Strokes Gained: Is it worth the effort?

To track or not to track is the question

One thing that has garnered interest over the last year from me is the idea of tracking strokes gained. I love data the concept of tracking strokes gained really has drawn me in. If you don’t know a lot about strokes gained, this is a great podcast I listened to that talked about tracking in golf. (If you aren’t a podcast person this blog is a good explainer as well.)

The main reason why I would like to track this is I think it can uncover weaknesses that go unnoticed and break down biases you may have. Knowing what to work on and making me rethink assumptions holds a lot of value to me.

So, there are a few ways to track strokes gained. You can do it manually, through an app, through a watch like ShotScope, or using sensors like Arccos. (I invested in Garmin trackers a few years back and unfortunately; they don’t track official strokes gained.)

So far, the only thing I have determined is that the only way I would want to do it would be automated.

 I downloaded the Mark Broadie app, the creator of strokes gained, and the design broke my brain working in the web and app development industry. Also, the idea of having to go in and enter all my shots post-round seems unappealing.

Other solutions allow you to track shots during the round, where you enter in when you hit. Using my phone more (sometimes I am tied to work a little too much while on the course) when I am trying to make an effort to disconnect seems like a horrible experience, also I play a lot worse the more I am looking at my phone because I am not playing “in the moment”. I don’t like the idea of having to touch my phone after every shot, I dislike even more having to carry it onto the green in some cases.

So that leaves me with the automated solution, which would require an investment and one that I might not want to make.

Where does this leave me? I think for now I am going to commit to tracking rounds for a month and entering the data after my rounds. I can use my Garmin watch and sensors to track the shots and I can enter that into an app (which one TBD but I will review) post-round. I’ll see what the time commitment is and if I find time versus the data useful.

Do you track strokes gained?