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

Isaak Ramsey & Hayden Zimmerer | Smarter Golf Practice in Less Time
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  • 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. 6d ago

    Your Handicap Isn't Your Average

    Free guide, How Good Are Your Shots? Page 2 has the benchmarks for your level: https://playready.golf/shots Try the Play Ready Golf app free for 30 days, code PRGPOD: https://app.playready.golf/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ep46 Your handicap isn't your average. It's built from your best 8 rounds out of your last 20, so a 15 handicap who shoots 94 is having a normal day, not a crisis. Isaak and Hayden walk through what a normal round and a bad round look like from a 20 handicap to scratch, why Scottie Scheffler still had a 12 shot range last season, the 3 kinds of holes most likely to turn into a double in 453 rounds of Play Ready Golf app data, and a 10 minute review that tells you what to practice next week. Chapters 0:00 Your handicap isn't your average 2:34 How your handicap actually works 3:17 How often golfers shoot their handicap 5:47 A 10 and a 20 make the same bogeys 6:54 A normal round at every level, 20 to scratch 11:27 Scheffler and Rory have bad rounds too 13:21 The 3 holes that turn into doubles 16:18 Hayden's worst round 20:31 The 10 minute bad round review 23:51 What to practice at your level 24:57 Why realistic expectations help you score 29:02 When a bad round is a real signal 30:43 What to do after your next round Coaches: PRG Teams is at https://playready.golf/teams Questions: isaak@playready.golf Sources World Handicap System (USGA and R&A): your Handicap Index is the average of your best 8 score differentials from your last 20 rounds; net double bogey is the most you post on a hole. USGA handicap research, old system (best 10 of 20): golfers shot their course handicap or better about 25% of the time, about 3 strokes worse on average. Lou Stagner, Arccos data: a 17 shot median gap between a golfer's best and worst round in a season (30+ rounds, steady handicap), plus the tour expectation numbers. Shot Scope user data: fairways, greens, bogeys, doubles, three putts and penalty strokes by handicap. PGA Tour: Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, 2025 season. Play Ready Golf app: 453 rounds from 127 golfers, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026.

    Your Handicap Isn't Your Average

  2. Oct 23

    Golf’s Sneakiest Number Is Stamped on Your Wedge

    Go look at the bottom of your pitching wedge. It probably says 42 or 43. In the 1980s it said 49, and your sand wedge barely moved. Get the free Wedge Matrix (one page, every wedge, every swing): https://playready.golf/wedge-matrix Try the Play Ready Golf app free for 30 days: https://app.playready.golf That's a hole in your bag the industry made, and most golfers never check it. So they end up with two wedges that go the same distance and one gap they guess at every round. Hayden and I break down how the bottom of your bag got broken, how to find the hole in yours in about 2 minutes, and a winter plan that gives you a number for every wedge and every swing. This isn't a gear episode. Most of the fix is checking the lofts you already have, and the rest is one bucket of balls this winter. Chapters 0:00 Your pitching wedge used to say 49 1:56 How much loft your pitching wedge lost 4:00 How close tour pros really hit it from 100 yards 5:21 How the bottom of your bag got broken 9:17 What tour players actually carry 9:58 Should you carry 4 wedges? 12:38 The club you carry because everyone else does 13:56 The problem with the 60 degree 17:46 Dave Pelz, Tom Kite and the first 60 19:16 Fix 1: check your gaps (4 to 6 degrees) 21:29 Fix 2: bounce and grind, made simple 25:21 Fix 3: when your grooves are worn out 27:52 Fix 4: the Wedge Matrix (Pelz's 3x4) 28:53 Why your 9 o'clock number matters 31:16 How to fill in your matrix this winter 33:08 When 4 wedges is the right call 34:08 How much wedges really matter 35:13 What to do tonight 36:02 What we're changing in our own bags Two fixes from the episode, also on screen: Ping's G440 went from 5 set wedges to 4 (fewer, not more). And a 15 handicap's double rate from 200 yards is about twice what it is from 150 (29% vs 15.6%), not 3 times. Sources Pitching wedge loft by decade: loftchart.com 2025 lofts: Callaway Elyte and Ping G440 spec sheets; Today's Golfer on the G440 wedge change Tour proximity from 100 yards: PGA Tour stats Finishing 75+ feet away, and double rates by distance: Lou Stagner, Arccos data What tour players carry: Golfing Focus, top 100 PGA Tour players Wedge gapping (4 to 6 degrees, 10 to 15 yards): Titleist Vokey Tom Kite and the 60 degree: Golf Channel, World Golf Hall of Fame Groove wear: Titleist's own robot testing; MyGolfSpy The 3x4 system: Dave Pelz, GOLF Magazine, 1990 Pitches that find the green vs miss it: Play Ready Golf app, 453 rounds from 127 golfers Long game share of the scoring gap: Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts 15 handicap 4 iron distance: Shot Scope

