Getoffmylawn's Unofficial Review of DECADE Foundations

[Getoffmylawn 5,244]

Welcome to my review of the DECADE Foundations app!

First, let me start by recognizing the first DECADE-related thread on the forum, which you can access and review via the link below.  You’ll find plenty of conversation in this thread about DECADE philosophies, and even some hole-specific discussions.

Decade golf app - my 6 month journey - Unofficial Reviews - MyGolfSpy Forum

My intent in posting this review is to offer another perspective for those considering the product, as well as give you a little more insight into the actual app experience itself.  By no means will I be giving away the farm with this review, but I am posting a few screenshots and examples here so you can get an idea of the interface and look and feel, of the app.  And yes, I’ll speak to my own experiences with it, because (spoiler alert) I wholeheartedly believe in this product and system.

If you’re new to the forum and don’t know much about me, I’ll spare everyone the more standard lengthy intro. My name is Hayes, I’ve been on active duty in the Air Force for 20+ years, and am currently a Lieutenant Colonel assigned to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska.  I have three little kids ages 8, 6, 4, so I’m kind of a busy guy.  I am a 6 handicap, but with my schedule I seldom have time to beat balls on the range and can usually only get out to play once a week, at best.  That said, I’m a golf fanatic…I try to make mechanical improvements when I can via dry swing drills from my GolfTec lessons, I try to use a PlaneMate as much as I can, and I’ve been busting my butt in the gym for nearly a year now in the pursuit of clubhead speed.  I’ve been documenting that pursuit of speed here:

Getoffmylawn's Need for Speed, AND LOWER SCORES! - Lessons, Drills, Mental Game, and Fitness Tips - MyGolfSpy Forum

So, the point is, I’m a somewhat decent golfer looking for every angle to get better.  Which leads me, and hopefully you, to DECADE.

What is DECADE?

DECADE stands for Distance, Expectation, Correct Target, Analyze, Discipline, Execute.  For the actual background that gave birth to DECADE, the following comes direct from the founder Scott Fawcett’s website:

“A former college golfer for Texas A&M, Scott Fawcett’s professional golf career never went as far as he wanted it to. An appearance in the 1999 U.S. Open and stints on the Web.com and Hooters Tours, among others, led Fawcett to create a new strategy to help take his own game to the next level. When Scott regained his amateur status in 2013, he wanted to keep his game sharp for the U.S. Mid-Am. Around that time Mark Broadie’s book, “Every Shot Counts” was beginning to be marketed. A few excerpts he read made him really start considering strategy and its implications at the highest level. He realized he could create a spreadsheet combining shot patterns and expectations from various results and in theory solve golf strategy mathematically. He spent several months creating DECADE but was sidelined with an injury when it came time to put it to use in the summer of 2014. As a result, I caddied for a junior golfer from my home course to test out the theories in a few events. He won the Texas Amateur and the U.S. Junior while I was caddying for him.”

From those experiences, Scott eventually developed a system based on Mark Broadie’s “strokes gained” metrics, Shotlink data, and shot distribution patterns to develop a system of course-management rooted in math and statistics.  And, it works.  If you’ve had your head in the sand, revelations about the value of his system continue to pour in, dating back to Bryson DeChambeau’s success in the NCAAs, to Will Zalatoris’ second place finish in his first Masters appearance, to Stewart Cink’s multiple win season.  I can think of no greater evidence of the systems value than the NCAA’s decision to ban Scott from teaching it to college golfers because it provided “an unfair competitive advantage”!

What is DECADE Foundations?

DECADE Foundations is a program (delivered through the DECADE app alongside DECADE Elite) that, over the course of 6 months, feeds you video instruction aimed at improving your course management and on-course decision making skills.  (Really, the content comes a little quicker than monthly; Scott sped up the content delivery during COVID and hasn’t scaled it back since.)  I say “decision-making skills” because it’s a misnomer to suggest that DECADE is simply a system to help you pick targets.  Yes, it does that, but the mental coaching and training Scott layers into the content is equal to or perhaps even more valuable than the target selection training.  (More on that in a bit.)  In addition, the app invites you to enter your scores and track a unique set of statistics that Scott has identified as being key to playing your best golf, what he calls “The Tiger 5.”

Here’s a screenshot of (some) of the Month 1 videos, along with a shot of the interface that lets you scroll through different months of content:

You no doubt noticed video links entitled “For You” and “Scott’s Desk” on that second screenshot.  As you progress in your DECADE experience and enter more rounds in the app, the “For You” link becomes populated with instruction material targeted for you based on your rounds and stats.  Scott’s Desk is nothing short of a gold mine of golf wisdom.  Scott routinely holds member webinars, one-on-one interviews, webinars with college coaches, interviews with tour pros, etc.  He records them all and parks them at “Scott’s Desk” for your consumption at your leisure, and these are available as soon as you start your membership.  The most entertaining ones are without a doubt the videos of Scott debunking an announcer-spewed “truth” that just ain’t so!

