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

Isaak Ramsey & Hayden Zimmerer | Smarter Golf Practice in Less Time
  • 4.0 (4)
  • Golf

Golf improvement for people with a 9 to 5. We use strokes gained data and motor learning science to help you practice smarter, save time, and shoot lower scores with the clubs, schedule, and life you already have. Most golf advice is built for people with unlimited range time and a coach on speed dial. This show is built for the rest of us. The weekend warrior. The dad who gets 90 minutes on a Saturday. The mid-handicapper who has been stuck at the same score for three years. Every episode gives you one thing you can actually use. A practice drill you can do in your living room. A course management decision that saves you two shots. A data point that shuts down the bad advice you keep getting from your buddies. New episodes every Friday morning. Try the Play Ready Golf app free for 7 days at playready.golf

  1. 3d ago

    Your Swing Looks Perfect. That's the Problem - Austin Langdale

    Get the free cheat sheet: ⁠https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam⁠ Want a practice plan built for your game and your schedule? Try Play Ready Golf free for 7 days. Code PRGPOD takes $20 off every year: ⁠⁠https://playready.golf/the-app⁠⁠ Follow Austin: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/_alangdale⁠⁠_ Austin Langdale's job is deciding which college golfers get equipment deals. He scouts for Srixon/Cleveland Golf, which means he watches perfect golf swings every single week. Most of those players never make it. In this episode he explains what actually separates scorers from range heroes, and how he used it to win the 2026 South Carolina Amateur while playing twice a month with 2 kids and a full time job. 9 years after an MS diagnosis ended his shot at pro golf. You'll learn: Why players with 190 ball speed still shoot 76 The tell scouts look for when everyone on the range looks perfect How to win a state am on 40 minutes of practice a week What to buy with $1,000 and 2 hours a week, and what to skip Why most golfers carry 14 clubs but only need 8 or 9 The 1 club drill that builds feel faster than new gear Chapters 00:00 A state champion's practice month 01:29 Closing out Quixote with the lead 03:31 Watching good golf instead of practicing 04:28 What a Srixon rep actually does 06:29 Who gets signed and who gets passed 08:34 What a 15 handicap can steal 10:07 The lowest hanging fruit 11:28 The 16 Golfers cheat sheet 11:55 NIL and the new college golf 14:58 Everyone looks the part on the range 16:09 Feel is a lost art 17:10 The Play Ready Golf app 17:58 Beating NeSmith and Champ 20:36 The injuries start at Clemson 25:02 Turning pro and the MS diagnosis 26:49 What MS took and what it gave 29:50 What the dream means now 31:39 A trophy and a 4 year old 33:32 What he wants his boys to learn 37:08 2 hours and 1,000 dollars 41:17 Merion and the U.S. Amateur 45:45 Clemson football check in 48:31 The fall schedule 50:58 Where to find Austin

    Your Swing Looks Perfect. That's the Problem - Austin Langdale

  2. Sep 4

    Your Driver Isn't the Problem. Your Aim Is

    Try the app free for 7 days. Code PRGPOD gets you 20 dollars off the annual plan for life: https://onelink.to/93ggkv Free stats guide: https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/comprehensivestats Coaches. 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/teams Two 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 problem SOURCES 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

