EP97 - SECRETS of golf retailers, Ryder Cup is here, Bryson's INSANE speed!!!

I literally came in for a pair of socks yeah. And i've walked out with two grands worth of yannick fisher potter a bay hill head covers that i didn't even know i needed six sixty thousand t-pegs golf insurance and you're you're nine quid better off guys welcome to the rickshaws golf show podcast everybody i'm your host rick shields i'm here with producer guy this is episode number 97 um i feel like it's been a few days since i've seen you've been on holiday it is today's monday lastly on wednesday you've literally walked through the door what five minutes ago yes i've nearly spoke right i'm like come on let's go we've got to get a podcast done um i'm excited this week because it's one of my favorite weeks of the year i know you've got slightly different opinions maybe. But i'm intrigued to know if it's going to change this week it's the buddy ryder cup week is ryder cup week i'm excited does it it starts i'm slightly gutted because i could have been there i had an invite to be there hospitality every day bought the government restrictions at the moment certainly in the would it be more from the usa side isn't it yes from the usa unless i'm going over there. For actual work which really i'm not unfortunate i'm just going over. For a bit of a jolly um i can't get a visa i can't get a green card i can't do this that any other i'd have to isolate. For 20 days or what however. long it is. And that's not something i'm willing to do as much i love writing a cup that's just not something it was. For work and got a few instagrams i think i needed something some clarification. Or something it didn't quite work out i looked into it um bar literally getting a private jet and just sneaking in i don't think i could have done it um. But either way i'm excited to watch on tv because it is one of my favorite events i am fascinated. And i mean this to the to the most extreme level i'm fascinated about bryson de chambeau at the moment hmm like crazy amount did you watch that youtube video i told you to watch i didn't watch that i should you saw i should i kind of saw clips i saw what he posted on instagram this weekend right i took a screenshot of it get this right. So he's there smashing driver okay on trackman when it turned to trapman. And he's absolutely smashing it i'm not sure if this was regulation length driver whatever it may be. But club head speed he clocked 148 miles per hour hundred and forty eight miles it was a regular driver like a normal i don't know. But even so it was such a short clip he kind of just went prepping. For the ryder cup smacked this driver as hard as he could and it was really extreme hit like you know when you said last week when you watched him against long drive golfers he still looked like a conventional golfer yes that looks like it changed on this driver shot he absolutely went. For it feet off the ground full rotation it looked as unconventional of a golf swing from one of the best players in the world i've ever seen in my life so i would say the average club golfer they swing can when i see a fitting event obviously i just have a flight scope. So i would see them hitting driver and you do get the odd guy you might be 110 miles now whatever a young athletic guy who plays rugby is now going to golf. But typically you're looking at between 90 miles an hour to early hundreds yeah yeah. And you'll know that from you're giving obviously loads of lessons yeah. And even pga tour average was about 112 miles per hour. So that's kind of roughly where i sit and use it yeah kind of in that kind of speed um brazilian shambo 148 miles per hour his ball speed again let's put this into a little bit perspective if you're 100 miles per hour which is just above average. And you absolutely crush one as best you can you get the best performance everything you're going to max out 150 miles per hour. And that's that one that hit every five weeks or so that is literally 150 miles per hour ball speeds where most golfers they're not going to get any faster than that ever the average apparently is 133. brilliant there you go on tour you normally see him getting closer to 170 miles per hour boss. But yeah some jump over that. But around about that speed his ball speed on this particular clip was 215 miles per hour oh my god well i want that video while watching the day i think he was requested to get to 214. i don't think he did it in that video i watched. So to get to 215. he carried it ready for this and this was the caption he put over the top how many drop how many greens will i drive okay he carried it 383.1 yards. And that's mind-blowing but right obviously he's had an incredible couple years and and the massive story has been distanced and i must admit now he is my favorite golfer to watch at the moment because of that he's the most entertaining 100 definitely he's the real life happy gilmore. But can play the rest of the game as well. But you know you're obviously the pj pro you've seen this kind of thing probably before and you know golf was trying to gain speed getting distance certainly torpros done it before do you think it's sustainable i don't want to be that guy that calls me up oh who's back in five years. But genuinely do you think it's sustainable. And do you think it's actually gonna materialize into winning more tournaments in the future. And helping the you know america win the ryder cup etcetera so there's quite a few questions let me dive let me let me break this down on first is it sustainable i think he's clever enough to make it sustainable i think if it was anybody else if it was somebody who maybe didn't think about those long lasting effects i think he's doing it with the right information the right advice that he is i'm not saying i'm not guaranteeing this is going to be sustainable. But i feel like he would have definitely factored that into his calculations do you think i do. But the only thing i wonder is that that video i watch of the day it was really good actually if anyone's anyone's interested in watching it it's on his own youtube channel he's just kind of started uploading on. And he's this whole day at this long drive facility now that's only one video like you don't know what goes on behind the scenes but i almost feel like he must be spending less time practicing other parts of his game if he's putting that much into his driving yeah um. And is he kind of going to get. So obsessed that other things take a hit or is it still all focused on obviously winning pj tour events he's actually got a video coming out tonight. So it's premiere at six o'clock uk time so about while this podcast is already out speed training preparation bryson de chamber i'll be watching it he's releasing that tonight um yeah. So i i don't know that's the other thing like i feel like he's probably will have all that information about how to make it sustainable. But when you're in the moment and when you're trying to get 250 miles per hour ball speed and when you're hanging around with all these long drivers does sustainability go out your mind you think. So like people probably train in the gym incorrectly when they're around their peers when they're trying to when they're trying to show off almost like when we used to go to the gym sometimes and i was benching more than you. And you started absolutely squeezing and tensing and shouting to try and match me pulling your pec muscles that's what i'd have to do. And it wasn't sustainable it didn't last i'm afraid um but that that is fascinating. And i find i find it amazing because in so to answer your next.

