"Full Swing" Tour Docuseries on Netflix

[iacas]

17 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

I could care less

How much less? 😉

[saevel25]

1 minute ago, iacas said:

How much less? 😉

Between care and couldn't care less 😛 

[iacas]

A comment from another…

Quote

Episode one felt like a glorified highlight reel of the PGA Championship that wasn’t even as good as the ones that the PGA puts out themselves on YouTube. I also have no idea why they would start with the PGA. I guess they figured it was a good hook for casual fans, but I imagine the confusing calendar tricks they’re gonna have to pull off as a result will be annoying to most down the line. Seems very sort sighted, especially if they want to continue on for more seasons.

Imagine 45 minutes of annoying golf media types saying things you already know in the most dramatic way possible, scripted (or at least rehearsed) interactions between Justin and Jordan, and golf shots edited together in such quick succession you have no chance at creating context for what’s going on. The song choice for JT’s emotional post tournament moments was really something too. Maybe they were going for laughs?

The only interesting part was seeing Jordan put makeup on.

I asked this, then:

Did the first season of DTS really do well, or did it take a pandemic and a bunch of people stuck at home to really turn people on to that? I know a lot of PGA Tour players didn’t start watching it until the pandemic, and that’s how a lot of people here got into it.

Also, DTS has cars going literally 180+ MPH, and crashes, and exotic locations… and golf has none of that.

The target audience might not be “existing golf fans” but we’re who are going to watch it early on. Whether “Full Swing” has its “DTS moment” where it reaches NEW potential fans… I dunno?

[JetFan1983]

Thanks for sharing before the release, Erik. I actually kind of enjoyed it. If that's the worst episode, then I'll probably enjoy the series. I went in assuming it would be pretty puff piecey, and I wasn't disappointed. It's kind of a shame how in order to get access you have to play by their rules, so providing any kind of critical insight doesn't seem to be possible. It seems like every episode is going to spend a lot of time giving that puff piece biography of each player they focus on, where they try to get us to cry when they do something special in golf. If I had just picked up golf, it might work on me. 

I think a B- for episode one is a fair score. I wish I saw Drive to Survive so I could compare them.

I wonder if they'll ever explain the actual structure of pro golf at any point, and how we got here, such as the distinctions between PGA and PGAT, distinctions between the PGAT and the majors, etc. So many people are confused by all this, and it'd be nice if they actually went thru that for them. 

I've always been kind of a sucker for these kinds of things, so I'll keep watching. Luckily for me, probably my favorite part of the first episode was seeing glimpses into their workouts. I'll probably have to go back thru episode one at some point and incorporate some of those moves into my routine.

[iacas]

Some notes… off the top of my head:

• They never really pointed out that for the last four years or so, JT has been the much better player than JS.
• The clearly staged parts are dumb.
• Why tell us (through staged interviews) some things instead of just showing us?
• "It's really hard to win out here."
• They gave no context whether 3 major wins was a LOT or a LITTLE or somewhere in between.
• The RBC Heritage is a "springboard" event? C'mon. It's right after The Masters!
• Nothing really about Tiger at the PGA? Except showing him on the first tee?
• A smattering of golf shots that feel out of order and lack context.

[JetFan1983]

1 minute ago, iacas said:

Some notes… off the top of my head:

• They never really pointed out that for the last four years or so, JT has been the much better player than JS.
• The clearly staged parts are dumb.
• Why tell us (through staged interviews) some things instead of just showing us?
• "It's really hard to win out here."
• They gave no context whether 3 major wins was a LOT or a LITTLE or somewhere in between.
• The RBC Heritage is a "springboard" event? C'mon. It's right after The Masters!
• Nothing really about Tiger at the PGA? Except showing him on the first tee?
• A smattering of golf shots that feel out of order and lack context.

Yea, disappointing for sure. It seems the producers of the series don't really carry a great insight into this game, and it kind of shows. Again though, being the sucker that I am for these kinds of things, I'll probably find a way to enjoy it. For example, JT buying allergy meds at CVS for some strange reason was kind of fun in a "they're just like us except way better at golf" kind of a way.

With Hilton Head, yea they really should've just said as the first post-Masters event, it's always filled with journeyman pros, many of whom are struggling to stay at this level. Perhaps they didn't want to say anything negative about any event on the PGA Tour schedule out of fear of ruffling feathers or something. Instead they decided to build Spieth up as someone who hasn't faced much adversity, but of course, anyone who follows the sport knows he kind of lost his game there for a couple seasons.

