New Year, New Golf Game Improvement with Arccos

While many New Year’s resolutions go unrequited, setting smart, actionable and obtainable goals for your golf game using Arccos is the key to rapid game improvement. As many golfers are amid the winter off-season, it’s a great time for a deep dive into your player data and to develop a plan for optimising your on-course performance. 

“Whether you're coming off of a long stretch of playing golf, or a long hiatus, the new year is a great time to breathe new life into your game,” says Arccos Ambassador Trillium Rose, director of instruction at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md. “Now is a great time to start with a renewed sense of motivation to take your game to the next level.”

Rose first recommends looking for ways to make easy gains as a pathway to shooting lower scores. It could be as simple as using club level data (accessible via the Clubs icon at the bottom of the App screen), or as complex as digging into the Strokes Gained Analytics Feature to ascertain where you’re losing strokes against your benchmark handicap.

“I think of it like a pit stop in car racing – it's time to get the tires changed, fluids checked and replace anything else that needs work to perform my best,” Rose says. “In golf, this means taking a look at where you need improvements.”

Arccos Ambassador Ryan Crysler, senior instructor at Butch Harmon Floridian in Palm City, Fla., encourages his students to utilize the Arccos Caddie App’s “Top 3 Insights” within the Strokes Gained Analytics Feature (accessed by tapping the Player icon in the bottom left corner and scrolling down). 

“This is your new purpose finder,” Crysler says. “It’s more objective and comprehensive than your coach at home because he or she doesn’t see every shot you hit. So share its recommendations with your coach and design your plan together.”  

Andrew Rice, Arccos Ambassador and director of instruction at The Club at Savannah Harbor in Savannah, Ga., says the New Year is the perfect time for golfers to adopt shot tracking and analytics into their games in order to lower their scores. Those who don’t are missing an opportunity to make big gains over a short time period. 

“I will be challenging more of my students to climb on the Arccos bandwagon this year,” Rice says. I know they can all get better with the help of the data that Arccos provides, without even practicing or working at it. This is 'low-hanging fruit' when it comes to making improvements. We all need to understand our strengths and weaknesses and the information is invaluable.” 

Rice is tapping into the power of Arccos himself to improve his driving. According to his player data, his longest drive in 2020 was 294 yards, but his fairway accuracy was only 47.6%. His goal is to extend his distance to 320 and accuracy to 60%. 

“I’ve started a program that includes what I think are the three pillars of gaining distance: practicing with intent, working out for quickness and agility and understanding the methodology involved in increasing clubhead speed,” he says.

If there’s one common thread among Arccos Ambassador’s recommendations for the new year, it’s setting a goal and achieving it. A great way to accomplish – and quantify – the process is to set a target handicap within the Strokes Gained Analytics feature.

For example, are you currently a 12 but want to be a six by the end of the year? Use the “Compared to” tool at the top of the screen in the Player section to adjust the handicap. Arccos will immediately deliver the Top 3 Insights so you can develop a focused practice plan.

The offseason is also an ideal pause for exploring new Arccos accessories and features.

Looking to untether from your smartphone? Arccos Link, a wearable shot-tracking device that seamlessly connects with Arccos Caddie sensors and the Arccos Caddie app, automatically records shot data removing the need to carry a phone during play. 

A number of Arccos players use the winter downtime to regrip their clubs, which presents an opportunity to switch from Smart Sensors to Smart Grips. Check out our guide for determining which grip works best for your game.

There are a bevy of ways to stay deeply involved with your golf game, even when it’s too cold to play. And Rose is quick to point out one simple New Year’s resolution we can all follow:

“Make sure you’ve downloaded the latest version of the Arccos Caddie App,” she says. “There are so many features being added to help you with your game and you don’t want to miss out.”