Question is it going to help him win more tour events yes categorically yes because facts show that if he eats it closer to green it's easy. For him to make more birdies it kind of doesn't always work as we saw that with patrick cantley in the in the playoff final when they had six hole playoffs i think it was patrick cantley was much much shorter patrick cantley was hitting like nine irons etc into greens bryson was literally flicking him. And chipping him patrick came out victorious in that turn but i think over a season if he's sustainable i absolutely believe it's going to help him win more tournaments um i just hope he shouts four a bit more often. But that's a different topic um and then.

But to be honest he's not the only one i saw a few guys this weekend that wasn't shouting four again i feel like it needs to become a movement and then.

Um what was the last question ryder corp i think it's gonna be fascinating in the ryder cup because it's match pie yeah 100 if you're playing against him. And he's bombing in pasture like who can honestly who's going to stop who's going to be one impaired against bryson dichambo no i wouldn't i feel like rahm would i think ram would be i think rory would fancy it i think rory would beat him. But let's say you know i think would really fancy his chances poulter yeah no it sounds stupid i feel like he'd be like i'm the underdog i'm going to like yeah you wouldn't need a little pup that's going to grind you down. But then.

Is he just going to dominate someone like a tyrrell hatton. Or uh bert wiesberger or someone like that where i don't know probably tyr will be able to hold his own. But i mean. So outrageously different you know certainly if it was a maybe one of the rookies as well. For the europe team like god forbid and hopefully this kind of goes our way but if he gets paid against matt fitzpatrick that'll be i can't as much i want europe to win i can't see that going anyway other than bryce. And jambo equally it's not like bryson beats max fitzpatrick every round he does every tournament does he at all. But it's match play like when you're still in that t against you can put your uh you can opponent. And he steps up there and absolutely rips out he's just a different mindset flip side though imagine you're bryson yeah. And i'm matt fitzpatrick and you bomb one 370 and i go 310 right and we both half it you're thinking i just done him by 60 yards you stuck a four round to three foot thirds like it's almost going to get the other way. But i'm just looking now so the pj tour average for last year ryzen's number one in distance and he's average is 323.7 yards second is rory 319 cameron champ at 317 matt wolf at 3 50. i tried to couple out dustin was number seven at 312.. So clearly obviously bryson's number one by four yards which at that level is a lot. But and i know we don't see behind the scenes of necessarily rory matt wolf and i know these guys all go the gym but for those couple of yards extra that bryson is then.