    Golf’s Sneakiest Number Is Stamped on Your Wedge

  3. Oct 20

    He Barely Practices and Still Plays to a +5 - Kris Marshall (Ep. 43)

    Kris Marshall didn't touch a golf club until he was 16. He sent his resume to 500 colleges and got zero responses, walked on at Kansas anyway, and left a two-time All-American. Today he's a +5 with a full-time career, three kids, and barely any practice time. We get into how he walked on at KU, six trips to Q School (four of them lost by a single shot), why he walked away from pro golf to start a family, and what he thinks about the reinstatement debate. Then he shares the forward tees drill that teaches you to go low, and why a 10 handicap should stop aiming at pins. HOPEKIDS: the charity Kris founded a golf tournament for, serving families of children with life-threatening illnesses https://hopekids.org/ FREE: 18 Golfers, 1 Question. What 18 elite mid-ams with day jobs say busy golfers get wrong about practice, plus their go-to drills https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam PLAY READY GOLF APP: practice plans built from your strokes gained and the time you actually have. 30 days free, and code PRGPOD takes $20 off the year. https://app.playready.golf/ Feedback or a topic idea? isaak@playready.golf CHAPTERS 0:00 What a 46-year-old knows that college kids don't 1:56 He didn't start golf until 16 3:10 500 colleges, zero responses 4:14 Sitting in the rain outside the KU coach's office 5:15 The walk-on trial: the only one under par 6:46 From walk-on to two-time All-American 11:43 Turning pro: "You don't have to, you get to" 17:05 Six trips to Q School 19:17 Why he walked away from pro golf 21:44 Reinstatement and the "true amateur" argument 24:13 Kris's fix for reinstatement 27:50 What makes a great mid-am event 35:29 How golf built his career 37:52 The 14 handicap who was nervous to play with a +5 41:48 How to go low: play the forward tees 43:37 Late to the tee, then four eagles at the Kansas Open 45:44 Set a scoring goal and don't move it 46:22 Chess, not checkers, off the tee 47:44 Data vs feel 51:28 What a 10 handicap should fix this week 53:12 22-year-old Kris vs 46-year-old Kris 56:50 HopeKids

    He Barely Practices and Still Plays to a +5 - Kris Marshall (Ep. 43)