    Your Driver Isn't the Problem. Your Aim Is

  3. Aug 28

    The Best Practice Tool Is in Your Bathroom - Payne Denman

    Secrets of the elite Mid-AM: ⁠https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam⁠ Practice smarter with the Play Ready Golf app. 7 days free, code ISAAK takes $20 off the year: https://onelink.to/93ggkv Follow Payne: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/paynerr/⁠ He plays 3 to 4 rounds before a tournament and hits balls maybe twice a week. He has a day job in logistics and just won his 3rd straight Tennessee State Amateur, something only 2 other golfers have done in 100 plus years. Payne Denman has played 5 U.S. Amateurs, coached college golf at MTSU, Tennessee, and South Florida, and played pro golf on PGA Tour Latinoamerica before walking away. In this episode he breaks down exactly how he practices now: the 60 minute range hour he splits into 3 blocks, why he stopped hitting drivers and got better, the mirror work he does at home, and how he talks to himself like a coach talks to a player. Timestamps 0:00 What he knows that college golfers don't 0:43 How many hours he actually practices 1:04 Mirror work, slow reps, and the 90 minute cap 2:10 Week 2: money games instead of range balls 2:33 The 45 minute session: where all the time goes 3:14 Why he quit hitting drivers (and got better) 4:41 Where college players waste unlimited hours 6:33 A lack of intent repeats what's easiest 7:10 How a coach fixes wasted practice 9:22 Talking to yourself like a coach 10:59 No coach? Write it down, 1 goal, max time 12:53 Separate mechanics from target practice 13:54 The 60 minute range hour: 3 blocks of 20 15:31 Why range games die on the course 16:22 Serial ball beating and why failure is the point 17:44 Playing scared: fear and embarrassment off the tee 19:14 Merion: the hardest course he's ever played 21:39 How he preps for championship setups 23:45 Adjusting to new grass, climates, and fog 26:45 The day job advantage 27:45 Down with 5 to play: birdies on 4 of the last 5 30:52 Fighting off the three-peat thoughts 32:22 What pro golf taught him about failure 33:35 The day he knew pro golf was over 36:32 What he tells players who want to turn pro 38:51 Reinstatement: the 4 year wait 41:31 PGA Tour Latinoamerica and the $4,000 career 44:32 What recreational golfers get wrong 46:45 What's next for Payne

    The Best Practice Tool Is in Your Bathroom - Payne Denman

  4. Aug 21

    Amateurs Carry 14 Clubs. They Use 10. - Ep. 35

    Try the app free for 7 days. Code PRGPOD gets you 20 dollars off the annual plan for life : https://onelink.to/93ggkv Free stats guide. Every benchmark from 3 feet to 300 yards, 20 handicap through tour pro : https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/comprehensivestats Free 59 minute practice plan: https://onelink.to/59minplan Coaches. PRG Teams is built for high school and college programs at about half what our competitors charge. First month free : https://playready.golf/teams CHAPTERS 00:00 How many of your 14 clubs did you actually hit 01:19 The hybrid Isaak loved and had to take out 02:15 The Arccos study nobody talks about 03:37 This happens at every handicap level 04:04 The 5 most abandoned clubs in golf 05:18 Why the 3 wood is a security blanket 06:30 You carry it so you are not the guy without one 08:18 The free stats guide 09:28 You did not pick 14 clubs, you inherited a slot 10:47 The 1935 US Open and the guy with 32 clubs 12:00 Lawson Little and his 7 wedges 13:03 Why the USGA actually made the rule 14:20 The man who invented 14 said 14 was too many 16:56 Francis Ouimet won a US Open with 7 clubs 17:27 A limit is not a quota 18:20 Your 7 iron has the loft of a 1990s 5 iron 19:21 Isaak on 8 years in club fitting 20:24 The gap wedge exists to patch a hole 20:57 The case for owning more than 14 clubs 22:22 Hayden's qualifier, 14 holes, zero drivers 25:20 Why leaving a gap on purpose works 26:22 Rule 1: every club needs a job you can say out loud 28:01 Rule 2: two clubs cannot share a job 29:30 Rule 3: the receipt rule 30:46 Hybrid versus long iron, the Shot Scope numbers 31:58 Why long irons fail, and it is not your swing 33:05 What being the outlier actually costs you 36:00 Rule 4: replace it, do not just remove it 37:03 Driver versus 3 wood 39:09 Humility with a receipt 39:39 Arguing against our own episode 40:49 The USGA study on what golfers do not know 42:37 Where this data comes from and its limits 42:50 What to take with you 44:59 Hayden on discipline and the Ohio Open SOURCES NAMED IN THIS EPISODE Lou Stagner, analysis of the Arccos database, March 2023 Shot Scope, long iron versus hybrid greens in regulation Arccos, driver versus 3 wood accuracy and distance USGA TrackMan study, December 2023, 627 recreational golfers Robert Harris, Sixty Years of Golf, 1953 Rand Jerris, USGA, on the origin of the 14 club rule World Golf Hall of Fame on Lawson Little Golf Digest and Ralph Maltby on iron loft changes

    Amateurs Carry 14 Clubs. They Use 10. - Ep. 35

  5. Aug 14

    He Shot 90. Then He Won the State Am - (ft. Andrew Chapman)