The likes of rory. And et cetera do you think all that stuff in the gym. And all that long drive training is kind of worth it do you think he's oh is he the kind of guy who'll see every single yard has been. So valuable to do anything. For it yeah you're probably right because if he's neglecting other parts of his game is that going to have a detrimental effect um it would be really interesting to see how it pans out what pairings would you love to see against each other oh good question i only pull up the teams i've got i've got one i fancy i'd love to see. And i don't think it's going to happen. But i would love to see bryson and brooks on the same team yeah against ram. And rory oh i think that would just be an epic i think it was safe to say that brooks. And bryce not gonna be together though are they. But i didn't know i don't know i don't think. So you know well i heard um luke donald on the no laying up podcast actually really good he's not about the pic you know how they pick team stuff. And apparently and kind of suppose obviously there is. So much that goes into it you know you've got to get have a good rapport well only on that i was chatting to um tyrell when i filmed with him a couple weeks ago chatting to him off sideline saying you're looking forward to ryder cup who he most likely to be paired with he already knew diddy did not tell you no. But it's not it's not padre just going oh yeah tyrell kind of gets on with lot it's outrageously statistically analyzed well they do it on certainly on the foursomes did they really look into who'll be on what tea who's gonna put you more etcetera yeah. And even like who's gonna complement each other's strengths yeah. So for example if you have got a long drive of the golf ball who is good with the wedges well there's no point in putting somebody out that's terrible with the wedges with a long driver yeah is it going to hit it too close to the green. For example but um on the flip side if that player is too short the component lets the your opponent not your opponent your partner are you capable enough hitting those four. Or five irons into the green when you need to so it's very but we're just saying that on a very very top-line level it's really broken down over many many years of analyzing these players knowing that they're going to be ready. For the ryder cup i feel like it's it's one of two ways it's either all these decisions are obviously really essential. Or overkill yeah i feel like you could just go right you play with him you play with him you're all the best players in the world go. And win the tournament don't beat each other i agree or it actually is super super important. But now that obviously the radical week is upon us genuinely now are you more excited than it would be if it's masters week. Or open week or not i i just love all the different scenarios that could happen this week you know the masters i love the masters because of the the venue the prestige you've got the best players in the world and at the end of it there's gonna be one champion putting on that green jacket you don't know who's gonna play in the last group against each other you don't know you can't predict it can you really it's very hard to predict where in this you just dream up these kind of scenarios like you dream up pulter versus bryson when when it comes down to who's going to win the point. For the team it comes down to these amazing pairings where you're seeing someone like a tommy and rory versus whoever it may be colin morakowa and dustin johnson or whatever it may be i feel like because you've got a smaller pool of players to pick from you almost come up with these different kind of scenarios in your head where the masters you don't really get that till maybe the final round do you get one yeah yeah yeah i'm intrigued to see how people are going to work together how the teams are going to be picked who's going to who's going to shine as did someone like tommy. And frank frankie molinari three years ago and who maybe is gonna you know not particularly perform there's been quite a few usa players that will openly admit they've not performed in ryder cups. Yet is that going to be another time when they don't again was it i think it's nine at last 12 europe of one crazy. And most years well most events the kind of the underdog i mean this year it's obviously in america there's going to be little to no european support as you said you you were invited you can't get there even um i don't think partners of players can even go no i'm sure it's really really strict a bit like uh emma radha radhaka i think like she couldn't have a family there she had to have just her training coaches i think it's still outrageously strict. So someone like lee westwood his wife is going because she's caddying unless like ian polter's wife will be able to go because she is obviously based in the usa ah yeah. So there'll be some that will be able to go because they're based in the u.s. But i reckon there'll be others that just won't be able to go i think actually quite a lot of them will have us bases well they actually think about casey tommy's got a place out there i think now isn't it poulter obviously rory yeah i've changed my opinion on the ride up a little bit. So i know i i had said before how it was overrated. And the reason was i'll just touch on that was that i feel like i didn't obviously i'm english. But i don't feel necessarily european so i don't feel like i'm supporting like europe as such and you know like i don't feel any closer allegiance like sergio being spanish than a would like colin maraca being american for example but i also think i was over analyzing it okay when it actually comes i watched the solheim cup the other day especially the final singles. And actually in that moment i enjoyed it yeah. And i think when the actual ryder cup is on i do like everybody i do really enjoy the only thing i sometimes feel once it's been in gone it's kind of to some degree irrelevant who won because it's not like i've got american mates alone give like stick to whatever was like with football if liverpool play united. And liverpool win i'm gonna give you stick for a couple of days or whatever yeah you're obviously a massive football fan now. So you can be sorted you're also in tears. But with the ryder cup it's kind of like oh it's been gone now but in the moment it's really good yeah do you get what i mean i think. And also like with a major it's like it's kind of a win-win because if somebody wins a mage you've never won one before so let's say matt fit patrick doesn't mean the master's oh my gosh he's won the masters he's now a major champion forever yeah. Or if somebody wins one sort of one one it's like oh my days they're seriously going down in history now the double major champion. Or triple whatever but it's either going to be usa. Or europe win yeah. So it's not a big thing but obviously what would be quite interesting for me if you are if you asked casual golf fans. So you've got mates like that i've got mates like that who won the last ryder cup and where was it are they are they going to really be able to tell you yeah i don't know well yeah i mean i don't know if that works. For major still like if you said to who made me some major winners actually that probably still won't work with it like i'm talking like i definitely i definitely think more casual golf fans watch the ryder cup than some of the majors maybe not the masters as recently certainly with like sky sports they've really bigged up the massive like certainly on sky sports news a couple of days before it's all about the masters. So i think the masters in the open are kind of getting there. But i would say the ryder cup is the one that most people get behind because that team element people like if you're a football fan you're kind of used to that team sport yeah. And you get kind of behind it well i i've seen rory mcilroy in bolton this weekend huh yep actually on a massive billboard and i've seen many many billboards around the north west this last few kind of weeks with ryder cup imagery on and again you don't normally get that is that is that spending from because it's such a big event. For sky sports for the pga tour for the european tour of the ryder cup themselves but there must be much more marketing that gets involved because it's an exhibition match at the end of the day and there's huge amounts of money to be made in this in this exhibition match from every kind of all parts really um but yeah it's mad seeing these massive billboards like normally they're filled with football. Or whatever it may be and to see macaroon up there and i think that's quite cool that's a bit different to what you'd normally see. And i'm not saying that because you put a billboard in bolton suddenly a little ten thousand bull and you know golf fans are gonna start watching it. But it was still quite interesting to see really the other thing i'm on the radical website as we speak now the official one you go on team europe well what's a bit rubbish is sounds not a big deal. But there's all the players there like almost like a kind of a chest up shot half of them have got the official kind of outfit on and now after standard like pictures and it's like surely they cut off in the last couple of days or since you know the team was announced get a nice picture of them all. But also how hard is it just to put a head on somebody else's body yeah like when ronaldo signed. For united you already saw me in the united him in the united states and like you think they should have just taken like lee westwood. Or shane larry's head and stuck it on a different kind of body or frame that's a football now you really have changed did you watch your night at the weekend i said to my brother you were close to not supporting them if they drawn. But luckily the uh the one come on that lingard goal was different outrageous i even watched liverpool i'll go to liverpool they'll be honest they scored all their three goals from corner you see that i didn't even realize oh yeah that kites are golden volley different level you like liverpool don't you i don't know enough of liverpool play i'm getting my knowledge of players is ridiculously improving. For united all for everybody different teams i think i've completed united now it's now i'm expanding to different teams i'm interested. But it's a good league this year it's really good like ridiculously good league i mean this is how bad it's got. So i'll watch a lot of the matches on saturday maybe maybe not always live i'll try and watch as much as i can. And um because obviously family commitments and stuff i'll try and watch the highlights the highlights are. So good when the three-minute highlight that's all you need in it really and then.

