What do you think of Mark Crossfield?

[dkolo]

I am a big fan of the Crossfield videos.  His swing instructions are helpful in understanding the golf swing and his course vlogs promote having fun on the golf course with friends instead of taking the game too seriously.

Also, some interesting comments flying back and forth on Twitter and on his recent videos the past couple of days.  His less than stellar reviews of the new Nike vapor range of drivers has apparently ruffled some feathers at Nike and they have dropped their support for him (even though he played a covert driver for a while and is currently playing a covert hybrid and has repeatedly said good things about Nike).  I like that MC is willing to give honest reviews and doesnt get sucked in by all the hype some of the manufacturers create around their clubs and i lost a lot of respect for Nike because of their response.

Yeah! I've been following the developing scandal since this morning when I saw a hullabaloo about it on Twitter. You're exactly right; Mark was one of the few guys in the media who actively championed the original Covert driver; I remember how excited he was to get the Covert 2.0 delivered to him on one of his golf outings in Portugal or Spain, I think it was. Only bad things he'd ever said about them were the wrap grips sucked in the rain.

But apparently the whole thing has blown over, since he apparently hashed it out in a call with Nike. He comes out looking great from all this, integrity-wise (integrity is the word of the day, today, apparently, haha). I wonder how often this sort of thing happens behind the scenes where a manufacturer puts a reviewer in the dog house, and we just don't hear about it. I'd guess pretty often.

[InTheRough]

Yeah! I've been following the developing scandal since this morning when I saw a hullabaloo about it on Twitter. You're exactly right; Mark was one of the few guys in the media who actively championed the original Covert driver; I remember how excited he was to get the Covert 2.0 delivered to him on one of his golf outings in Portugal or Spain, I think it was. Only bad things he'd ever said about them were the wrap grips sucked in the rain.

But apparently the whole thing has blown over, since he apparently hashed it out in a call with Nike. He comes out looking great from all this, integrity-wise (integrity is the word of the day, today, apparently, haha). I wonder how often this sort of thing happens behind the scenes where a manufacturer puts a reviewer in the dog house, and we just don't hear about it. I'd guess pretty often.

good to hear its blown over but it sounds like someone at Nike decided that they needed to do some damage control fast when they realized how many views his videos get each week and that he is very active on social media and very outspoken.  Gained a bit of respect for Crossfield since he didnt back down from a manufacturer trying to bully him and sway his reviews.  Still disappointed in Nike's initial response---definitely turned me off to their company

[iacas]

But apparently the whole thing has blown over, since he apparently hashed it out in a call with Nike. He comes out looking great from all this, integrity-wise (integrity is the word of the day, today, apparently, haha). I wonder how often this sort of thing happens behind the scenes where a manufacturer puts a reviewer in the dog house, and we just don't hear about it. I'd guess pretty often.

More often than you might think, yes…

[hallryu]

I've been a fan for about a year or so. I like the fact that he doesn't take it too seriously at times.

[mailman]

Is Mark Crossfield the Ken Rockwell of Golf? :) Regards Mailman

[Gotapaininmy]

I like Crossfield, I think he's genuinely entertaining on his Vlogs and lesson videos. I don't think i would put into practice anything he says in his video lessons, I think this is very hard to do because you might think it applies to you but only a pro or other qualified observer can really tell you that. One little thing that annoys me about Crossfield though is that in his "Live Golf lessons" he frequently says to his customer that "I can control the face to path, dynamic loft etc........" but it's fairly apparent from the Vlogs that he can'y do this as well as he maybe thinks he can. He'd probably say it's because he doesn't play or practice enough anymore but if you're a paying customer do you want to hear the pro talking about how good he is or how much better than you he is?

[Ferguson]

I agree with Phil, I think. I am not a big fan. He's entertainment only. For one thing he rips off other instructors and does a poor job of it. There is nothing original here. The posture video is a partial Jim Flick rip off, and in my opinion, no one can rip off Jim Flick. The same thing goes for his ball striking advice – right out of Dean Reinmuth’s book. I have a hard time understanding what he trying to say between the showboating, tomfoolery and what appears to be an exaggerated drawl. If he would stop trying to be so fabulous and focus more on direction and purpose, his instruction would be more useful. I’m guessing this guy probably failed as the SHAM WOW spokesperson and took up golf instruction between gigs. I like the classic instructors.

[SafeBogey]

As many people have stated, his instructional videos are not the best so I don't watch them. However, I do watch a lot of the course vlogs and find them very entertaining.

[dkolo]

I agree with Phil, I think. I am not a big fan. He's entertainment only. For one thing he rips off other instructors and does a poor job of it. There is nothing original here. The posture video is a partial Jim Flick rip off, and in my opinion, no one can rip off Jim Flick. The same thing goes for his ball striking advice – right out of Dean Reinmuth’s book. I have a hard time understanding what he trying to say between the showboating, tomfoolery and what appears to be an exaggerated drawl. If he would stop trying to be so fabulous and focus more on direction and purpose, his instruction would be more useful. I’m guessing this guy probably failed as the SHAM WOW spokesperson and took up golf instruction between gigs. I like the classic instructors.

Why do you always make these unsubstantiated character assassinations? Mark does plenty of original content. His video essays on shaft flex and effective CG are among many where he's trying to advance understanding among the casual golf crowd. He's increasing the use of tech equipment to help make difficult concepts approachable and analyze thing differently. The live lessons he videos and presents to his channel are most unusual in that he's teaching off of numbers as opposed to focusing solely on position based video analysis, which is a welcome look at how the high-end teachers do things for those of us who haven't been able to experience that. It's really unfair to dismiss what he does as being a rip-off of others. I've found his instruction immensely helpful and approachable.

