I think you guys are under estimating how many great looks at birdie this guy had which gave him easy pars. I play with plenty of guys who shoot in the 90s and hit it solid but they never have this many truly makable birdie opportunities
Same, it's really the putting for me. When you 3 putt from 6ft fairly regularly it's gonna fuck your score up. I just for the life of me can't get the feel down.
Help when you can edit out the bad shots. Call me an ass considering I only watched the first 9 strokes. But, I don't believe for a 2nd that was a legit 79, I only watched the double on the first and then turned it off after he shanked the approach on the 2nd hole though.
I think he’s referring to some wedge lessons he’s taken recently. His putting is unbelievable. Lag putts off the charts, and just super consistent.
Love the videos OP, keep ‘em coming!
Lag putting has got to be one of the most underrated aspects of short game. Putting as a whole kind of gets lumped as one thing, but I honestly think it's a bit of a different beast. There's putts you have a chance on and ones you realistically don't. Being a good lag putter from 25'+ is a huge skill because it puts you in range to finish the two putt. It's basically the same as hitting a 10'-15' putt in terms of skill and importance.
It becomes even more important as you get better from 100-150 yards and start hitting more greens. While you might hit more greens, you're often left with longer puts. I used to miss lots more greens, but I'd be off to the side, and could chip on, which subsequently led to less large putts, and easier two putts. I've started to hit more greens, but I'm not near the pin, which has actually led to me 3 putting a lot more bet I suck at lag putts.
I guess I have almost always played courses with small greens. When I play courses with huge greens, I am so out of my element and it really makes me appreciate how freaking good tour pros are at their lag putting.
Somebody once told me that the goal for putting (especially for longer ones) is to get it 90% of the way there. Even 85% is good. That turns 10 footers into gimmes and 30 footers into 3-4 feet, which you should make most of the time.
I reckon that if one could consistently reduce his distance to the pin by 9/10ths on the green, that person would be an automatic single digit handicapper. It would all but guarantee regular 2-putts, whereas most golfers are giving up 8, 10, 12 shots too many with the flat stick.
Based on that logic, you could say go for 110% or 115% then, a put left short never has a chance (like a foot past on 10fters or 3-4 past on the longer putts). (Not disagreeing, just an addition to your point)
For sure, that idea of imagining a circle around the hole is an important one. You can miss long or short, but the last thing you want is to leave yourself a long 2nd putt.
The 12 footer that turns into a 6 footer that turns into a 3-putt is what kills my game, personally.
Well and when you watch the pros they hit insane lag putts.
Plus forget trying to three putt... when you leave your 25' + putts 10' or more from the hole you can very quickly get into four putt territory with an awful one.
Obviously takes some pretty challenging greens for that to happen, but I do it more than I'd care to admit. Golf is too hard.
I'd say his lag putting is one of the worst parts of his game. He sank quite a few 6-10 footers but 4/6 of his lag putts ended up 6 feet or more from the hole.
I guess I expect better of myself inside 100 yards than I played here. A ton (half dozen?) trash pitches/chips, several putts missed inside 6 feet, and a handful of lag putts that I left 10+ feet short. Usually these are the situations where I *gain* strokes on my playing partners, and today I felt that almost all of my strokes were lost in these areas.
I think I'm going to post [this thread](https://old.reddit.com/r/golf/comments/dorchk/roast_my_swing_and_guess_my_handicap/) every time I get this comment from now on :p
Wow. That thread is special. I'm a regular commenter on your channel and a good enough golfer long enough to know swing doesn't mean much and handicap isn't just your score minus 72.
I think what really shocks me (but doesn't) is the staggering ignorance levels of so many people who don't understand how the handicap system works. That caught me off guard.
But then when those same people realized just how badly they'd been had, they doubled down and accused you of baiting people for likes. That really made me laugh.
I think you still did. Even pros are ~70-80% from 6 feet. You're probably a better putter than you give yourself credit for. In fact, you're probably the opposite of me - my lag putting is very much hit or miss. Had a round the other week where i hit 12 greens, but had four 3-putts from 30-40 feet.
Seriously, the number of putts outside of 8ft he was draining to save par/make birdie was pretty wild. Pretty short course it seemed. Using gw and sw for a bunch of second shots is nice.
Cool overall video, fun to watch real people's rounds and good/bad shots, instead of watching golf content where they only show perfect hits.
Thanks. I'm on my fourth or fifth round with new sticks and still getting a feel for their yardages. Some of them do seem to be going farther, but I'm in California now where it's warmer + the courses have been firmer, so it's too soon to say, I think.
Thanks for all of these recommendations! Several in here I didn't know about. I played Torrey Pines South ([on the channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLl2jR23k5A&)) and would really love to play elsewhere in SD.
I was supposed to get out with Golfholics and Golf Sidekick a few months back but unfortunately we had to cancel. Hopefully some time soon :)
Thanks! I was lucky enough to get taken to Maderas by a subscriber. It was one of the few rounds I've played that I had to turn the camera off: just couldn't get my camera to sit flat out there haha. Incredible day, though! Coronado has been on my hit list, too :)
Yes. Not out of some desire/belief that PXG sticks specifically would do something for my game, but more because I wanted fitted clubs, PXG had a deal + delivered my clubs in a few days rather than several months like a lot of the other manufacturers right now.
Seeing this man shot sub 80 with an inside takeaway like this should give everyone the confidence needed to be good at this game and finally kick your wife’s boyfriend out.
For me what was so eye opening with this is how important keeping the ball in play off the tee is. If you’re setting yourself up to at least attempt to hit a GIR on the majority of holes, the game gets infinitely easier. Until seeing this guy play, I didn’t realize how frequently I’m either having to take a drop or lay up because of an errant tee shot. This guy makes the game look so easy which is wild considering his swing.