I'll even watch i look at the table see where everyone's positioned everyone's moved and then.

I'll even look at when that the next.

Fixtures are like who united playing next.

Might be playing villain next.

Saturday at home at 12 o'clock i mean first though we're playing west ham in the fa cup again. And there's on wednesday in the third round play and then.

The wednesday after i'm going oh my days oh yeah european match united versus villarreal well you're a hardcore fan. So i don't even know why i'm surprised um that was a bit of a random intro to the podcast because today.

It's just me. And you obviously as people are probably gathered by now there's nobody else here um we've kind of got a bit of a chilled out when we're a bit of a rider cup to chat about. And i'm sure the next.

Podcast radical will have i know we're doing the next.

Podcast possibly on friday. So yeah we might have a guess. But we could also push that one back yeah we'll see. But we won't be able to what the rider cut will we shouldn't know who's won at that point. Or do you mean push it back to another day push the one that we've got with friday pushing the week okay we could do that. So next.

Podcast we may well catch up on the radical i think we would do anyway yeah because actually our next.

Guest could actually be really interesting yeah because of his european ties. And his american ties yeah that'll be cool see i'll see how it works um. So today.

Rick i've got um a number of good questions from our podcast group listeners. So again we plug this occasionally if you listen to the podcast you enjoy the podcast and you're on facebook why not join the group why not go in the search bar search for the rick shields golf show podcast it'll pop up join it we'll accept you and you can browse. And it's only 30 pound a month 30 pounds that comes to my paypal account i didn't give rick a fiver um well i thought we'll just kind of reel off a few bit of a chilled one today.

