When watching tour players on TV, what do you focus on?

[theothertwo]

I used to focus watching their chipping and pitching but lately, I have been watching their transition downswing and finish.  Fun to watch.  Bryson's drives on the 6th at Bay Hill really showed this power move.

[nsxguy]

Can't see the poll choices.

[the bishop]

I tend to watch them do the things I'm either weak on or currently working on.  Similar to you right now I'm watching their transition and also how they keep their arms in front of them and extension at release.

[woodriff]

Balance is what I watch for. 
w

[Pepperturbo]

I try and watch club choice in relationship to fairways and around the greens.  If he pulls and metal wood or iron with the intent to find a fairway, but misses in the junk.

[jomatty]

I focus mostly on how they approach shots around the green.  This seems the most applicable to what I can realistically do.  Also it is the easiest to implement or learn from for me.  The way they shallow the club and that sort of thing is fascinating but not something I can necessarily copy by watching.

[bscinstnct]

I don’t watch for individual aspects of the swing, I try to see it as a whole in it’s totalitarianism ; )

 

 

 

 

[Frankensteins Monster]

The groupies.

[Ferguson]

How much the caddie is dramatically looking around, pointing and gesticulating for indicators of wind speed and direction.

 

 

[theothertwo]

40 minutes ago, woodriff said:

Balance is what I watch for. 
w

Good point, particularly on those fairway bunker shots.

[dmecca2]

How often they hit to the fat side of the hole

[RichieHunt]

Difficult shots like rescue shots, short sided pitches, etc.  

 

 

 

 

RH

[3whacker]

since we always get the down the line camera shot from behind the player, I like to watch what plane they might be on and where they set the club, especially with the driver

[LeoLeo99]

On TV, I just mostly watch the fun and how to move around the course.  In person, a couple things I noticed is that on easy driving holes, they just tee it up and let the big dog out and don't give a lot of thought about it.  They are slow on the greens but fast on green-light tee boxes.  Bomb it and go.  It's either in the fairway or it isn't.  Around the greens, they have shots I don't have.  That low shot with a lot of spin is a great weapon to save par.  I notice how often they play away from sucker pin positions.  They'll go to middle of green, 40 ft lag putt to 2 feet, take their par and go.  If they're not confident going flag hunting in some situation, I need to dial back my aggressiveness.  

[tatertot]

Does anybody else watch for the drama or to see who wins?

[phizzy30]

Course management.  All the different swings.  It's also fun to see how much ball speed these guys generate and their carry distances. 

[don28]

Lately I've been watching how they clear their hips in the downswing. One of my biggest issues right now, so I'm fixated on watching how they do it. 

[DavidCrockett]

[MattyO1984]

As of late, it has been short game technique. Interested to see how the guys get it going around the greens. Before short game, one thing I liked to take note of was routine. Easy things to pick things that you like from and can see how they work for you.

[bladehunter]

Usually contact point with the ball. I can freeze frame the ball on the face in my mind.  
 

second is shoes.  

[BlackDiamondPar5]

15 hours ago, RichieHunt said:

Difficult shots like rescue shots, short sided pitches, etc.  

 

 

 

 

RH

Could not agree more Richie...rescue shots and other difficult situations.  Better yet something that leads to a  playoff.  Also conversation with the caddy about options to escape a tough situation... here's some that come to mind.

 

 

[MattyO1984]

30 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

second is shoes.  

 

Haha, can I change my answer? A comment on clothes is never far away when I am watching 😂

[RichieHunt]

3 hours ago, BlackDiamondPar5 said:

Could not agree more Richie...rescue shots and other difficult situations.  Better yet something that leads to a  playoff.  Also conversation with the caddy about options to escape a tough situation... here's some that come to mind.

 

 

 

A friend of mine was the best golfer in our area and was just flat out incredible overall.  He actually beat the #1 ranked amateur in the world at the time, Manny Zerman, in the US Amateur.

