Rick Shiels has offered an apology on behalf of YouTube golf after issues were raised about one strand of content.
Coaching channels, such as Peter Finch’s Swing Quest and Me and My Golf, have become ever-popular in recent years. Mark Crossfield was another who helped pioneer the online coaching scene.
Some professionals have also followed suit. Bryson DeChambeau offers coaching advice and is now one of the biggest names in the YouTube scene.
Shiels, however, has been forced to apologise after a listener raised issues with the amount of coaching content available online.
Rick Shiels offers apology after YouTube complaint
Speaking on the latest Rick Shiels Golf Show Podcast, the Englishman was informed about a listener who had written in and admitted he felt like he was ruining his swing after watching too much YouTube content.
“First off, I want to apologise to you and everyone who makes Youtube coaching videos. It’s a tale as old as time. You go back to reading golf magazines, and if you bought three or four magazines, there would be 200 tips in those magazines, and sometimes they would conflict with each other or don’t have the same philosophies or ideas as a golf swing,” Shiels said.
“If you took on all that information, I can understand why it would frazzle your brain. For some individuals, I remember having individuals when I was coaching who would come into a lesson and have an iPad and say I have managed to summarise my swing thoughts down to 22 thoughts.
“I almost like wanted to delete that note and just give you some basic things to work on.”
He added: “My advice is genuinely, and I don’t say this to a lot of people but stop watching golf coaching videos on YouTube. Stop watching completely. Go and find a coach you can work with, and you can have a lesson maybe every six weeks. Go and have a tune-up and think about things in your swing that are bespoke to you.”
One swing thought at a time
For many golfers, too many swing thoughts can cause catastrophic damage.
Considering a golf swing typically takes between 0.8 and 2.5 seconds, trying to remember multiple pieces of advice can cause more harm than good.
Any successful amateur or professional player will almost certainly have played their best golf without thinking about their technique.
One swing thought is a crucial recipe for success and can often lead to positive results and gradual improvement. For those reliant on YouTube coaching, stick to one channel and listen to Shiels’ advice; it could do the trick.
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