Carly last week was class went down really well um i think she really enjoyed it as well didn't she i think she didn't know what to expect. And she texted me afterwards said i really enjoyed that she said she doesn't normally watch. Or listen to anything that she does. But she genuinely sat down and watched it all and she couldn't believe some of the stories that she told yeah we did get some good stories out of that really good she also said that i was dead sound didn't she as well let me just check she did she definitely did just check that message what did she say he said go on read it out was that who is that lad again no no no no no convenience uh on it word. For word for listeners what's good fun always great to see you carry on guys lovely yeah hopefully go back to see you rick. But guy was better it's the off camera people don't see yeah it's what it meant read between the lines come on um gwen then.

What's our first question. So i've got a big quiet equipment base this week um but i think some of them are interesting okay. So the first one is from adam stratton. And he said how do you hit out fairway bunker from 180 yards. And out i saw this one actually um i think it's a a few important factors you've got to measure whether you can actually go. For it so that's i think that's your first point of call where you are positioning the bunker how much lip you've got to get over how much obviously what all the hazards you've got in front of you whether it's going to be water. Or more bunkers and that's then.

Going to determine whether you try. And go for it if there's not much of a lip it's not much hazards and you can maybe get like a six. Or a five iron at it or maybe a hybrid other than that you've got to take your medicine and hit out and play that more like a regulation bunk shot but with maybe like a pitching wedge for me if you're going to go. For it you're going to make sure you don't bury feet too much into the sand you've got to keep your weight a little bit left. And you've got to make sure you hit ball first ground after hybrids and fairway woods are really good. For those type of shots if you've not got a lot of lit to get over but as soon as you've got lip to get over you just got to take your medicine bunkers are there to catch you out they're there to punish you sometimes they do pitch it out try. And rescue up a bogey or whatever it may be one tip i got told years ago and i do do this you tell me if it's right. Or not is grip it tighter yeah i like that as well i think it's because if you grip it tighter your arms shorter. And you're going to catch a bit more thin because you kind of want to catch them a little bit thin don't you really yeah well i did that video recently when i was talking about relaxing how you can kind of play better golf without kind of changing too many things. And one of those things was keeping your grip pressure quite light because you don't want to thin it you're right i like to grip it really hard in thick rough. So it doesn't snag your club yeah. And i would grip it harder in a bunker as well and maybe even again on that point where you're trying to catch it a little bit thinner just grip down on the club a tiny bit as well i like that before going to some of those questions though i've got a really good dear rick. For you okay um we're still getting loads these in obviously we might start reading a couple an episode because i feel bad that. So many people are emailing with good questions. And we only kind of do one. So maybe going forward we'll we'll do a couple of episodes if you want yours um read out please. And we try also i do reply to a lot of these. And show rick a lot of them off off as well so emails podcast rickshaws.com um and we'll try and get as many either done on the show or at least send you an email back so this one is from i'll keep anonymous i don't think he needs to be. But i'll keep anonymous for this dear guy rick i've just been to american golf and got properly fitted for a new driver that my wife has bought me as a gift while i was there i asked if they could fit me. For some irons and the pro alex was a great guy got me hitting the p797 iron um. And the change from my current clubs was incredible i knew mine were bad when i bought the seven iron as well. But they didn't laugh and no. But the noises they made when i'd hit it didn't say oh you got good clubs there mate and they were 15 year old mizuno's with what turns out to be a regular flex when i need to stiff the pro wasn't pushy. Or forcing me to buy anything he didn't even mention the price of the clubs until i asked my problem is they're pretty pricey i've not been playing properly. For too long and i can't really justify the expense even though it will have a big impact on the game i also don't have wasted alex's time i feel like i've got i'm left with three options should i be asking what's similar to the clubs he's fit me. For but a cheaper alternative um trying to find the closest or try to find the closest match to what i've been fit for but get used ones or older clubs off ebay or should i just bite the bullet pay the retail price and other clubs i was fit. For because theoretically they are perfect. For me and they could last me a long time also as a side note the set is a five to pitching wedge. So i'd be losing three clubs from my current set i'm guessing he's got three four and a sandbagging is it worth dropping these clubs if i'm gonna be getting more out of a better set with fewer clubs really enjoy the podcast in the videos they got me through working from home during lockdowns. And got me to golf this year uh joined the club in may and i'm currently at 23 handicap thanks fellas nice lots to digest there is a lot to digest. So he's gone getting a fitting it fits in for p790s and now he's gone ah i didn't realize they were that pricey potentially i mean a little bit could have been prevented here one the fitter could have made it a bit more obvious have you got a budget in mind you know sure that should be a question that is discussed in a fitting unless you unless literally a customer comes in. And says i have no budget fit me. For what is absolutely perfect. For me well then.

