the math to me and how that all works and how that plays out over the course of a season. And it was really the difference between a player being kind of marginal and kind of more or less keeping their keeping their card on tour versus you know having a lot of top tens and being in contention, it felt like every week there for a while. And that's where really there's a lot of benefit from having actionable data at your disposal. And like I said, you don't have to hire a statistician, you don't have to do anything crazy, but you know, tracking this information if you're serious about getting better at playing golf is huge. The big thing that I think happens is that a lot of people would rather feel cursed, would rather like create excuses, would rather, you know, quote unquote be a victim versus just confront what's really going on and address the real root problem. And, you know, honestly, the year that I worked on my putting so much, you know, it's kind of a lonely pursuit, if you will, because you're not going to see a lot of your buddies on the putting green. They're mostly at the driving range hitting balls, hitting their new driver, doing stuff like that. But, you know, being out there on the putting green and putting the work in really uh was eye-opening for me because, you know, it's one thing to go out and do a drill or to, you know, hit more putts or to do more lag putt drills or whatever the case may be. It's one thing to do that in hopes we get better. But like I said, like from my perspective as the player, I didn't really feel like I was putting all that much better. I really didn't. Like it didn't feel great. It didn't feel like, oh my God, I've got it figured out now. But when I was plugging this data into clipped and looking at the trend line of how my putting was going, I was seeing improvement. I was seeing it get better in real time. And that really was what kept me on the putting green that summer was and spring and summer, I should say, was like, hey, like I'm doing this work, and now I'm seeing like, is this working or not? Uh, and that was super helpful for me because, you know, I I'm gonna be honest, if if I didn't see that trend line getting better, I wasn't gonna keep working on putting because it's my least favorite thing to do. It's not the most exciting, it's not the most riveting, it's just rolling up your sleeves and getting to work. But this kind of goes into a bigger conversation for a lot of golfers. And it's like, okay, we take this data, you got to get three rounds in a clip to spits out this information at you. And it's like, okay, you know, hey, my my around the greens has got to get way better. And not only does it tell you around the greens, but it tells you from the rough, from the fairway, from the bunkers, where do you got to get better from? Because now you know what to go practice. And practice sucks. Like, let's just put it out there. Practice sucks. Like, I played college golf, I played high school golf, I played a little bit of professional golf. Like, I've done these things and I've spent my fair amount of time practicing, and I hated it. I was never a happy practicer. Uh, I was never one of those guys that had a real good understanding of committing to the process. I was way more results-oriented, which turned out to be my downside in the whole grand scheme of things, but I didn't really understand how the process leads to gains. But I think I would have been better had I been able to track the improvement in real time. And that's where I really think there's a benefit to using some of these apps to help us with the stats, to help us be able to manage, you know, are we getting better? Are we getting worse? And more importantly, evaluate like, hey, I know I got to get better out of bunkers. Like, bunkers is uh Achilles heel for me, right? And it's like you go to the bunker at your local golf course and you hit a bunch of bunker shots, and you're like, okay, I think this is getting better. And you go out and you play some golf and you put your rounds into clipped, and then you get some feedback that's like, hey, this isn't really getting any better. Okay, well, what what gives? Like, I'm showing up, I'm putting in the work, I've got my sleeves rolled up. Why am I not getting better? Well, it's because we're just out hitting bunker shots. We're not really addressing the issue. And whatever that issue is, right? Like maybe you're the type of player who doesn't really get enough loft on the ball in the bunker and kind of hits these low hot shots out of the bunker that don't really have a lot of stopping power. Maybe you're somebody who really struggles with that 20 to 30 yard bunker shot to where you got to kind of carry it across the green a little ways and get it to stop. Whatever the case may be, at the end of the day, when we're kind of live tracking this information and these results, now we can kind of start figuring out like, hey, do I have a good system in place to get better at this thing? Or do I need to seek the advice of a professional? Do I need to reach out to somebody who's a coach and does this full time and see what the technique flaw is that's not allowing me to do this at a level I need to do it at? And I think that's key, right? Like so many of us are going out there and we're turning to YouTube, we're turning to social media, we're