  4. Oct 16

    Golf’s Most Useless Practice Is the Kind You’re Good At

    Free 3x15 Week card (the 3 dials, every session scored): https://playready.golf/3x15 Play Ready Golf app, free 30 day trial, code PRGPOD: https://app.playready.golf Ep. 27, why the range is the most expensive habit in your bag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R9mVHabK0c If you went 10 for 10 at the range last night, you didn't practice. You performed. Adam Young, one of the best practice coaches in golf, wants his players making somewhere between 3 and 7 out of every 10. Most of us build every range session around never missing. That's why the good nights never show up on Saturday. In this episode, Isaak and Hayden get into how much you should actually be missing, what Rory McIlroy did after blowing the 2011 Masters, and the 3 dials (distance, target size and randomness) that make any drill show up on the course. Hayden also tells the full story of his 2024 Canadian Q School week in Dothan, Alabama. He was 7 under after two rounds. Then came a double on a 200 yard par 3, a misread tee time and a DQ before the final round. He shares what he does differently now. Tell us in the comments: what's your next drill, and how many out of 10 do you make? Studies and people we mention: Adam Young, The Practice Manual Guadagnoli and Lee (2004), the challenge point framework Robert Bjork, desirable difficulties Wilson et al. (2019), Nature Communications, the 85% rule Human Movement Science (2025), when a task gets too hard Jared Porter, LSU, moving from blocked to random practice Low and colleagues, 14 studies on pressure training Annie Duke, Thinking in Bets Sisk et al. (2018), the growth mindset meta-analysis Chapters: 0:00 Why 10 for 10 at the range is a bad sign 1:59 How much should you be missing? 3:08 Adam Young's 3 to 7 out of 10 rule 4:00 The 3 dials that change any drill 4:31 There's no such thing as a good drill 5:26 Why easy practice feels so good 6:46 The 85% rule for faster learning 7:34 When hard practice backfires 7:49 Signs your practice is too easy 10:26 What Rory did after the 2011 Masters 10:48 Rory's 496 for 496 inside 3 feet 14:54 Hayden's Q School blowup 17:23 The tee time mistake 19:42 How Hayden bounced back 22:04 Handling emotions after a miss 24:20 The 3 part plan 24:29 Part A: turn one dial 26:57 Add a consequence: Colby's match 28:56 Part B: stop judging by results 30:41 The 3 buckets for every miss 31:37 Part C: is growth mindset enough? 32:37 Playing to your personality 35:50 Ask: how many did I actually miss? 36:31 Isaak's GC3 ladder drill 37:37 Hayden's takeaway 40:15 New Friday schedule New schedule: episodes with just Isaak and Hayden now drop every Friday. Guest episodes are bonus episodes early in the week. Isaak is a competitive mid-am who helps busy golfers improve with the time they already have. Hayden is a professional golfer. Play Ready Golf helps you practice with purpose, so you show up to the first tee ready to score.

    Golf’s Most Useless Practice Is the Kind You’re Good At

  5. Oct 9

    Why You Play Better When You Don't Care - Sam Jackson

    Secrets of the elite mid am 👉 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 ISAAK takes $20 off the year 👉 https://playready.golf/the-app Sam Jackson sells windows for a living. He has a 7 month old at home and practices once or twice a week. He's also been South Carolina Golf Association Player of the Year 4 years in a row, made the semifinals of the 2023 U.S. Mid-Amateur, and won the 2025 South Carolina Amateur with a wedge to 3 inches on the final hole. His edge isn't his swing. It's caring less. Golf used to be his #1 priority. Now it's 4th or 5th, and he plays better for it. In this episode he explains how to stop living and dying with every shot, the 3 checks he runs every time he practices, and why his best week in golf came after his worst prep. You'll learn: Why a 4x Player of the Year calls himself a mediocre college player How to take the pressure off every single shot Why he's hit it great and finished 7th, then hit it average and contended The 3 fundamentals he checks every session How he got into contention on 4 rounds in 4 months with a newborn Where to start when you have an hour at the range and no plan Follow Sam: https://www.instagram.com/samuelnotljackson Need windows or doors in the Columbia, SC area? Sam's with Pella Windows and Doors of the Carolinas. 0:00 Not that Samuel Jackson 1:08 Starting golf at 12 2:30 What sped up his development 4:23 The U.S. Junior at 15 5:09 A 74.8 college scoring average 6:53 Treating every shot like the one 7:58 How to stop living and dying on every shot 8:22 The mental game beats the physical by a mile 9:01 Golf went from #1 to #5 10:35 Make golf as meaningless as possible 10:56 Less pressure at a D2 school 11:33 Staying sharp with a newborn 13:12 The 17 Golfers cheat sheet 13:41 4 rounds in 4 months, then the final group 15:07 How he picks what to practice 16:11 Where to start with an hour and no plan 17:44 The Play Ready Golf app 18:19 His 3 checks: grip, ball position, alignment 20:12 A $70 indoor winter setup 21:44 Getting away from the golf course 23:40 What golf can teach his daughter 26:00 Why he doesn't set goals 27:40 The 2023 U.S. Mid-Am and Stewart Hagestad 29:06 Bad prep, best week 30:58 The walk off at the 2025 South Carolina Am 33:38 Merion with his wife on the bag 36:43 The one thing to steal from Sam 38:01 It won't be on your tombstone 38:22 Where to find Sam

