The Spin Axis Podcast

[dennyjones]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

My book, yes, eventually. It is over a decade old at this point…

Still very relevant. 

[woodzie264]

On 4/18/2025 at 6:02 PM, iacas said:

No. It's going to stay instructional for the most part.

My book, yes, eventually. It is over a decade old at this point…

your book isn’t old - it’s a classic. It will always be relevant. I don’t believe anything in there will become irrelevant or obsolete. 
 

I loved the 5th episode

[saevel25]

Another good episode. It sounds pretty obvious that social media style golf tips/instruction is not a good way to learn golf. Too many opinions, nothing specific to the golfer, it's basically playing Russian Roulette. 

I for one, like to watch online golf instruction. I have found a few I think are pretty good, but I find it interesting. It just takes some front-end mental processing to push it off to the side away from what I am doing.  

I think the positives are to this is exposure. It keeps people interested in golf. It is free. It helps golf instructors who have to fix bad habits, 😉. 

I rather see the game grow, and social media is not going anywhere anytime soon. 

Honestly, some of the online stuff seems a bit better than some of the local instruction around my area. I have been a few stalls away from a golf instructor and you just have to shake your head at how bad it can get. 

[Ty_Webb]

Just listened to episode 8 - I really enjoyed this one. The vegetable analogy is great IMO. Candy is fun and gives you the instant high, but if you only eat candy you're not going to be feeling too good. Vegetables don't give you that instant high, but they keep you healthier and long term you'll feel much better. 

For what it's worth, for me, sometimes I want something that is going to help me shoot a better score on Saturday and others I want to improve something about my swing that will make me better long term even if I struggle a little in the short term. It's up to me to communicate that with my coach. 

Last comment - I would indeed share the hope that every lesson leaves the player "better" than they were on the way in. I would imagine if you have a good coach and good student, then the only time that doesn't happen is when you leave the lesson with it going so badly that you just revert to the old pattern. 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Ty_Webb said:

Last comment - I would indeed share the hope that every lesson leaves the player "better" than they were on the way in. I would imagine if you have a good coach and good student, then the only time that doesn't happen is when you leave the lesson with it going so badly that you just revert to the old pattern. 

As we said… define "better."

[Ty_Webb]

21 minutes ago, iacas said:

As we said… define "better."

Right - better can mean different things depending on the situation. It might mean scoring better or it might mean closer to a functional swing (which in the moment might be scoring worse). 

[wetzel1592]

As a guilty consumer of social media instruction, I really enjoyed the topic on episode 7. I know it has always hurt my game more than helped and I think it all boils down to the potential for misinterpretation. 

I know I’ve been to see @iacas thinking I was doing something beneficial and it actually had the adverse  effect. I still enjoy scrolling through some of the instruction posts but have found it better to take notes and ask the professional before trying to implement anything. 

[TN94z]

I really liked Episode 8. I think it shows how important it is to have a coach/instructor if trying to get "better" just from the simple fact of having someone there to tell you "yes, that swing was really good" when you just shanked it and allowing that to reassure your brain that you just made a good swing and to drop the result of the ball contact/path. For me personally, it is easy to get caught up in "good contact" when I'm hitting into my net at home.  If I start chasing what I feel is "good contact" then I will likely miss out on the purpose of my drills and revert back to old swing habits. I am trying to make it a habit to rely on video to reassure myself and not worry about contact for now. I am even trying to just go out and go through the drills over and over while rarely hitting a ball. 

Good stuff! I'm loving the podcast

[wetzel1592]

17 minutes ago, TN94z said:

If I start chasing what I feel is "good contact" then I will likely miss out on the purpose of my drills and revert back to old swing habits. I am trying to make it a habit to rely on video to reassure myself and not worry about contact for now. I am even trying to just go out and go through the drills over and over while rarely hitting a ball. 

I’m the same way. One of the biggest challenges I’ve had is not caring about distance, directions, etc. when practicing. I have to remind myself what I’m there to work on and it’s very rarely to hit pretty shots. 

[TN94z]

Episode 9...wow did that hit home?  Basically sounded like my lesson videos.  Great info. I'll likely listen to that one again

[iacas]

Listen to this one too:

Thanks. 😄 

[Vinsk]

Really liked E11 with Mike Granato. Great exchange amongst all you guys. I particularly liked the mention of how tour players swings are actually much simpler than amateur swings and considerably more efficient. Mike was a good guest speaker. I’ve met him a couple times here in Orlando and he’s quite a character. 🙂

[saevel25]

I should pull out that Lowest Score Wins book again and give it a read. I forgot some of the stuff mentioned today in the latest episode. 

I like the nuance on when to leave the flagstick in. I started to move towards taking the flagstick out on shorter and midrange putts and leaving it in on long distance putts for distance control. This is supported by that our binocular depth perception is functional out to like 20-Ft or so. It might be less for some people. Outside of that we use other visual cues for reference to gauge distance. 

I think breaking up the round into segments is a smart idea and something I will be doing more off. 

 

 

[TN94z]

14 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

I should pull out that Lowest Score Wins book again and give it a read. I forgot some of the stuff mentioned today in the latest episode. 

I like the nuance on when to leave the flagstick in. I started to move towards taking the flagstick out on shorter and midrange putts and leaving it in on long distance putts for distance control. This is supported by that our binocular depth perception is functional out to like 20-Ft or so. It might be less for some people. Outside of that we use other visual cues for reference to gauge distance. 

I think breaking up the round into segments is a smart idea and something I will be doing more off. 

 

 

Almost identical to the thoughts I had as well!  I was thinking about reading the book again too. I'm going to adopt the flagstick mentions and try to implement the 3 hole rounds going forward. I also liked the idea of going off to the side and having a mini practice session to get the feels back.

[iacas]

Great!

Let me know what things you remember only upon re-reading it.

Also, here's a $1k giveaway for a HackMotion Pro:

[4zim]

Enjoying the podcast. Like the episode length and bite size content. I think the format suits the hosts well. Have a few ideas for future episodes if the hosts ever need ideas…

[iacas]

33 minutes ago, 4zim said:

Enjoying the podcast. Like the episode length and bite size content. I think the format suits the hosts well. Have a few ideas for future episodes if the hosts ever need ideas…

Post 'em on X or something, sure.

[Ty_Webb]

Listened to episode 13 today while walking the dog - very interesting episode. A couple of things were not surprising, but a couple I was not expecting. You guys all seem to be settling into it too. Look forward to the next one 🙂