His opinions are practical to some, impractical to others. Like most YouTube pros, some of his solutions are an oversimplification that will not help everyone.
Golf Sidekick
Makes the game way more enjoyable driving your cart into the fairway straight to your ball, instead of trotting around in the woods. That is beyond lame. Always holding up the group because you have 0 control of your driver.
Thanks but no thanks..... I've been capped on golf equipment with the misses, so 5 wood (stealth) has to be the defacto tee club. It's not bad though honestly, my carry is ~210 and it'll tumble another 20 yards, I tend to hit down on it and deloft it from 18 to 15 or so... It's kind of like a mini 3 wood, lol.
Glad it worked for you. Cheers to no driver!
I suppose but the main takeaway for me is hitting the fairway and not going into hazards or worse OB. Those are scorecard wreckers. I'd rather play a 390 par 4, 5 wood, pw, sw and 2 putt. It's keeps the big number off the card. If you can score on some of the short holes you can go sub 90.
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I love his South African accent and sayings. Makes me giggle.Thanks, sorry I missed that. You are right that his videos are fun, albeit a bit cheesy at times. I laugh every time he says, "bause" and, "what a playa".I like what he does though. If you really think about it, golf is a silly game and we all take it too seriously at times, especially people who do golf instruction.
But we can’t all break 90 just by taking less club. It assumes we hit our woods, hybrids and mid irons like 10 capper - which many of us do not. For those who play well with every club but the driver, it’s a great plan.
I think if we play the right tee's and drive the ball with a high lofted wood most of us would be much better off. Maybe one of those mini drivers? I just find when I hit the 18 degree 5 wood off the tee, if I cut across it or toe it I still launch it out into the fairway pretty far and the shaft is much shorter so routing it into the ball is much easier.
I am a 16 handicap, I am terrible.
I think I’ve tried every combination of strategy imaginable many times over. No doubt if I played from 4500 yards on easy courses with irons only, I’d be able to beak 90 more often. But with the lower course rating and slope those differentials won’t get me to bogey golf.
It’s an enjoyable way to play the game on occasions, but I’m still barely hanging on to the hope of knocking 4-5 strokes off my index. The only way that happens for me is to improve accuracy at the top of the bag.
It’s an enjoyable way to play the game on occasions, but I’m still barely hanging on to the hope of knocking 4-5 strokes off my index. The only way that happens for me is to improve accuracy at the top of the bag.
Disagree, somewhat.
It would be difficult to consistently shoot in the 80's without being able to get off the tee well or hit some longer clubs well.
However, 90's golf doesn't require great driver play or being able to hit 4-irons into greens with great accuracy. It requires you be able to advance the ball somewhat competently with shorter clubs, avoid double-chips and 3-putts. The vast, vast majority of holes you can get around the green hitting two or three (depending on par 4/5) 7-iron's or less, chip on, and two-putt. Do that 18 times and you shoot 90. In short, get somewhere on the green in GIR+1 and two putt.
Of course if you duff a 7-iron shot, duff a chip, or shank into the water more often than a one or two times a round, that strategy still isn't going to result in 90's golf. If that's the case, the problem is not that improvement at the top of the bag is the gating factor, the problem is either improvement throughout the bag is needed, better decisions need to be made, or both.
I was describing what it takes to break 90 and get down to an 18 hdcp. At the courses and tees at which I play, that requires mid to high 80’s golf on many rounds. I’m not sure where we disagree.
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tdinbr
Water hazards are tough!
Love his channel. Been watching him for a couple of years now.
"Bad caddy, no tip. No birdie, no tip!" Cracks me up every time....
"Bad caddy, no tip. No birdie, no tip!" Cracks me up every time....
Jon sorry to circle back but I wonder what would happen to us (high caps) if we took a 7 wood or 9 wood, maybe a 5.... And exclusively hit it at the range. Literally grooved our swing around it. Used it over and over and over again when we play. Use it off the tee, use it for our second shot par 5s, even long par 4s (both shots). Literally used it as much as possible. Become a sniper with it.
Grab 20 balls and hit them off the tee, simulating a game. Then set it down on the ground for your second shot, par 5 or 4. Then rinse lather and repeat.
Wasn't particularly revelatory for me. Pretty much everything he covered was in The Four Foundations of Golf and/or Every Shot Counts (which he disses).
I've not been particularly impressed with much of Golf Is Not A Game of Perfect, which he does recommend. Much of what's in that book is very old-school and has since been thoroughly disproved by statistics derived from Arccos, ShotScope, etc. data.
I admit that's an intriguing way to think about it.
Yeah... I won't be giving up on my driver. If it turns out I can't hit it well I'll apply the same dedication and purpose to it as I have my full swing training, and I'll keep at it until I can.
In my view, there's three choices in golf:
1). Accept your swing for what it is, and try to lower your scores by excellent strategy and improving short game and putting so you're not double-chipping or having lots of 3-putts.
2). Get regular instruction and put work into making fundamental swing changes. This takes a long time, LOTS of work, and is hard, but it has the highest upside.
3). Try to improve your swing through YouTube video, tips, etc. While this can help it's usually temporary and you can certainly get into a position where you make yourself worse by applying fixes to your swing when what you're fixing is not your actual problem.
Your suggestion really falls into #1. You're not likely to get markedly better at hitting 7 or 9 woods just by hitting a ton of them on the range. But, you can learn what your most frequent patterns are - and then have your strategy incorporate those.
You might not break 90, but your score could still come down by using these strategies. It could mean that you’re shooting consistently in the 90s and save you from the dreaded 100+ score.