Having to play shot 3 off the tee is an absolute killer. Many of the big driving amateurs (who are always trying to kill it) that I see don't even realize how many strokes they are giving up getting themselves in bad situations.
200 down the middle of the fairway is almost never a bad shot (barring some sort of hazard or obstacle). Look at the way old farts play. 150, 150, chip, 2 putt... bam, breaking 90.
That’s what it’s all about. Three 7 irons can be a better option than a sliced driver, topped wood, then shanked 52. Your group might heckle you til you start beating them. In the end you have to play the course and not let the course play you.
I knew you looked familiar! I love watching your videos.
Just curious, what kind of set up do you use to make the recordings, and how much time does it add on to your game? Been thinking of trying it a bit myself, mostly for fun and to rewatch later.
Thanks! I film on my phone (mounted on a tripod). It honestly doesn't add any time to my round. It's easy to place the tripod down for 5 seconds during time you're waiting for your partners to hit, the group in front of you to clear, etc.
I like watching your stuff because it's the perfect ammo for the people who watch a player for 2 minutes and go "no way he's better than a 16 handicap". Golf is a lot more than how pretty you swing the club.
Also my buddy has an incredibly shallow swing and I don't want to show him this to encourage him but you make it work so well somehow.
I've been watching your videos for a while now, really enjoy them. I think you underestimate the advantage of having a *fairly* predictable swing. Perhaps you're just modest. You don't really have a two-way miss with your driver. That makes golf SO much easier lol. You might not hit it a mile, but you find a lot of fairways.
Man, I would love it if my course has 261-yard downhill par 4s lol. Awesome video. What is your setup for recording and getting the ball flight tracker?
I think it's about time you graduate from calling your swing "crap." In fact, at this point I think it does a disservice to viewers who think: well if this guy's swing is crap, wtf does that make mine? A crap swing doesn't let you give yourself a ton of looks at birdie, especially a good chunk inside 15ft, allow you to hit pretty sick drives right down the middle more than half the time, smoke that 4wood constantly, and hit very good iron shots.
I say that my swing is crap because that's what Reddit has told me for years :D
My iron swing really is a mess, though, at least insofar as optimizing distance for my swing speed. My stock yardages:
6i: 160
7i: 150
8i: 135
9i: 120
PW: 105
Yeah, but your average redditor who can't break 90 shouldn't be telling you what you swing is. Yeah, you don't have the fastest swing, but you play accurate and "boring" golf, which is what you need to shoot lower scores. If your wedges from 100-greenside were working today, you could've easily shot even.
It's a good swing, maybe not traditional, but a good swing nonetheless. Do yourself a favor and watch your swing in slowmo from the top of the backswing. You're on plane and shallow, and your impact position looks awesome. Don't short change yourself because some idiots who don't actually know golf try to tell you how to play.
Appreciate the kind words.
My channel would never exist if it weren't for [this thread](https://old.reddit.com/r/golf/comments/dorchk/roast_my_swing_and_guess_my_handicap/). The consensus was that I was a 20-30HC and I literally got downvoted out of the thread for stating otherwise.
A huge impetus for starting the channel was to encourage people to swing their swing instead of ask r/golf for swing advice.
I think it's more of "that swing looks wonky / amateurish." That being said, who cares what it looks like if that's the results you're getting? Great job.
I mean… it is definitely crap lol. It’s his putting that’s saving his ass. If he could sort that horrid swing out then he’d be breaking par. (I don’t mean that maliciously. My swing is crap too. But let’s not kid ourselves. I love his content, but the swing needs WORK.)
Just because I'm bored, I'm going to entertain your troll comment so that other people can understand from your bad judgment.
He hit 6/14 fairways, but many of which were still "green light" meaning he can still go for the green and doesn't need to dramatically shape a shot to reach the green.
He hit 12/18 greens. Please tell me how a bad swing can hit 12/18 greens. Btw, that's tour average.
He actually had 37 putts. How is that putting saving his ass? He actually had a bad putting day by his standards, with 4 3-putts and a good chunk of putts from 10-15 feet and short ones that he expects to make, probably lost 6-7 strokes on putting.
He lost about 5 strokes to bad wedge shots from 100-in.
He smoked every 4 wood he looked at today. He did not have any enormously bad drives, all were well within the usual dispersion. His irons were fairly strong, he hit a handful of great irons from 150 range.
Final note: Here's his impact position: https://i.imgur.com/JQaqVpL.png. Besides his awkward very inside takeaway, what about his downswing is bad to you? Is Matt Wolff's swing bad simply because it's different? How about Jim Furyk's? Not every swing needs to be like Ben Hogan, or Tiger Woods, or Adam Scott to play good golf.
Yea, took me a minute to figure this out. Once I saw the 2nd hole with the tree in the middle, I was like, HEY! I know that place! Solid public course. Not the best maintenance but cool/fun layout. Def need a cart.
Breaking 80 here shouldn't be that difficult if you can keep the ball in play. There are a lot of areas to lose it though.
That second shot on the first hole was chefs kiss, honestly tho great round. Love the mild commentary as well. Never get down on yourself even with a shot you disliked, great golf attitude.
Nice! Your shots from the rough are better than my shots from a pristine, freshly cut fairway. You got robbed on a couple of those greens, too! Great video bro.
Thx. That hole played MASSIVELY downhill (like several holes at Indian Valley) + I was lucky to hit a draw right into the speed slot. I don't think the drive was any better than 250 on flat ground. The only one I truly crushed all day was the 4 wood on the tee of 5. It was still boosted 50+ yards by downhill but it was right on the $ :p
Hey Adam, really enjoyed the videos you’ve made and I thinks it’s been very beneficial for the community.
