Glad that you show there is more than one way to play golf, look at the tour players if one swing worked for all you would not have bubba, bryson,couples,trevino.

I needed to hear this today. I’m a new subscriber and I just started playing golf 10 months ago. I fixed a lot of issues with the big slice when I started and went to the basics of a conventional swing and it helped me get my handicap down to about a 15 but I started to change some things to a more unconventional style because it felt natural and comfortable to me. I’m glad to see you confirming that it’s okay because some people don’t believe that.

@GolfTestDummy

6 ай бұрын

Perspective is everything. If a coach has found personal success one way, it tends to be THE way. Lots of them also point to droves of students that have had success as well. That's great, but are most golfers willing to commit years, tons of money, and be diligent in their pursuit with a long term coach? Probably not.

@Carsonm89

6 ай бұрын

@@GolfTestDummy I agree. My golf game has gotten better incrementally the more I find what feels natural to me. That’s been my biggest battle. Coaches will always say that swing changes will feel uncomfortable at first but then you get used to it and I am not a fan of that. I came from pitching a baseball and I never once have made a mechanical change that didn’t feel natural. If it works, it should feel good on your body too.

Brother, you really speak to me. Looking forward to seeing the videos from your new direction. I think it will be very interesting to see.

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

I'm so happy to hear. Hopefully, everyone else feels the same, but we shall see.

Well it's hard to argue with the club being the primary consideration.but I think that there are still fundamentals for relatively able-bodied golfers of all stripes so I really disagree there. I would say that the more that these relatively able-bodied people adhere to the same set of fundamentals that essentially 100% of able-bodied tour pros and top amateurs adhere to, the more that they will guarantee compression and power and greatly enhance consistency. These fundamentals are 1) the club must be swung on a consistent plane through the bottom half of the swing. This is obviously club motion based but is very dependant on fundamentals 2), 3), and 4) below. 2) that plane is best to happen around a consistent spine angle (especially the lower and mid spine) through the bottom half of the swing, although it is possible to increase that angle slightly and retain that through impact or return back to the address one for some golfers but this is a more difficult and advanced movement pattern 3) the weight must get forward through and beyond impact (or already be there) or good compression with power is relatively impossible 4) the trail arm must move in conjunction with the rotation of the body around the spine angle through impact during the bottom half of the swing. This means that it must synchronize with the targetward motion of the lower body during the downswing as well as the rotation of the upper body. If this is not done, the wrist angles cannot be released precisely enough in order to reallly achieve strong compression with efficiency. 5) The clubhead must be relatively squared to the above-mentioned plane in the lower half of the swing. This is again club motion based but will be almost impossible to consistently do without fundamentals 2), 3), and 4) taking place in the swing. You will see these fundamentals in all really good or excellent ball strikers that are reasonably able-bodied without exception. A huge subset of golfers can improve hugely by incorporating these fundamentals into their swings even if doing so involves adopting a more restricted motion in one or many areas in order to do that. These are the fundamentals that allow one to move the club fundamentally well in a consistent manner which allows the good to great ball striking necessary to play really good golf. These are also the fundamentals that I can see that you are gradually moving more and more to in your swing journey and in my opinion define it. As that happens, the "noise" of the unhelpful motions that you have struggled with in the past have kind of slowly dissipated to allow me to clearly identify your chief limitation as far as power as concerned which relates to wrist mobility and causes you to have to drop the club bit early in the downswing. However as I've mentioned before, there are still some opportunities for picking up power in the impact zone itself if that is something that you are willing and able to do. Cheers.

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

I dont disagree with the points you made, but I think they are a subset that speak more to "optimizing performance in regards to an able and flexible body". Optimizing is different than fundamental I think. Certainly, if you're able bodied you can work on things other than the club to create more speed, more power, more consistency, etc. But in order to determine something "fundamental" to 100 percent of golfers, you have to eliminate anything that goes beyond the club, ball, and lie.

