Play Ready Golf | Strokes Gained for the 9 to 5 Golfer

Your Driver Isn't the Problem. Your Aim Is

September 4, 2026·48 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

Try the app free for 7 days. Code PRGPOD gets you 20 dollars off the annual plan for life: https://onelink.to/93ggkvFree stats guide: https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/comprehensivestatsCoaches. PRG Teams is built for high school and college programs at about half what our competitors charge. First month free, cancel anytime : https://playready.golf/teamsTwo weeks ago we quoted a stat saying driver and 3 wood hit almost the same percentage of fairways, and the comments came apart. One commenter was right, and we went and checked. The stat has a hole in it, and nobody in golf has fixed it. Not Arccos. Not Shot Scope. Not Lou Stagner or Mark Broadie.In this one: how far you actually hit driver, the one simulation that gets around the broken stat, the physics of why a 3 wood mishit curves less, exactly how many golfers should be hitting 3 wood off the tee, and 3 rules for the tee box that cost nothing.Isaak has been in and around club fitting since 2017. Hayden plays professionally.CHAPTERS 00:00 How many times did you actually pull driver 01:00 The comment that started this episode 01:50 The Arccos driving distance report 02:12 The amateur distance boom that never happened 03:33 What you hit it by handicap and by age 04:00 Everybody is 10 to 20 yards off 04:40 Where the strokes actually go 04:57 12% versus 45.1% 05:37 What counts as a big miss 06:23 Your miss is the same. Your aim is not. 06:59 The free stats guide 07:40 The stat we quoted has a hole in it 09:06 Nobody in golf has ever fixed it 10:35 The one study that gets around the problem 11:22 The shortest club won 12:02 The safety club is not safe, it is just shorter 12:44 Is a driver harder to square than a 3 wood 14:06 Gear effect, bulge and roll 15:31 What the robot test showed on toe hits 16:19 Why your own tendencies beat any stat we quote 17:02 How many golfers are straighter with 3 wood 18:20 The 1 in 10 number 18:36 If your 3 wood is as long as your driver 20:03 The 5% out of bounds rule 21:20 Nobody walked in asking me to fix their driver 22:00 Cutting down the driver shaft 23:07 The 2 reasons to shorten a shaft 25:26 Is driver marketing a scam 26:22 What a manufacturer told me about their own numbers 28:10 The fitting thing nobody thinks about 30:00 Tools, not jewels 33:20 Rule 1: driver is the default 34:00 Jason Day's pattern was 74 yards wide 34:40 Rule 2: aim off the trouble by half your pattern 35:50 Tee up on the same side as the trouble 36:10 Rule 3: the only 3 reasons to club down 37:19 The forced carry mistake I made for years 38:30 If you club down on 3 holes a round 38:49 How to think about lessons 41:36 Hayden argues against the whole episode 42:46 What actually fixes a 45% penalty rate 44:16 The guy who does not trust it right now 45:34 Findable and hittable 46:17 Tiger hit driver once at Hoylake 47:37 You do not have a driver problemSOURCES NAMED IN THIS EPISODE Arccos annual driving distance report, 25,000 golfers and 6.5 million tee shots Lou Stagner, analysis of the Arccos database Shot Scope, driver versus 3 wood fairway data Golf Digest and Golf Laboratories robot testing Mark Broadie, strokes gained Scott Fawcett, DECADE

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