Bryson DeChambeau's New Putting Stroke (Side-Saddle)

[65ross]

  On 2/23/2017 at 6:58 PM, krupa said:

Well, he finished.

+3 in his first round.  Lot of people still have to finish but he's T128 as I type this.   

Expand  

 

  On 2/23/2017 at 6:58 PM, krupa said:

Well, he finished.

+3 in his first round.  Lot of people still have to finish but he's T128 as I type this.   

Expand  

My Saturday afternoon your morning, see he not with field for the weekend, missed looking at result today as I had a early tee time today, nice golf day and reasonable score for a old bloke ,nett 66.

[mvmac]

http://www.golfdigest.com/story/bryson-dechambeau-ditches-side-saddle-putting-points-blame-at-the-usga

 

[David in FL]

Given that he's missed 6 of 9 cuts so far this year, maybe he should be thanking the USGA.

I'm liking this nut job less and less with each passing week...

[colin007]

  On 2/25/2017 at 7:52 PM, David in FL said:

Given that he's missed 6 of 9 cuts so far this year, maybe he should be thanking the USGA.

I'm liking this nut job less and less with each passing week...

Expand  

Bryson's hat thinks he's a douche.

[iacas]

  On 2/25/2017 at 7:52 PM, David in FL said:

I'm liking this nut job less and less with each passing week...

Expand  

Seriously…

  Quote

“I’m pretty much done with it. They’re not a good organization, and you can quote me on that. I’m part of their family and as family it’s very frustrating to see them stunt the growth of the game.”

Expand  

Wow, dude. Yeah, saying that your putter doesn't conform to the lie angle requirements is really "stunting the growth of the game." And because they're enforcing a rule that's been around as long as I've been alive (let alone him), IIRC, that makes them "not a good organization."

  Quote

The putter was eventually ruled as non-conforming by the USGA and DeChambeau switched to a different, conforming model starting in Palm Springs. He continued with it for two more starts, at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach, before ditching the method at the Genesis Open.

Expand  

Right, see, it's the putter - his equipment. That's it. Because he wanted to use it almost vertically, it violated the idea that golf is a side-on game and the rules that have been around for a long, long time.

What a douche.

[saevel25]

His quirkiness has gone from being interesting to now being annoying. I wouldn't mind if he didn't become a star on the PGA Tour. 

[iacas]

The comments on the Golf Digest Instagram post @mvmac posted above are pretty telling: very, very, very few positive comments or anti-USGA comments.

[mvmac]

Amount of people that are waiting to take up golf but can't because of the USGA.

[boogielicious]

  On 2/25/2017 at 9:14 PM, mvmac said:

Amount of people that are waiting to take up golf but can't because of the USGA.

Expand  

Remarkably, it is also the same number that care about this guy's side saddle putting troubles. 

[Golfingdad]

  On 2/25/2017 at 8:21 PM, saevel25 said:

His quirkiness has gone from being interesting to now being annoying. I wouldn't mind if he didn't become a star on the PGA Tour. 

Expand  

I agree with you except for one word: "now." :)

Its actually been annoying for quite some time.  The whole single length thing was plenty quirky enough but it's no big deal - in fact, it is a bit fascinating. But when he started with the putting thing it started to seem a lot like his goal was to make a name for himself specifically by being quirky.

Funny thing is if he could play well then we'd tolerate the quirkiness a lot easier.

 

[krupa]

He said...

  Quote

“It [was] a long conversation,” DeChambeau said after a 71 to miss the cut by four shots. “But the USGA essentially doesn’t like me doing it.

Expand  

They said...

  Quote

“We talked to Bryson in mid-January to discuss both his putter and his method of stroke,” USGA spokesperson Janeen Driscoll said via email. “In that conversation we confirmed that his method of stroke (side-saddle) was fully compliant within the Rules of Golf, and he could feel confident in continuing to employ that method.”

Expand  

In the past, DeChambeau has said that the USGA doesn't want him to do it because it makes the game too easy.  So his latest comments just keep up that narrative.  It's not a believable claim, though, since it's in the USGA's best interest to get as many people golfing as possible.

Are projects like these (http://www.geekwire.com/2016/microsoft-sensoria-partner-pga-pro-bryson-dechambeau-create-smart-golf-grip/) distracting him from actually practicing?

  Quote

With eight embedded sensors, DeChambeau can receive real-time data analyzed in the cloud by Microsoft Azure that shows how exactly he held the club throughout a swing.

...

“The data collected from Bryson over time will be analyzed during future phases of the project in a Machine Learning environment to build new intelligent golf data streams, helping him determine the right grip and club usage, swing speed, rhythm, plane, and other performance and swing-mechanics variables,” Microsoft added in the blog post.

Expand  

 

[iacas]

It's fine that he apologized. I think better of him for doing that than had he not.

But he's still earned a net negative in this whole thing, and I think he was speaking honestly before. He thinks the USGA is punishing him or something, when they're just enforcing the same old rules.

[Golfingdad]

  On 2/26/2017 at 1:44 PM, krupa said:

Are projects like these (http://www.geekwire.com/2016/microsoft-sensoria-partner-pga-pro-bryson-dechambeau-create-smart-golf-grip/) distracting him from actually practicing?

Expand  

That's funny because I have a very similar thought when I see him on that Microsoft commercial.  Showing him talk about how analyzing all of the data will help make him better.  That's fine and dandy on paper, but it does seem like he's so technical and into nerdy stuff that it might take away from him actually practicing.

[phillyk]

  On 2/26/2017 at 3:15 PM, Golfingdad said:

That's funny because I have a very similar thought when I see him on that Microsoft commercial.  Showing him talk about how analyzing all of the data will help make him better.  That's fine and dandy on paper, but it does seem like he's so technical and into nerdy stuff that it might take away from him actually practicing.

Expand  

He likes his toys too much.  There's been so much hype around him that he's trying to ride that wave instead of playing golf.  He needs to step back to his amateur days in terms of practice and just taking the game seriously.

[iacas]

  On 2/26/2017 at 3:39 PM, phillyk said:

He likes his toys too much.  There's been so much hype around him that he's trying to ride that wave instead of playing golf.  He needs to step back to his amateur days in terms of practice and just taking the game seriously.

Expand  

Or… golf is hard, and he got hot for awhile.

Wouldn't be the first flash in the pan.

We'll have to wait to see what the true version is. He could be quiet for ten years and then win a few majors.

[Rainmaker]

  On 2/26/2017 at 3:15 PM, Golfingdad said:

That's funny because I have a very similar thought when I see him on that Microsoft commercial.  Showing him talk about how analyzing all of the data will help make him better.  That's fine and dandy on paper, but it does seem like he's so technical and into nerdy stuff that it might take away from him actually practicing.

Expand  

That's what I thought when I saw the commercial.  I am kind of close to the subject matter of the commercial so I thought . .yeah, that makes sense . .getting into a whole bunch of things that seem nifty, definitely cost a lot and don't really do anything to further your real-life goals . .that's the Microsoft I know, lol. 

[WUTiger]

  On 1/1/2017 at 2:30 AM, WUTiger said:

I have seen side-saddle putters before at the St. Louis Golf Expo (coming in February). A small-shop clubsmith usually brings a few to demonstrate and sell.

If he comes this year, I'll get some pix and a video clip.

Expand  

Went to expo two weeks ago, but the side-saddle putter maker was a no-show.

[woodzie264]

  On 2/26/2017 at 5:13 AM, Golfingdad said:

Funny thing is if he could play well then we'd tolerate the quirkiness a lot easier.

 

Expand  

Great reference - completely applicable