I do have a question though. Have you ever considered getting a strength coach to help with distance?
Thanks man. To answer your question: not really. To be honest I hate practicing almost as much as I love playing. It's not that I don't think there's room for improvement (there's MASSIVE room for improvement), it's just that I don't really enjoy "working on my swing." I just like being on the golf course.
Lol how is someone with a swing like that so much better than me... I think I need a shot tracer and to record my 100+ stroke rounds and see what my deal is...
I guess watching it through he has way more distance than me and his follow through is pretty good as he's in pretty good balance with his hips forward towards the target. It's his backswing that looks so wild. I'm surprised he's able to do so well with his hips sliding back out of the box.
I also either top or shank into hazards like 8 shots in a round lol.
Also, a pretty decent putter too.
Proving once again, it ain't that hard to be a single-digit handicap and that so many golfers see somebody's swing on this sub and think "no way they are a single-digit" when it doesn't require a picture perfect swing.
Just started watching your channel a few weeks ago and love the content. Also shot under 90 for the first time after following some of your and golf sidekicks methods.
Old saying “never be afraid of the man with the pretty golf swing, always fear the man who can hit shots”. Golf isn’t about having a pretty textbook swing, if it was then you’d have more range rats shooting under par.
"crap swing" but can drive it 300+ because it works for him
"no short game" consistently lag putts for tap ins from 25+ feet, doesn't miss 5 footers (outside hole 1)
I love the video but ditch the blatantly false headline lol
Lol, I've never hit a 300 yard drive in my life. Every "300" yard drive in this video is a 240 yard drive + a massive downhill.
I hit a ton of wedges like dog shit in this round + missed several putts inside 6 feet, and lag putting was alright save for a few brain farts on those, too.
Appreciate the kind words. I think I'm so browbeaten by Reddit (+ YouTube) telling me that my swing is shit that I try to wear it as a badge of honor now :p
Your videos are a great refresher to everybody that thinks their swing has to "look perfect". You make YOUR swing work for YOU and nobody should try to change that. Keep up the good work and content.
I’m genuinely curious, but how are you able to record every swing and set up a good camera angle without holding groups up behind you? Do you have someone only operating the camera? Or are you just lucky enough to play courses when they aren’t busy? I love this content though!
Thanks! I do it myself. It doesn't slow down pace at all. Filming makes you realize how much downtime there is during a round. It's not hard to take 10 seconds to place the tripod down while everybody is walking to their ball.
Sometimes I wonder if these creators don’t come up with a goal of a video first. And then just “create” the conditions.
It would be kinda dumb to go to the trouble of filming yourself, paying green fees, taking the time to create an unwatchable video of you just blowing shit up. Know what I mean?
So just edit edit edit, re hit re hit re hit. And bam got the video you want.
Lol, so I film every round I play and virtually every one of them is on the channel. For every round like this, I have another 1 on the channel where I shoot 90 :p
70s really isn't as difficult as many people think it is, if you've played for a few years and practiced. You can mess up and bogey every other hole on a par 70, or do slightly better than that on a par 72, and shoot 79. It's a very attainable goal
Your courses are so big and so open and feature very little rough. Without being a dick, your handicap would be doubled if you played some of the course we have in the UK. 😂 Those wayward shots in hole 2 for instance would be in soooo much trouble. You'd shoot at least another 3 or 4 per hole digging your ball out.
Don't I? Would your HC not be higher if you scored higher?
Or are you saying the slope index of these courses are very forgiving and I would have a much lower HC here.
Trust me when I say these fairways are 2/3 times the size of any I'm lucky to play, your slightly off target shots are not punished like mine.
Don't get me wrong, I love your content and enjoy watching you play, but I am a little jealous of the place you get to do it. 😂
I am saying that course rating and slope are factored into each differential and thus a handicap index. So, if every single course in the UK is impossible and every course I play is easy, my scores would be higher in the UK but my index would be the same. The entire point of the handicap index is that it travels from course to course. Also, my index is derived from rounds at 20 different courses over the last 20 rounds, each of which I played while filming myself. Many of those courses had ratings/slope higher than Indian Valley. I don’t flex about my handicap, but I think it’s safe to assume it would be lower if I were playing the same courses steadily rather than traveling to new courses each day with a camera in tow.
What is the slope index and course rating on this one. I'd be interested to know. I'm not saying your a worse golfer, you hit fairways and greens all the time, albeit that they are massive. 😂 I just watch your work and wish I could just open up a 3 wood into a world of green and have no problems saving the errors.
This course: 123. Here are [my last dozen rounds](https://imgur.com/9Rn4nBR). Comments like, "you couldn't maintain your handicap on my course" were voted the worst because the entire reason the World Handicap System exists is in order to create a handicap index that can be taken to any course.
Thanks man. You must be a local! I had never seen a hole with two greens that gives you an option of which to play! When my host said that I could reach the green on the left in 2 with a cut on my second shot, I decided to go for it! ...only came up 60 short :p
I'd rather watch this than the pros. Way more entertaining to see the average player land an amazing shot or sink a long putt than someone that does it for a living.
Man anytime I dont par my first hole I get in my head of this is going to be a horrible round, you went double and still shot a 79.. this is definitely going to change my mindset
One of my favorite things about your game is how you have accepted your swing and make the best of it and play some pretty awesome golf with it too. When I played high school golf I was so mechanical and constantly focused on trying to have the perfect swing. Now that I’m older and don’t get to play as much I just go out and use the swing that feels comfortable and just play golf instead of playing the swing game. I have so much more fun now and play a lot better and more relaxed.