trying to figure out how to get our golf game better through that lens. But the problem through that lens is it's a one-way lens. And that coach has never seen you, has never, you know, looked at your stats, has never figured out where the discrepancy is. And all the information at face value sounds pretty good. And I think a lot of people kind of like treat golf instruction like they treat where they want to go to dinner. What sounds good? And, you know, they find something, they find somebody that's entertaining or somebody that says some things that they kind of like, and they're like, oh, okay, great. Like, let's just go with this. And, you know, maybe that's the case and maybe that works, but in a lot of cases, I don't think it helps. I think it hurts. And I think that's why golfers are out there so confused about which end is up anymore. And I've seen that a lot of golfers who are seeking information uh randomly, if you will, are really in trouble because the thing that's difficult about coaching golf and helping people get better at golf is being able to diagnose what the real problem is. Like that's really the tough part. That's why I love force plates so much, because we can really look at the movement and how this person is moving. And based off how they're moving, like that's going to give you a pretty good idea of what the club's trying to do. Well, if it's a technical thing and the golf swing is, you know, too steep or too shallow or whatever the case may be, and then you look at the way their body moves, you're like, oh, well, that makes sense. The club has to move that way. And we can kind of get to the core issue of what's going on. But I think a lot of people, you know, don't really think about their body much, don't understand how their body's supposed to move in the golf swing, and then they get out there and they just start chasing positions with the club kind of haphazardly, not paying much attention to the body. And the body definitely is driving the golf club. Like, don't get me wrong, when we move the golf club, because the golf club has mass, when we accelerate that mass, we create a force that does act upon the body. I'm not one to say that the golf club isn't acting on the body, it does. But it doesn't change the fact that it's still an inanimate object that we have to put in motion, and how we put it into motion is going to have a lot to do with how that club is going to react to us and how it's going to try to act on us. So I think for so many people, they're out there, you know, Brooks Kepka, PGA, posture grip alignment. There's people out there with bad posture, there's people out there with a bad grip, there's people out there with bad alignments, and then they're just trying to get the ball to go on target, and they're not really aware of what their core issue is. And I hate to tell people, and spoiler alert, but generally the problems are a lot simpler than people want to assume they are. And generally the problems start a lot closer to where the swing starts than at the top of the swing in transition or impact or any of those things. And we really need somebody that has trained eyes, has you know, the technology needed to kind of look at these things to sit us down and go, okay, you know, here's what I see, here's what's going on, and here's how we're going to get better. And so many people aren't doing that because it's they've been led, I think for the most part, I think people have just been led to believe that you can just go online and figure this out. And, you know, the last podcast episode that we had up uh just before Christmas and the holidays, we talked about the do-it-yourself golfer, and and there's a whole lot of those now. And I don't see those people generally getting much better. And, you know, yes, they are going out and maybe playing better than they did as a beginner, but their ceiling is so low, and they're only gonna be able to get so good with these kind of haphazard golf swings and bad motions and things like that. If you really want to go about getting better at golf, you're going to have to make a change probably to the motion pattern that you create with your body, and that's where you're gonna need somebody that can kind of step in and help guide you through that. Now, with that being said, you know, I think a lot of people are also kind of under the belief that if you go to a coach that has a lot of technology, they're gonna be able to help. And I think that that is unfortunately not true as well. And I've seen a lot of stuff here lately on social media, on YouTube, people have force plates, they just got them, and now they're making content and talking about how you got to do this and you got to do that. And I just see a lot of bad coaching with that stuff. So it's tough. Like it's really tough for the golfer that wants to get better and wants to seek out good information, but it's out there. And, you know, I think it's important that, you know, if you're gonna work with a golf coach, you know, I think ask them some questions and figure out kind of how their their brain ticks and, you know, what's what's their experience like? You know, how long have they been at it? You know, who have they worked with? Who have they helped develop? Uh, do they have technology? How do they use that technology? Like, are they certified on that