If you had to recommend one piece of instructional content, what would it be?

[Motoboss]

I watched many times to understand it and then “BAM”,  it worked!

 

 

 

And then Monte’s video made it happen.

 

 

These together  I have the best ball striking in years.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Motoboss

[Gamble Gamble]

It all depends on what stage of of understanding the golf swing.  See below:
 

Beginner-Intermediate understanding of the golf swing:  

 

Monte’s Rebellion golf is great to learn fundamentals and more in an interesting way.  

 

Intermediate-Advanced understanding of the golf swing: 

 

Athletic Motion Golf has many great videos that get very in depth and may be too much for beginners to work with

 

Fed up with the game and want to ruin your swing so you can finally quit:  

 

Golf Digest’s swing tip section

[tm3]

15 hours ago, Motoboss said:

I watched many times to understand it and the “BAM” it worked!

 

 

And then Monte’s video made it happen.

 

 

Together with these two I have the best ball striking in years.

That Zipper Away is really interesting.

 

It reminds me of the Transition Drill that he has in the No Turn Cast video, except in that NTC Transition Drill it looks like he is moving his hips towards 12 o'clock instead of towards 10 o'clock as in the above.

[MelloYello]

Hard for me to not just say, 'subscribe to Golf Digest.' I have countless magazines stacked up from over the years that helped get me going. I can't tell you how many useful articles there were with great photos and insights from the games top instructors & players. 

 

Outside of that, probably anything Tiger related. His book How I Play Golf is great as are the countless videos of his range sessions. They always seem to make me swing smoother. 

 

So much of golf is just watching and learning by osmosis. All other instruction is really issue/player-specific. 

 

If you are learning via YouTube, I like Clay Ballard's stuff a lot. He seems to make things pretty simple.  

[Motoboss]

I like Clay but just too wordy. He can turn a 5 minute swing thought and turn it in 15 minutes. Good information, but get to the point 🙂

[Gamble Gamble]

1 hour ago, Motoboss said:

I like Clay but just too wordy. He can turn a 5 minute swing thought and turn it in 15 minutes. Good information, but get to the point 🙂

 

It also feels like every Clay Ballard video is an infomercial where at the end I will get charged 4 easy payments of $29.99.

[TheDeanAbides]

15 hours ago, MelloYello said:

Hard for me to not just say, 'subscribe to Golf Digest.' I have countless magazines stacked up from over the years that helped get me going. I can't tell you how many useful articles there were with great photos and insights from the games top instructors & players. 

 

Outside of that, probably anything Tiger related. His book How I Play Golf is great as are the countless videos of his range sessions. They always seem to make me swing smoother. 

 

So much of golf is just watching and learning by osmosis. All other instruction is really issue/player-specific. 

 

If you are learning via YouTube, I like Clay Ballard's stuff a lot. He seems to make things pretty simple.  

Not trying to be a dick, but that’s the worst advice it’s possible to give really. Golf magazine tips don’t diagnose the problem, and usually regurgitate tired old clichés that have been disproven. Without knowing the root of why, for example, you slice it how can a tip work except by complete luck?

[MelloYello]

To be frank....the guys who spend all day on YouTube (which sometimes we all do), please at least have the guts to admit what it is: pure, unadulterated entertainment. 

 

It's not good for you. It's not healthy. It's not making you smarter, wiser, more-informed, etc. Retention from passive entertainment-style videos about any topic is near nill. 

 

Videos as a way to improve yourself are a massively inefficient form of instruction (this applies to any topic). Reading is always infinitely better as your mind is actually engaged. A photo with a short blurb from a magazine like GD becomes a 15-minute video on YouTube with some blowhard rambling. Which is more efficient? 

 

So if you like Monte as much as you claim, get out your check books, fly out and give him your business. If you're too cheap to do that, then take real lessons with someone (good) in your area. 

 

Reading > watching. In-person instruction is ideal. Expensive? Depends if you want to be good or not. 

 

Watching = entertainment. Plain and simple. 