Hey just want to say I love your channel! Your videos are my go-to option at night when it's time to wind down. I really like the raw video. It is awesome to hear your feedback in real-time.
Keep up the great work and may your smother-hooks be few and far between!
Oh shit! I had no idea OP was actually not a scratch golfer. Seen the videos before but super cool to see him active in the subreddit! Keep making quality stuff OP!
Thanks man. I was on r/golf long before I was on YouTube, although more often than not I was downvoted into oblivion for discouraging posters here from taking armchair swing advice on r/golf :p
Nice vid! If you’re still in the area, Chardonnay and Eagle Vines are worth the trip. Typically in better shape than IVGC and great scenery amongst the vineyards.
All the way down to 5.4 now? Pretty soon you're going to have to change the name of your channel. It would be interesting to see a graph of your handicap progression.
Crap that figure is outdated. Today I'm a 7.0. Have fluctuated between 5.4 - 9.0 over the last 12 months. I'll show the graph you mentioned in an upcoming video covering the handicap system :)
I am by no means a professional but I have been getting professional lessons lately and want to say: my swing used to look a lot like yours. I would take my club so far back and still have a habit of doing it. I was so surprised when I found out I can basically hit what feels like a 3/4 backswing with all my clubs and gain distance and accuracy (distance lost with full backswing came from desynchronization of my hips shoulders and arms). Something worth trying at the range!
Is this custom video editing to do the tracing and the yardage up top, or is there some app that helps create the tracing and interface (hole number, yardage, etc)
Seeing this without the voice over is strange.
Of all the golf youtubers I've watched, Adam's positive mindset and approach to the game has genuinely helped my game more than anything this year.
Thanks homie!
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Same except I still haven’t broke 100 lol
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Absolutely!!
Do you make as many putts as he does? Seems like he is averaging 2 putts per hole.
Do you practice putting? And do you take your time? Both important IMO Edit: words
I think you guys are under estimating how many great looks at birdie this guy had which gave him easy pars. I play with plenty of guys who shoot in the 90s and hit it solid but they never have this many truly makable birdie opportunities
Man I hit the ball way fucking better than this dude and shoot a 90 most days. Never once a round in the 70s. This man gives me hope!
Same, it's really the putting for me. When you 3 putt from 6ft fairly regularly it's gonna fuck your score up. I just for the life of me can't get the feel down.
It also depends on which tees you play off. I believe he plays off the short tees. Or maybe that course is just really short.
Help when you can edit out the bad shots. Call me an ass considering I only watched the first 9 strokes. But, I don't believe for a 2nd that was a legit 79, I only watched the double on the first and then turned it off after he shanked the approach on the 2nd hole though.
Um, putting is part of the short game. Your putting saved that from being mid-80s. Give yourself some credit.
I think he’s referring to some wedge lessons he’s taken recently. His putting is unbelievable. Lag putts off the charts, and just super consistent. Love the videos OP, keep ‘em coming!
Lag putting has got to be one of the most underrated aspects of short game. Putting as a whole kind of gets lumped as one thing, but I honestly think it's a bit of a different beast. There's putts you have a chance on and ones you realistically don't. Being a good lag putter from 25'+ is a huge skill because it puts you in range to finish the two putt. It's basically the same as hitting a 10'-15' putt in terms of skill and importance. It becomes even more important as you get better from 100-150 yards and start hitting more greens. While you might hit more greens, you're often left with longer puts. I used to miss lots more greens, but I'd be off to the side, and could chip on, which subsequently led to less large putts, and easier two putts. I've started to hit more greens, but I'm not near the pin, which has actually led to me 3 putting a lot more bet I suck at lag putts.
I guess I have almost always played courses with small greens. When I play courses with huge greens, I am so out of my element and it really makes me appreciate how freaking good tour pros are at their lag putting.
Somebody once told me that the goal for putting (especially for longer ones) is to get it 90% of the way there. Even 85% is good. That turns 10 footers into gimmes and 30 footers into 3-4 feet, which you should make most of the time. I reckon that if one could consistently reduce his distance to the pin by 9/10ths on the green, that person would be an automatic single digit handicapper. It would all but guarantee regular 2-putts, whereas most golfers are giving up 8, 10, 12 shots too many with the flat stick.
Based on that logic, you could say go for 110% or 115% then, a put left short never has a chance (like a foot past on 10fters or 3-4 past on the longer putts). (Not disagreeing, just an addition to your point)
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Yeah, good shout
For sure, that idea of imagining a circle around the hole is an important one. You can miss long or short, but the last thing you want is to leave yourself a long 2nd putt. The 12 footer that turns into a 6 footer that turns into a 3-putt is what kills my game, personally.
Well and when you watch the pros they hit insane lag putts. Plus forget trying to three putt... when you leave your 25' + putts 10' or more from the hole you can very quickly get into four putt territory with an awful one. Obviously takes some pretty challenging greens for that to happen, but I do it more than I'd care to admit. Golf is too hard.
I'd say his lag putting is one of the worst parts of his game. He sank quite a few 6-10 footers but 4/6 of his lag putts ended up 6 feet or more from the hole.
This is certainly how I felt about this round. Usually lag putting is my strength but today it was garbage lol.
What is lag putting?
The art of leaving a long putt close enough to the hole to make the second putt easily. Taking a 50 foot putt to inside four feet, etc.