technology? Um, and there's a lot of people out there who have tons of certs and just don't have a clue how to coach. And it's sad because they obviously have a lot of information, but they don't know how to put the puzzle pieces together. So I just think it's it's tough for a lot of people out there. Um, and I I think it's one of those things to where, you know, a lot of good can be can be done, uh, not so much by seeking more information or by seeking a new golf swing, but by understanding where we got to get better and how and how we're gonna do it. And, you know, some of the best golfers I know, um, not tour players, but just normal guys and gals, you know, very little golf instruction. And, you know, kind of that old dig it out of the dirt mentality a little bit. But, you know, these players played college golf. And because they played college golf, they did some kind of record keeping, some kind of stats. And, you know, they they kind of understand like what their strengths are, they understand what their weaknesses are, and they're able to kind of go out and practice what they need to practice to kind of keep their game where they need it to play at a high level. Uh, I think that's that's important, right? Like I said, there's nothing wrong with this first step being like, hey, I need to, you know, I need to get better out of the bunkers. You go out, you try it, the trend line doesn't really shift. Uh, okay, like that's not working. Maybe second step is you go to YouTube and you look at some, you know, bunker play videos and like how to get up and down out of a bunker and you know, technique stuff. Maybe you can find the answer that way. But more importantly, you can take something. This is the thing that golfers hate to do. You can take something, spend some time with it, right? Time is key. Everybody thinks that they're fast learners and everybody thinks they can figure this out in an afternoon. Golf takes time. Like we're changing motor patterns. Motor patterns take time to change, but spend some time with like something. Let's say, you know, you go to my friend Parker McLaughlin, short game chef stuff. You look at his bunker thing, and you're like, okay, this is definitely different than how I've been trying to do it. Let me go try this. Okay, well, try it for like a month, right? Like, actually, like put in the work, spend a month trying to do that one thing, keep your stats and clipped or something useful like that, and then look and see if it's getting any better or not. Like, give it some time to breathe. And that's where I think so many golfers and the do-it-yourself golfer in particular really struggles, is it's like, okay, they find my video on YouTube, like, oh, that makes perfect sense. Let me go try that. And they go try that and they give it like one range session, and it doesn't work. Like, oh, that doesn't work, that doesn't work. Let me try the next thing. Let me try the next thing. Let me and like it's before long, we've made two lefts and a right and a left, and we forgot which way we came from, and we're totally lost. And that is because of this kind of incensed rage, right? Of trying constantly trying new things, constantly trying to like figure out what do I do today to get better today. The chances that you substantially get better in a day are very, very small. And golf, like I keep saying, takes time to make change. And depending on where you're coming from, you might need more time than others to develop that skill, especially if it's something that you've never done before. So I think the big thing is, you know, understanding we need time, understanding we need to stick with something for a little while, and then more importantly, you know, kind of vetting that out and tracking that and seeing like it might not feel like you're getting better, you might be surprised, you might be getting ripp way better. Like that's that was the thing with me. Like I said, I didn't really feel all that much better putting the ball. Uh, but when I looked at it on the trend lines, I was really shocked to see how much better I was putting. But once again, if I hit one out of bounds, which doesn't happen very often, I feel that, and I feel like I'm way worse at driving the golf ball than I ever was before. So it's it's kind of taking the emotional part out of it a little bit. It's a little bit more about trying to take a measured approach to it. Uh, but I think it's key. And I think that, you know, going back to the initial part of this conversation where we were talking about this reflective kind of time that we're in around the new year and people setting goals, you know, how are we going to set a goal if we don't understand, you know, where we've been and where we want to go? And that's where having this stats is super helpful. It just kind of lays it all out there for you. And it may not be what you want to hear, it may not be what you think you're gonna hear, but it doesn't change the fact that it's it's hard data, uh, it's objective, it's not subjective, and it's going to help us play better golf. But, you know, when it comes to the, you know, understanding where we're at, what needs to get better, you know, the next thing we got to understand is how we're gonna do it. Um, and that's where I really see people struggle at it. Person in here for a lesson earlier today, and I was talking