@timothypollock8358

7 ай бұрын

@@GolfTestDummy Well, I think that it's a bit of a semantical chicken-or-egg type of discussion. One's view depends on whether one wants to use the set of all golfers to define fundamentals for the game. I can't say that I've encountered that outlook beyond yourself (not that that means it doesn't exist). I guess that my concern would be that some golfers might be tripped up by that in terms of progressing towards improvement in the most efficient manner. My observation is that there already exists a tendency among golfers to want to do it their way and if you tell them that it's just about the club, they might tend to think that they can discover how to move it apart from emphasing the set of things that obviously governs the best swings in the game. I would consider that likely to go less than optimally in the vast majority of cases. So for me, it's about giving people the right idea about how to improve. Cheers.

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

I don't know that it's tomato versus tomahhhto, I just think you and I are talking about 2 different things, with 2 different subsets of goals/expectations. I'm talking about the most basest of "must dos" for shots that fly generally toward the target, with a decent distance, and a decent rate of consistency. I believe you're talking about things that optimize the things I'm talking about. Which, I don't disagree with at all. Then, there is an underlying difference we are indirectly referring to. My perspective is, most golfers would do well to play around the 80 mark, and that can be done without optimizations, and introducing optimizations will likely lead to frustration, because most golfers don't have the time, ability, or dedication, possibly even the desire, to practice and work. Your perspective, which again, isn't wrong, I'd that the movements you me tion are simple and don't require a high level athlete, and they will lead to a sound golf swing, thereby allowing the golfers to play to a much better handicap. But my belief is that the inherent flaw in that approach is that it's been tried for many decades, and it works on paper, but hasn't worked in reality. Largely due to the average golfers lack of time and desire to work regularly and often, in order to develop and ingrain the skills to be optimal. You said it in your comment, what governs the best swings in the game. That's an echelon of athletes that has variation, but, with several commonalities, which I believe is what you're referring to. But, and I hate to sound defeatist, that level is going to be largely lost on the vast majority of us without a serious dedication to improvement.

Chad, love your channel. Sound approach with your fundamentals examination. I consider yours the "what" you need to do. The traditional grip, posture, etc. are the "how" you do the what. Also, think video is critical to figuring out the difference between your "feelz" and your "realz". We tend to rely on ball flight at the range; that can lead to the "practice makes permanent" rather than practice makes perfect...er, better. Will watch with interest!

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

Yes! Manuel! What to do, not how. Many thanks.

More club focus. Love it. 👍

@oldcatch

7 ай бұрын

Love you too, Marcus. You and GTD are the two channels I never miss a video from.

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

It's truly the best for amateurs, in my opinion.

Chad, looking forward to your new direction. I believe you're on the right track for beginners to bogey golfers. The single handicappers, like me, will probably find a few nuggets in there also. I agree with you 100% about what the "fundamentals" are and each of us needs to understand this. Learn how to control the handle (butt end) and you will control the face, because the club face will only do what the handle tells it to do, then just let the body do what it does naturally to help you. Once I learned and understood this my game skyrocketed. This to me, was the underlying fundament that made my game exponentially better. Cheers.

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

That's true. The grip will dictate what the face does.

Hope you back is feeling better

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

It is, and thanks for asking!

Hey, have you checked out gravity golf ? With Daniel Lee (son to David Lee) I’m into their stuff now and it’s exciting, to have a swing like couples and Trevino, where you don’t use strong arms to hit the ball. I would love to see you go through their drills and practice 👍

Congrats on 10k subs. Good luck with the new venture. Looking forward to it.

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

You're a big part of that 10k!

Chad it’s interesting, if you watch a video of iron byron, the machine is designed to move the way a club is designed to impact the ball, too many people try things their body won’t do consistently to move the club correctly, when I remember the couple things I was doing and thinking when I played my best it reminds me how foolish I am searching for things that won’t work for me. Bryson just told Rick Shiels in a lesson “I’d never tell you what’s right for your own swing”, but illustrated that impact point with the ground being the same every time is what separates the pro’s from everyone else

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

Absolutely. I always ask this question; If you had Rory or Tiger or any pro execute a PERFECT swing, but had them set up a half inch too high to the ball and ground..... would they result be a good shot? It would be the same top or thin as any golfer on the planet. The swing isn't nearly as important as the club/ball relationship.