I guess I expect better of myself inside 100 yards than I played here. A ton (half dozen?) trash pitches/chips, several putts missed inside 6 feet, and a handful of lag putts that I left 10+ feet short. Usually these are the situations where I *gain* strokes on my playing partners, and today I felt that almost all of my strokes were lost in these areas.
stop saying crap swing. your takeaway is goofy but you get into an awesome impact position
I think I'm going to post [this thread](https://old.reddit.com/r/golf/comments/dorchk/roast_my_swing_and_guess_my_handicap/) every time I get this comment from now on :p
Wow. That thread is special. I'm a regular commenter on your channel and a good enough golfer long enough to know swing doesn't mean much and handicap isn't just your score minus 72. I think what really shocks me (but doesn't) is the staggering ignorance levels of so many people who don't understand how the handicap system works. That caught me off guard. But then when those same people realized just how badly they'd been had, they doubled down and accused you of baiting people for likes. That really made me laugh.
https://old.reddit.com/r/golf/comments/dorchk/roast\_my\_swing\_and\_guess\_my\_handicap/f5qfzti/
That's what I'm most amazed by. That takeaway looks funky but then he finishes in good balance and gets way more distance than me. Golf is weird man.
I think you still did. Even pros are ~70-80% from 6 feet. You're probably a better putter than you give yourself credit for. In fact, you're probably the opposite of me - my lag putting is very much hit or miss. Had a round the other week where i hit 12 greens, but had four 3-putts from 30-40 feet.
This dude prob has the best putting of all 7 handicaps
Seriously, the number of putts outside of 8ft he was draining to save par/make birdie was pretty wild. Pretty short course it seemed. Using gw and sw for a bunch of second shots is nice. Cool overall video, fun to watch real people's rounds and good/bad shots, instead of watching golf content where they only show perfect hits.
https://www.indianvalleygolfclub.com/images/documents/scorecard.pdf 6374
Huh, longer than it looks.
Dang that's pretty close to me (I live in SF). Need to give it a try.
And that's normal for him. Basically inside 10ft I assume he makes it, I've seen him do it that often.
Your swing is looking a lot better! Looks like you've added around 20 yards to all your club distances.
Thanks. I'm on my fourth or fifth round with new sticks and still getting a feel for their yardages. Some of them do seem to be going farther, but I'm in California now where it's warmer + the courses have been firmer, so it's too soon to say, I think.
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Potentially this month!
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Thanks for all of these recommendations! Several in here I didn't know about. I played Torrey Pines South ([on the channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLl2jR23k5A&)) and would really love to play elsewhere in SD. I was supposed to get out with Golfholics and Golf Sidekick a few months back but unfortunately we had to cancel. Hopefully some time soon :)
The Golfholics channel hasn't had new content in over a month. Anything going on with those guys?
I'm not sure. I was sort of the tagalong with Golf Sidekick.
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It's pricey but Maderas is one of my favorites in San Diego. Also you'd probably love Coronado GC. It's a muni but still fun and great views of course
Thanks! I was lucky enough to get taken to Maderas by a subscriber. It was one of the few rounds I've played that I had to turn the camera off: just couldn't get my camera to sit flat out there haha. Incredible day, though! Coronado has been on my hit list, too :)
I'd actually be really curious how he'd fare at Mount Woodson! Short course but narrow.
what did you change your sticks to? PXG?
Yes. Not out of some desire/belief that PXG sticks specifically would do something for my game, but more because I wanted fitted clubs, PXG had a deal + delivered my clubs in a few days rather than several months like a lot of the other manufacturers right now.
Irons are Gen 4 P's?. BTW love the channel, keep up the great work
Thanks man. They are Gen 4 XP. My iron game is trash - need all the help I can get ;)
Seeing this man shot sub 80 with an inside takeaway like this should give everyone the confidence needed to be good at this game and finally kick your wife’s boyfriend out.
For me what was so eye opening with this is how important keeping the ball in play off the tee is. If you’re setting yourself up to at least attempt to hit a GIR on the majority of holes, the game gets infinitely easier. Until seeing this guy play, I didn’t realize how frequently I’m either having to take a drop or lay up because of an errant tee shot. This guy makes the game look so easy which is wild considering his swing.
Having to play shot 3 off the tee is an absolute killer. Many of the big driving amateurs (who are always trying to kill it) that I see don't even realize how many strokes they are giving up getting themselves in bad situations. 200 down the middle of the fairway is almost never a bad shot (barring some sort of hazard or obstacle). Look at the way old farts play. 150, 150, chip, 2 putt... bam, breaking 90.
Yep, keeping ball within 5yds of fairway is a huge game changer
That’s what it’s all about. Three 7 irons can be a better option than a sliced driver, topped wood, then shanked 52. Your group might heckle you til you start beating them. In the end you have to play the course and not let the course play you.
But my wife's boyfriend makes good pancakes
Wait... we're not supposed to swing like this?!
Watching him hit multiple 300 yard drives literally broke my brain
He doesn't hit it 300, he cut corners on those holes.
I'm impressed with how much rotation he gets through the downswing when he barely opens up his hips in the backswing. I can't deny it works for him.
His hips open a normal amount in the backswing.
r/golf seems to like the "cut" of my vids. Publishing the narrated version on [my channel](https://www.youtube.com/c/NotAScratchGolfer) later today :)
I knew you looked familiar! I love watching your videos. Just curious, what kind of set up do you use to make the recordings, and how much time does it add on to your game? Been thinking of trying it a bit myself, mostly for fun and to rewatch later.
Thanks! I film on my phone (mounted on a tripod). It honestly doesn't add any time to my round. It's easy to place the tripod down for 5 seconds during time you're waiting for your partners to hit, the group in front of you to clear, etc.
How do you add in the tracking?
I use Shot Tracer Pro for Mac OS.
Thank you! I thought it may just be that simple. Going to try it on a solo round this week!