to them about things and I'm, you know, wishing them a happy new year. And they were like, Yeah, man, I got big goals for my golf game this year. And I was like, Oh, great, you know, let me hear them. And he was telling me that he wants to lower his handicap by six strokes. Okay, he's currently at uh I think he's currently at 11, wants to get down to a five. Um, and I was like, that's awesome, man. Like, I'm I'm excited to do that with you. Like, you know, how are we gonna do it? He's like, I don't know, man, but I just gotta do it. And it's like, A, is lowering your handicap six strokes in a year something that you can even do? Right? Like, depending on what your life schedule is, depending on your your child situation, depending on your relationship status, depending on your job, you know, like do you have time to work at this? Because most people that have time to play golf, they want to do exactly that. They want to play golf, they don't want to go practice, they just want to go play more golf. So it's like, A, do you have the time to do this? And B, like, that's a great goal. Like, yes, sounds great. You know, you can write that down, it looks good on paper. But at the same time, like, how are we going to lower your handicap by six strokes? And I think that we're really good at looking at the outcome and talking about the outcome. And it sounds good and it makes us inspired and it makes us, you know, all those things. But when we get to the middle of the season and our handicap hasn't gone down, is that goal still going to motivate you to go out there and try to achieve those things? And the chances are probably not, because it feels hopeless, it feels lost. We don't know how to do it. And, you know, I think if we are going to focus our goal setting on outcomes, we're generally going to be disappointed. Um, you know, the the easiest example I can think of is, you know, everybody, including me this year, uh, wants to lose a little weight in the new year, right? Like I've gained a few pounds over the uh the Christmas season, a few too many cookies. Uh, but like I want to lose weight, right? So let's say, you know, outcome-based would be I want to lose 10 pounds this year. Okay, well, that that sounds good, right? Like everybody wants, okay, cool, yeah, let's go lose 10. How? Right? Well, if I said, hey, my goal this year is I want to cut my caloric intake by 500 calories a day. Okay, well, heck, that'd probably help me lose weight. That'd probably get me to that 10 pounds, right? But that's a way. And like now, it's like, okay, hey, today I got to cut it by 500. Tomorrow I got to cut it by 500. Hey, I had a bad day. I went out with my friends, I had a pizza, I didn't cut it that day. Okay, fine, whatever. It's not all in or all out. And that's where I think people get in trouble with the outcome-based goals, is that it's kind of an all or nothing, uh, with not a lot of breadcrumbs along the way to kind of keep us going. So I think, you know, when it comes to golf and we have these goals of lowering our handicap or whatever the case may be, it's great to kind of have that generalized idea of, hey, I want to lower my handicap, but we need to put together a plan as to how we're gonna do that. So, you know, if you're an 11 handicap, there's a chance, don't know because we don't have the stats, but there's a chance maybe you three putt a little too often. So maybe a goal is is hey, I want to have one three-putt every two rounds of golf I play. Like, okay, cool. Like, that's actionable, right? Like we can track that. We can see how we're doing with that goal, and we can monitor it. And that's definitely going to lead to a lower handicap at the end of the year if we three putt less. Like, hey, I want to get more balls off the tee and play. Okay, great. Like, we can track that, right? We can do these things, assuming we have some benchmarks. But when we're just like, hey, I want to gain 20 yards, or hey, I want to lower my handicap, or hey, I just those are all outcome-based, and we have to put together the plan that helps lead us to those goals. So I think it's really important that, you know, yeah, you can have the initial thought, like, hey, I want to lower that handicap, but how are you going to get there? And what are some actual steps you can take? You know, hey, you know, I don't know. You know, I I think a lot of people listening to this podcast are gonna go, I don't, I don't know how to do that. Okay, cool. Well, let's say that this year you played, you know, let's say 50 rounds of golf, okay, one, you know, on average once a week or whatever. And let's say that you don't practice, don't practice at all. Okay, and you're like, well, I want to get better at golf, I want to shoot lower scores. Okay, well, generally we're gonna need to practice a little bit, right? So wonder if we made a goal of, hey, I'm gonna practice, you know, 30 minutes a week, right? Like that might help, right? And more importantly, like, okay, well, maybe that makes sense. I'm gonna, you know what, I'm gonna commit to that. I'm gonna practice 30 minutes a week. Okay, cool. Well, why don't we do this? Download clipped, okay? It's not that expensive, very easy to use. But download clipped, start putting your scores into clipped, and then like A, it's gonna tell you what's practice, but B, like, look and see if your scores