Arccos Ambassadors Share Their Game Plan for Goal Setting on the Golf Course
In the dynamic world of golf coaching, setting, and achieving goals is a crucial aspect of player development. Arccos Golf, the official game tracker of the PGA TOUR, has become an invaluable tool for golf instructors and their students. We spoke with three of our Arccos Ambassadors and highly ranked top instructors—Ryan Crysler, Erika Larkin, and Trillium Rose—to gain insights into how they establish goals with their students and leverage Arccos data for improvement.
Goal Setting with Trillium Rose:
Trillium Rose, listed among Golf Digest's Top 50 teachers, promotes teamwork in goal-setting with her students. By playing and being self-aware, players pinpoint areas to improve. Arccos is crucial, aiding in identifying specific improvement areas. Trillium stresses a data-driven approach, asking why certain aspects of the game need improvement. Whether it's prioritising tee shots or enhancing iron control, the focus is on areas impacting overall performance and finding what’s causing the most strokes.
“My students and I are very collaborative with goal setting. A player usually knows the areas that they want to improve upon from playing and knowledge of their games… I'm always including a data-driven approach with goal setting and working through the areas that cost the most strokes.”
Reflection on Data with Erika Larkin:
Erika Larkin, named Golf Digest’s #1 teacher in Virginia, highlights the importance of reflection using Arccos data. Students explore their "top 3 insights" and analyze their data to identify weak spots compared to their desired handicap level. It's a reflective process that transforms golfers into data detectives, unraveling mysteries and decoding the secrets of their performance. Allowing her players to gain a clear understanding of their game and areas requiring attention. Erika's approach underscores the significance of leveraging technology to make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.
“I typically look at their “top 3 insights” in their account to see what Arccos recommends… then the insights in each category are easy to read and see where the weak spots are when compared with their desired handicap level.”
The Discipline of Data with Ryan Crysler:
Ryan Crysler, a repeating top-ranked Golf Digest instructor at The Floridian, emphasises the discipline required when tracking your game. Putting in the work, being honest, and avoiding distractions are key to finding meaningful insights. It’s important to resist the temptation to delete rounds after a rough day on the course but to embrace the sometimes uncomfortable truth of how we played. It's crucial to look at trends over time rather than relying on a single round to assess your game. By analysing multiple rounds collectively, you'll gain a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses.
“You must be honest. You must be precise. You must not get distracted or delete a round because you played badly, etc. People will always look and study the individual round stats but it's way better to give yourself a range of time…”
The intersection of goal setting and data-driven analysis is at the heart of successful golf coaching, learning, and improving. Ryan Crysler, Erika Larkin, and Trillium Rose showcase the importance of collaboration, reflection, and discipline in leveraging Arccos to enhance player performance. As the golfing community embraces data-driven coaching, these insights provide a roadmap for both coaches and players seeking to improve even faster.
