Jerry Rice tries to improve by mimicking Bubba Watson - doesn't work out

[nevets88]

It guess it verifies that very few of us can get better by mimicking someone's swing.

Quote

Yep, Jerry Rice went all in on "Bubba Golf." No, he wasn't hitting massive slices or hooks (or driving it 350-plus yards), but he gave a full embrace to the loose attitude of Watson's golf game, along with adopting the open stance of the left-handed two-time Masters champion.

...

Rice worked with the Watson method for several months, and you have to give him credit for attempting such a bold maneuver. In the end the predictable result – too many wild swings – weaned Rice off the Watson way.

“The way I play now (conventional style and standing closer to the ball) after the Bubba style, if I’m offline a little bit, it won’t be too far off," Rice said. "I’m more in control than with the Bubba style.”

 

 

http://golfweek.com/news/2016/jan/13/jerry-rice-bubba-golf-watson-49ers-diamond-resort/

[colin007]

Not a bad swing, some steady head issues. What's his hdcp?

[Coronagolfman]

When you watch a guy like Bubba, you just have to say to yourself "freak of nature" or "lotto winner" and pursue a more traditional type of repeatable swing for yourself.   Same with a guy like Jim Furyk or even Jordan Speith with his somewhat unconventional left arm position at impact - it works for them but for most of us regular folks it won't.

Find a pro you can work with who will take a look at your physical makeup and help you shape a swing that will work for you.

 

[SavvySwede]

On 1/14/2016 at 8:16 PM, colin007 said:

Not a bad swing, some steady head issues. What's his hdcp?

Everything online I see says +0.7. His swing doesn't look nearly that good but I guess that's how being talented works.

[billchao]

Well he's standing on the wrong side of the ball. No wonder the Bubba swing isn't working for him 

[Shindig]

On 1/14/2016 at 5:16 PM, colin007 said:

Not a bad swing, some steady head issues. What's his hdcp?

He even tried to play on the then-Nationwide Tour for a bit a few years ago.  Allegedly a good golfer, but didn't even grasp some basic rules (such as that the "no measurement devices" rule included range finders), so I wonder how legitimate his scores are (although range finders are typically okay for casual rounds) -- not that the range finder is the issue, but I wonder how many 5' gimmes or mulligans he took when establishing his handicap.

If he's kept up his practice, he's probably still a plus handicap.  He was able so break 80 on a pro setup, so it isn't as though he's a bad player pretending to be scratch.

[Pendragon]

2 hours ago, SavvySwede said:

Everything online I see says +0.7. His swing doesn't look nearly that good but I guess that's how being talented works.

He played in 4 Web.com tour events between 2010 and 2012, all on sponsor's exemptions. His low round was 76 at the Fresh Express Classic in 2010. High round was 92 at the BMW Pro-Am a month later. Other scores were between 81 and 86. He played on The Big Break on TGC a couple of times, and you can see that he has a decent game, but I'd echo some of Shindig's comments in the post above.

His current index is 2.0, with no under-par rounds in his last 20 scores. Actually, 11 of his last 20 rounds were 80 or above but, in fairness, it looks like he's playing courses with ratings averaging about 74 and slopes from 132 to 144.