That’s a very broad overview of the app, so let’s now discuss some content and specific features.

Course Management

In a nutshell, DECADE is a system that allows a player to select a mathematically-correct target based on pin position, surrounding hazards, and course conditions.  In the early stages of instruction, Scott goes to great length to encourage new DECADE’ers to understand that golf shots are best understood as coming from a shotgun than a sniper rifle, and that the goal is to center your shot pattern over a target thereby accounting for variance in your shot pattern.  Put another way, you don’t know from one shot to the next if long left or short right is coming, so rather than aim and play for the perfect shot, center your pattern over the target.

Over the course of the first few months, Scott teaches you the calculations necessary to identify where you should be aiming. I say “calculations” but relax...we’re talking very simple math that accounts for the pin position, proximity to various hazards, weather, etc.  Done correctly, you are left not only with a “proper” target based on shot dispersions, but with the mental clarity to put a committed swing on the ball knowing that you’ve selected a proper target!

The same applies to tee shots, where Scott introduces you to a much better understanding of when to pull driver, when to club down, and where to aim to account for your typical ball flight. 

In short, Scott teaches a very “aggressive” tee shot followed by a mathematically informed approach shot.  Once you’re on the green, DECADE has plenty of content teaching how to putt more successfully, largely by focusing on speed control.  The drills he presents are absolute gold for teaching you how to better control the pace of your putts, and he provides irrefutable proof of why speed, and not your stroke, needs to be where you focus.

Mental Game

As much as the course management training is immensely valuable, perhaps the greatest benefit to DECADE is the mental game training.  For starters, in can be very enlightening and perspective-changing to gain insight into just how “good” or “bad” a shot actually is, when for many of us our perceptions of shot quality are likely based on golf television broadcasts. Scott also devotes a significant amount of video content to the mindset required for winning golf, including interviews with professional golfers.  And perhaps most significantly, I can only describe it as “liberating” to approach a shot, run the math, and put a swing on it, all without hemming and hawing in your head about what shot you should hit, where you should aim and how aggressive you should be.  DECADE does that for you, you just have to run the numbers and then play the shot!

Extras

Calling the “Scott’s Desk” content an “extra” feels like a serious understatement because the content there, while not specifically part of the DECADE Foundations curriculum, is extremely rich with insights into proper course management and the mindset you need to have to play your best golf.  However, there are a number of noteworthy features.  For one, a Foundations membership gives you access to DECADE yardage books.  Here’s a snip of a portion of the book for hole #1 at Arbor Links, an Arnold Palmer design about 30 minutes south of me in Nebraska City.

Simply search for your course, download the file, and you get a properly sized PDF yardage book ready to print and annotate.

The app also includes a Combines feature which helps you practice and improve your own understanding of your shot pattern. 

And, stat tracking.  I mentioned earlier in this review the “Tiger 5” metrics which you can begin to track right away. As the lesson content continues, you’ll also begin to track Strokes Gained Putting, penalty shots, and ultimately a Mental Scorecard, wherein DECADE asks you to make an honest assessment of how many strokes per round you made without being properly committed.  For example, did you fully commit to a DECADE-based target, or did you make an uncommitted swing secretly hoping to push the ball closer to the pin? As you can see, the app begins to tailor the "For You" video content as you continue to add stats; this screen is actually the first thing you'll see when logging in.

The Bottomline

I’m a better golfer because of DECADE, hands down.  Since starting the program, and with no additional range time or practice time, I’ve shot two personal best rounds (74 and 73).  Now to be clear, Scott is not shy about letting DECADErs know that sometimes you just need to get better at golf, and it’s true, by no means is this a magic elixir that will let you take a banana slice tee shot to the course and break 80.  However, it absolutely can help you get the most from your game on the days you aren’t striping it.  I can't tell you how many times I blocked a shot, but because I had selected a sound DECADE-based target, the ball still found the green.  Additionally, I’ve lately been struggling with my wedges mechanically, even hitting a few “s” words, but through DECADE those rounds have been 78s and 79s that would easily have been 85s before.  I highly highly recommend the program to anyone looking to lower their scores and stop taking that “I should have scored lower” feeling home with them after the round.

Do I have any cons or gripes with DECADE Foundations?  Not many, almost none in fact.  Maybe (and I’m probably offering this out of a need to say something) the fact that the yardage books “expire”.  In Foundations you get one yardage book a month, but you don’t get 6 over 6 months.  In other words, if a month goes by and you didn’t select and download a course yardage book, that book is not banked or rolled over and available to you the next month.  Easy fix thought right?  Don’t be a dumb@ss and download your book on time.

