In this episode, Jon and Carter circle around the concept of tactics and strategy in the sport of golf – and especially drill into the idea of how accurate statistics can help us to accept our errors with more understanding and less upbraiding.
On the topic of tactics, Carter and Jon go into the famous “Pythagoras” system for probabilities and open up about their own best practices for teaching and developing tactical awareness in their players. Furthermore, a significant focus quickly becomes on how having a more accurate depiction of the fallibility of golfers can help fallible golfers feel more “normal” and in turn they can be more accepting. This allows them to move from shot to shot in a more resourceful state, instead of “beating themselves up” for errors that they would be better off accepting as part of their game.
For example, isn’t it interesting how many of us lament missing an 8 foot putt (pros make less than 50% of these by the way!) and how we allow this disappointment to seep into other aspects of our game? Wouldn’t it be so much better if we could simply accept the fact that missing shots is part of the game, and the sooner we do this (practice acceptance) the sooner we can move deeper into the more intrinsic satisfactions – i.e. “well at least I did everything I could control to be successful…”
After some discussion about tactics and acceptance, the panel then welcomes a legend of golf statistics and analytics – Peter Sanders – who has been consulting with professional and amateur golfers for over 25 years, and who created the gold standard in statistical analysis for golf - entitled “Shot by Shot”. We take some time to introduce Peter to our community (he has been behind the scenes for many of you already who use his app and software religiously) and lay the foundation for his insights in the upcoming episode 7.
Enjoy the discussion!
