We have just released a new hub to Break X Golf. This article explains the rationale behind the new release and how it will help your golf game.
If you are reading this you’ll already know that data is important if you want to get better at golf. A study from Golf Insider showed that keeping playing stats resulted in golfers improving their handicap 70% quicker compared to golfers who didn’t keep playing stats, and practice the same amount.
But what if there was a different set of metrics that better predicted how you were going to perform in the coming weeks or months? These metrics might be able to provide a better rationale for what you should do with your time and how to lower your scores.
In this article, we’re going to explain such variables and how this ties into the latest updates on Break X Golf.
Lead vs Lag Metrics in Golf
‘Steal like an artist’… I found the concept of lead and lag metrics many years ago from reading about business performance.
However, lead and lag metrics directly apply to your golf game too.
What are lag metrics in golf?
Lag metrics focus on what has happened – past performance. These can be very useful for understanding how/why a golfer is performing the way they do. In the simplest golfing form lag metrics are your playing stats – strokes gained data, or how many fairways, and greens you hit and how many putts you take.
These data are very useful as they tell you how you currently build your scores. We use them in the Break X Golf app to better understand your strengths, and weaknesses as a golfer and find the easiest wins.
However, playing stats (lag metrics) don’t inherently tell you what you need to do today and tomorrow to shoot lower scores.
This is where lead metrics and Break X Golf come into play.
What are lead metrics in golf?
Lead metrics are variables that best predict the performance we are likely to see from you in the coming days, weeks and months.
From 18 years of coaching golf, 6 years of writing golf practice plans and the first 12 months of Break X Golf there has been one variable that consistently predicts better scores.
That is golfers who complete practice tasks highly aligned to the areas of their game that are costing them the most shots. This is the main reason we built this app – Break X Golf takes your playing stats and coverts them into a focused plan.
There are some caveats I’ve seen to this rule working:
- The practice tasks need to give clear feedback on your performance.
- The practice tasks need to be suitably challenging for you.
- You need to engage in these tasks with focus.
- You shouldn’t be working on swing mechanics that are hindering your progress.
However, if you satisfy the caveats above, you are highly likely to start shooting lower scores and reduce your handicap.
What does this mean for you as a golfer?
You need to do two things, keep good playing stats (lag metrics) and then get dialled into completing relevant practice activities each week (lead metrics).
The good news is that the Break X Golf app converts all of your data into a focused plan for you.
And here is where the new hub page comes in to help. We’ve just made the key lead metrics much more visable for you.
The new Break X Golf hub
We wanted to create a space where you can focus on the activities that will help you shoot lower scores. We also want to share where you are on your journey towards lowering your handicap and any display mini-goals you have achieved.
This is the first version of the Break X Golf hub, for now, you can access it by hitting the icon in the top left corner.
We wanted to get this out for you to use and enjoy, but we will be working hard to improve it. We have a solid roadmap of where we want to take Break X Golf, but we always listen to your feedback too and tweak our developments as we go.
What is next for the hub?
A big part of learning is feedback, you need to right feedback at the right time in the right format. If you can get clear and correct feedback you can really accelerate your learning.
This hub is the first version of the feedback loop the motor learning science tells us we should be building, but we have an exciting plan for how we aim to develop this in the coming months, and years.
Thanks as always for your support and please do reach out if you have any questions or feedback.
Happy golfing – Will & Adam @ Break X Golf