VIDEOS! Tips and Techniques Video Forum

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#1

Hello mods and community! I haven’t fully explored all of the different forums/pages so I apologize if this exists already. I think a tremendously valuable portion of the forum should be dedicated to sharing links to videos to improve our game.

For example, techniques for driving, approach, putting, common mistakes, etc.

Hope to see it! I think Youtube is a wonderful forum but without specific video recommendations, its easy to get lost in the abyss.

I also wonder if there is a way to rank or vote for videos and move them up or down depending on what helps our community the most.

Anyways, great job to far and I’m looking forward to watching this develop! (Especially since I live in Chicago and my golf days are limited as we approach the colder months) Glad to be a part of an online golf community that shares my newly found passion.

Kevin Brek

#2

Kevin - I really want to be careful with this. As you know, I never talk about swing mechanics on PG for a number of reasons. I’m not necessarily against YouTube, there are TONS of great instructors on there sharing wonderful content. The problem is continuity. If you watch 10 different videos from 10 different instructors, I think you’re going to do more harm than good. Swing information is dangerous if consumed at a rapid pace.

Here is an article I wrote that explores this idea more:

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#3

My golf coach gets furious with me when I tell him I’ve been watching YouTube swing videos. Like doesn’t want to talk to me mad. Hahahaha

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#4

I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not that YouTube golf videos weren’t a thing when I started playing as a teen. I self-taught my swing and even if I know in hindsight I should have gone to a coach, I know that 17 year old me wouldn’t have done so, so an easily accessible information source may have been useful. That said, like everything else, it would only be good in moderation and in that initial “hooked on golf” stage, moderation is tough.

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#5

I totally understand why. If you go on there and start bringing in different concepts, you’re un-doing a lot of his work!!! Keep the blinders on :wink:

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#6

Big problem with youtube is that everyone’s “swing aspirin” needed is a bit different

I think it also feeds the “magic bullet” fallacy we all chase

One lesson a month

Hit balls once per week

Find a few home drills (impact bag, broom, wall drill, orange whip) to work on a simple and specific feel

There’s no YouTube shortcut. You have to eat your broccoli and dig it out of the dirt with some guidance

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#7

Getting to the range and building simple skills (flush half swing 7 iron or ability to change trajectory or ability to play one shot shape through a gate) is going to build a lot of “self organizing” improvement (get Adam young’s stuff if you want to dig in)

Any non “self organizing” improvement has been really difficult for me

In other words, I have never been able to watch a YouTube video, and then get the club to show up in a different position on video or to see a sequence change

It’s taken me almost six months, with one lesson a month to play with a grip that’s about 1/2 knuckle stronger and not drag the club way inside on the take away (I’m still inside, just not in quite as bad a position)

Tldr: any sequence change or club position change is going to require a trained eye and lots of work to ingrain. I think youtube is the enemy of this work

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#8

You’ve all made some very good points and I agree that there can be a lot of garbage on YouTube and taking pointers from 10 different instructors can lead to 10 different swings and do more harm than good.

Golf is a lot like life, everyone has a unique journey.

As a beginner, I’ve found some of the videos helpful in building a foundation and correcting issues I’ve had in early stages.

Similarly, I have found that one of the best ways to develop new skills or correct issues is to experiment.

I guess if nothing else, a page to share drills or exercises could be beneficial to the community.

Kevin Brek

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#9

I’m a big fan of drills or exercises that get you to “self organize” to accomplish a goal - @Adamyounggolf is one of the best at these. For example, trying to consciously strike one part of the clubface.

Where I think people can fall into a trap is starting to listen to different swing theories/systems. It’s not that any of them are wrong, it’s that listening to them at the same time created too many conflicting thoughts on the course. You want your mind to be as quiet as possible before you hit a shot on the course, not thinking about those 5 different videos you watched!

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#10

Jon,

One idea I have is to have a few “practical golf” skill development challenges and to keep a scoreboard

Maybe a Driving challenge, iron challenge, wedge challenge, bunker challenge, up and down challenge and putting challenge

I think it would be great if everyone was tracking skill development somehow in the forum

Maybe it’s as simple as a post or maybe there would be a way to input into a database that would produce a scoreboard

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#11

If you start to see what scratch, mid cappers and double digit golfers are scoring, I think that could help folks work on the low hanging fruit

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#12

Great idea! I think my buddy @Adamyounggolf would be great at setting these up in a separate thread. I’m delegating a lot of work to him already :rofl:. What do you think Adam? Give them a taste of what you’ve got to offer with your programs :grinning:

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#13

Yes, maybe a sticky at the top can update scores by handicap group

Much like a weight room puts up records by weight class

Also I know Scott is doing stuff for college golf conferences that groups stats… thought it could be cool to create a “practical golf” cohort on his app if possible for people doing foundations

This would just be tiger 5

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#14

That does sound good. I’m sure I could start with a few basic ones and expand out.

Would we start a separate thread for this?

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#15

Yup why don’t you create a new topic under the practice category. And people who try out the challenges can post their scores there!

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#16

Good stuff! Looking forward to it

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#17

@jon, outstanding article. I agree with you completely and have just sent your article to a member of my regular foursome who comes to the course with a new swing theory at least four times a year.

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#18

Thanks, the article is a strong warning! Again, great info out there - I’m friends with many of the YT and Instagram coaches. Just don’t listen to all of them at once!

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#19

Perhaps all golf instruction YT videos should come with a disclaimer at the front just like medical and exercise commercials have “Please speak with your golf professional before beginning the advice outlined in this video.”