are getting lower. Or better yet, don't download clipped, right? And just track your scores and see if 30 minutes of practice a week is helping or not. And I guarantee you, like, I don't see how that wouldn't help, assuming that you're practicing reasonable things. So it's it doesn't have to be super complicated, just like your golf swing and fixing your golf swing doesn't have to be super complicated. We can start with the low-hanging fruit. And it's like, hey, I'm gonna commit to practicing more. I'm gonna commit to actually going over to the putting green, you know, a little more often than I did this past year. I'm gonna, hey, that short game area, I don't know where it's at, but I'm gonna find one and I'm gonna go chip and pitch a little bit more. Like these are things that are actually going to lead to some skill acquisition and help you become more prepared and ready to play when you get out to the golf course. So I think there's a lot of little things we can do. It's just really getting to this kind of place to where we can be open and willing to have an honest conversation about our golf swing. Uh, I can promise you, you probably are driving the ball far enough. Uh, you know, generally, I don't see people held back because they don't hit the ball far enough. I generally see people held back because they don't hit the ball that far, but then they don't have, you know, a really tidy short game that helps keep them out of trouble. They don't make enough putts, they don't, you know, hit enough greens. And I get it. Like if you're not hitting the ball that far, it's a little harder to hit greens. Okay, fine. But that might be really hard for you to change depending on your skill level and your activity level and things like that. So it's a lot easier to go and get a little better with a wedge in your hands around the greens and you know, get up and down a few more times than you did last year to lower your score, than it is to suddenly learn how to hit the golf ball 30, 40 yards farther. So I think there is a lot of ways to where we can get better at golf, we can play better golf, and I don't think you know we got to sign up for somebody's program online, you know, it drives me crazy this time of year. You see all the like fitness influencers on social media, hey, give me 30 days and we'll do this, give me 30 days and we'll do that. And the reason that they're doing that isn't because you're actually gonna get better in 30 days, it's because they're gonna bill you for 30 days. And, you know, I think if we're looking at trying to get better at golf the same way when we're looking at stats, we got to look at bigger chunks of time. We can't kind of live and die with every single round, every single stroke, things like that. We got to give it some time. And I think, you know, if you're really going to help yourself this year and get better at golf, you know, maybe break it into like, hey, I'm this year, right? This season that we play golf in, you know, I'm gonna commit to this one thing, and I'm really gonna give it, you know, a good effort, and I'm gonna try to make this happen. And I think that that will do way more good for people than simply, you know, trying this thing and then trying that thing and then the next thing, and like the constant bouncing around is what really kills people. The other thing this time of year um that I see a lot is, you know, we're all I've talked about this before as well, but you know, we all get excited this time of year. We start seeing, you know, new drivers that are hitting the USGA conforming list. Uh, we start hearing some of the hype. Uh, this ball is going to do this, that club's gonna do that. You know, figure out like what clubs you're gonna play with this year and play with them, right? And like actually take the time to get to understand your equipment. Um, I think that's something that people don't give any time to. You know, we all know the guy that's uh goes through six, seven, eight drivers in a year. You know, he goes gets fit, maybe not very well, but goes and gets fit and takes his new driver out and he doesn't play well with it that round, I'm done with this one on to the next, you know. And they every driver's different, even if it's the same make and model and specs. Like every driver's a little different, they all have personality, uh, and it takes time to figure these things out. So, you know, if you're somebody who is committed to getting better at golf this year, and you think that, you know, you want to get some new equipment and and you think that's gonna help, it could. I'm not gonna say that like, you know, equip new equipment's bad all the time. It's not like for a lot of people out there, I think that they're misfit. I think they're playing clubs that don't really work very well for them. And maybe going and trying a different golf club might help them, but give it time, like track it, see if you actually get any better. If you buy a new set of irons this year, you know, maybe look at, you know, hey, am I hitting more greens? Am I, you know, getting on these part threes in one shot more often? Uh, is my approach game actually getting better? And that's something that I think a lot of people don't look at is, you know, hey, if you're changing equipment a lot, that is going to affect these stats. And I think it's important to kind