Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Examination of Birdie Zone Play on Tour - Part I

An interesting discussion we have had on the forum (http://richie3jack.proboards.com) is with regards to ‘lag.’ Recently, we have been discussing it with regards to wedge play.

One of the things I have been curious is ‘do golfers with a lot of lag in their swing play worse in the Birdie Zone?’ It sure seems like it. I believe the ‘big lag’ players have more issues with controlling their distance.

You can find the rankings of PGA Tour players this year in the Birdie Zone in the 2011 Pro Golf Synopsis e-book at http://issuu.com/richie3jack/docs/2011_progolfsynopsis

First, let’s take a look at the worst players in the Birdie Zone in 2011. I will only look at players whose swings I can find on YouTube, so we can determine how much lag they generate in their swing. I am also just seeking out the players with ‘big lag’ swings:


John Senden (Birdie Zone Play – 184th)



Advanced Total Driving: 14

Safe Zone: 58
Danger Zone: 18


Rod Pampling (Birdie Zone – 182nd)



Advanced Total Driving: 11

Safe Zone: 101
Danger Zone: 150


Sergio Garcia – (169th)



Advanced Total Driving: 82

Safe Zone: 52
Danger Zone: 9


Scott Stallings – (158th)



Advanced Total Driving: 72

Safe Zone: 98
Danger Zone: 11


Tommy Gainey – 151st



Advanced Total Driving: 77

Safe Zone: 71
Danger Zone: 64


Paul Stankowski – 109th



Advanced Total Driving: 178

Safe Zone: 105
Danger Zone: 99


Boo Weekley – 100th



Advanced Total Driving: 1

Safe Zone: 114
Danger Zone: 6


Rickie Fowler – 68th



Advanced Total Driving: 93

Birdie Zone: 68
Safe Zone: 100
Danger Zone: 10


Lucas Glover – 67th



Advanced Total Driving: 50

Safe Zone: 20
Danger Zone: 92


Webb Simpson – 48th



Advanced Total Driving: 28

Safe Zone: 62
Danger Zone: 38


What’s interesting is that we are looking at each player’s rankings in 4 different metrics. No player listed has Birdie Zone play as their best metric of the bunch. In fact, only 1 player has Birdie Zone play as their second best metric (Fowler).







3JACK

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