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. 6d ago

    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

  2. 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

  3. 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)

  4. 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

  5. Sep 11

    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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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
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Ratings & Reviews

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out of 5
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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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