[Ferguson]

Why do you always make these unsubstantiated character assassinations? Mark does plenty of original content. His video essays on shaft flex and effective CG are among many where he's trying to advance understanding among the casual golf crowd. He's increasing the use of tech equipment to help make difficult concepts approachable and analyze thing differently. The live lessons he videos and presents to his channel are most unusual in that he's teaching off of numbers as opposed to focusing solely on position based video analysis, which is a welcome look at how the high-end teachers do things for those of us who haven't been able to experience that. It's really unfair to dismiss what he does as being a rip-off of others. I've found his instruction immensely helpful and approachable.

I understand where this is going and I’m not going down that path. The thread title was: What do you think of Mark Crossfield? I stated what I thought of the guy. My input should in no way be interpreted as anything personal to those who find him informative and or helpful. Not my intent. I’m sorry for any confusion.

[Strandly]

I'm surprised so many people like his reviews.  I've watched maybe 12 or 15 of them and not once can I remember him saying anything bad about a club.  He always seems to point out one or two nice things about the club, say it's a fine club, and simply move on to the next one.  Because of this I think his reviews are the least helpful thing he does.  His other videos can be interesting to watch though and he's certainly smooth in front of the camera.

[dkolo]

I'm surprised so many people like his reviews.  I've watched maybe 12 or 15 of them and not once can I remember him saying anything bad about a club.  He always seems to point out one or two nice things about the club, say it's a fine club, and simply move on to the next one.  Because of this I think his reviews are the least helpful thing he does.  His other videos can be interesting to watch though and he's certainly smooth in front of the camera.

That's fair, but I'd point out something that he points out as well: the clubs perform really similarly to one another because they're built to such tight tolerances. So the only realistic way to distinguish between them is based on visual- and feel-based cues. When you're testing the clubs based on a dozen or so shots in a simulator as opposed to robot testing, the numbers are of limited usefulness. I'm lucky that my swing speed and distances are right in line with Mark's (except he carries his driver more than I do, what with my lousy swing), so I can be somewhat vicarious through his reviews (as opposed to Rick Shiels or Peter Finch, who swing miles and miles faster than I do).

So, yeah, I mostly agree with you, the reviews, like most on YouTube, are mostly for "OOOH, SOMETHING NEW AND SHINY!" entertainment value to me. It would be nice if he tried more situational testing like Shiels does (but then Shiels will miss the green he's aiming for with all of his shots and it was all a waste of time, haha). Shiels's new idea of testing alongside a mid-handicapper is one of the most interesting thing going around YouTube golf, I think.

For what it's worth, it generally seems that Mark's been unusually critical of Nike's Vapor driver range and Taylormade's standard Aeroburner 3-wood in recent weeks. I wonder if that's been in response to the criticism on some of his videos that he'd been too positive. I'd be curious to know if it was a conscious choice on his part, if anyone has seen him say something to that effect on social media.

[oregongolfguy]

I think that gear reviews are tough.  especially driver.  Not sure what your supposed to say.  Oh, hear we have another max COR 460cc driver.  it has a stock shaft around 46" long and shaft weight somewhere between 55-65 grams.  It has such and such color on the crown which you may or may not like.  When I make a good swing it carries about 240yds.  Which is about the same as every other driver I have swung in the last few years.  It sounds either slightly denser or slightly tinnier then the last driver I tested...But performs pretty much the same.....Get fitted....

The one that would be most interesting for me would be on grass testing of wedges with different bounce/grinds.  At least then there are some real world differences.

But all in all I think he does a fine job, he speaks well, does well in front of the camera etc....

[The Recreational Golfer]

I enjoy his videos, but he talks way too much. When you make an instructional video, you only need to say something once, then get on with the demonstration. Keep it short. People will watch short videos again if they missed something, but not a long one.

[nevets88]

If you check YouTube or GD, you'll see he's doing a kind of one man Men In Blazer's cheeky post game show. I'm guessing his humor, or shall we spell humour, is not everyone's cup of tea (I'll have earl grey.) His bit about the 3 iron recovery service was funny. No lake too deep, no throw too far, lol.

[dkolo]

If you check YouTube or GD, you'll see he's doing a kind of one man Men In Blazer's cheeky post game show. I'm guessing his humor, or shall we spell humour, is not everyone's cup of tea (I'll have earl grey.) His bit about the 3 iron recovery service was funny. No lake too deep, no throw too far, lol.

I love Crossfield, but that first Golf Digest video was brutal. He didn't even get stuck in! Side note, looks like he's starting a Puma apparel sponsorship based on his Facebook. I look forward to him in an all orange jumpsuit and hat

[natureboy]

I enjoy his videos, but he talks way too much. When you make an instructional video, you only need to say something once, then get on with the demonstration. Keep it short. People will watch short videos again if they missed something, but not a long one.

I agree around 3-5 minutes is ideal. Maybe one of the reasons I found his videos helpful when I was starting was all the extra explanation and repetition helped me get a better sense of the golf swing concept he was talking about. It added some context for someone with very little background. Shawn Clement's videos tend to be a little longer too, but I found the same helpfulness as a newbie in getting a clearer idea of the feel or motion he was trying to convey. It was more useful to me than just a simple "do it like this" / "don't do it like this".

[Strandly]

Holy cow, I just saw a video of this guy without his hat on and he has a savage Norwegian mohawk.  It was shocking and it made him look about 30 years older than I thought he was.  Anyway, not really golf related so carry on I guess.