Hi David,

This is a great idea so thank you for your post. I will definitely be doing this tomorrow. Today I practiced my Pre-shot routine with chipping and putting and to me this is a critical part of the mental game. I will post results of this experiment after a few rounds. Thanks again for your post, it's a really good one. 

I wanted to add one more stat to track for the mental game. It is what Joseph Parent calls the 'anyways'. This is when you have addressed the ball but you don't feel aligned correctly or something else is not quite right but yet you hit it anyways. I've done this quite a few times and have to try very hard to remember to restart the preshot routine. 

Thanks anyways! Seriously that's a good idea I've hit way too many shots when I've been undecided for one reason or another I'll add that to my tracking.

I agree with this completely david.  GIR/FIR, etc is a nice stat to keep track of but if you arent in the right mental frame of mind it is a misleading stat.   This is a great idea for everyone out there to keep track of when they are fully commited to the shot and have a positive thought prior to their shot.   I find that if you think positive, you will get positive results, and when you think negatively you will get a negative shot result.     Bob Rotella has several great books which address these types of issues, and I highly recommend them to help everyone in the mental side of the game.   I read "golf is not a game of perfect" and "putting out of your mind" and it changed my mindset, outlook, and mental approach and lowered my score probably 5-7 shots per round just for the mental side of things.    Excellent stat to keep track of!

Thanks Mitchell, I believe being fully committed is part of the pre shot routine but for years I've not paid much attention to it and suddenly the idea of tracking it dawned on me, it seems strange but I don't remember anyone writing about it in golf magazines so I wanted to share the idea. 

What a fantastic idea. I often blame my mental preparedness for mistakes made in my game, but I have never thought to keep track of it. How long have you been at it, and what kind of trends do you see?

Just a few weeks so it's a little soon for trends perhaps after 20 rounds? But I do believe that over time it will help me stay more focused and reduce the number of avoidable poor shots. The first time I tracked it I was shocked I had played decently yet I felt I had only hit 3 shots including putts that were "perfect" so to speak and I'm a 4 handicap! Now on a low round I'm 5 to 6 shots that meet every criteria but that's the best I've managed. Thanks for replying to me.

david b

I like this idea as well, I keep so many stats, I am always able to find something positive about my round :)

A stat I also found very helpful (which I think also helped show mental performance) is distance to the pin.  Keeping track of the number of putts is definitely helpful, but a 50 ft 2 putt also shows great mental performance (and a 6 ft 2 putt ... not so much). 

As per the TT scorecard, I also track my Sand Saves, that has helped my bunker shots in an amazing way .. I am currently at 83%.  Making a Sand Save is definitely a highlight in a round now.

Keeping track of distance to the pin also helped me with the variances occurring with number of putts and GIR.

I love golf ... I find the more stats I can keep track of on my score card, the less I worry about them while actually playing.  This way I can concentrate on the "shot at hand" because I know I can analyze the $#!+ out of my round when I am finished.

I track my up/downs on missed greens and include sand saves I've always believed you can't manage what you don't measure, and I really like your distance from the pin stat thanks. 

David, that is a good idea you have come up with.  I've been using Zen techniques in my shot drill and it has helped a lot.  I think I'll start adding mental dots to my stat collecting even though I usually figure that if GIR are not good for a round it was a bad mental day.  This year I have been playing a 9 holer as a practice course that has small 1940's greens which has payed off, my iron shots improved through the year.  When I go play the more modern courses with normal green sizes I am getting in closer to the hole and GIR are easier with the higher confidence gained from small green practice.  All in all when I'm having a good mental day I am having a lot more fun with better scores.  Maybe collecting dots will help to stay focused.  Thanks for sharing...

Hi Allen, Thanks for your response, I used to practice at a little par 3 course with small greens which were like upturned saucers so I know what you mean, I wish I had such a course near me today!