How to Avoid Bad Golf Tips Online

As many of you know, I've been in the process of developing more online training courses at The DIY Golfer. And while it's not exactly "official" yet, I'm working towards building a full-blown online golf academy dedicated to actionable, honest, and thorough golf advice.

While there will be "quick tips" to get you out of that slump (we all need them sometimes!), my goal at the DIY (do it yourself) golfer is to help you understand the WHY behind your golf swing so that you can help yourself in the future. I want to help you become your own golf coach.

Through my research, I've had hundreds of conversations with many of you, and have asked this question:

What is broken with online golf instruction?

I've heard a few common themes, and in today's issue, I want to address them.

Theme 1: Quick Tips are Conflicting

This has been a thorn in my side for years.

I learned a ton about golf from YouTube. I still do. But here's the paradox of YouTube golf videos—if someone like me wants them to be seen by a large audience, they must be short, punchy, and... incomplete. It's just the reality of YouTube.

What does this lead to?

A bunch of quick tips without much context. And without context, a golfer is left with seemingly "conflicting", or straight-up BAD golf advice.

For example, you might have heard this tip—keep your left wrist flat at the top of the swing.

Great! That's correct in some cases. But if you have a strong golf grip, that is BAD advice! It's not wrong, it's just missing context.

That's why I'm working hard to build The DIY Golfer Academy—a place where you can get both the "quick tips" and the full context behind them. Look out for this next spring, and in the meantime, take those YouTube tips with a grain of salt! If they work, great. If not, don't listen to them!

Theme 2: With online instruction, there is no personalization or feedback

At The DIY Golfer, my goal is to improve this area. I'll admit, right now, I don't have a great solution. But I have heard you and I'm working hard to create an online training dashboard that allows for a more personalized, 1:1 feeling experience.

Online instruction has the huge benefit of learning from any swing coach in the world! But it comes at the expense of one of the most valuable aspects of golf—a swing coach, in-person, helping you feel those essential movements to the golf swing.

I don't think anyone has cracked the code on this one yet, but with all the new technologies (i.e. personal launch monitors), I think there are opportunities to improve this part of online golf instruction. At The DIY Golfer, my goal is to push these boundaries and figure out how to bring golf instruction to your garage or basement!

Theme 3: I don't want to change my swing, I just want to play better!

As a competitive golfer, my goal has always been to achieve the "textbook" golf swing. But through many conversations, I realize that each golfer has a different idea of swing improvement.

Some golfers want perfection.

Other golfers want to work around a physical limitation or injury.

And some golfers just want something that is repeatable and consistent!

One of my core principles at The DIY Golfer is to help you understand the "WHY" so that you can find that perfect swing for YOUR body and skill level.

While I still believe the best way to do this is to model from the "textbook" golf swing and adjust where necessary, I plan to add a lot more "customization" and "alternative motions" to my teaching in the coming years.

Final Thoughts

I want to thank everyone who reads this newsletter for being patient as I figure out the best ways to teach golf online. I'm not a PGA Pro. I'm just a curious golfer trying to figure out the best ways to help you improve faster.

I've got a lot of awesome stuff coming next year and can't wait to share all of it with you! So stick around—it's time to shoot your lowest score ever.

And with that, I'll see ya next week.