 

 

What was most amazing to me about this is that he actually worked 3 jobs.  He worked the home inspector job, bartender job and he worked part-time at the local prison.  He played and practice once a week...only on Sundays...because that's all of the time he had to play.

 

If he had been born about 10-years later I have no doubt he would have made the PGA Tour and won at least once.

 

Anyway, he was a pretty good driver of the ball.  Not overly long, but not short.  He wasn't deadly accurate, but you just never saw him in trouble off the tee. 

 

One time we were playing and he hits a shot by a pine tree and I help look for the ball and we find it.  He's about 140 yards to the hole with NO shot because the ball is right up against the tree.  I then started to walk back towards my ball, but I wanted to see how he was going to play the shot because I'd never seen him in that position and knew he wasn't going to find the green in regulation.

 

As I'm walking to my ball with my back facing him, I hear the ball being struck and he is saying 'sit, sit, sit'

 

I look at the green and see the ball land on the green to about 15-feet.

 

I was bewildered as to how he did that and then I look over and he's doing a club twirl with his club that he flipped over and swung it left handed.

 

That's when I learned that he is on a whole other galaxy of golf than I am.

 

 

 

 

 

RH

[dalehead]

11 minutes ago, RichieHunt said:

 

A friend of mine was the best golfer in our area and was just flat out incredible overall.  He actually beat the #1 ranked amateur in the world at the time, Manny Zerman, in the US Amateur.

 

 

What was most amazing to me about this is that he actually worked 3 jobs.  He worked the home inspector job, bartender job and he worked part-time at the local prison.  He played and practice once a week...only on Sundays...because that's all of the time he had to play.

 

If he had been born about 10-years later I have no doubt he would have made the PGA Tour and won at least once.

 

Anyway, he was a pretty good driver of the ball.  Not overly long, but not short.  He wasn't deadly accurate, but you just never saw him in trouble off the tee. 

 

One time we were playing and he hits a shot by a pine tree and I help look for the ball and we find it.  He's about 140 yards to the hole with NO shot because the ball is right up against the tree.  I then started to walk back towards my ball, but I wanted to see how he was going to play the shot because I'd never seen him in that position and knew he wasn't going to find the green in regulation.

 

As I'm walking to my ball with my back facing him, I hear the ball being struck and he is saying 'sit, sit, sit'

 

I look at the green and see the ball land on the green to about 15-feet.

 

I was bewildered as to how he did that and then I look over and he's doing a club twirl with his club that he flipped over and swung it left handed.

 

That's when I learned that he is on a whole other galaxy of golf than I am.

 

 

 

 

 

RH

To me the most amazing thing about this story is that he was from Watertown NY. They’re lucky to get a 6 month golf season there.

[theothertwo]

Speaking of watching pro golf on TV, I just watched the 2004 Masters that Mickelson won and Ernie came 2nd and it's interesting to know that they were both using the Titleist 983K driver.

[acemandrake]

Full swing:  Tempo & balance 

 

Putting:  Number of putts missed on the low side (there aren't many)

[KGGolf]

Course management. 

 

How many non-tour guys go at that Sunday pin on 18 at Bay Hill from more than 157 yards? I'd say more than 80%, prob less if you're a member there. That shot is so impossible that the PGA guys play 40 feet left and 2-putt. 

 

That level of discipline is something most players, myself included at times, don't have.

[Ironman_32]

more course management, like when they choose to lay up or not. Putting is also interesting, everything a pro does is close or by the hole which you take as a given. But when you watch some of those celebrity tourneys, you realize how bad regular people are at putting (kind of like when you see good looking people on tv vs ugly people, its a big difference when you see ugly people haha). 

 

Not on tv, but if you look at the shotlink on roundson the PGA site, its a good overview of what shots/distances guys are hitting. 

[BlackDiamondPar5]

Also distance is virtually meaningless as a TV viewer. 

[ebk]

I watch for rules infractions.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

j/k - I don’t really look at any one thing.  Depends on the player, the shot and circumstances.