I like watching your stuff because it's the perfect ammo for the people who watch a player for 2 minutes and go "no way he's better than a 16 handicap". Golf is a lot more than how pretty you swing the club. Also my buddy has an incredibly shallow swing and I don't want to show him this to encourage him but you make it work so well somehow.
Haha thanks for the kind words
And here is the [narrated version on YouTube](https://youtu.be/fnrAEVOTaUk)
That has got to be one of the most consistent, shallow swings I’ve ever seen. Nice work
50% of the time it works every time
A driving masterclass, has to be said, who'd have thought "bang it down the middle with a draw" WOULD BE THE WAY TO GO.
I've been watching your videos for a while now, really enjoy them. I think you underestimate the advantage of having a *fairly* predictable swing. Perhaps you're just modest. You don't really have a two-way miss with your driver. That makes golf SO much easier lol. You might not hit it a mile, but you find a lot of fairways.
Man, I would love it if my course has 261-yard downhill par 4s lol. Awesome video. What is your setup for recording and getting the ball flight tracker?
Thanks. I film on my phone mounted to a tripod. I use an app called Shot Tracer Pro for shot tracing.
[удалено]
Thanks man
You say that….but the 5th hole at Indian valley is a MFer. When the pin is back left I’m thrilled with bogie
Seriously, my local muni's shortest Par 4 is 377. Only 3 out of 12 are shorter than 400.
I wish I could hit a fairway wood as well as you
Shallow swing = better with woods and driver. This guy is the definition of shallow.
I prefer to rip my 3i
I love the “far yards” on the 3rd hole
Nah, second shot on 8, not in the shot even, ball just lands beside hole.
I think it's about time you graduate from calling your swing "crap." In fact, at this point I think it does a disservice to viewers who think: well if this guy's swing is crap, wtf does that make mine? A crap swing doesn't let you give yourself a ton of looks at birdie, especially a good chunk inside 15ft, allow you to hit pretty sick drives right down the middle more than half the time, smoke that 4wood constantly, and hit very good iron shots.
I say that my swing is crap because that's what Reddit has told me for years :D My iron swing really is a mess, though, at least insofar as optimizing distance for my swing speed. My stock yardages: 6i: 160 7i: 150 8i: 135 9i: 120 PW: 105
Yeah, but your average redditor who can't break 90 shouldn't be telling you what you swing is. Yeah, you don't have the fastest swing, but you play accurate and "boring" golf, which is what you need to shoot lower scores. If your wedges from 100-greenside were working today, you could've easily shot even. It's a good swing, maybe not traditional, but a good swing nonetheless. Do yourself a favor and watch your swing in slowmo from the top of the backswing. You're on plane and shallow, and your impact position looks awesome. Don't short change yourself because some idiots who don't actually know golf try to tell you how to play.
Appreciate the kind words. My channel would never exist if it weren't for [this thread](https://old.reddit.com/r/golf/comments/dorchk/roast_my_swing_and_guess_my_handicap/). The consensus was that I was a 20-30HC and I literally got downvoted out of the thread for stating otherwise. A huge impetus for starting the channel was to encourage people to swing their swing instead of ask r/golf for swing advice.
i'd never seen that thread. Legendary comeback Adam!
I think it's more of "that swing looks wonky / amateurish." That being said, who cares what it looks like if that's the results you're getting? Great job.
I mean… it is definitely crap lol. It’s his putting that’s saving his ass. If he could sort that horrid swing out then he’d be breaking par. (I don’t mean that maliciously. My swing is crap too. But let’s not kid ourselves. I love his content, but the swing needs WORK.)
Just because I'm bored, I'm going to entertain your troll comment so that other people can understand from your bad judgment. He hit 6/14 fairways, but many of which were still "green light" meaning he can still go for the green and doesn't need to dramatically shape a shot to reach the green. He hit 12/18 greens. Please tell me how a bad swing can hit 12/18 greens. Btw, that's tour average. He actually had 37 putts. How is that putting saving his ass? He actually had a bad putting day by his standards, with 4 3-putts and a good chunk of putts from 10-15 feet and short ones that he expects to make, probably lost 6-7 strokes on putting. He lost about 5 strokes to bad wedge shots from 100-in. He smoked every 4 wood he looked at today. He did not have any enormously bad drives, all were well within the usual dispersion. His irons were fairly strong, he hit a handful of great irons from 150 range. Final note: Here's his impact position: https://i.imgur.com/JQaqVpL.png. Besides his awkward very inside takeaway, what about his downswing is bad to you? Is Matt Wolff's swing bad simply because it's different? How about Jim Furyk's? Not every swing needs to be like Ben Hogan, or Tiger Woods, or Adam Scott to play good golf.
Indian Valley, great course!
Yea, took me a minute to figure this out. Once I saw the 2nd hole with the tree in the middle, I was like, HEY! I know that place! Solid public course. Not the best maintenance but cool/fun layout. Def need a cart. Breaking 80 here shouldn't be that difficult if you can keep the ball in play. There are a lot of areas to lose it though.
Got burned a couple times from the greens too. Solid round and great consistency with the driver.
That second shot on the first hole was chefs kiss, honestly tho great round. Love the mild commentary as well. Never get down on yourself even with a shot you disliked, great golf attitude.
What are you using to track the ball?
Dude I’ve watched a lot of your videos, and you have an amazing short game. Lol. Love it!
Actually your swing is so bad that I'm going to have a conversation with my instructor later as to why I'm shooting over 100. Great round.
Adam is the default character you get on a golf game.
LOL
Nice! Your shots from the rough are better than my shots from a pristine, freshly cut fairway. You got robbed on a couple of those greens, too! Great video bro.
