We have all heard that if we want to improve our golf games, we need to be collecting our stats. You know GIR, putting, fairways, etc. I have done it for years and it does show you what area's that you need to be working and concentrating on. Most stats are good information, except one, and that is putting. I will explain why the putting stat does nothing for you, but I am going to tell you how to make a new putting stat that will help you.



If you are having 9 GIR, I would think that you should be working on your irons that you are hitting into the greens. If you are hitting 4 fairways, then I would suggest that you start working on your driver some more and get that number up to 11-13 if you can. Using the above information, your putting that day is 25 putts. Can you use this putting information, I will tell you why not in just a minute.

So as you can see there is a purpose for collecting your stats. Now I do things a bit different. Not only do I collect the main stats, I also and suggest you do the same is to break them down even more. What do I mean by this? Let me show you.

More Than Just The Basic's

If I am looking for GIR, I also collect if I missed the green short, long, left and right. See how I am getting a lot more information than the basic stat of GIR. Now I can tell where I am missing the green. Pulling the shots, pushing the shots, etc. I also note what club that I hit into the green. I put all of this information into an excel program and then graph it. This is very helpful.

The same thing goes for fairways. Did I miss the fairway to the left or to the right. Again I can see what I am doing by pulling or pushing. Here is a big clue.

Let's say that I am mainly missing the fairways to the left. Ok, not a big deal, but I look at the GIR and the same thing, missing to the left. I have some great data here. Is there a problem with the swing plane or something simple like alignment. But the data is telling me good information.

Drive For Show, Putt For Dough

Now there is another stat that people seem to really focus on. What is it? Putts. Now that is a big one, putts. You always hear people talking about their putting. How many putts they had in their round. I had 35 putts. Boy I had a bad putting day today I had 40 putts. Again, this is some good information, but is it... Do you want to improve your putting, keep reading.

Putting is one of those stats that can be very misleading. One day you have 26 putts and another day you have 36 putts. Not too much good information there. The information on putting can get very skewed. Why? GIR is the key.

So you have that putting day, with 25 putts and you only hit 5 GIR. Sounds to me like you got up and down quite a bit that day. You were chipping the ball close, and making the short putts. Maybe they were even tap in's. So is this putting information of 25 putts any good? Well not really. You had a bad day hitting the greens and your chipping was red hot. Well you don't have to work on your chipping, that's for sure. But you may want to work on your iron play attacking the greens. You have no way to know with this information if you need to improve your putting. I hope you see what I mean here.

The Secret to Collecting the Right Putting Stat

Here is a great putting tip and this is going to let you know if you need some putting instruction. So what putting stat is a good putting stat? Now that is the real question and I have the answer for you. You want to count your putts on the greens that you hit in regulation.

What do I mean? Let's use the above example of hitting 5 greens in regulation. Even though the GIR stat stinks and can be improved upon, you can still use it for something.

However many GIR you have note how many putts you had on that hole specifically. So for example, 5 GIR and you had 11 putts. This stat is a little worse than average. If you had 9 putts, that would be much better. You had a 1 putt and the rest of the other 4 holes you two putt. Now this is a stat that you can really use and track.

In Conclusion

Number of putts on the greens in regulation. This is really going to tell you how good you are putting. And if you are working on your putting, this stat is going to really tell you if you are improving or if you should continue to work hard on your putting. I want to say it again...Number of putts for the greens you hit in regulation. Now this number cannot be skewed. It is straight forward and can be used to evaluate how good your putting really is.

So, forget about that overall putting stat. Not any good and can be skewed. Putts/GIR that is the one you want to make sure you are tracking. 10putts/5GIR average, 8putts/5GIR you are definitely getting better.

Track this stat, monitor this stat and you are going to really know how good or bad your putting really is. If you would like a copy of the stat sheet that I use, go to my website PuttLightsOut.com and send me an email and I will send it to you, free. You will also find putting tips at the site plus much more. You can then make copies of it and start tracking your stats and watch your game start to improve.

For more information on this topic as well as other golf related topics visit: http://www.puttlightsout.com