Episodes

SMS - Tiger's Dominance

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Today's episode is a curveball: Lou wraps up in his Tiger Woods throw blanket and puts some trivia questions to Greg and Mark about the magnitude of Tiger's dominance. In addition to highlighting just how great Tiger was, we learn how much Mark dislikes trivia questions and what it was like to play with Tiger from Greg. Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes long) about an interesting golf stat. We will ...

Practicing Sidehill Lies

From Lou's swing laboratory: Lou is working on a way to practice hitting shots from slopes, not only to work on those shots, but to work on the various pressure shifts in the golf swing. In this episode, he talks with Mark about his plans. The discussion includes the various effects of slopes on shots (which are different with different clubs) and the different ways in which golfers apply ground forces in the swing. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldg...

Mark's Swing Evolution with Sean Foley

Almost a year ago, Mark had a lesson with highly-regarded golf coach Sean Foley. Sean recommended a number of changes—big changes—to Mark's swing. In this episode, Mark and Lou talk about Mark's process of making those changes. Mark talks about what Sean wanted him to do (and why), and then the process he's pursued to work those changes into his swing. A key idea: not all swing training needs to take place on the course or the range, or even when you have access to a golf club. Video of Mark's ...

SMS - Tour Pro and 15 Index, How Far Away Is 3.19 Strokes

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Today's episode: how far away is 3.19 strokes? Take a Tour Pro and a 15-index and drop them both in the fairway at the point that they will, on average, take 3.19 more strokes to get in the hole. What distances are they at? Lou puts this question to Mark and Greg, they guess, and much astonishment follows. Turns out: Tour Pros are really, really good—and most of us have a lot of room to get better, and would be helped...

Collecting On Course Stats

Greg's second season on the Champions Tour is underway. This season, Greg is aiming to do more data-collection, so that he can know and not just guess what's working and what's not in his game. In today's episode, he and Mark talk through his first round using Arccos. They discuss alternatives to the tags on the grips, getting comfortable with the app, and getting started with the multitude of stats that Arccos tracks for you. Whether you're a tech guy or not, there are things to learn here to i...

Dialing in Your Distance Control

Amateur golfers obsess over swing path and face angle, and with good reason. But golf is a game of distance and direction, and much of the test of distance is distance control: having a very clear idea, within a few yards, of how far your typical shot will go. In this episode, Greg and Mark (Lou is out with a bout of flu) talk through a whole series of pointers that will help you play better by hitting shots as far as they need to go. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: http...

SMS - 10 Index, Total Birdies in Good and Bad Rounds

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Today's episode remains one of the most important concepts to grasp if you want to improve your scores. All golfers have a fairly wide range of scores. For a 10 index, breaking 80 is a good round while shooting over 90 leaves him frustrated. The question: how many birdies does he makes in those good rounds vs in the bad rounds? Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes long) about an interesting golf stat. ...

Improving Your Green Reading

In this episode, Lou and Mark begin with some competitive banter about a hole they recently played together—especially their quite differing approaches to reading putts. Both speak of what they look for on the greens, and then they turn the stage over to Greg: statistically, one of the best putters ever to play the game. You need to putt on almost every hole you play. Reading greens is a skill that you can sharpen, and it will lower your scores if you work on it. Where to find us: Mark Crossfi...

Project Lou - Episode 7: Gears Data

You've waited for this: this is the episode in which Lou, Mark, and Greg recap Lou's lesson when they were together at the PGA Show. If you are a regular listener to this podcast, there some chance that the technical changes that Lou's swing needs apply to you. But there's an even better chance that we together need to learn how to learn: how to make changes to our game that make a difference—and that transfer into our game on the course. There's much to learn here that will make our golf, not j...

SMS - Tour Players, Approaches to Inside 10' From 85/120/170 Yards

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. We've been on a roll lately with episodes that are surprising. Today, Lou's question is about really good shots: how often does a Tour pro finish within 10 feet from 85 and 120 and 170 yards? Mark and Greg guess, and the longer you've been listening to good information, the more surprised you might be by the answers. Turns out: Tour pros are really, really good. Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes lon...

Fast Irons and Slow Driver?

Mark, Greg, and Lou take a listener questioner: for this player, his 7 iron swing speed is right around Tour average, but his driver swing caps out at 105mph. Why might that be? Each of the guys offer possible reasons for this discrepancy but also encourage him—and all golfers struggling with a specific issue—to seek out specific advice. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe Mark Crossfield on Twitter: https://twitter.com/4golfonline ...

Project Greggy

Today, the Gears shift: instead of Lou's measurements, Greg's swing gets analyzed and tweaked. When the Hack It Out team was together, Greg had his swing measured, in today's episode, Mark, Greg, and Lou discuss what they learned. Greg talks through some of the technical changes he's been making, but the broader discussion of how to implement intentional changes in your golf swing is relevant to improving golfers at all levels. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www...