Episodes
Feb. 5, 2025
Greg's 2025 Champions Tour Preview
Gregulators: another seasons dawns, and it's time to mount up! Today's episode releases as Greg begins his second season on the Champions Tour, and so he joins Lou and Mark to talk about the final off-season preparations, his opening tournament in Morocco, and his expectations for the season ahead. Lou continues his campaign to take the bag from Dougie. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe Mark Crossfield on Twitter: https://twitter.c...
Feb. 2, 2025
2025 PGA Show Recap
Mark, Lou, and Greg took the opportunity again this year to meet up in person at the 2025 PGA Show in Orlando. In today's episode, the recount the show itself, a battle with food poisoning, new revelations about Lou's proportions, others in the golf industry they were able to reconnect with, some of the more interesting displays, and the beginnings of some in-person measuring and coaching of Lou. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldgolf.com/subscribe M...
Feb. 1, 2025
SMS - 150 in FW, Double Bogey or Worse, Scratch/10/20
SMS - 150 in FW, Double Bogey or Worse, Scratch/10/20
Jan. 31, 2025
SMS - 150 in FW, Double Bogey or Worse, Scratch/10/20
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. In today's episode, we have three golfers hitting their approach into the green on a par 4 from 150 yards: one scratch, one a 10 index, and the last a 20 index. What are the odds that each make double-bogey or worse? Lou brings the Arccos data, Mark and Greg offer their guesses, and all three give advice that will help you score better during your rounds. Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes long) abou...
Jan. 29, 2025
Making Real Swing Changes
The legendary golf instructor Harvey Penick said, "Golf tips are like aspirin. One may do you good, but if you swallow the whole bottle you will be lucky to survive." There's wisdom there—but maybe not in your practice, when you're trying to change your swing. In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg make the case for dramatically overdoing your swing change. Why would you intentionally practice "wrong?" Because pushing to extremes just might unlock the target you're after in golf. Newsletter video...
Jan. 26, 2025
Chip Closer With a Hybrid
Would you rather shoot better scores or play with flair and style? I think most of us know, if we're trying to lower the handicap, we should want to get the ball in the hole in the fewest shots, regardless if our style impresses our playing partners. In this episode, Lou brings a recent golf study to Mark and Lou: most golfers get their chip shots much closer to the hole when they hit those shots with a hybrid rather than a wedge. They talk through the study, the pros and cons, and ask you to co...
Jan. 24, 2025
SMS - Tour Pros from 100-125 in the FW
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. As always, the best Saturday Stats the ones when Mark and Greg's guesses are furthest from the number. Today, Lou's topic are the green-light shots: a wedge from the fairway for Tour pros. How often are they hitting the green, what's their average proximity, and what's the scoring average? Once again, this is a masterclass in expectations management! Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes long) about an ...
Jan. 22, 2025
Ball Position
Today's episode takes us to one of the "fundamentals" of golf, but perhaps not in a way you'd expect. Mark, Lou, and Greg talk ball position, and one idea that Mark leads with is that while your ball position needs to be intentional, it might not always need to be the same. You probably know that ball position can change ball flight, especially height. Have you thought about the way it influences club delivery and body movements? Here's an episode that shows that small changes can produce signif...
Jan. 19, 2025
The State of the DP World Tour
Professional men's golf continues to remain in flux. There was a time when the European Tour was a near peer if not a full peer of the PGA Tour. That is no longer the case; indeed, the current arrangement has the DP World Tour sending its best players each year to the PGA Tour. Has the DP World made poor decisions? In today's episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg talk about the past, present, and future of the DP World Tour. Where to find us: Mark Crossfield's weekly newsletter: https://www.crossfieldg...
Jan. 17, 2025
SMS - How Long Is a 270 Driver?
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. There probably isn't an "expectations management" issue that is more obvious than driving distance. In this episode, Lou asks Greg and Mark about an amateur male golfer with a median driving distance around 270: where does he rank compared to his peers? Turns out, he's way better than most—which means most of us aren't hitting it as far as we claim, and need a more realistic understanding of what a good drive is for u...
Jan. 15, 2025
Project Lou: Episode 6
Project Lou returns! In this episode, Lou is the student and Mark is the coach, and Greg might be the crisis negotiator brought in to defuse the situation. The guys update us on what Lou has been working on, providing important information on the relationship of plane to path. But the conversation becomes bigger: how quickly should swing changes take root? When is it not worth it to make a change? Most crucially: why is it so hard for many of us amateurs to make a swing change? You'll learn some...
Jan. 12, 2025
Backswing Basics
Have you ever taken a swing with a towel or headcover held in your armpit? If so, have we got an episode for you! The truth of the matter is that you need some arm lift in your backswing. In today's episode, Mark helps Lou understand how arm lift works in the backswing, while Greg offers his thoughts as well. This is useful all the time, but especially if you're working on changes to your swing in the off-season. Better arm lift will help generate easier power and also give room for a shallower ...
Jan. 10, 2025
SMS - 10 Index, Angles and Scoring Average
Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. There's a certain approach to golf strategy that insists that there is a *best* angle into the green, and to get that angle, you should try to favor one side of the fairway over the other. In this episode, Lou looks at the data for 10-index golfers, on relatively wide fairways, with the hole cut definitively to one side of the green. On those holes, what do the golfers average from the good angle vs the poor angle? Ma...