Shot Pattern App vs. DECADE Golf App: Who Wins?

Most golfers don’t lose strokes because of their swing—they lose them because of decision-making.

Club selection, target choice, and understanding where your real misses live matter far more than perfect mechanics. That’s why tools like Shot Pattern and DECADE Golf have become so popular with serious players. Both aim to help golfers play smarter, but they approach the problem from very different angles.

This comparison isn’t about which app is “better.” It’s about understanding how each tool works, what kind of golfer it’s best for, and how to use it to make fewer big mistakes and score more consistently.

Shot Pattern vs. DECADE

At a high level, Shot Pattern and DECADE Golf both help golfers reduce guesswork — but they do it in opposite ways.

• Shot Pattern is a tool to use on the course (or preview a round before). It shows you what actually happened and helps you spot patterns in your game.
  
  
• DECADE Golf is prescriptive and strategy. It gives you a strategy to think like a pro before you hit any shot and tools off the course as well.
  

One helps you learn from your tendencies. The other helps you avoid mistakes before they happen. Understanding that distinction makes choosing (or combining) them much easier.

Shot Pattern

Shot Pattern is a lightweight, app-based tracking tool designed to show golfers where their shots actually go, not where they think they go.

Instead of focusing on strokes gained formulas or complex strategy models, Shot Pattern builds visual maps of your rounds by recording shot locations. Over time, those maps reveal tendencies — common misses, average distances, and how dispersion shows up on different holes.

The real value of Shot Pattern is clarity.

You can quickly see:

• Where tee shots tend to miss
  
• How approach shots cluster around greens
  
• Whether one side of the course consistently gets you into trouble
  
• How dispersion changes with different clubs (which is shocking for most golfers)
  

There’s no heavy setup and no required hardware. You’re essentially building a visual record of your golf over time, which makes it easier to connect feel with reality.

For golfers who like learning through pictures and patterns, this can be incredibly powerful. 

If you have more questions about Shot Pattern, read my full review or watch the video below with the app's founder.

Pros 

• Tournament legal.
• Stat tracking options.
• No sensors or club attachments required.
• Clear visual feedback that’s easy to understand.
• Helps identify real miss patterns (not assumptions).
• Useful for course management reviews after rounds.
• Simple learning curve compared to analytics-heavy tools.

Cons

• Requires manual shot input during rounds.
• Less strategic guidance compared to DECADE.
• Relies on user consistency for accurate insights.
• Doesn’t provide target-selection rules or frameworks.
• Best used after rounds rather than during decision-making.

DECADE Golf

If you’ve ever listened to my podcast, chances are you’ve heard me talk about DECADE Golf by Scott Fawcett. It’s a truly unbelievable system that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. 

DECADE Golf is a decision-making and course-management system, not a traditional shot-tracking app. Instead of focusing on where shots went after the fact, DECADE is designed to help golfers choose better targets, clubs, and strategies before they hit the shot. It’s built around dispersion patterns, strokes-gained logic, and risk management—all with the goal of eliminating big mistakes and improving scoring consistency.

DECADE Golf teaches you how to:

• Choose smarter targets based on dispersion, not flags
• Understand acceptable misses vs. costly misses
• Manage risk on approach shots and tee shots
• Separate emotion from decision-making
  

While DECADE does include stat tracking, the real value is the framework it gives you. Once you learn it, you’re no longer guessing—every shot has a reason behind it.

This is why DECADE Golf has become especially popular with single-digit handicaps, competitive amateurs, and tournament golfers. It doesn’t promise quick fixes; it builds repeatable decision-making under pressure.

Pros 

• Provides a clear, proven course-management system
• Excellent for reducing big numbers and blow-up holes
• Teaches golfers how to think like a professional golfer
• Widely used by elite amateurs and competitive players
• Improves confidence through disciplined decision-making

Cons

• Higher price tag.
• Manual stat tracking. 
• Steeper learning curve than visual tracking apps.
• Less immediate visual feedback than Shot Pattern.
• More strategy-focused than casual golfers may want and not meant for high handicappers.

Still not sure about DECADE? Read my full review here or watch the video below explaining the system. 

How to Choose

This choice becomes very clear once you define who you are as a golfer.

Choose DECADE Golf if you:

• Are a single-digit handicap or competitive player.
• Want a strategy framework you can use every round.
• Play tournaments or care about scoring under pressure.
• Willing to learn and apply a system consistently (trust me, it’ll pay off big time).

DECADE Golf is ideal for golfers who want structure, discipline, and a repeatable way to manage risk at a high level.

Choose Shot Pattern if you: 

• Want flexibility without heavy theory.
• Like learning from patterns and visuals.
• Want an easy, visual way to understand your game.
• A mid- to high-handicap golfer improving course awareness.
  

Shot Pattern works well for all types of golfers, especially those who want clarity without complexity. Many golfers eventually use both:

• Shot Pattern to see tendencies/stats
• DECADE Golf to make better decisions and think like a pro
  

My Experience

I use both, but for different reasons. I like Shot Pattern for course previews and pattern recognition. Before and while playing a course, the app helps me understand where trouble actually is and how holes tend to play. 

DECADE Golf, however, is a framework I use every round. My targets, my risk tolerance, and my decisions are all influenced by DECADE principles—especially on tee + approach shots.

Shot Pattern gives me awareness, while DECADE gives me rules. That combination has been powerful and will always be part of my golf future.

Closing Thoughts 

Shot Pattern and DECADE Golf aren’t competing solutions—they’re different tools designed for different stages of a golfer’s development.

Shot Pattern helps you see reality. It removes guesswork by showing you where your shots actually go, making it easier to understand tendencies, manage expectations, and learn the course. That kind of clarity benefits every golfer, regardless of handicap.

DECADE Golf helps you make better decisions before you swing. It’s built for golfers who want structure, discipline, and a proven framework to manage risk—especially under pressure. For competitive players and single-digit handicaps, that’s a massive edge.

Used together, they cover both sides of smart golf:

• Awareness of your tendencies
  
• Discipline in your decision-making
  

That combination is exactly what leads to fewer big numbers, more consistency, and better scoring over time.

If you’re ready to play smarter golf and want to try either (or both), you can use my links and codes below:

• Shot Pattern – Perfect for all golfers who want simple, visual insight into their game
  👉 Use code "WICKEDSMART" to save 20% on your annual subscription. 
  
• DECADE Golf– Ideal for single-digit handicaps and tournament golfers
  👉 Use code "WICKEDSMART" to save 20% on your subscription. 
  

No matter which route you choose, the goal is the same: fewer mistakes, better decisions, and lower scores. Both are wicked smart approved!