The fittest obviously going to go to town. And probably fit you with expensive clubs yeah i think if you go in there with a budget. And be honest and say listen i'm looking at spending somewhere in the region of 300 to 500 pounds for a set of irons whatever it may be oh i'm looking for some secondhand ones but but be honest and be upfront because you've you've got to do that because if you go in like say what's a set of p790s now comfortably over a grand theft auto they're expensive. So so we've got a few options let's discuss this looking for ones that are similar spec to yours. But secondhand is not a terrible option i would potentially avoid ebay i'd maybe look on golfbidder only because you know they're guaranteed to be real genuine there's a lot of fake p790s going around isn't there right. And do not buy them off these dodgy websites where it literally looks like they're too good to be true because they are not true. So maybe going somewhere like golfbidder the other thing you can do if you were to get from golfbidder. And they weren't in your perfect spec you could take the information you got from alex and actually have them fitted elsewhere yeah you'd feel a little bit bad on alex because obviously you went there. For a fit in uh but it kind of happened in the real world unfortunately um i like the other option if you liked alex and gave you good fitting going back to him saying listen these are a bit too expensive is there anything else in this price range that are going to suit me don't get too hung up on this kind of these clubs are perfect. For me because there's so many different golf clubs out they got like having yeah even though we've been fitted. For these and they're perfect for him theoretically there's so many golf clubs that are gonna be perfect. For him i think what happened well i've said a quick look at then.

As well. And i'm not for one i'm sure the fitting was fantastic. And i'm sure alex who mentioned obviously we don't know what story it was. But i'm sure he was also really good the only thing that slightly. And i don't want to use the word concern very loosely is that it sounds like. And it is in most cases it's a 7.9 versus 7.9 test. So in most facilities they will have um fitting components. For a set of clubs you want to try and they'll only have a seven iron it's it sometimes might get a four iron or you might get a wedge and that's because a lot of these sets now clearly are interchangeable. So they can put different shafts in they can change the line goal. So they can't really stock every iron from every brand in a changeable head because it'd just be cost too much it wouldn't be you would even store it but when we look i know he's not the exact model here but he said the 15 year old ish mizuno's. And his 23 handicapper so i'm guessing i'm kind of presuming here but they're quite chunky irons there's been on the taylormade website and weirdly on the i think it's the german side they've got this mad timeline like it every year. And you can look at what irons routes i've gone 15 years ago is roughly obviously like mizuno yeah 25006 roughly when we look at the ions that are out. So like the mx 25 launched in like 20 2006 um the seven iron loft of that iron is 34 degrees. And 30.5 30.5 in p790s um the six iron in p790s is 26.5. And the six iron in the next.

35 was 30.. So you're looking quite literally at like a degree a full club stronger a different club a different club so if he's not quite said here what was. So perfect about them and i might be wrong in sense but most people when they go for a fitting you look at distance don't you you go you've gained six yards you've gained eight yards you've gained 10 yards over your current club how let's again let's play devil's advocate how easy is that. For a fitter then.

To sell the product unbelievable these clubs are six to ten yards longer than your current set yeah how would you dress that up i mean it's. So like you know your mates normally in seven you're gonna be in eight well that's it you know normally you're hitting like a pitchy imagine that green you can't or 99 or whatever now you're going to be flicking a pitching wedge exactly. And don't get me wrong the p790s are a phenomenal set of golf clubs they're very forgiving they launch it nice. And high they're quite quite a compact head that doesn't look too ugly so you do get a lot of good things within 790.. So if he might almost replace his emails actually no i was finding that the dispersion was tighter that feels miles better. Or whatever it might be but what would again what would you concern me would be if it was distances go enough you're not really doing a true test you should you should be testing your six iron against that seven iron really. And seeing actually now what's the difference is there still a jumping distance. Or are they closer um because that is the thing we're testing old clubs against new ones certainly with irons you're not really testing the same against the same i i never. And you've seen me on fittings i hate hitting my current clubs and then.