of realize, like, hey, you know, I had a really good season with, you know, driving the golf ball. Let's say you have some stats go back a couple years, you know, hey, three years ago, I I hit a lot of fairways. Like I was really in position a lot, didn't hit a lot of crooked ones, wasn't in the trees all season. You know, what was that driver? Well, if you're gonna have success and you haven't changed your swing much, maybe go find a driver like that one instead of trying to totally you know upend things and move into a completely different head. You know, I had a had a player of mine that you know, he had uh uh believe it was a Tailor made stealth, but it was the uh I don't know the term for it, but the regular head. It wasn't the low spin option, it wasn't the max option, it was just like the stock, you know, Tailor made stealth. And it was uh nine degree, I believe, and he hit it pretty well, like played pretty well with it, was pretty happy with it. Um, I think you know, had a pretty good season with it, and now he's got the new not the newest, but the QI 35 he got this past year. And he got the LS and a nine degree, and he just hit it terrible, like really struggled, was not happy with it, thought it was going a lot shorter, thought it was, you know, the face or something like that. But in reality, it's like, hey, you did really well in the quote unquote stock head, but then you went to this LS head. Oh, yeah, well, the LS is supposed to spend less. And I'm like, well, do you need that? And reality-wise, he doesn't, right? Like he barely spends it enough with the stock head. When he went to the LS head, he lost a lot of spin, lost some carry, ball was a little more crooked, even though it was spinning less because he was trying to hit it a little farther, a little harder, and it just didn't really work out for him. So, you know, I think once again, if we're being reflective and we're thinking about, you know, our our history as golfers, you know, we all had drivers we really liked, we all had drivers we really didn't like. And generally speaking, there's probably a pattern there. And if you can remember some of the drivers that were really kind to you, like maybe go try to find that in the new technology, right? And I'm not saying like you got to buy vintage golf clubs, that's not what I mean. But like if you were really happy in like a uh a stock 10 degree head, like go try some stock 10 degree heads. Don't try the LS, don't try the Max. Like, you can try those things, but having an understanding of like, hey, you know, I this is what I'm looking for in a driver. Like, I need it to launch in this window at you know 11 degrees, I need it to spend 2600 RPMs, like that's what I'm looking for. That's when I play my best golf. Okay, cool. Well, go out and try the new equipment and see if you can find something that does that for you. And if you find that, great, buy it. Like, it's probably gonna work really, really well for you. But being somebody who has like marginal spin and marginal launch and playing the same amount of loft with an LS head, like that's generally not a recipe for success for a lot of golfers. So, you know, I think that's one of those areas to where if we're being honest with ourselves, that's where you know, we can kind of like provide the clues to what's gonna work better for us down the road and what's gonna help us play better golf. Um, you know, if you got a if you got a great putter that you putted well with this past year, you know, maybe leave it alone. Like, don't go get a new putter just because you see this big influx of zero torque putters that everybody thinks they have to have now. Um, they're getting better with those things. Like, you know, we had we were carrying lab here at Measured Golf in Ann Arbor. We were carrying lab, you know, five years ago, and everybody laughed at us and told us, you know, we're idiots and what an ugly putter and this, that, and the other. And now it's like everybody wants a lab or wants a zero torque putter. Uh, and it's funny how the industry has kind of come around to this, but you know, I don't think a zero torque putter is really the option for everybody. And the reason I say that is there's a lot of people out there who putt pretty well with a more traditional style putter, meaning that it has some toe hang or is face balanced or whatever you want to call it. But there's a lot of people that have success with those putters. The people who really have a lot of success in my mind with zero torque putters are people who generally have fairly decent strokes or pretty neutral strokes, I should say, right? And the path isn't too crazy, the face to path isn't too crazy, uh, the attack angle isn't too crazy, and like a zero torque putter is gonna work great for them. But if you're somebody who you know is putting fairly well, and you have a putter that has a considerable amount of toe hang, and then you have a stroke that's maybe a little more in to out, if I take that toe hang away from you, you're gonna miss a lot of putts, right? Like that's just how it works. You know, there's a lot of people out there who putt really well with kind of a slicey looking stroke, they putt across the ball. Those people tend to do a little better with. The face balance putter. And the reason is is because the face doesn't want to shut. Well, now all