Looking forward to the new approach/series. Congrats on achieving 10K

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

Much appreciated! Next year should be pretty cool, but I'm not sure if it will help or hurt the channel. Not sure I even care at this point. I'm more interested in real, authentic help for people.

When you make a book about all of this, I’m going to be the first in line 🙂 You’ve consumed a wealth of knowledge very, very few golfers (and Pro’s) will ever acquire.

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

Haha, you know, I've honestly had that thought for about 2 years now. One of my cousins self-published a book and I've been kicking the idea around.

It's funny how we all, including myself, obsess over how to play a game that Scottish shepherds came up with to fill in their slow time watching over their flocks.

@GolfTestDummy

6 ай бұрын

Haha, absolutely! And how we have to seek out specialized coaching and training. Nobody is hitting up their roller blade coach, or getting basketball lessons after they leave the office.

@stevewalton3927

6 ай бұрын

Exactly

Awesome video, Carl! That was very informative.

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

Haha, thanks a bunch!

Brooks can’t do that either. He likes to make us think he can do that:-). I think you’re right about expectations based upon how much time we put. I play everyday it isn’t raining or below 45 deg and I still don’t break 80 consistently. It was hard to accept that I’m just not that good 😆, but on the days I acknowledge that are much more fun . We focus too much on the score IMO instead of just enjoying the fact that we get to be outdoors and can play this awesome but oh so difficult game. End of rant:-)

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

Great thoughts. Here's another... What if we'd never seen pro golf on TV? What if we had no idea how good they are? We might go out and shoot 87 and think we were VERY good at golf. Expectations are the only reason that disappointment can exist, even though it's not inevitable, but unrealistic expectations will most certainly lead to disappointment every time.

@Rid3thetig3r

6 ай бұрын

"My handicap? Well, I usually play a round in 75. Any hotter than that and I just don't play". Bob Hope (my favourite golf joke).

Chad there is only one fundamental at that is to hit the ground in the same place every time regards

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

That's huge, I agree, but what if you flipped your club face is facing way left? Or your path is way off? The ball won't go generally in the direction of your target.

Look forward to channel in 2024. Got a theory on why golfers struggle, especially with early extension…would love to share. Gotta email or site I can lay it out? Think you’ll find it helpful in your messaging. Happy Holidays

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

Thanks, Brian! Yeah, it's golftestdummy@gmail.com.

Hi Chad: An excellent posts, it helps my golf game a lot, just want to mention that Stan Utley "The Art of Scoring" is a great help for the average golfers, almost all internet golf instructions are only about the golf swing, very instructions on how to lower your handicap. Thanks for posting the video and best wishes for you and your family.

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

Many thanks, and I love Stan Utley's stuff. He's fantastic.

Looking forward to the next year! Maybe a subscriber challenge or two? I might be able to get to NC. Bigger question: how’s Mrs. GTD?

@GolfTestDummy

7 ай бұрын

Mrs. GTD is doing pretty damn good, thanks for asking. Met with the surgeon for a check up and she's doing well. Still plenty more to go, treatment-wise, but we will dig in and work the puzzle one piece at a time.

@lessmith5285

7 ай бұрын

@@GolfTestDummy good to hear. Prayers from Texas!

Is it in the arms ,hands, the feet, upper body, lower body, how about it’s all in the head?

@GolfTestDummy

6 ай бұрын

Exactly.

See Craig Hocknull.

Haven't seen anything lately. How's it going?

@GolfTestDummy

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for asking my man. Doing OK, just taking some time here at the change of the year. Wife has had a couple of procedures and about to start chemo, so just took my feet off the pedals and coasting a little bit. Happy New Year to you and yours.

@mistahshorthitter

6 ай бұрын

That's tough my man. I really hope everything goes well. Wishing you both the best.@@GolfTestDummy

Let's freaking go 🇺🇸🏌️

Try learning how the golf club actually works. Stop trying to make it do what you think it should do.