*Most golfers* hit their shorter clubs more accurately than their longer clubs, regardless of handicap. Handicap just changes HOW WELL you hit each, but the relative differences between the clubs still stand. Shorter clubs tend to be more controllable than longer ones. So even if you struggle with your 5 iron, you might struggle slightly less with your 7 iron. So on and so forth.
Exactly that's my thoughts, instead of having 3 to 4 long clubs (just learning to hit one extremely good relative to your swing). Spending the rest of your time working on short game and putting. My irons are much better than my handicap would indicate, probably one of the best parts of my game besides my 5 wood. McLovin can back me on this we just played a month ago. Of course I didn't get him to sign formalized document to validate this,
But to your point I don't want to take lessons or spend money doing that type of thing. My training equals 5 wood or driver (generally just one) to the range exclusively (and recently it's been 5 wood). Practice setting up like I am teeing off and lashing it as far as I can within reason. It's the chipping and putting piece I have been slacking on and really need to get back to it.
Regardless of score, bottom line, if you can't get off the tee box effectively you won't have fun. That is 100% fact in my minds eye.
Some very interesting stuff here - the mental aspect is definitely a focus of mine. Especially when stuff starts going sideways for me in the round
Isn’t there a trade off though with getting less distance? I’ll take accuracy at the sacrifice of a little distance any day, but there is a point diminishing returns. And while my 7i has less dispersion, it’s far from bullet proof. My 3h can cause as much mayhem as the driver.
I’ve used most of what he’s suggesting and still approach some holes with bogey in mind right off the tee. But some folks don’t understand strategy isn’t the issue. Unless someone is making really boneheaded decisions, it’s more about execution - or lack thereof.
My opinion is to work on improving everything and not neglect any one area. The full swing is very difficult for me (and most golfers I’d assume) so it requires a bit more practice. But yeah, if you focus on a specific club you should see improvement.
He joined the forum last year I believe, or maybe not him who knows..... but I do like his tips and sytle
Buckeyegolfnut
Well-known member
From the OP, I do like the idea of not trying to play hero shots. Trying to play hero shots cost me my last opportunity to break 80!
Are there any golf solutions that help everyone?
Are there any golf solutions that help everyone?
Of course not, because there are a lot of ways to suck at this game. Some YouTubers sure come across that way, though. Not from Golf Sidekick but others: "Try this and I'll guarantee your scores will start dropping."
GS's videos have helped lots of people, which is cool. But there seems to be a common belief that high cappers have never tried to play conservatively. I don't see it. Mostly, I see folks like me making a terrible swing on an otherwise smart choice. Other than those new to the game, the thinking part of this games isn't that difficult.
SundayHack
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I also like his videos.
Enjoyment factor aside.
I’m just as likely to put my driver in the woods at 220 as I am with my 7W at 180.
Wouldn’t strokes gained suggest I’m still better off at 220 in the woods?
Most of the Par 4s at my course are 370-400yds, taking 7W off the tee still leaves me with a 7W as my next shot.
Move up on the tees you say, my course only has Blue (Mens Monthly Medal) White (Men’s) Red (Woman’s).
So I am working on becoming more consistent with my driver and improving my FIR to get the ball out to 220, hopefully if I hit the fairway and get more roll out of it.
Enjoyment factor aside.
I’m just as likely to put my driver in the woods at 220 as I am with my 7W at 180.
Wouldn’t strokes gained suggest I’m still better off at 220 in the woods?
Most of the Par 4s at my course are 370-400yds, taking 7W off the tee still leaves me with a 7W as my next shot.
Move up on the tees you say, my course only has Blue (Mens Monthly Medal) White (Men’s) Red (Woman’s).
So I am working on becoming more consistent with my driver and improving my FIR to get the ball out to 220, hopefully if I hit the fairway and get more roll out of it.
Love his channel and I have emailed back and forth with him a few times. Nice guy always answered my questions quickly.
I think for people stuggling to break 100 or 90 he has some decent advice. Not for everyone
I think for people stuggling to break 100 or 90 he has some decent advice. Not for everyone
Well, you're better off taking a drop or hitting out sideways closer to the hole. So if I can guarantee I'm going to hit it into a place where I absolutely can't with both clubs, sure, I'd hit driver.
But how many people look at it is: "I'm better off at 220 in the woods, than 170 in the fairway (or light rough). This is not true. This is a common misunderstanding. Strokes gained says you're better off at 220 IF you are in-play (no worse than light rough) than in the fairway at 170. Being in the trees where you have no angle and have to chip out is equivalent to being in a hazard.
What statistics will tell you is over the long term, you are more likely to hit a shorter club in-play because the dispersion is smaller. What people often miss is you may have to go significantly shorter. Hitting 3-wood instead of driver doesn't really buy you much in terms of dispersion. The reason to hit 3-wood instead of driver is generally not dispersion - it's to remain short of a hazard where driver might have gone in.
When driver isn't the play, you might have to go all the way down to a 4-iron or even less to maximize your chance of significantly tighter dispersion.
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Good point about the rough (not that your post didn't have all sorts of good, it did) but for instance I play in the south and we have a ton of Bermuda here. It's damn near impossible to hit out of even if you are 75 yards closer it's grabby, twist the head and if you do get lucky with a flyer lie (which ain't often due to the weak roots) PW's will glance off of the greens over the back of the green sometimes into the water or bunkers or even in more bermuda.
I'd much rather be on the fairway where you can pinch the ball apply proper spin and have a chance at holding greens. I don't get the obsession with wanting to get as close as possible. I enjoy 150 into the greens thats a really smooth 8 for myself. Just nice full swing and relax through the strike (but not decelling).