16 Things Learned From Tour Players in 2022

[iacas]

16 things I learned from tour players in 2022 | Instruction | GolfDigest.com

They are…

1. In golf, more distance is more control
2. Mobility is key
3. They love using putting mirrors
4. Mesh your swing to your body
5. Pros get insecure about stuff, too
6. Find your feel on the range
7. Takeaway checks are the new waggle
8. Swings shorten on course (so take an extra moment)
9. Transfer your confidence from club to club
10. The shoes you're wearing really matter
11. Straight looks different to everyone
12. They understand — and use — the gear affect
13. Speed control is king
14. Find speed matchups
15. To stay the same amount of good, you have to keep changing
16. Leave golf swing breadcrumbs

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I'm not sure about a few of them, but overall… it's not a bad list.

The ones I like most are 1, 5, 7, 13, and 16. (Number 16 seems oddly worded: I'd have called it "understand the why" or something like that.)

[dennyjones]

#10?  I guess as much walking as they do, shoes really matter.  For me, comfort is the priority.  For them it may be a confidence thing.  

[Golfer20]

2 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

#10?  I guess as much walking as they do, shoes really matter.  For me, comfort is the priority.  For them it may be a confidence thing.  

I was going to say the same thing... Surprised the kind of shoes they wear made the list.  I guess a subset of that would be the spikes they use as well.  I know I hate spikeless golf shoes and that a lot of pros use metal spikes. 

 

[iacas]

16 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

#10?  I guess as much walking as they do, shoes really matter.  For me, comfort is the priority.  For them it may be a confidence thing.  

I wouldn't downplay that quite that much.

Depending on the type of golf swing you have, and some other factors like the size and width of your feet and how (much, in what way, etc.) you "use the ground" during your swing, you can benefit from caring about how much structure you have in your shoe, how minimalist and/or flexible your shoes are, etc.

At our level, that stuff might not matter as much, and comfort or other things might matter a good bit more. But when a shot over four rounds is worth thousands of dollars, maybe more… every little thing matters.

I swear there was a decent study done on this, but my searches aren't yielding results. I found an old golf.com article from 2016 but it's mostly introducing two FJ shoes.

[saevel25]

10 minutes ago, iacas said:

At our level, that stuff might not matter as much, and comfort or other things might matter a good bit more. But when a shot over four rounds is worth thousands of dollars, maybe more… every little thing matters.

I'd agree with this. If on Sunday, on the back nine, your feet are just hurting after every step. I think that could be a big deal. 

[iacas]

7 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

I'd agree with this. If on Sunday, on the back nine, your feet are just hurting after every step. I think that could be a big deal. 

Again, it's not about hurting or comfort at their level. They can find a shoe that's comfortable enough for them. At their level, it's about getting the most performance out of your shoes. That means the whole shoe is a fit for you with the right kind of structure, minimalism, whatever…

[GolfLug]

I like, speed matchups, or really matchups in general and interestingly worded 16. I've gotten better at finding my way back home mid round. 

13 is another good one for sure. I have been winging putting stroke for a long time and will need to add to my workload.

[saevel25]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Again, it's not about hurting or comfort at their level. They can find a shoe that's comfortable enough for them. At their level, it's about getting the most performance out of your shoes. That means the whole shoe is a fit for you with the right kind of structure, minimalism, whatever…

Makes sense. 

2 hours ago, iacas said:

The ones I like most are 1, 5, 7, 13, and 16. (Number 16 seems oddly worded: I'd have called it "understand the why" or something like that.)

These are the ones I found interesting. 

#2 is good to know. Might consider adding more mobility to my workouts.

 

[dennyjones]

12 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

#2 is good to know. Might consider adding more mobility to my workouts.

+1

[Clemsonfan]

I like 1, 2 , 4, 6 and 13- and really most of the remaining on the list. I am no fan of the putting mirror unless you are checking the consistency of setup. If the mirror is used to put your eyes over the ball, my experience has been that very few people putt well that way since it does not fit their stroke. 

[p1n9183]

I think that one of the most important ones is not listed.
"Even Tour players hit bad shots and have bad rounds from time to time" learning to accept bad shots and having real expectations is key.