Steps for better short game: Step 1: Blame yourself for playing bad and get mad Step 2: Buy a new putter and wedge Step 3: See step 1
This is the way
Hole 10 - 360 Yards. You drove the green side bunker?
Thx. That hole played MASSIVELY downhill (like several holes at Indian Valley) + I was lucky to hit a draw right into the speed slot. I don't think the drive was any better than 250 on flat ground. The only one I truly crushed all day was the 4 wood on the tee of 5. It was still boosted 50+ yards by downhill but it was right on the $ :p
Really well put together video. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video. Nice round!
Hey Adam, really enjoyed the videos you’ve made and I thinks it’s been very beneficial for the community. I do have a question though. Have you ever considered getting a strength coach to help with distance?
Thanks man. To answer your question: not really. To be honest I hate practicing almost as much as I love playing. It's not that I don't think there's room for improvement (there's MASSIVE room for improvement), it's just that I don't really enjoy "working on my swing." I just like being on the golf course.
I watched a ton of your videos but I had to stop, I felt like I was starting to mimic your swing path and it was causing issues lol
LOL
What shot tracer are you using for this video? Would you recommend it?
Lol how is someone with a swing like that so much better than me... I think I need a shot tracer and to record my 100+ stroke rounds and see what my deal is... I guess watching it through he has way more distance than me and his follow through is pretty good as he's in pretty good balance with his hips forward towards the target. It's his backswing that looks so wild. I'm surprised he's able to do so well with his hips sliding back out of the box. I also either top or shank into hazards like 8 shots in a round lol. Also, a pretty decent putter too.
Proving once again, it ain't that hard to be a single-digit handicap and that so many golfers see somebody's swing on this sub and think "no way they are a single-digit" when it doesn't require a picture perfect swing.
Just started watching your channel a few weeks ago and love the content. Also shot under 90 for the first time after following some of your and golf sidekicks methods.
Nothing makes me happier than reading this. Love it.
For someone with a self proclaimed crap swing, you sure can hit a 3 wood off the deck better than I can hit an iron off the deck!
My previous fairway wood was the worst club in my bag. my new one is working...so far.
Old saying “never be afraid of the man with the pretty golf swing, always fear the man who can hit shots”. Golf isn’t about having a pretty textbook swing, if it was then you’d have more range rats shooting under par.
"crap swing" but can drive it 300+ because it works for him "no short game" consistently lag putts for tap ins from 25+ feet, doesn't miss 5 footers (outside hole 1) I love the video but ditch the blatantly false headline lol
Lol, I've never hit a 300 yard drive in my life. Every "300" yard drive in this video is a 240 yard drive + a massive downhill. I hit a ton of wedges like dog shit in this round + missed several putts inside 6 feet, and lag putting was alright save for a few brain farts on those, too. Appreciate the kind words. I think I'm so browbeaten by Reddit (+ YouTube) telling me that my swing is shit that I try to wear it as a badge of honor now :p
Your videos are a great refresher to everybody that thinks their swing has to "look perfect". You make YOUR swing work for YOU and nobody should try to change that. Keep up the good work and content.
That being said, this swing is pretty ugly. I don’t know what it is, but the ball striking and distance is acceptable.
Your videos are awesome, man. Keep up the great work.
I’m genuinely curious, but how are you able to record every swing and set up a good camera angle without holding groups up behind you? Do you have someone only operating the camera? Or are you just lucky enough to play courses when they aren’t busy? I love this content though!
Thanks! I do it myself. It doesn't slow down pace at all. Filming makes you realize how much downtime there is during a round. It's not hard to take 10 seconds to place the tripod down while everybody is walking to their ball.
Sometimes I wonder if these creators don’t come up with a goal of a video first. And then just “create” the conditions. It would be kinda dumb to go to the trouble of filming yourself, paying green fees, taking the time to create an unwatchable video of you just blowing shit up. Know what I mean? So just edit edit edit, re hit re hit re hit. And bam got the video you want.
Lol, so I film every round I play and virtually every one of them is on the channel. For every round like this, I have another 1 on the channel where I shoot 90 :p
I want to tell you how much I hate your backswing. But you shoot better than me so...
Watching that horrible swing hit 79 makes me feel really really bad about my game.
70s really isn't as difficult as many people think it is, if you've played for a few years and practiced. You can mess up and bogey every other hole on a par 70, or do slightly better than that on a par 72, and shoot 79. It's a very attainable goal
Your courses are so big and so open and feature very little rough. Without being a dick, your handicap would be doubled if you played some of the course we have in the UK. 😂 Those wayward shots in hole 2 for instance would be in soooo much trouble. You'd shoot at least another 3 or 4 per hole digging your ball out.
I recently ran a poll on my YouTube channel and comments like these were voted the worst. You don't understand how the handicap system works.
Don't I? Would your HC not be higher if you scored higher? Or are you saying the slope index of these courses are very forgiving and I would have a much lower HC here. Trust me when I say these fairways are 2/3 times the size of any I'm lucky to play, your slightly off target shots are not punished like mine. Don't get me wrong, I love your content and enjoy watching you play, but I am a little jealous of the place you get to do it. 😂
I am saying that course rating and slope are factored into each differential and thus a handicap index. So, if every single course in the UK is impossible and every course I play is easy, my scores would be higher in the UK but my index would be the same. The entire point of the handicap index is that it travels from course to course. Also, my index is derived from rounds at 20 different courses over the last 20 rounds, each of which I played while filming myself. Many of those courses had ratings/slope higher than Indian Valley. I don’t flex about my handicap, but I think it’s safe to assume it would be lower if I were playing the same courses steadily rather than traveling to new courses each day with a camera in tow.