As a result, framing JT as the underdog to Spieth was silly. It was pretty funny though that Spieth had left already and wasn't around to congratulate his friend after winning the PGA too. I'm sure the Netflix peeps were annoyed they couldn't get a shot of Spieth hugging JT after that win and saying "great job, man," maybe with a funny exchange on the private jet on the flight home, with the trophy there between them, and Jordan trying to bait JT into some gambling again.

[iacas]

The gambling was dumb. Who guesses a card for a thousand bucks? Odds are not good.

[iacas]

Frenemies, Fathers, and Failures: How Netflix’s ‘Full Swing’ Illuminates the Golf Universe

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The streaming service’s forthcoming docuseries aims to find the highs and lows of golf—and it largely succeeds

[JetFan1983]

12 hours ago, iacas said:

The gambling was dumb. Who guesses a card for a thousand bucks? Odds are not good.

Yea, what was that game? I just assumed they didn't explain it well and quickly moved on mentally, but if it was just "guess the card" uhhh, yea. Find a better gambling game, guys.

Oh I do want to add that the Mike Thomas stuff was great. It's interesting how generational the game is in the Thomas family and how things evolved for them, where Mike's dad was a bit hard on him about the game and how Mike made a promise to himself he wouldn't do that to his son. I enjoyed that part as well.

[Elmer]

On 1/11/2023 at 8:06 PM, iacas said:

Did the trailer make you more or less hyped?

I'd been hearing good things, so the trailer… didn't show me anything much that I didn't expect. So, it didn't land flat for me, but it didn't really land. It just "is."

Meh! I dont need a puff piece. In 10-15 years when they make a documentary about the dark side of the tour, maybe I will watch. 
Maybe a documentary about the history of golf.
I have always found golfers the least interesting part of golf!

14 hours ago, iacas said:

The gambling was dumb. Who guesses a card for a thousand bucks? Odds are not good.

Nothing reinforces golfers as elitists and throwing away $1,000 on a silly bet!

I will watch every nature documentary and every bit of animation before I think of watching this drivel! 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Elmer

[JetFan1983]

6 minutes ago, Elmer said:

Meh! I dont need a puff piece. In 10-15 years when they make a documentary about the dark side of the tour, maybe I will watch. 

It wasn't quite Jimmy Roberts level maudlin, but they were in the neighborhood at times. 

If the Poulter episode tries to get us to like him, then we'll know Full Swing has fallen well short of anything resembling an interesting depiction of tour life... not that I would know personally what tour life is like, just that Poulter's antics have been well documented over the years. 

[colin007]

https://twitter.com/ConorSketches/status/1625484979730874370?s=20

Edited February 15, 2023 by colin007
Durrr

[Elmer]

1 hour ago, colin007 said:

https://twitter.com/ConorSketches/status/1625484979730874370?s=20

I will watch that 100 more times before I will watch Full Swing.

[iacas]

52 minutes ago, Elmer said:

I will watch that 100 more times before I will watch Full Swing.

Why?

[jmanbooyaa]

I enjoyed the Dahmen episode. Still watching. 

[iacas]

I plan to watch a little tonight with the wife.

Unfortunately including the first episode. 😉

[Elmer]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Why?

I have always found athletes to be the least interesting thing about sports. Even more so if it is a puff piece that tries to make them relatable.

Golfers (at least successful one), in my opinion, are the least compelling athletes to chronical.  Their performance on the course, absolutely. However a bunch of wealthy dudes who all live in Florida and share chartered jets and live in a bubble, meh!

Listening to a top ten pro golfer talk about his game, is like listening to pro athlete complain about their workout routine, or their personal chef not using cage free eggs.
This is the path they chose and their entire day can be dedicated to doing something the rest of us may get to do for an hour a week (if lucky). I find no compassion for their issues. 
Show me the poor kid who did not grow up with access to a country club. Who learned the game on dusty muni courses. Who fought to make the tour and grinding each weeks to stay on tour, so as to not have to return to his job as the head pro at Al's chip and putt!

With that being said, I know you cant knock something until you try it (and thank goodness, otherwise I would be living a brussels sproutless life!). So I will give it a watch. However it is be difficult because I am clearly biased against the subject matter. 

 

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Elmer said:

Even more so if it is a puff piece that tries to make them relatable.

From what I've heard it's not that. Brooks Koepka shows poorly (and cries), etc. It wasn't "investigative journalism" to expose things, but it's not a puff piece.

2 hours ago, Elmer said:

Show me the poor kid who did not grow up with access to a country club.

You should watch the Tony Finau episode.

In other words, when you say things like you said above, then say this… maybe you don't know as much as you think you know.

2 hours ago, Elmer said:

So I will give it a watch.

Good.