Letting the fitter out beat it well that's it yeah it's just it's just you can people fitters can fudge it as well like. And also let's say you're cold you start hitting your normal driver or seven hour whatever it may be there's gonna be some crap ones in there yeah everything will get kept in yeah in that list of ten let's say you're hitting they'll go oh your average is 240. And you think oh i thought you had it further than that. But your average is 240 that's including all warts. And all you then.

Hit the new latest driver you bit 50 golf shots but they haven't picked your best five exactly and i think eve that that sounds when you say it like that it almost sounds quite dodgy. But i think actually it's almost done it's almost done by accident because what will happen is. And again i used to be a fitter in retail stores and obviously for nike which i mentioned numerous times but you'd get somebody coming certainly in a retail store they'd come in with their own seven eye in and then.

Hit a few and be a bit nervous and you'd kind of go go and hit a couple get loosened up so they'd hit maybe 10 or 11. then.

You gave them the new eye you know the new driver the shank one on the top it oh you're not used that yeah let's just like say let's delete that one let's you know let's get used to the driver first. So that you said you end up picking five. Or six great shots you've not really done it to try and be sneaky it's just what feels kind of right in the moment and you're watching yeah you've gained 15 yards. And it's like well firstly the clubs are club stronger which i've just mentioned. And you're picking out your best ones so it's um and he even things like again subconsciously even though he said the guy has a dead sound they're probably not going to be going oh they're nice. And zuma mx25 from 2006. and they're all okay yeah yeah good set back in the day it's almost like i mean they go this is the brand new shiny p790s they go mile you're like okay yeah it's all about the invite the vibe in it of course it is the vibe let's be honest it you're going into a sales environment yes. And that fitter as much as he might be an incredible fitter and i do believe fitters genuinely go into fitting with the best intentions to get the best. For the player but then.

They're also incentivized on sales they're also incentivized on selling you the best product is that direct. And that's still the case kind of it was when you were american american golf used to have certain brands that used to earn you more commission. So what it used to be you're probably saying well i can say it now i don't want it i'm not working since 2013.. But what it used to be at the time was there was three different i think it's called birdie eagle. And par i think it was called eagle birdie power whatever it was. And there were some brands your big brands your titleists your mizunos your taylormades your callaways all your proper premium brands as a re as a member of staff you would get a one percent commission of the profit right. So what people don't realize if you still upset 600 pounds at the time let's call them a grand now titus dions there's actually not much profit really so there might be a hundred quid let's just say maybe a bit more 100 quid for round figures you would have at the time got one percent of that did you get no quid oh yeah it's nothing. So it's literally it sounds bizarre it's almost not worth your time however. then.

They had lines i think it was the birdie line that you would get four percent of obviously you're getting four times as much. But also there's more margin that might be like wilson's staff uh those wilson staff there's a couple of other brands so not only that set might only be 600 quid but there might be 200 quid profit and you're getting four percent of that and the final line was the eagle stuff. And that was six percent of the profit margin. But again it was super profits that was your wilson deep red your nicholas brand yonics now yonick's a strange one because jonix was super premium with massive margin. And he got six percent so if you saw i remember thinking those two twins played for united rafael and what's the one called um yeah yeah you should know those two those two twins are the brazilian yeah yeah. And one of them came in one day to start golf and i wasn't in and my colleague sold him literally everything the onyx and to be though it was actually good stuff. But bag everything literally and it came to about like two and a half three grand so this lad got unbelievable commission the following weekend or the following day whatever the other twin came in with his twin and said oh he wants exactly everything the same the lad that served him wasn't in. So i took the sale and got what are the times like 60 70 80 quid commission off one sale it was just took minutes. So that's how it was back then..

