How coaches use Circles to give players a competitive edge

Tiger Woods once said, “there’s no sense in going to a tournament if you don’t believe that you can win it”. Because in the game of golf – confidence is everything. 

That’s definitely Ashley Fowler’s mantra – the headwinds golf coach at Queens University of Charlotte. And she credits Circles for giving her team that power.

“My players have achieved a huge amount of success through confidence, and that’s all because of Circles.” 

“They’re able to look at their stats and use them to see what putts to make – it’s been so cool seeing how assertive their game has gotten.”

She says you really can’t underestimate how effective Circle stats can be when it comes to improving a game. "Sometimes it's just simple as having ink on paper, it's pretty evident. Having data that’s so straightforward and tells you, hey, this is what you need to work on. It’s had a huge impact on how we practice efficiently.

And Rob Schutte, Men’s golf coach at Rutgers University agrees on the importance of those numbers. “Identifying those training areas is the name of the game – and to get that information, you have to have clear data. That will lead you to the areas they need to work on the most.” 

Fowler and Schutte both rely on Circles to really help give their players a training roadmap, and to set goals that are realistic, tangible and measurable. With the help of Circles stats, her team are hitting all sorts of goals - she even had one female player break her school record their first term back. 

“That was very exciting for her and the team." 

And it’s the tracking of those goals which Schutte says is extremely valuable, especially for young people whose brains are developing.  “They get that satisfaction of saying, maybe I've taken a step back, but then there's days where I can see these two steps forward. So having Circle’s data to support that progress is extremely critical. 

“It provides tremendous motivation for them to continue to stick to what they're doing to get better." 

Schutte has also seen Circles contribute to his players' success since using the program. “All eight of our guys that we have seen the benefit Circles has provided. It’s helped unlock golf courses, it helped unlock strategies for them across the board. 

“I’m now looking at the young guys in our program and I'm super excited to see their results and success using Circles across year two, year three, year four. Because that data will build up and when you have more and more data, it's going to helpfully give more and more clarity to how you've been able to drive success with them.”

And to continue that track of success too, one of the most important things that Fowler wants her players to focus on is using Circles to identify areas of improvement. "I check out Circles and see where my players might be losing the most strokes and I really dive into the parameters of it - whether that's a very specific yardage or a very specific line. Is it a distance? Is it the shot that we're hitting? Is it the club selection?”  

She’ll then have a conversation with her player to process her findings and figure out exactly what the missing gap is. “Because it can be a lot of different things. Maybe it's the quality of shot, but maybe it's also just a thought process. So really just getting the understanding of the why and figuring it out.” 

Fowler has found the best way to use Circles to give her team a competitive edge is by using it alongside her players and working with them instead of individually. “We dive into it together and figure out a good game plan for how to get better.” 

“For some people, it may just be their approach game, for some it may just be their putting, and for others it could be a combination. Figuring out what that looks like and then being able to just be specific in practice so that it can directly translate onto the course. 

As Circles gives Fowler direct feedback on her players' performances, she can see what they did well, where they can improve on and what their next move should be. “What's so neat about Circles is that it gives you that next step of practice plans, so you're able to be very specific with the way that you practice. It gives you clearly measurable progress so you can say “okay, I'm doing better here now and this and that. That feedback is amazing.” 

For Schutte, what sets Circles apart from other programmes is the credibility and the ability to collaborate with the student athletes directly. “That gives great peace of mind to the student athletes knowing that they're being treated like professionals when it comes to breaking down what they're doing on the golf course.” 

“And it gives tremendous clarity to what they need to work on as they move forward in this game.” 

Casey Lubahn, the head coach of Michigan State agrees, and says Circles is the most powerful statistics program that he’s ever seen. Lubahn currently coaches a team of 10 players, and each of them has different things they need to improve on. Circles allows Lubahn to hold them each accountable to the progress they need to make in specific areas of their games. “A lot of times as we're growing as players, we think things that are not real. We think we're a great driver, we think we're a great putter, we think we're a great iron player.”  

“Circles is telling us if what we're feeling and what we're thinking about ourselves is real. So when we identify how to get better, we know we're using the best stats program on planet Earth to tell us the truth. And the truth is what we all need to hear to be elite in anything.” ‍

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Want to see the same results for your players that thousands of Circles users have experienced? Sign up for a Circles free trial today to see how shot data and insights can revolutionize your player’s performance.