Episodes

Today's episode of the podcast looks at another element of a top level swing: the speed the grip is moving. For Rory, when hitting driver, how fast are his hands moving? Is he faster in his downswing than his backswing? If so, by how much? And maybe even more importantly: when are his hands moving the fastest in his swing? Mark leads Greg and Lou through these questions and their answers, and then they discuss why this matters—and how putting the speed into your swing at the right time can help ...

SMS - 7 iron from FW, Greens hit, Scratch and 15 index

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Each of these will be a mini-episode (10-15 minutes long) about an interesting golf stat. We will discuss what you can learn, and most importantly, how you can apply this on the golf course to lower your scores and lower your handicap. Listen on your drive to the golf course or over your Saturday morning coffee! Data is sourced from Arccos Golf. They have over 750 MILLION shots in their database. Check them out at...

Are We Getting Custom Fitting All Wrong?

You're looking to buy new clubs, and you know you should get fitted for them. But what does that mean? How many clubs in your bag should be customized for you? Is there a difference between your 8 iron fitting and your 6 iron? In this episode, Mark leads a discussion with Greg and Lou about what we should be expecting from custom fitting. They cover a ton of ground: the benefits of fitting, why individual club fitting isn't done (though it has real benefits), who should be fitted, and what you s...

Learning From Tour Player Swings, Part 10 (Distance Between Elbows)

Mark, Lou, and Greg continue to take measured data from Tour swings and see what it tells us for making real improvement in our games. In this episode, Mark quizzes Greg and Lou about the elbows: particularly, how far apart Lydia Ko's elbows are at address versus at the top of the swing. Do they get closer together, further apart, or maintain the same distance? And what about one of Mark's own measured swings? You've seen training holds that either hold the elbows together (with a sleeve or a st...

SMS - 5 Index, 75 FW, Up and Down vs 4 or More

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Today's episode is a "manage your expectations" special. We have a very good player, a 5-index, 75 yards from the hole in the fairway. How often is he getting up and down from there? How often is it taking him 4 or more shots to finish that hole? This is certainly an episode that will confound the Twitter golfers! All three of our hosts then offer sound strategies for improving your scores—realistically—in these "gree...

Indoor Putting Practice

If you're a golfer, your putter should come inside with you regularly. Indoor putting practice can be a huge benefit for your game, especially for those who live in climates where it can be the only significant practice for a portion of the year. In this episode, Mark and Lou talk about ways to make your indoor putting practice more beneficial. Some of these are simple drills that anyone can do. Others highlight tools that you can buy (for less than that driver you're eyeing)—tools that will lik...

Golf's Handicap System

Golf's handicap system is one of its most enduring features: the ability for golfer's of differing skill levels to have a match against each other remains a major draw. But that system is complicated, and most golfers have a very rudimentary understanding of how it works—if they don't misunderstand it altogether. In this episode, Lou and Mark (Greg is out chasing the Schwab Cup) talk about the handicap system: what goes into it, how it's misused, and how it's changed over the years. Where to fi...

SMS - 5 Index, Par 5, FW 200 Yards, Birdie and Bogey Chances

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. Today, we're with a solid golfer. He's hit a tee shot on a par 5, leaving him 200 yards to the hole. How often should he expect to birdie the hole from there? How often will he make bogey? After Mark and Greg register their answers to Lou's question, they talk about strategies and equipment choices that can maximize your chances of shooting your best scores from long range. There is advice here to help everyone's golf...

Learning From Tour Player Swings, Part 9 (Pelvic Side Bend)

Mark, Lou, and Greg continue to take measured data from Tour (and, in this case, also amateur) swings and see what it tells us for making real improvement in our games. In this episode, Mark quizzes Greg and Lou about hip movement at setup and through the swing. Lou asks a perceptive question: does the pelvis movement create the good swing, or is it an effect of other parts of an elite golf swing? From there, the discussions goes in a number of directions that can help all of us learn how to lea...

Thoughts on the Tour Championship

WIthin the past couple weeks, Scottie Scheffler capped an amazing season on the PGA Tour by winning the Tour Championship and with it, the Fedex Cup and its giant pool of bonus money. In this episode, Mark, Lou, and Greg discuss how the Tour structures its season-ending playoff, with the pros and cons of determining a season-long champion using a playoff. Can significance for an event be created simply with money? Is there another format that might work better? And what are Greg's chances of the...

SMS - 3 Putt Percentage, 16-20 Feet, Scratch and 20 Index

Welcome to the "Saturday Morning Golf Stat" from the Hack it Out Golf Podcast. In this edition of the Saturday Stat, Lou returns to Greg's wheelhouse: putting. Here, Greg and Mark take their best guesses at how often a scratch and a 20-index golfer 3-putt from 16–20'. Turns out, the answers surprise them—and likely you as well. Three-putt avoidance is a key to solid scoring (as Greg knows very well), and this episode will give you some keys to avoid wasting unnecessary strokes on the greens. Ea...

Lining Up Your Putts

Today's episode is all about lining up your putts. Mark, Lou, and Greg talk about using the line on the ball vs drawing lines, whether to use a line at all, how the line on your ball might interact with any alignment lines on your putter, and then, in a discussion for the ages (and one to be continued): an epic new ball marker, invented by Lou, that might be so revolutionary that it's banned by the governing bodies. Lots of good content in this podcast that should help you hole more putts in you...

Sean Foley's Greatest Coaching Accomplishment