    Try Play Ready Golf free for 7 days. Code PRGPOD takes $20 off every year, forever: https://onelink.to/93ggkv Secrets of the mid-am: https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam Get a custom piece from Andrew: andrew@sanstudio.com Andrew Chapman shot 90 in the first round of a U.S. Am qualifier and wondered if the USGA would send him a letter. 4 years later he won the Michigan Amateur as the 32 seed, and today he builds custom furniture, raises 2 boys, and still chases USGA qualifiers. We get into the line between supporting a kid and pushing one, the multi-sport locker room at Michigan, the rebuild that started with grip and stance, the wedge ladder that carries his whole bag, AimPoint with a carpenter's level, and what a craftsman knows about the difference between good and right. Timestamps 0:00 Harder to watch than to compete 2:07 The temptation a champion dad resists 3:27 Family golf: 9 holes, 2 hours, 2 boys 5:33 Quick to the ball, then take your time 6:52 The line between helping and pushing 7:45 Playing golf swing instead of golf 9:43 What his parents got right 11:04 Too serious, and the try less lesson 13:19 The 12-second pre-shot fix 15:17 The golf bug at 13 17:49 Every Michigan player was multi-sport 22:29 Rock bottom: the 2009 qualifier 25:42 The 32 seed run, and where belief comes from 28:50 His practice: the 40 to 110 wedge ladder 30:13 AimPoint with a carpenter's level 32:12 The 9 shots drill 34:18 Good vs. right: lessons from the shop 37:40 Build this first: the beginner slab table 39:19 The 20 foot table at a golf course 40:36 What he wants his boys to take at 18 42:59 The reinstatement debate 47:24 Bring back the 36-hole qualifier 47:47 Staying with Scottie Scheffler at the U.S. Am 4 9:05 Where to find Andrew, and what's next

  6. Aug 7

    Amateurs Grade Themselves Like Tour Pros (here's what to do instead)

    Free stats guide: https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/comprehensivestats Get tour level strokes gained data in 30 seconds a hole with Play Ready Golf. Free 7 day trial: https://onelink.to/93ggkv Code PRGPOD gets you $20 off every year for life. Tour pros make about half their putts from 8 feet. From 100 yards in the fairway they hit it inside 3 feet 1 time in 25. The standard you grade your golf against does not exist. Not for you. Not for them. This week we tear up the fake report card most golfers carry in their heads. Where it came from (the broadcast, the Ben Hogan legend, and your own inflated numbers), what breaking 90 actually looks like for a 15 handicap, what a real 68 and a real 63 look like in strokes gained, and a 4 rule grading system that costs nothing and starts working your next round. Sources named in this episode: Mark Broadie (Columbia, PGA Tour ShotLink), Shot Scope, Arccos and Lou Stagner, Jon Sherman (Practical Golf), Adam Young, Bob Rotella, and the Ben Hogan story as told by Dan Jenkins. Chapters 0:00 The number that ends the argument 1:35 Mad about a birdie 3:11 Tour averages, 3 feet to 300 yards 6:52 Tiger missed 4 putts in 4 years 10:01 Where the fake report card came from 11:37 Hogan graded himself on 3 shots 15:51 The 24 yards you don't have 17:57 Your handicap is not your average 18:59 The break 90 data dump 21:35 Playing US Open qualifying with tour pros 28:53 A 68 and a 63 in strokes gained 33:04 Shooting a gajillion and smiling 39:49 The new report card 42:27 Grade putts by the second putt 45:03 Steal Hogan's scorecard 48:39 Ambition vs unrealistic expectations 50:48 Why golfers actually quit 51:20 Hayden is coming to Instagram 57:07 Give the scorecard back

    Amateurs Grade Themselves Like Tour Pros (here's what to do instead)

  7. Jul 31

    More Practice Made Him Worse - Brett Patterson (Ep. 32)