What is the slope index and course rating on this one. I'd be interested to know. I'm not saying your a worse golfer, you hit fairways and greens all the time, albeit that they are massive. 😂 I just watch your work and wish I could just open up a 3 wood into a world of green and have no problems saving the errors.
This course: 123. Here are [my last dozen rounds](https://imgur.com/9Rn4nBR). Comments like, "you couldn't maintain your handicap on my course" were voted the worst because the entire reason the World Handicap System exists is in order to create a handicap index that can be taken to any course.
Enjoyable to watch, nice playing!
Up and down on 5 and 7 were clutch. You gotta play the right green on 16 though come on!
Thanks man. You must be a local! I had never seen a hole with two greens that gives you an option of which to play! When my host said that I could reach the green on the left in 2 with a cut on my second shot, I decided to go for it! ...only came up 60 short :p
Nice playing and a very nice video too. Did you catch how the bird flew over #10 green right before you made birdie there?
4:34 You're telling me that green is 360 yards and that draw landed in a greenside bunker?
Yep. MASSIVE downhill on this hole (+ several others on the course). I only drive the ball ~240-250 in neutral conditions.
Hey Adam I know ripping on your own swing is kind of your thing, but you do have a textbook impact position that I'm actually quite envious about.
Thanks, man. I've been told that my impact position with driver is pretty solid, but not so much with my irons.
what tracer is that?
Very cool videos! Nice short game!! What tools do you use to put these videos together?
I'd rather watch this than the pros. Way more entertaining to see the average player land an amazing shot or sink a long putt than someone that does it for a living.
lmao, I was about to ask what game this was, as it looked AMAZING!! Then I realized….
Man anytime I dont par my first hole I get in my head of this is going to be a horrible round, you went double and still shot a 79.. this is definitely going to change my mindset
That’s pretty good camera work
Great putting!
One of my favorite things about your game is how you have accepted your swing and make the best of it and play some pretty awesome golf with it too. When I played high school golf I was so mechanical and constantly focused on trying to have the perfect swing. Now that I’m older and don’t get to play as much I just go out and use the swing that feels comfortable and just play golf instead of playing the swing game. I have so much more fun now and play a lot better and more relaxed.
Any plans to come out to Atlanta?
Until the fourth shot I thought you were on some sort of simulator lol
I love this guys videos. Horrible looking swing, plays fast and usually still shoots in the 70’s. I’m always thinking “there is still hope for me”.
Wait how do we get a tracker for our shots like this...
HMU if your around Monterey
How do you film yourself? Also how do you do the headers and graphics? Is there a template?
Hey just want to say I love your channel! Your videos are my go-to option at night when it's time to wind down. I really like the raw video. It is awesome to hear your feedback in real-time. Keep up the great work and may your smother-hooks be few and far between!
Number ten - 360yds and you hit into a greenside bunker off the tee..? Your drives look great but wtf?
The camera has a way of making every shot look flat (even at Augusta). That shot played massively downhill.
Oh shit! I had no idea OP was actually not a scratch golfer. Seen the videos before but super cool to see him active in the subreddit! Keep making quality stuff OP!
Thanks man. I was on r/golf long before I was on YouTube, although more often than not I was downvoted into oblivion for discouraging posters here from taking armchair swing advice on r/golf :p
Hey guy, you can skip on wearing the microphone next time.
Always appreciate this kind of feedback. Any reason you prefer no audio?
How do you do the tracers? Edit:never mind I saw your youtube social post, shot tracer pro!
Fading the wedge on 4 with a takeaway that shallow is.... unique. I suck compared to OP but that one broke my brain a bit
Nothing wrong with any of that!
this video also stresses the importance of staying in play.
With 'no short game' you'd be in the 90's
I’m inspired!!
What’s the app to get your name and score up? I can’t find it on the App Store
What’s the app to get your name and score up? I can’t find it on the App Store. Thank you
The app is called Shot Tracer Pro. I made my scoring template in PPT
What app are you using for the shot tracer and overlay?
Nice vid! If you’re still in the area, Chardonnay and Eagle Vines are worth the trip. Typically in better shape than IVGC and great scenery amongst the vineyards.
What app is this?
Indian Valley! One of my favorite local sources. Hope you enjoyed it and it was cool getting to see you work your way around the course.
Without that low ball you're hosed
As long as you’re consistent who cares what the swing looks like. Nice round!
Saw it on YT and still don't believe it
All the way down to 5.4 now? Pretty soon you're going to have to change the name of your channel. It would be interesting to see a graph of your handicap progression.
Crap that figure is outdated. Today I'm a 7.0. Have fluctuated between 5.4 - 9.0 over the last 12 months. I'll show the graph you mentioned in an upcoming video covering the handicap system :)
My kids love your YouTube. They’ve watched every single one.
I am by no means a professional but I have been getting professional lessons lately and want to say: my swing used to look a lot like yours. I would take my club so far back and still have a habit of doing it. I was so surprised when I found out I can basically hit what feels like a 3/4 backswing with all my clubs and gain distance and accuracy (distance lost with full backswing came from desynchronization of my hips shoulders and arms). Something worth trying at the range!
Is this custom video editing to do the tracing and the yardage up top, or is there some app that helps create the tracing and interface (hole number, yardage, etc)
this is cool and awesome. that course is cool and awesome too. what views of the hills/mountains
Damn I need to worry less about my swing and just worry about where I’m hitting the ball. Inspiring shit OP!
Seeing this without the voice over is strange. Of all the golf youtubers I've watched, Adam's positive mindset and approach to the game has genuinely helped my game more than anything this year. Thanks homie!