Does social media golf instruction help us? Or exploit us?

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks; some nice things have been happening around my new book, Getting Unstuck: 7 Transformational Practices for Golf Nerds.

It has been ranked No. 1 for “golf inspiration” on Amazon for over a week. I realize these rankings are as mysterious as religion and politics, but what the hell, I’ll take it.

I was also interviewed on two podcasts: Mind Caddie produced by UK-based performance coach Karl Morris and on And Another Thing produced by Jodie Jenkins and Tony Clement.

Click here to listen to the Morris interview and click here to listen to the Jenkins-Clement chat.

Like many other people, Morris says the picture on the cover is “amazing.” The picture “taps into almost a spiritual dimension of the game, something other than the game itself,” said Morris, who has coached six major champions including Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell.

That’s a pretty good description of my book.

A lot of people are surprised when I tell them I took it with my iPhone.

I was standing behind a green at Golf Château-Bromont in Quebec during the 2022 Canadian University/College National Golf Championship as the sun was setting. I noticed the amazing golden colour and snapped the picture. (By the way, that’s Xavier Ayora with the putter. He was a member of our University of Guelph golf team, which I coached.)

The credit for making the cover look so great goes to designer Kim Monteforte, who did a wonderful job making it look amazing inside and out.

***

As I argue in the book, many golfers struggle because they are constantly seeking tips to fix to their problems.

Since the gutta percha, there’s been tonnes of information written about how to swing and hit the ball. Some of it provides valuable understanding of some concepts in golf and takes some of the mystery out of the game, such as Swing the Clubhead by Ernest Jones or Down the Fairway by Bobby Jones.

Now, of course, most golfers look at videos on social media for their information fix.

However, you don’t learn motor skills and how to perform by collecting information. You develop skill through experience. Information can clarify some things, but you learn golf the same way you learned to walk, talk, go downstairs, throw a ball and ride a bike. You have experiences, many of which you cannot put into words.

Whatever form it comes in, Morris says that most instructional content “intellectualizes” golf, which is a non-verbal physical experience. “We don’t need to follow strict formulas,” he said during our podcast conversation. “We’ve been throwing things and using tools over millions of years of evolution.”

I agree with Morris and Fred Shoemaker that most golfers self-interfere. Rather than using our minds to direct your body parts, they advocate we trust our inner wisdom to develop skill and execute shots. Or, you could say, trust our spirit.

However, it appears more golfers than ever before are suffering paralysis by analysis because of our easy access to quick-fix instructional content on social media. It seems almost impossible for golf nerds to resist the computer in their pocket that provides instant access to a bottomless ocean of instruction content.

The irony is that most golfers that I encounter say it makes them more confused. Clients repeatedly tell me they have traversed the vast plains of YouTube and gone down deep rabbit-holes with great hopes only to find they ended up worse off than before their descent. The pun was not intended but is appropriate.

Tiger Woods offered this advice when asked what’s the No. 1 thing that amateurs can do to improve: “Don’t watch fucking YouTube.”

There is a lot of great content on YouTube that helps golfers understand perplexing things like low point and the relationship between club path and clubface.

But many people looking for help with their game are stuck in a chronic cycle of hope and disappointment. One reason is the addictive nature of social media.

In his book The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt describes how social media has endangered the mental health of adolescents and increased incidents of anxiety, depression and suicide, and that adults also suffer similar ill effects.

Mental health expert Jim Yong Kim is quoted in Golf Digest as saying: “One of the biggest reasons we have such mental health problems is people spend so much time on their smartphones and especially on social media.”

I believe that most golf instructors who put content on social media want to help people out of a genuine desire to make a difference in another person’s life.

But golf instruction is a business, and helping people is good business. Nevertheless, there are those who exploit golfers’ yearnings to get better. We’re naive to think otherwise. The culture delivers what we desire; but what we desire doesn’t always serve us.

It’s nothing new. Back when golfers gobbled up printed magazines for salvation, an editor of GOLF Magazine admitted they often deliberately followed an instruction cover story with an article that completely contradicted the previous story. This confused many readers who felt compelled to buy the magazine to solve their continuing problems.

Consider your own experience with scrolling through social media, which often brings a smile to your face but can also leave you feeling that you’re not rocking life and somehow inadequate in comparison.

Many of my students tell me they come away from watching digital instruction feeling frustrated and kind of stupid that they are unable to use the information to play better.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that the whole social media circus is taking us right to the edge of the cliff,” Morris wrote in an email.

“I find so many of my clients these days are soaked in too much information, unwilling or unable to stick to anything and unbelievably vulnerable and fragile, craving instant results, flitting from one thing to another just like they do on their phones.

“At times I wonder if there will be a big shift in thinking. It doesn’t seem imminent.”

Unfortunately, as we do, I believe we’ll look back at this era with regret and realize we didn’t understand what we were dealing with, we didn’t ask enough questions, we didn’t govern our behaviour with vigilance, and we allowed ourselves to be exploited.

***

I had a great time reminiscing about Moe Norman this week at the PGA of Ontario Year-End Celebration on Tuesday night.

I was lucky enough to get into a spirited conversation with legendary coaches Henry Brunton and Mike Martz, both of whom helped me enormously with my book The Feeling of Greatness: The Moe Norman Story.

We shared some of our favourite Moe stories, which, of course, is the one of the beautiful things about Moe—there are so many amazing stories, “some of which are even true,” as writer Lorne Rubenstein quipped way back.

Martz, one of Moe’s best friends, honoured Moe as he does at the event every year—he was resplendent in one of Moe’s jackets. I love how people like Mike and Todd Graves keep Moe’s legacy alive.

It was wonderful to watch as Brunton was enshrined into the PGA of Ontario Hall of Fame on Tuesday night. Henry, the first Canadian to be named among GOLF Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers, was also a close friend of Moe’s.

When I was writing the book, he told a story about hitting balls with Moe with his friend Doug Abrams.

Abrams asked Moe how much money he had in his pocket.

“$12,500,” Moe said.

Abrams didn’t believe him. Even though it was windy, Moe slapped the wad of bills on the hood of Abrams’ car. The wind tossed the money all over the range and parking lot. People frantically chased after the money, some getting down on their hands and knees.

Except Moe, who said to Henry with a giggle: “See, people will do anything for money, anything for money.”

If you’re interested in golf coaching or workshops for your club or organization, please send an email to tim@oconnorgolf.ca. I invite you to check out www.oconnorgolf.ca.