    Try Play Ready Golf free for 7 days. Code PRGPOD takes $20 off every year: https://onelink.to/93ggkv The Mid-Am Insights PDF. Every lesson from every mid-am we have interviewed, in one download: https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam Support the new home of the Ole Miss Patterson School of Accountancy: https://accountancy.olemiss.edu/new-building/ Brett's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bpatterson03/ Brett Patterson is the 5th ranked mid-am in America. He teaches 300 accounting students at Ole Miss, has 2 girls at home, and touches a club 3 or 4 times a week at best. In college he hit 300 balls a day and got worse. Then he left tournament golf for 5 years, came back, and started winning everything. We get into the 4 weeks off before he opened 7 under, the wedge and putter plan that replaced the bucket, the mental spiral that almost ended his golf, and the piece of advice he says actively hurts amateurs. Timestamps 0:00 The #5 mid-am barely touches a club 0:53 4 weeks off, then 7 under in round 1 2:18 A Tuesday with 300 students and 2 kids 3:52 College: 300 balls a day, sun up to dark 7:19 Less practice, better golf. The flip. 8:39 5 years away and the 2022 U.S. Amateur 14:22 What he'd tell every college golfer 16:54 His practice now: wedges and lag putts 19:59 An accountant's take on tracking stats 22:35 Bring back Golfstat 26:09 The biggest mistakes amateurs make 28:58 Never the most talented. What separates him. 31:08 What scratch golfers miss about scoring 34:16 Championship golf vs weekend golf 35:42 The advice that actively hurts amateurs 37:05 Pressure putts and choosing confidence 38:36 How to stay sharp after time off 40:43 The reinstatement debate 50:49 What he wants his daughters to know 53:48 A shoutout to the mid-am wives 54:02 Prepping for the U.S. Mid-Am at Sand Valley 56:26 Support the new Ole Miss accountancy building

    More Practice Made Him Worse - Brett Patterson (Ep. 32)

  8. Jul 24

    Chipping Was Never About Your Hands

    Want 1 science based practice fix a day for the next 30 days? That is the second link: https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/30hacksin30 The Play Ready Golf app turns 30 seconds a hole into tour level strokes gained data and a practice plan built around your time and facilities: https://onelink.to/93ggkv Code PRGPOD gets you $20 off every year for life: https://apps.apple.com/redeem?ctx=offercodes&id=6752723937&code=PRGPOD Grab the free Greenside Menu, the 1 page decision card we walk through in this episode. Print it or save it to your phone: https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/menu Your short game problem is not your hands. It is the order you pick shots in. In this episode of the Play Ready Golf Podcast (Ep. 31) we use Shot Scope and Arccos data to show why golfers at every handicap level fail from 50 yards, why the flop shot became everyone's default, and the 4 question menu that fixes it without a single lesson. Timestamps: 0:00 Nobody has hands 1:42 The data: up and down by handicap 2:56 The app in 30 seconds 3:22 The highlight reel raised you 5:57 Extreme sells: the wedge industry 7:00 Jason Day: one motion, many clubs 8:53 Option 1: the putter 10:17 One email a day for 30 days 10:33 Option 2: the low chip 11:11 Option 3: the pitch 12:34 Option 4: the flop 13:40 The cost of ignoring the menu 14:17 Judge every shot by its miss 15:27 What Hayden sees caddying 19:19 Rule 1: can I putt it? 20:18 Rule 2: lowest loft that clears the trouble 21:59 Rule 3: pitch only when something is in the way 22:45 Rule 4: the flop is the fire escape 23:37 The menu in order 25:20 What about bad lies? 26:33 2 honest notes about the data 27:29 The takeaway Missed the double bogey episode we reference? Watch it here: https://youtu.be/D1ZK1E_06Xs Data in this episode comes from Shot Scope, Arccos data via Lou Stagner, PGA Tour scrambling stats, and Edoardo Molinari via Golf Digest.

    Chipping Was Never About Your Hands
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About

Golf improvement for people with a 9 to 5. We use strokes gained data and motor learning science to help you practice smarter, save time, and shoot lower scores with the clubs, schedule, and life you already have. Most golf advice is built for people with unlimited range time and a coach on speed dial. This show is built for the rest of us. The weekend warrior. The dad who gets 90 minutes on a Saturday. The mid-handicapper who has been stuck at the same score for three years. Every episode gives you one thing you can actually use. A practice drill you can do in your living room. A course management decision that saves you two shots. A data point that shuts down the bad advice you keep getting from your buddies. New episodes every Friday morning. Try the Play Ready Golf app free for 7 days at playready.golf

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