of a sudden, you know, you take that away from them, and they got this zero torque thing, and it's it's gonna fight them a bit because the face is gonna be shut on the way back, it's gonna want to open on the way through because it's a zero torque putter doesn't mean that it can't like follow physics, it's how it works. So once again, it's you know figuring out like, hey, what's gonna work for me? And I think for most people having stats is really the answer to this because once again, it takes a lot of the subjectivity away from it and allows us to be a little bit more objective when it comes to what we have to do to get better at golf. Uh, I think that's important. Like, we've got to try to be as objective as we can. That's the only way we're gonna get better. You know, a lot of people don't like you know having a coach because the coach tends to be a little more objective than they like. And generally, people want to be applauded and told they're doing a good job and things like that. But you know, nobody's saying when you keep stats that you're doing a bad job, but you do need to know where your strengths and weaknesses are. And, you know, I had a lesson the other day, you know, his his big goal for the year was he's gonna be uh he's gonna have better course strategy. And I was like, okay, cool, like that's a great goal. Once again, feels kind of outcome-based, but like tell me more about that. And he's like, I'm just gonna figure out, you know, how to keep it more in front of me and how to have less penalty strokes and this, that, and the other. And I was like, that's great. But at the end of the day, you know, if we're gonna have course management, the definition of that is understanding our strengths and our weaknesses. And, you know, one of the things that I think is so interesting, I can't remember what year exactly, but it was one of Tiger's last years, his full-time uh full-time years on tour, and he had zero attempts the entire season. Uh, granted, Tiger never played like a 19-event season or anything like that, but it was a full season for him, and he had zero attempts from 30 to 70 yards for the entire season. Zero. He didn't hit one single shot from between 30 and 70 yards on the PGA tour. That's core strategy. Tiger doesn't love these little distance feely wedges. That's not his cup of tea uh from 30 to 70 yards. I've talked to a few people who have been really close to Tiger. They've kind of confirmed that for me. But that's strategy, right? Like if you're strategic about how you're going about this, and you know, you're really, really good at certain things and bad at others, like maybe try not to put yourself in those situations. Great example. Like, I think a lot of people struggle with distance wedges. I think that's tough for them. But let's say that you know you want to get better at golf and distance wedges is the thing, right? Okay, well, cool. Let's think about this. When do we hit a lot of distance wedges? Well, tend to hit a lot of distance wedges on par fives, assuming you're playing the right T-box. So let's say that you're not somebody that's a big bomber, you're not getting it to the to the par fives and two very often, and you're having to hit wedges in for your third shot, your approach shot. Well, that's fine. That's most of us. So the thing is, is let's say that you struggle with distance wedges. Okay, fine. Which distance are you good from? Right? So, like, let's say you go out to the driving range, you take your 56 degree wedge, and you just make some half swings, something you're real comfortable with, and you can kind of control the trajectory and the spin with, and you feel really good about that. What's that distance? Okay, what is it? Like, is it 60 yards? Is it 70 yards? Let's say it's 60. Okay, fine. So now when you're on par fives, instead of like, oh, well, I can't get there, so I'll just bash three wood down there, or whatever the case may be. Like now, instead of just bashing three wood down there and like rolling the dice as to what distance you're gonna have into the green, maybe now we try to get to that 60 yard number. And I know that sounds really commonplace, but people don't do this, right? Golfers that want to get better don't do this. And it's like, look, you've got, you know, I don't know, you've got 250 yards, right, to this green. And it's like, okay, well, you know, I can carry my three wood like 220, 230. Okay, it's gonna leave me like that 20, 30 yard kind of feely wedge. Maybe you don't like that, right? Maybe that's not your your jam, not your cup of tea. Okay, cool. Well, instead of trying to just bash three wood down there, which by the way, is is no sure thing, right? Three wood off the ground, not something that a lot of people are real good at. Maybe instead of trying to hit it the 250 with a three wood on a one in 10 shot, and then other the other nine times leaving ourselves like a random number that we don't feel good with, why don't we just lay it up to 60 yards to a number we feel really good with? You know, now all of a sudden you only got to hit 190. Okay, well, you know, I got a four hybrid or I got a five iron or whatever. I'm gonna hit it 190 down there. That's a lot easier than a three wood off the T, by the way. And now you've left yourself a distance to where you're comfortable, and now you can actually attack the