Sometimes well intended projects have ill effects. I'd put Youtube Golf Videos into this category.
I honestly believe that people go onto YouTube with the intention of helping golfers get better. In reality, I don't think there is a coach in any sport with the intention of making any one worse at a sport, most coaches have a genuine desire to help people.
However, I think that in general the Youtube format is not well suited to help people improve.
I'll give you a quick 5 reasons why I am making this bold claim:
Your Grip and Hands do EVERYTHING in the golf swing
The Golf swing works in 3D, which means if you change one thing, you have to change 2 other corresponding things for it to work and keep working
The Golf swing is subject to the direction of momentum, and often times you cannot see on video how this momentum is affecting your swing
Feel is Never real
Small things make big differences in Golf
Grip & Hands
I find that there is a general idea that using your hands is a bad thing in the golf swing and that most golfers think they need to deactivate their hands. Similarly, in my experience, those who don't use their hands have a big problem hitting the ball. They are trying to "Rotate" more or keep their head still or some other type of thing they picked up from Youtube or Instagram. Things can get so complicated and confusing for people that they suffer from information overload.
It even happens to the professionals who have honed this game to a fine artform. See Will Zalatoris' Comments about armchair coaches on Instagram: “I’m sure all the Instagram morons are going to say it has something to do with my left wrist flexion coming down, but I promise you, it’s got nothing to do with it,”
As you can see here the best in the world have differing opinions and the simple thought that somehow some wrist position has something to do with winning or losing is missing the point. We are focusing too much on minutia.
The grip needs to match with the way the club works and by understanding cause and effect in a live situation through the use of video, we can easily see what to do.
That's tough to get correct on social media where the communication style is 1 way and doesn't open up much room for back and forth questioning and understanding.
The Golf Swing Works in 3 Dimensions
This is the real crux of the issue here. A quick Google search of "how to fix a slice" comes up with 13.9 million related results. The first thing Google does is send you to a Youtube Video with some ClickBait. You'd think that somewhere within these 13.9 million results that one of the thousands of Youtube Videos, should have eradicated slicing forever from every golfer on the planet.
However, a quick trip to the driving range will show you that the slice is surely alive, well and thriving. Hmmmm.... Fore RIGHT!
In order to fix a slice forever, we need to change at least 3 things. These normally are the following common swing errors:
1) Take Away
2) Sequence
3) Extension
If you happen to watch a video on any three of the above components, and put into practice what that person is saying, you might get lucky and get the right one that has an impact on your swing fault. However, you are inadvertently creating another swing fault. So, it works shortly and then changes something else.
This is the same reason why taking a single golf lesson is a pretty big waste of money as a number of contributing factors are causing the issue. One session can almost never fix them all, and therefore the frustration continues.
Check Out Our Golf Training Programs which Address all Variables Here
The golf swing is composed of the following 3 primary variables:
The Club Path
The Clubface
The Attack Angle
These are the 3 Dimensions that needs to be matched up. If you miss one of these or one is out of whack, then success will allude you. All 3 variables need to be applied with proper tempo or it will all go wrong over time. Tough to assess and individualize tempo via Youtube.
A Golf Shot is a Collision
Movement along the target line and the ability to "let it happen" are critical to success.
Allowing your body (Mass) to shift through the ball is key to accuracy. Allowing that Momentum to Carry you and move you through the extension is key to consistent ball striking. (Velocity). Both of these components are the primary variables in making force.
When we apply that force along a line (linear) we get profound effects. Meaning - way more distance (like 30 yards more) and way better trajectory and accuracy (We hit the target).
None of this is possible without first discussing ball position, dynamic movement and your head. But if you go onto Youtube you will hear garbage about keeping your head still. Putting the ball in the middle and not swaying.
All of these confuse the average golfer into thinking that they need to keep their Mass in one fixed position from the entire swing. That goes against physics, plain and simple and goes against body mechanics.
So, we can easily get the wrong idea from watching a video about what not to do or what to avoid. Instead, we need to harness momentum, and to feel this is not easily done on video and requires some steps to accomplish.
Below is an example to illustrate how mass and velocity produce force in a direction (straight). Consider Circle A as the club and Circle B as the Golf ball.
"M" is the Mass (Please consider this as the weight shift portion of the swing) i.e. the total mass of your body plus the clubhead mass
"U" is the velocity of the object. The force of object A (Club & Body) has an impact on the Object B (Golf Ball) which is not moving.
When that force is linear, meaning we have a club path moving along the target line and a clubface that is pointing at that target line, we have a massive transfer of force.
When we have a deflection (meaning the club path, face or attack angle is not correct) we lose force toward the target and therefore we miss the shot. Loss of force is loss of distance and accuracy. No good!
Have a Read of Our Article About Momentum Here
You can see clearly the effect on the "After" portion of this illustration that shows the decrease in speed of object A due to deflection. It's lost half of its speed. The same happens to your club when you mis hit it or you create too much deflection. We like to avoid that!
Feel is Never Real
Often golf drills are used to make a golfer feel the same thing as the instructor, however most of it gets lost in translation or doesn't have context. So, the might be effective, but it doesn't stick. Once the drill stops being used, the swing goes back to its old habits. Good for the YouTube channel and golf instructor, but bad for the golfer! That's why we use video, you can feel it and see for yourself, so we greatly reduce any misunderstanding.
You might see professionals practicing very strange things on the range before a competitive round and this is only to exaggerate the feeling as they will not be delivering the club from that position in reality. Don't get confused by this, it's personal to them and based upon their feel.
That's the shortcoming of YouTube, it is not personal to you and the description online can be completely different for each person.
I'm sure Justin Rose isn't hitting it from that flat a position!
Small Things Make Big Differences in Golf
I will use a small example here just to show how something seemingly unimportant can have a big impact on how the club works and how much speed you can obtain.
Below we look simply at the thumb position in the grip. I call it short thumb and long thumb. Long thumb has little to no control or power, short thumb has the exact opposite.
I'm pretty certain that this hasn't been discussed in the above slicing video on YouTube and it can easily be overlooked unless you are with someone that knows what they are doing.
So you might be following along with some Youtuber diligently and working hard at the range every other day, but one simple little change of thumb position can greatly impact your clubs movement through the ball and effectively stop you from slicing, but it gets missed.
You'd have to know what you are looking for in order to find the right video.
Long Thumb no good, short thumb better to reduce pain and ensure proper wrist and hand movement through the golf swing.
There are so many small little details on how we move the club and how we allow the club to interact with our bodies that just cannot be properly described for all individuals.
The Effects of YouTube Abuse on Your Game
I will get to a cold hard fact of sports. The longer you practice something incorrectly, the longer and more expensive it will be for you to fix it.
The reality is that there are many things that need to be fixed together and in relation to each other, that a simple 10+ minute video on YouTube isn't going to cure your slice.
These Youtubers are there to make money from a monetization strategy paid from YouTube by the number of views and comments they get. They make money from peddling half information and at the expense of your golf game. Their intention is to get you hooked onto their channel and dependent upon the next "Secret." If you are watching YouTube for entertainment purposes then definitely enjoy yourself, but be careful how much information you onboard.
Now you can watch YouTube with a plan in place, but be sure to have a step by step plan on how you will approach your golf game. Get yourself a swing analysis and then discuss the proper plan of attack based upon your budget.
Get things set in motion, and save yourself years of pain and anguish.
Send me Your Swing and I'll send you an analysis and plan for free. You can click the link below to get started.