    Why You Play Better When You Don't Care - Sam Jackson

  6. Oct 2

    Amateur Golf's Reinstatement Problem Has a Simple Fix

    FREE: Secrets of the Mid-Am 👉 https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/secretsofthemidam The Play Ready Golf App (7 Days Free) 👉 https://onelink.to/93ggkv Roughly 800 former pros apply to regain their amateur status every year, and virtually all are approved. This week at the U.S. Mid-Amateur, 7 of the 8 quarterfinalists were reinstated amateurs, and so are both finalists. Career amateur TJ Shuart, a veteran of 12 USGA championships, joins Isaak to ask whether a reinstated pro is ever really an amateur again. They walk through why the USGA built the Mid-Am in 1981, the news that brought this to a head, and the toughest counterarguments. Then TJ lays out a simple fix: a waiting period based on how long you played as a pro and how high you got. Every player discussed followed the rules as written. This conversation is about the rules. Feedback or a topic idea? isaak@playready.golf CHAPTERS 0:00 Preview 0:27 The fork in the road: pro or lifelong amateur 2:31 Why the USGA built the Mid-Am in 1981 4:30 TJ Shuart's career as an amateur 7:22 The Mid-Am 20 years ago 12:09 The numbers: 800 reinstatements a year 17:22 How we got here: Knost, the USGA pause, and Sposa 28:11 "Those guys stopped playing years ago" 34:20 Is a reinstated pro the same player? 38:21 The Stewart Hagestad question 42:21 Challenge 1: college players 43:44 Challenge 2: NIL money 46:51 Challenge 3: should pros ever come back? 49:19 TJ's fix: a tiered waiting period 54:43 The reinstated players, by the numbers 1:04:26 What John Peterson said 1:11:09 Where the USGA review stands 1:16:23 Mid-Am update: 7 of 8 and both finalists SOURCES USGA Mid-Am fact sheet: https://filecache.mediaroom.com/mr5mr_usga2/190647/download/2025%20Mid-Am%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf GOLF.com on reinstatement: https://golf.com/instruction/rules/how-pro-golfers-regain-amateur-status/ Golf Channel on the USGA pause: https://www.golfchannel.com/ncaa/news/usga-temporarily-pauses-review-of-amateur-status-reinstatement-guidelines NBC Sports on the 2025 quarterfinals: https://www.nbcsports.com/golf/news/u-s-mid-amateur-quarters-filled-with-reinstated-ams-including-kft-vet-who-just-regained-status SI, the other side: https://www.si.com/golf/us-mid-amateur-does-not-have-professional-problem

    Amateur Golf's Reinstatement Problem Has a Simple Fix

  7. Sep 25

    You Already Have The Speed. You're Not Using It. - Mike Carroll (Ep. 40)

