Yeah, not a lot of folks in competition at the recreational level.
However, for those competing…for sure, Read Every shot counts, learn the basics…like 50% make rate from 10ft, etc…mostly to temper expectations.
All the psychology stuff Decade is offering Ive seen 3 or 4 places before…but again, i havent paid for the program. Sideline guru over here.
The app and yardage books look really nice though, and probably worth every penny. Great software behind this from my vantage point…just not sold on a blanket strategy.
Golf is fluid, and should be played that way imho. Just because he was coaching a guy on tour thats hot because hes a young gun, doesn’t make the system good.
I was an engineer in the Air Force before i took on golf. I was a number whore, did a lot of testing and analysis over my 15 years of service. I think the decade and stats stuff are for folks that are so good they are trying to find ways to shave tenth and quarter strokes per round, against a field.
Until then, id recommend the majority of people get to drilling…because i play a lot of public golf with folks that simply have no control.over their ball. No strategy can help that.
I agree about DECADE. I feel that I have a game that travels now (well, for a 5 cap anyway) thanks to this. I know where to aim off each tee from google earth and have the club decided before I play. Managed to shoot a gross 75 at Karsten Lakes in Gainsborough UK from 6700 yard tees first time of playing it a few months ago. My home course has greens that are on average 23 yards wide so effectively I’m aiming at centre green most times there anyway. But managing expectations and accepting the outcome is huge - playing the game.
Absolutely. You have to be able to actually have a predictable shot pattern before DECADE means anything. I mean, yes, anyone can use the basic principles. A 95 shooter should shoot 89 just by not doing stupid things and throwing away shots. But you need to have the skill to shoot something like legitimate 82s before you can really use DECADE as intended.
I think Scott’s contention, and I agree, is there pretty much any successful Tour player uses DECADE. Not actually DECADE, as in his system or apps, but they learn what DECADE teaches through experience and figuring out how to win…or observing the successful players and learning from them over time. There’s a reason Tour players used to peak in their 30s. They’d get on Tour, play well enough to stay, and it took a decade to learn how to win. Tons of juniors, college programs, mini tour players, etc. are now using systems, whether just data, reading Mark Brodie, or formally using DECADE or having their caddies use it, that we now see younger players having success. Real golf strategy, that’s actually concrete and measurable, is now taught just like swing mechanics. You have guy who may be less athletic or skilled who can compete with good strategy. And then you get someone who is athletic and highly skilled and combine that with properly strategy and a checked ego and you have a world beater.
I still think DECADE can be used recreationally. I promise you that guys in the men’s league game aren’t using it. They use no strategy at all. Saving a half a shot here or there adds up and can take a lot of money at the club even just with your buddies.
Hey Slinger, are you Mashie72 from the old platform? Just trying to put new names to old wrinkled faces, I know 72holdups here now was D2J from the old site.
Some insights from simulator golf which I think are relevant to playing on the road:
Playing “rounds” on a simulator is eye opening, with regard to course management. Since you can have essentially perfect aim, you can choose the aiming points for all your shots exactly as how something like DECADE or Broadie would suggest; you have an overhead view and can click the mouse exactly where you want the screen centered. Then you just fire away. Extremely artificial, but it can teach you alot.
For me, at 6-7 hcp, the DECADE-type change was to aim the drive at the safest 60-80 yard-wide area (meaning the area where there were no hazards, bunkers, or trees)…if there was one. Occasionally this would mean aiming at the rough or the edge of the fairway. If there isn’t a safe 60 yard landing zone, I have to decide if it’s an advantage to play a shorter club or not; sometimes laying up is still dangerous and you just have to do your best.
On approaches, the DECADE/Broadie strategy at my level is to aim for the center of the green, about 2/3 of the way to the back. Sometimes this is adjusted if there are hazards near the green. Again, this is very easy to do when you have an overhead to look at and can make sure you are dead-aimed where you want to be.
Anyway…the point is that on a simulator, I play much better than on a golf course, beyond just what you’d expect from hitting every shot off a perfect, level lie. I notice that by just making sure I am always aimed with enough margin of safety, I swing more freely, hit more good shots, and my really bad shots don’t hurt me nearly as much as they do on golf courses when I’m making stupid management decisions. (I’m very busy with work, have had many injuries the last few years, and haven’t been able to get to the golf course as much as I want; but I have a simulator that helps me practice and is great fun).
Any time I play “road” golf (I did a mini golf trip this summer, and am doing another one in the spring), I will definitely “play” the courses on my simulator first to see the best angles to hit the shots.
Be in the present it’s gone… your subconscious will have filed all that rounds experience and will be useful later… but move on mentally, it’s like a missed putt it can’t be retrieved but it can be learned from.
Also, I had the privilege of playing several rounds with the late Peter Thomson… his advice always was a conservative one of 1. Hitting fairways is No.1 and 2. The shortest way to any pin is always from the centre of the green… now in his day the course and particularly green designs weren’t as outrageous/spectacular/big as todays greens but this strategy has always held me in good stead regardless of the varying courses I have played around the world.
Had a fantastic round today, by my 4 handicap standards. Shot 2 under on an admittedly very easy course.
I think some of it had to do with good course management. I was realistic with my targets and didn’t force a lot of shots. I relied a lot of my 3 wood because I can move it both ways and I’m struggling with driver.
Realizing pars are great and that you don’t have to attack every pin is so important. I played the par 3s in even and hit all of those greens, the par 5s in 3 under, and the 4s in 1 over.
14 greens with the old gear - it’s a real treat to play the vintage equipment. It’s just criminally underrated.
Thought and implemented applying all my speed a foot or so after the ball. It’s amazing how the body does the right things when you allow it. The ball had a feeling of being collected on the face. Versus hit , smashed , or clobbered. Resist, relax , rotate
Never had that feeling on a course in a long long long long time