I hope this helps anyone considering DECADE Foundations make an informed decision.  I've left a lot of material uncovered but had to keep this review to a reasonable length.  There are many DECADErs on this forum, so if you have any questions or comments please ask away and I or someone else can surely chime in and help.  Oh yeah, here’s the link to go get DECADE Foundations yourself:

 

Home - DECADE Golf (birdiefire.com)

[cnosil 24,435]

Great review and lines up,with my thoughts on the program.   For those on the fence, Scott typically gives away the first month for free without any credit card required.  Additionally,  Scott posts on YouTube and his Twitter and instagram feeds are good follows.    While Scott comes off as pretty abrasive on social media I had a couple of questions about decade and he setup a ne on one zoom meeting and provided some great insight. He genuinely wants to help people play better golf.  

[Getoffmylawn 5,244]

1 minute ago, cnosil said:

Great review and lines up,with my thoughts on the program.   For those on the fence, Scott typically gives away the first month for free without any credit card required.  Additionally,  Scott posts on YouTube and his Twitter and instagram feeds are good follows.    While Scott comes off as pretty abrasive on social media I had a couple of questions about decade and he setup a ne on one zoom meeting and provided some great insight. He genuinely wants to help people play better golf.  

Thanks, and I'll second that...Scott's extremely responsive.  I had some questions for him about Foundations vs Elite and he had plenty of time to trade multiple messages with me about it.

[TR1PTIK 3,492]

So after reading about Decade and watching a few videos on YouTube, I decided to signup myself just last week. I played my first round using Scott's teachings and immediately saw improvement.

I've really been struggling off the tee as of late which has completely drained any confidence I had in what was once the greatest strength of my game. By selecting better targets off the tee, I was able to make more confident swings and hit more fairways with much better misses - only one drive left me without an opportunity to go for the green.

My performance into the greens was somewhere between average and slightly above average, but again, my misses were so much better and I always gave myself a chance to save par.

I'm looking forward to learning more and implementing the methodology better.

[cksurfdude 10,415]

OK dumb newb question - can you use Decade Foundations *without* entering stats during the round, eg. can you enter whatever is required later, after the round??

[cnosil 24,435]

1 hour ago, cksurfdude said:

OK dumb newb question - can you use Decade Foundations *without* entering stats during the round, eg. can you enter whatever is required later, after the round??

After the round is fine; that is what I did.    The progression of stats over the 6 months is the Tiger 5, then adding putting, then adding mental scorecard.  

[cksurfdude 10,415]

23 minutes ago, cnosil said:

After the round is fine; that is what I did.    The progression of stats over the 6 months is the Tiger 5, then adding putting, then adding mental scorecard.  

Good to know .. thx!!

[YouGotThatShot 2]

Get off my lawn,  Good to hear from someone at Offutt.  I am a retired Cobra Ball Nav who was up at Eielson 90-91 then Offutt 92-95.  Have many rounds at Willow Lakes.  Many great times on that course.  We probably know some of the same folks.  That was a great review of Decade, thanks.  I am an 11 handicap and continuing to get better at 61 yrs old.  I stumbled onto the Decade info a couple days ago and have been obsessively watching videos on YouTube since.  I am going to sign up for the free month today and look forward to improving on my game.  Have a great weekend.  Mitch

[Getoffmylawn 5,244]

34 minutes ago, YouGotThatShot said:

Get off my lawn,  Good to hear from someone at Offutt.  I am a retired Cobra Ball Nav who was up at Eielson 90-91 then Offutt 92-95.  Have many rounds at Willow Lakes.  Many great times on that course.  We probably know some of the same folks.  That was a great review of Decade, thanks.  I am an 11 handicap and continuing to get better at 61 yrs old.  I stumbled onto the Decade info a couple days ago and have been obsessively watching videos on YouTube since.  I am going to sign up for the free month today and look forward to improving on my game.  Have a great weekend.  Mitch

Glad you found the review helpful!  I've been at Offutt for 5+ years; I'll PCS this coming summer.  How many rounds at Willow Lakes?  Too many to even think about counting!  It's a gem of a course...Robert Trent Jones Sr. design for a military course is unheard of.  I'm two strokes away from finally breaking par there...really hoping I can get it done before July (roughly when I think I'll be moving).

I hope you do sign up for Foundations; circle back here and let us know about your experience; and welcome to the forum.

[Getoffmylawn 5,244]

In what is likely a serious case of overkill, I just pulled the trigger and upgraded to ELITE for a full year.  I’ll post a follow-up here when I’ve had some time with it, and some rounds.