    Most golfers work on the wrong thing. They stretch when the problem is fear. They lift when the problem is transfer. They take a lesson when the problem is speed. Mike Carroll trains PGA Tour players through Fit For Golf, and he gave four at-home checks that tell you which one is actually holding you back. Then he laid out the exact 20 minute, three days a week template for a guy with a job, kids, and no gym. FREE: The 15 Minute Test (one page, four checks, your one thing this month) https://playready.golf/20-yards Play Ready Golf app, 7 days free. Code PRGPOD saves $20 a year for life. https://playready.golf Mike Carroll, Fit For Golf https://fitforgolf.blog Instagram and X: @fit_for_golf CHAPTERS 0:00 Mobility problem or technique problem? The three swing test 2:29 Four ways to find your real limiter 3:41 The 2 to 3 year strength rule 6:30 Technique vs skill: judge your best shots, not your average 7:38 The 15 minute test (free, first link) 8:11 The busy golfer: gym time or range time? 9:11 The calendar rule: tournament inside 3 months, skip the gym 14:07 Structure your year: winter builds capacity, spring transfers it 17:00 Strength benchmarks by age: pull up, push ups, jumps, split squats 26:34 Training 50,000 golfers from one app 27:46 Speed training: where a normal golfer starts 31:27 Your range speed vs your course speed 32:41 Transfer problem or capacity problem 35:22 When overload and underload tools earn their place 38:08 Four months out vs four weeks out 39:29 When speed stops being the lever 44:50 Play Ready Golf app 45:41 Isaak had 130 mph in college. It did not help. 49:40 The 20 minute template: Mon, Wed, Fri 52:20 Why power leaves first and almost nobody trains it 57:23 Speed work at the end of practice, not a separate session 59:48 Wrap up Every number in this episode comes from Mike on the recording. Strokes gained references are from Mark Broadie, Every Shot Counts. #golf #golffitness #golfpractice

    You Already Have The Speed. You're Not Using It. - Mike Carroll (Ep. 40)

  8. Sep 18

    Fairways Hit Is Golf's Fake Stat - Ep.39

    FREE SIMPLE STAT TRACKER: https://playreadygolf.beehiiv.com/simplestatstracker PLAY READY GOLF APP Enter your round, the app does the strokes gained math and tells you what to practice. 7 day free trial. Code PRGPOD for $20 off the year. https://onelink.to/93ggkv Fairways hit is the golf stat every app shows you first, and it barely separates a scratch golfer from a 20 handicap. In this episode Isaak and Hayden go through the four golf stats on every scorecard app (fairways hit, greens in regulation, up and down percentage, putts per round), show what each one hides, and swap each one for a number you can track with a pencil that actually predicts your score. WHAT YOU WILL HEAR Why a scratch golfer hits only about 4% more fairways than a 20 handicap (Shot Scope) The stat that actually separates handicaps off the tee: 12% vs 45% of drives in penalty or recovery (Arccos, 2025 driving report) What the rough, trees, and a fairway bunker really cost you Bryson at Winged Foot: 23 of 56 fairways and a U.S. Open trophy Broadie's breakdown of where the scoring gap comes from: approach 40%, tee 28%, short game 17%, putting 15% Why greens in regulation cannot tell 6 feet from 60 Why up and down percentage grades your chip on your putt Hayden's 65 with 35 putts, and why putts per round rewards bad golf The two putts that separate handicaps: lags from 30 feet and makes inside 8 Strokes gained vs simple stats: which one you should keep Chapters: 0:00 Fairways hit barely separates golfers 1:10 Scratch vs 20 handicap: a 13 point stat 1:45 The disaster stat: 12% vs 45% of drives 3:08 What the rough, trees, and bunkers actually cost 4:54 Distance is worth more than accuracy 5:23 Stat 1: Tee shots in play 6:41 Bryson at Winged Foot: 23 of 56 fairways 7:31 Should a 56 year old chase distance? 8:41 Where the scoring gap really comes from 10:00 Why greens in regulation lies 12:50 Hayden's fringe confession 15:11 Short game is 17% of the gap 16:23 Up and down blends two shots 18:43 Stat 3: 11 feet vs 20 feet after a chip 19:33 Hayden pushes back on the 17% 21:31 Track five rounds and be honest 22:21 Why you should not copy how mid ams practice 25:57 You cannot know your tendencies without tracking them 26:56 The dumbest stat: putts per round 27:58 Hayden shot 65 with 35 putts 29:49 The two putts that separate handicaps 30:53 Strokes gained vs simple stats 31:05 Recap: the four simple stats 34:55 Bobby Rippey and 1,000 subscribers 36:57 Next: the driver episode

    Fairways Hit Is Golf's Fake Stat - Ep.39
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Ratings & Reviews

4.2
out of 5
5 Ratings

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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