 

Watching YT videos on math doesn't make you a professor--and it never will. In the end, becoming good is about putting in the work. Whatever inspires you to do that is good for you. Watching countless videos is not inspiring, it's addictive. 

 

YouTube is entertainment to turn your brain off. 

 

Hope this isn't news to you guys. 

 

I'm 36 and I'm as addicted to this crap as anyone. But at least call yourself out for it and don't pat yourself on the back. In a better world, none of us would ever go to YouTube or have to rely on it to promote ourselves. 

 

.

Edited May 12, 2022 by MelloYello

[betarhoalphadelta]

15 minutes ago, MelloYello said:

To be frank....the guys who spend all day on YouTube (which sometimes we all do), please at least have the guts to admit what it is: pure, unadulterated entertainment. 

 

It's not good for you. It's not healthy. It's not making you smarter, wiser, more-informed, etc. Retention from passive entertainment-style videos about any topic is near nill. 

 

Videos as a way to improve yourself are a massively inefficient form of instruction (this applies to any topic). Reading is always infinitely better as your mind is actually engaged. A photo with a short blurb from a magazine like GD becomes a 15-minute video on YouTube with some blowhard rambling. Which is more efficient? 

 

So if you like Monte as much as you claim, get out your check books, fly out and give him your business. If you're too cheap to do that, then take real lessons with someone (good) in your area. 

 

Reading > watching. In-person instruction is ideal. Expensive? Depends if you want to be good or not. 

 

Watching = entertainment. Plain and simple. 

 

Watching YT videos on math doesn't make you a professor--and it never will. In the end, becoming good is about putting in the work. Whatever inspires you to do that is good for you. Watching countless videos is not inspiring, it's addictive. 

 

YouTube is entertainment to turn your brain off. 

 

Hope this isn't news to you guys. 

 

I'm 36 and I'm as addicted to this crap as anyone. But at least call yourself out for it and don't pat yourself on the back. In a better world, none of us would ever go to YouTube or have to rely on it to promote ourselves. 

 

.

 

Okay, to put it simply... You're wrong. 

 

Your argument is one I naturally gravitate towards. I am, for most things, a text-based learner. I would much rather read than watch a video. I simply absorb information much more efficiently through the written word than I do via audio or video. 

 

But there are exceptions. Often, when I'm trying to learn a new skill, seeing it performed is actually tremendously helpful. I can think of several examples where video was VERY helpful:

 

1. I had an issue with an ignition coil in my car. It's the first vehicle I've ever owned with ignition coils rather than spark plugs and a distributor cap. Watching a YT video, shot on the exact vehicle with the exact same engine, showed me exactly what needed to be removed to get access to the ignition coil and how to change it. This would have been more effective than text, even more effective IMHO than a service manual. This wasn't the first time I've used YT videos to learn something about car maintenance, and won't be the last. 
2. I wanted to pull up and replace tile in my living room. I've never laid tile before in my life. But I trust that I can do things like this, because after watching a handful of YT videos, I understood all the basics of laying tile. Again, this wasn't the first time I've used YT to learn a home maintenance project I'd never done before, and won't be the last. 
3. I was planning to make shrimp & vegetable risotto in my Instant Pot and the online recipe had several steps that, while I'm sure the author THOUGHT they were clear, were not clear. However, she also had a video and I was able to see how to perform the unclear steps. Again, not the first or last time I've used video for a cooking technique or recipe. 

The last one I bring up specifically for a reason. I think the author thought she was clear in her text recipe. But she wasn't. I think the same can happen with text discussions of golf. SO much of golf has to do with proprioception--feel. How one person communicates feel to another is complex. Even for golf pros. Even including the discussion of a bunker shot that you edited saying something like "get into your left side sooner". Five different golfers could have five different mental conceptions of what "get into your left side sooner" means. 

 

For a skill-based learning, such as golf, physically seeing a movement performed, all the way through, can be important. Often text and still photos doesn't do it justice. 

 

 

[TheDeanAbides]

2 hours ago, MelloYello said:

To be frank....the guys who spend all day on YouTube (which sometimes we all do), please at least have the guts to admit what it is: pure, unadulterated entertainment. 