pen. And I think it's just simple things like that, right? Like the lowest hanging fruit is always worth the squeeze because that's where we're gonna get the most benefit from. But just applying some simple things, uh, I think is super helpful for people this time of year with their goal setting, with their kind of planning, you know, how are you gonna spend your time? I think that's where clipped is invaluable because it really does lay out like, hey, I know you like hitting your driver, but you know, maybe this is what we need to spend a little bit more time on. And, you know, I've been using clipped now for a few years, I think three or I think three years now, and there's like nobody that I've recommended this to who hasn't seen the benefit, who hasn't seen how this really helps. And, you know, golf is unfortunately become a game to where people spend a ton of money, and clipped isn't that much money, and it's actually something that's going to allow you to better understand your golf game, help you figure out what you need to practice, and more importantly, help you learn how to shoot lower scores. Uh, it's just that simple. So I highly recommend it. Uh, I know so many people want to get better at golf. I I get comments, I get feedback. Uh, what do I got to do? What do I got to do? You know, I think this is the easiest way to go about it is you know, be reflective, have those stats to look back on, get a little bit more objective than subjective. Don't don't just be lost in your feels uh and and kind of figure out what you got to do to get better. So, anywho, I think that that is probably going to wrap up the conversation uh about you know this time of year, uh, with it being the new year and people trying to set goals and expectations and and what they're gonna do with their golf games this year. But, you know, one thing that would be super helpful is I want to do, I'm gonna keep the podcast going a little bit longer. Uh, I know we're getting into the the high teens for this season, but it's been a lot of fun. Uh, a lot of feedback has been good. You know, reach out. Like, what do you guys want to hear about? Like, what are you guys interested in? What would you like us to talk about in the future? Uh, you can reach out a lot of different ways. You can find us on social media uh at Measured Golf. Uh, you can just, you know, send me a DM there. You can go to the website, measuredgolf.com. You can send me an email through there and say, hey, you know, like the podcast, don't like the podcast. Uh, wish you would talk about this, wish you wouldn't talk about that so much. But, you know, the feedback is super helpful. We'll love to know what you guys want to hear about, what you're interested in. Uh, we want to make you know content that is interesting to you and stuff you guys want to hear about. So please make sure you uh send us some feedback, let us know some things you'd like to hear. Uh, we'll do our best. I'm not guaranteeing that we'll get to every single topic, uh, but we definitely will do our best to get some stuff out there for you guys to check out. Um, and yeah, I mean, I I think uh if you know you want to, like we really do appreciate the feedback. But even if you don't want to send any feedback, you know, make sure you're subscribed to this podcast. That helps a lot. Uh, if you want to find our links where we're at on social media, where we're at on YouTube, uh, you can always go to the website, measuredgolf.com. Everything's linked there. But I think it's going to be a good year. I'm excited. Uh, I've got my own goals for golf, and I can promise you they're a little less outcome-based than they've been in years past. Focusing a little bit more on the process, as we've learned, is kind of key. Uh, taking some of the great Nick Saban's advice and just really focusing on the details and trying to make sure that I am paying attention to what I actually need to do versus what I want to do. So I'm gonna get back in the clip myself this year. Maybe we'll do something cool where we share some of that information down the road. Uh, and maybe we can kind of look at, you know, hey, you know, what's going on? Like, you know, is this something that's worth me investing my time into? Is it something that's not worth me investing my time into? Maybe we do a little competition with it, do something fun with it. But, you know, I want to get people the help they want, but it's really hard to get the help we need with the lights turned off. And when we keep some stats, we we kind of stay open, we keep the information objective. It definitely keeps the lights on and allows us to play some better golf. So thanks again for tuning in. As always, I always appreciate it. I appreciate you guys. It's been a great 2025. Uh, I'm pretty blown away with how many people have listened to the podcast, been to the YouTube channel, all that crazy stuff. So thank you very much. I want to make sure that uh I let you guys know and gals know that you know this you you guys are the reason we do this. So, you know, like I said, hit me up with some feedback, let me know what you like, what you don't like, and we will do our best to make 2026 the best year possible going forward. And hopefully we can continue to be a part of your golf improvement journey. So thanks again, and until next time, and as always, keep grinding.