In the summer of 2012 I was contacted by a young man requesting that I review his stats to help him decide exactly where he needed to improve his golf game. I am always flattered when ShotByShot.com users reach out to me for my insight so I responded accordingly asking for his User Name and Password. He responded that he did not use ShotByShot.com but would I look at his GolfStat data. (GolfStat is a competitor program that offers traditional golf statistics.)
My first thought was to suggest that he contact GolfStat, but softie that I am, I agreed and he emailed me a summary of his 2012 season data. As I suspected, the limitations of the data resulted in limited insight - his GIR's were very good but the rest of the one-dimensional stats were just numbers. I felt bad and offered to give him an explanation of why traditional stats don't tell the story and what ShotByShot.com does differently to provide answers. I also had to ask: WHY DID HE REACH OUT TO ME? He said that he was on the Stanford University golf team and that his coach had the team routinely read my blog and that he was impressed with what he had learned from it. Again, I was flattered. But then why wouldn't his coach also use ShotByShot.com? His response was that his coach is committed to the other program. I said, Oh well, I understand.
A week later, I received a call from the Stanford coach, Conrad Ray. His pointed question: What can I get from ShotbyShot.com that I cannot get elsewhere? I was prepared and ran down my list. His next question was how much and when can we start? Further, when his team had gotten into the program Conrad asked if I would consult periodically to help set improvement goals for the players. Coach Conrad and his assistant Phil Rowe and I have had some lively and fun conversations during which I reveal what I see as the strengths and weaknesses of each player. I am also able to throw in the added perspective that I have gained from the PGA Tour's Shotlink data.
Fast forward to yesterday when I had the thrill of watching the aforementioned young man, Cameron Wilson, win the NCAA Division 1 National Championship. CONGRATULATIONS Cameron! Keep up your great play thru the match play.
Thanks again for your interest and for contacting me. I look forward to watching you and perhaps helping you at the next level.
