Is Zeroing Out Hurting Your Scorecard?

Redefining “Optimal” Trackman Numbers for Improved On-Course Performance

Jack Nicklaus once said, “The toughest shot in golf is one that is perfectly straight. It’s tough to execute physically because so many things must be exactly right at impact. It’s tough strategically because it reduces the target area-If you aim at the center of the fairway, then hit a slice or a hook, you have only half the fairway to play with, whereas if you aim, say down the left side and play for a deliberate fade, you have almost the width of the fairway is at your disposal if you overdue it.”

By this quote Mr. Nicklaus was proving one very important point, that trying to zero out your club path and face angle was a good idea in theory but it is hurting your scorecard. Truth is, all great tour players consistently fall on one side of 0 or the other with great management of the clubface.

All world class golfers have a stock shot and work the ball one way or another to eliminate the trouble side of the hole. For Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus, it was a push fade, for Tom Lehman and Zach Johnson, a push draw; for Corey Pavin, a pull fade, and for Matt Kuchar is a pull draw.

It’s a shot that they know they can put in play and it will keep them out of trouble. The shot will, without question, move one way or another, but never straight. Whether that “go-to” or “stock” shot is a fade or draw does not really matter. However, what does matter is that it’s a shot that consistently moves the ball towards the target, and rarely ever passes across the target.

Ben Hogan, known as the best ball striker to ever play the game was spot on when he said, “You only hit a straight ball by accident. The ball is going to move right or left every time you hit it, so you better make it go one way or the other”.

Hitting a stock shot is a lot like that of a professional bowler. A PBA bowler always bowls a curve towards the front pin. However, if the ball crosses the front pin, there is no chance for a strike. If they miss it on the front right of the front pin however (for a right handed bowler) they still have hope of a strike. Golf is no different. We need to learn to play golf on the offense and try to always work the ball towards the flag, but never allow the golf ball to cross the line of your target. This will create a one-way miss and allows you to swing with more freedom and consistency.

Jonathan Bryd, a player known as one of the best ball strikers on tour and who has been compared to Ben Hogan for his technique said the following: “I try to hit a stock draw, with my club path and face open to the target line. Having a stock shot keeps things simple in decision making and it helps by keeping my path consistent and allowing me to control the face. With all the pressure that comes with trying to win a tournament on the PGA Tour, a stock shot helps to have your go to under pressure situations”.

If you look at any PGA Tour pin sheet, like the one below, one thing is certain, pin positions are rarely in the middle of the green. On average, a tight pin off the side of the green is 3 paces (nine feet) and a very generous pin seemed to be 5 paces (15 feet). If the pin sheet showed the flag to be 5 paces off the side, a tour player should feel like they will never miss the green on the short side. Therefore, the question one has to ask is this: if a tour player takes dead aim at a pin, has roughly 2 degrees of face control, and tries to “zero out” his swing on every shot, how would they ever know if your face is going to be open or closed to the target line? If we say the average PGA Tour player face variance is 2 degrees, that could mean the players face could be +1 degree open on one shot and the next shot be -1 closed, all while keeping a zero path. Therefore, if the pin was tucked on say the left side of the green, the zero out player would have to aim 12 feet right to make sure they eliminated the short side of the flag because a club path of 0 and face angle of -1 would make the ball land 21 feet left.

With this said, trying to tell the best players in the world that they cannot take dead aim at a pin 5 paces off the side would be nearly impossible. Consequently, they would have to aim 12 feet right to eliminate the short side and if their ball did finish close to the pin it was by luck and a miss hit. However, a player who has a stock draw shot pattern and has eliminated the left side of the course can take dead aim because they know they “never miss left because their 4.5 club path would have a “closed” face of 2 and finish just 9 feet left. However, with this said, the only way to prove this is to the reader is by diving in depth into the numbers and see what the perfect Trackman numbers would be to truly eliminate the trouble on one side of the course.

My goal is to figure out what the ideal Trackman club path and face angle numbers need to be to create a desired launch direction and spin axis for the player to eliminate one side of the course like Mr. Nicklaus advises us to do. What I teach my tour players and amateurs is to hit all shots into the “zone”. The zone is defined as a field goal that is one side of the target or the other (like Jonathan Bryd above). With hitting the zone, a player would always be trying to hit it into the field goal so that they could eliminate the trouble on one side of the target. If the player hits the zone, the shot is success. Therefore, we need to figure out what an ideal club path would be that would eliminate one side of the course and allow us to have to greatest opportunity to have the appropriate proximity on one side of the green or fairway if we overdue it a bit.

Player A

Above you will find a chart and graph of the club path and face numbers for Player A. Player A tries to always zero out his club path and therefore has a constant club path of 0 and club face variance of 2 degrees. As you will see, when Player A steps up to an approach shot from 184 yards, an average 6 iron distance, he can miss the ball 21 feet right or 21 feet left, a dispersion of 42.6 feet. Therefore, if the pin is anything less than 7 paces off the side, the player cannot take aim at the flag due to the possibility and probability of short siding themselves.

Player B

What if you just wanted to have a closer proximity to the hole than the average PGA TOUR player from 175-200 yards. If that was the case, then you would need to be inside Brendan Steele who is 32.9 feet away from distances of 175-200. However, we already know that the zeroed out player cannot aim at the flag because they will short side themselves potentially because their miss can be 21.3 feet right of left.

Therefore, with tour pins normally 9-15 feet off the side, they must aim and play away from the flag. Now however, what if Player B has a fixed club path of 4.5 degrees to the right and a face variance of 2 degrees. If the player blocks their shot and it does not draw as much as they would like they are going to be 32.8 feet away from the flag still inside the PGA Tour average. More importantly though, Player B can be very aggressive with their swing because they know they rarely miss left and if they do it is only 9.6 feet from the flag. This path and face also has a closer dispersion of only 42.4 feet compared to 42.6 feet. Therefore, with a pin that is 3 paces off the side, Player B is on the collar of the green and not in the bunker.

One argument that might arise from this logic is that if the 4.5 club path and 2.5 face angle is ideal, one might say that their face variance should be between 1.5 and 3.5. However, player B is always trying to eliminate left and to always be working the ball towards the hole. Because of that, while Player B takes dead aim at the flag on all shots, Player B is actually trying to land each ball a few yards to the right of the flag (for left pins) so that once it hits the green it continually got closer.

Not to mention, as a right handed golfer, right to left putts are the easiest putts to make compared to left to right. With most greens going front to back, I was giving myself the best chance to make putts. So while Player B’s club path would be constant at 4.5, their ideal face was roughly 3 degrees because they want to land the ball to the right of the pin. Once it bounced on the green and worked towards the hole from 11 feet, it would end right next to the hole and be in the zone and therefore a success.

Constant Club Path shot dispersion graph