Hack It Out Golf

Mark continues to use measured Tour pro data to help us all play better golf. In this episode, he has Lou and Greg guessing how the pelvis moves vertically through the golf swing? Is it going up or down on the backswing? By how much? And how does it move returning to impact? Here is a useful episode, because your guesses here (like those of Lou and Greg) may well be entirely wrong, and so learning...

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. In today's episode, Lou addresses the long-standing argument that while scratch players are better than handicap golfers at a specific distance, it's chiefly because they're generally hitting a higher-lofted club from the same distance. So here, the question to Lou and Greg is how far away from the hole, on average, wil...

It's a debate that arises from time to time, especially in conjunction with team events like the Ryder and Presidents Cups: what is an "appropriate" celebration in golf? In today's episode, Lou, Greg, and Mark talk about the unwritten rules about the decorum of celebrating. Where are the lines? Is anything over the top? Or should we all just lighten up and enjoy the entertainment product that is p...

Today's episode of the podcast looks at another element of a top level swing: the speed the grip is moving. For Rory, when hitting driver, how fast are his hands moving? Is he faster in his downswing than his backswing? If so, by how much? And maybe even more importantly: when are his hands moving the fastest in his swing? Mark leads Greg and Lou through these questions and their answers, and then...

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes long) about an interesting golf stat. We will discuss what you can learn, and most importantly, how you can apply this on the golf course to lower your scores and lower your handicap. Listen on your drive to the golf course or over your Saturday morning coffee! Data is...

You're looking to buy new clubs, and you know you should get fitted for them. But what does that mean? How many clubs in your bag should be customized for you? Is there a difference between your 8 iron fitting and your 6 iron? In this episode, Mark leads a discussion with Greg and Lou about what we should be expecting from custom fitting. They cover a ton of ground: the benefits of fitting, why in...

Mark, Lou, and Greg continue to take measured data from Tour swings and see what it tells us for making real improvement in our games. In this episode, Mark quizzes Greg and Lou about the elbows: particularly, how far apart Lydia Ko's elbows are at address versus at the top of the swing. Do they get closer together, further apart, or maintain the same distance? And what about one of Mark's own mea...

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Today's episode is a "manage your expectations" special. We have a very good player, a 5-index, 75 yards from the hole in the fairway. How often is he getting up and down from there? How often is it taking him 4 or more shots to finish that hole? This is certainly an episode that will confound the Twitter golfers! All t...

If you're a golfer, your putter should come inside with you regularly. Indoor putting practice can be a huge benefit for your game, especially for those who live in climates where it can be the only significant practice for a portion of the year. In this episode, Mark and Lou talk about ways to make your indoor putting practice more beneficial. Some of these are simple drills that anyone can do. O...

Golf's handicap system is one of its most enduring features: the ability for golfer's of differing skill levels to have a match against each other remains a major draw. But that system is complicated, and most golfers have a very rudimentary understanding of how it works—if they don't misunderstand it altogether. In this episode, Lou and Mark (Greg is out chasing the Schwab Cup) talk about the han...

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Today, we're with a solid golfer. He's hit a tee shot on a par 5, leaving him 200 yards to the hole. How often should he expect to birdie the hole from there? How often will he make bogey? After Mark and Greg register their answers to Lou's question, they talk about strategies and equipment choices that can maximize you...

Mark, Lou, and Greg continue to take measured data from Tour (and, in this case, also amateur) swings and see what it tells us for making real improvement in our games. In this episode, Mark quizzes Greg and Lou about hip movement at setup and through the swing. Lou asks a perceptive question: does the pelvis movement create the good swing, or is it an effect of other parts of an elite golf swing?...

WIthin the past couple weeks, Scottie Scheffler capped an amazing season on the PGA Tour by winning the Tour Championship and with it, the Fedex Cup and its giant pool of bonus money. In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg discuss how the Tour structures its season-ending playoff, with the pros and cons of determining a season-long champion using a playoff. Can significance for an event be created s...

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. In this edition of the Saturday Stat, Lou returns to Greg's wheelhouse: putting. Here, Greg and Mark take their best guesses at how often a scratch and a 20-index golfer 3-putt from 16–20'. Turns out, the answers surprise them—and likely you as well. Three-putt avoidance is a key to solid scoring (as Greg knows very wel...

Today's episode is all about lining up your putts. Mark, Lou, and Greg talk about using the line on the ball vs drawing lines, whether to use a line at all, how the line on your ball might interact with any alignment lines on your putter, and then, in a discussion for the ages (and one to be continued): an epic new ball marker, invented by Lou, that might be so revolutionary that it's banned by th...

Today's episode is the second part of Mark's interview in Sean Foley. Here, Mark asks Sean what Sean regards as his greatest accomplishment in coaching. The discussion turns philosophical, as Sean reflects on what he really values most in coaching, what he's learned over the years, and what he appreciated most when (as a surprise gift) his wife compiled thank you videos from all his students over...

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. In this edition of the Saturday Stat, a golfer is sitting in the fairway, 175 yards from the hole. How likely is he to make double or worse if he's a scratch golfer? What if he's a 15-index? Mark and Greg register their guesses, and the actual number surprises them quite a bit. The takeaway: a lot of us have a lot to le...

Welcome to another episode of the top-ranked Champions Tour podcast in the world.* In this episode, Greg gets us (and Mark and Lou) up to date as his first season on the Champions Tour draws near the playoffs. We'll hear from Greg how he thinks the season has gone, what has worked well and what hasn't, what has led to a couple of rough closing holes in his good rounds, and what he's hoping for as...

In this special episode of the Hack It Out Golf Podcast, Mark has the opportunity to sit down for an extended conversation with famed golf coach Sean Foley. In this segment of their discussion, they talk about Sean's time coaching one of the greatest players in the history of the sport: Tiger Woods. Sean discusses the unique pressures of coaching Tiger, what he learned from the experience, what he...

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Golf's statistical revolution has made it clear: distance matters. And because distance matters, speed matters. But what happens when you bring the speed, but miss the center of the driver face? In this episode, Lou asks Greg and Mark about the drop-off in distance for off-center driver strikes. You'll see why strike ma...

Mark, Lou, and Greg continue to take measured data from Tour (and, in this case, also amateur) swings and see what it tells us for making real improvement in our games. In this episode, Mark pulls up data on the distance between the golfer's center of mass and the edge of his hand, both at address and at the top of the backswing. Because these can both move (and they move quite differently between...

Recently, Mark had a lesson with Sean Foley, famed for his work with a number of elite Tour pros. In this episode, he recaps that lesson with Greg and Lou, talking about Sean's approach to coaching, the way he integrates technology and a concern for the whole body, how Mark approaches making swing changes for his own game, and (maybe) what Mark might have learned to be a better coach to Lou. Where...

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Today's episode will make you think. Take a 10-index golfer: what will he score in rounds where he hits 13 fairways? What about in rounds in which he hits 9 greens in regulation? Lou puts this question to Lou and Greg, and after settling the winner, the discussion turns to how this knowledge can help you shoot your best...

In this episode, the guys continue to see what they can learn about the golf swing using motion tracking analysis. Here, Mark asks Greg and Lou how much the hip should turn in the swing (using Tour players as a benchmark) and compares that number to his own measurement. A key idea in this episode: because our bodies are connected and our swing is one big motion, changing one element of how your bo...

New technology keeps making information that was once exclusive to expensive equipment available to the avid regular golfer. In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg look at information about Lou's swing captured by Sportsbox AI, which takes video of a golf swing and translates it to measured data comparable to motion capture technology. The data: how high do Lou's hands get from their starting point...