 

It's not good for you. It's not healthy. It's not making you smarter, wiser, more-informed, etc. Retention from passive entertainment-style videos about any topic is near nill. 

 

Videos as a way to improve yourself are a massively inefficient form of instruction (this applies to any topic). Reading is always infinitely better as your mind is actually engaged. A photo with a short blurb from a magazine like GD becomes a 15-minute video on YouTube with some blowhard rambling. Which is more efficient? 

 

So if you like Monte as much as you claim, get out your check books, fly out and give him your business. If you're too cheap to do that, then take real lessons with someone (good) in your area. 

 

Reading > watching. In-person instruction is ideal. Expensive? Depends if you want to be good or not. 

 

Watching = entertainment. Plain and simple. 

 

Watching YT videos on math doesn't make you a professor--and it never will. In the end, becoming good is about putting in the work. Whatever inspires you to do that is good for you. Watching countless videos is not inspiring, it's addictive. 

 

YouTube is entertainment to turn your brain off. 

 

Hope this isn't news to you guys. 

 

I'm 36 and I'm as addicted to this crap as anyone. But at least call yourself out for it and don't pat yourself on the back. In a better world, none of us would ever go to YouTube or have to rely on it to promote ourselves. 

 

.

People do not all learn in the same way. Yes, just watching endless videos by different teachers without knowing what the issue is is a terrible idea - exactly the same as reading a tip in a magazine. 
 

Having your issue diagnosed and then applying the correct fix is literally how you get better. Apply the fix, check on video that you’re doing it correctly and repeat.

 

 YouTube might just be entertainment to you, but it’s not true of everyone. 
 

Also telling people to just fly out and see Monte is incredibly elitist. That’s not possible for everyone.

[Motoboss]

@MelloYello don’t take this as hate mail but,,,,,

I, for one, am a visual learner. Also a performance riding teacher and motorcycle instructor. I teach brand new riders to AMA level riders and have many years of teaching and learning experience. You must identify the learning abilities of each student to help them gain complete understanding of the subject. Some see it, some hear it, others read it and some can’t afford to “get on a plane” to see an instructor.

 

One shoe doesn’t fit all and I see all forms of educational information as more than “entertainment”. I guess all these online colleges need to rethink their programs.

 

 

But your “36” and have a handle on it.

 

 

 

 

 

oh, I’m 68

Edited May 13, 2022 by Motoboss

[Gamble Gamble]

14 hours ago, MelloYello said:

Reading is always infinitely better as your mind is actually engaged. A photo with a short blurb from a magazine like GD becomes a 15-minute video on YouTube with some blowhard rambling. Which is more efficient? 

“Tell me you’re a Golf Digest writer, without telling me you’re a Golf Digest writer.”

 

It looks like i struck a nerve with my post.  
 

I’ve had lessons from Monte, Chase, Bova, iTeach, and a slew of others local and not local to me.  I learn something from each of them.  Currently, my golf game is the best it has ever been and I credit it to each link in that educational chain, a chunk of which were YouTube videos by AMG.  
 

However, after reading this thread, I figured out that I learn the best when someone bloviates to me about how I should spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours flying to instructors around the world instead of watching a 7 minute video.    
 

Edit:  I just saw that you prefer Clay Ballard on YouTube and understand why you think YouTube has little value to golf instruction.  
 

The Lag Doctor Clay Ballard is to effective golf instruction what Dr. Evil is to medicine. 

 

Edited May 13, 2022 by Gamble Gamble

[tm3]

On 5/12/2022 at 3:57 AM, TheDeanAbides said:

Not trying to be a dick, but that’s the worst advice it’s possible to give really. Golf magazine tips don’t diagnose the problem, and usually regurgitate tired old clichés that have been disproven. Without knowing the root of why, for example, you slice it how can a tip work except by complete luck?

Back when I started playing and trying to learn, I had free access to the golf rags, er, mags, and I tried a lot of their "instruction." 

 

If I had it to do over, I definitely would not repeat that mistake.  Although, compared to some of the lessons I have had from "professionals" maybe it wasn't the worst.