THERE are certain surveys that tend to be a lavish exercise in stating the bloomin’ obvious.
Yesterday, the European Tour unveiled a cobbling together of various facts, figures, statistics and summaries with a player performance study which came to the conclusion that the less time you spend over the ball, the greater success you will achieve.
For some of us crude amateurs, of course, it doesn’t matter if we briskly thrash away in the blink of an eye or plooter and ponder for an eternity. The results tend to be the same; complete and utter golfing calamity.
One finding in the study states that “for putts inside five feet, the likelihood of holing the putt is doubled,” for a player who spends less time mulling over the fine detail.
You probably don’t need to be one of the world’s great sleuths to figure that one out. But we’ve all be there haven’t we?
There you are, standing over a putt with the indecision and doubts racing through the feeble mind and the unconvinced eyes suddenly starting to see borrows and lines that are merely figments of an agonised golfing imagination.
“It’s dead straight,” says one voice. “No, it’s a cup to the left,” says another. “Just hit the bloody thing,” mutters an increasingly brassed off playing partner at your doddering incompetence.
The RSM player performance study collected data on 47 players over five tournaments, 304 rounds of golf and 22,579 shots.
Led by Dr Matt Bridge, senior lecturer in coaching and sports science at the University of Birmingham, the study revealed a number of key findings which are as follows. Spending less time over the ball could earn a European Tour player an extra £167,000 per season based on shots gained.
A shorter time over the ball across all putts results in a 90 per cent increase in the likelihood of strokes gained.
Consistency of time spent over the ball leads to a greater chance of making the cut. When players are more consistent in rounds one and two they are 50 per cent more likely to make the cut compared to less consistent players.
It all sounds very sciency and worthy. And let’s face it, this occasionally infuriating game has never been an exact science. Every player has their own way of getting a little dimpled ba’ into a hole. The great Bobby Jones’ address-to-impact time was less than three seconds, for instance.
Jason Day, meanwhile, takes about half an hour to shoogle into his stance. It’s very much each to their own.
Keith Pelley, the chief executive of the European Tour and a man who clearly likes data and number crunching, said: “I’m constantly thinking about how the game of golf will evolve and what the future looks like. Without a doubt, data analytics and the kind of insights provided from the RSM Player Performance Study will be core to that future.
“The more data we can make available, the more the pro golfers, and amateurs, will be able to understand the nuances in their performance and hopefully gain that extra edge or advantage.”
On the European Tour itself, Fife rookie Connor Syme will make his debut as a fully paid up member of the circuit in this week’s Mauritius Open.
Syme, who made three cuts on invitations recently, earned his card at the tour’s qualifying school.
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