So what would be the worst thing ever and i hate myself admitting this but i will you'd have somebody come in who would say i want to buy a drive i've not got loads they might have 130 quid which is you know decent amount there was two options really they either go. For taylormade burner that's a few models old but on sale at 129 or the brand new nicholas driver that you get a hell of a load more commission on so i would never just fleece people because it's not fair i couldn't live with myself doing that but you would take them on to the range and you would be hoping they hit the nicholas better because you'll get more commissions it's not that's not on you you're almost being you're almost being served that moral dilemma by the company 100 uh fabio and raphael gabby on raphael i believe though that has now changed american gold from what i've heard i think apparently. And again don't quote me on this but i think they get a flat percent on anything they sell right. So whether it be whatever brand it's just i think it's done at the full price i think. So there's less include there's less like you're not going to want to sell the stuff that's not right. For the consumer as much as you might have done did we say this guy's name. Or is he anonymous no he's not a mess i actually get 50 p. For selling two dozen wilson deep red balls so if you came in saying i'm not the best golfer i lose balls quite a lot and wilson deep red there's 50p that's a mars bar but if you sold a packet of uh two dozen tricks an ad triple three essentially like nothing really like five p for that i don't know how did it all get tallied up because he code when you log in i remember my code still not gonna say exactly the pin code that i have a mo off my phone which is crap that's really weird isn't it you literally said mobile phone how's your mobile phone um yeah. So you also had a list in the back office as well um just one sec and used to have a a co a sheet and it would tell you all the stuff and how much you'd get and was like a leaderboard on this stuff as well i wasn't on commissioner's leaderboard on sales right. But that's what way again because i was quite savvy too i wasn't that bothered when i said having the highest sales in terms of pound notes. But i'd always want to make the most commission because at the time i was a student it was a weekend job as you know. So if i could make 50 quid a week extra yeah over a month that's clearly 200 quid yeah i better spend the money well the last one do you ever remember um fisher putters they used to have in there no. So fisher putters this was a oh this is the brand was this that was it it was a brand called fisher never heard of them um i think you will they're blue they add that okay they're different inserts yeah there's four different insects black blue green. And red i do remember them. And apparently the insert was the same material odyssey used. And they were very heavy in the head apparently yeah very heavy in the head. But there were massive margins. So easy to sell because they actually felt really good it used to have the one of the inserts was like outrageously soft on it yes it was the green i think yeah i remember yeah they still make them go on. And what was the commission silly monday no it was about a fiver. But it was quite a quick sale. So if you could do it. And then.

The final five final one was golf insurance. So just brought this thing in were. For 25 i think 99. Or 24.99 it was golf insurance right. So you'd come to the till yeah. And you've bought um a set of violence a driver yeah. And i'd saved you i'd go right last thing have you got golf insurance no i've not have you heard about golf insurance before no i don't know i didn't even know it existed perfect we need it yes 100 because this is really vital. For a number of reasons firstly you've bought a set of golf clubs a lot of people wrongly think they're covered on the house insurance when they're actually not unless you add them on i've never checked right okay well therefore. they're probably not ah if you leave here now go to traffic enter. For some food in dubai yeah. And you're trying to do you can't get spoken into you might not be covered right i'm joking exactly that's the first time you spent well you want to get it covered you spent two grand on your next.

Golf club exactly 25.99 is nothing secondly it also means if you unfortunately you hit somebody around the golf course it covers you. For that i am prone to that if you're not a member of a golf course you often won't be covered so that's really important to get out and then.

Finally this is the thing i love. So much about the golf insurance one tell me you get three three rounds of golf shut up yeah a really good golf course it's like 25 pounds it's nothing it's you're getting three few rounds. So even if you buy it now and use it for the free golf you're covered what what what are the where can i play um marriott worthy park nice which is the home of rick shields you'll probably find loads of if you want on the left of the holes shitloads are pro v1s it's that pace. For itself [Laughter] anywhere i can play anywhere anywhere basically wentworth not wentworth. But you're not good enough and also this is the real sale i get a pound. For selling this oh yeah that was a big sell. For a pound yeah it was i was quite good at selling them. But you weren't you sorry you'd work he's a big sell for are you just gonna get a pound. For that suffering quid what the hell wow god how did people buy it yeah it was to be fair it was good. For the three rounds of goal but they have to fill out paperwork and all that crap that was the problem see if it was doing that i just said yeah do it. And magically all my details was inserted i'd definitely do it. But and then.

Finally these are these insurances like they cover like cover you. For holding once i think they did yeah i think there's loads. But then.

Also we used to get if you bought a set of irons what i'll do is. So you've got your set piece of 99 agx bows yeah you got your set piece of 90s sir just. So you know as well you actually get a 20 top a set of iron head covers with them as well no way yeah. So i think just. But i've heard head covers aren't cool they're not that cool i'll be honest with you i'll level with you but what's really important is you might have these irons. For let's say five years i really appreciate your honesty well i'm always here to be honest i sold you some um if you put design head covers on you may get ridiculed by your friends or might be the world's number one golf podcast might skip you occasionally however. it will massively increase your resale. Or trading value when you come to sell them now i know when you buy a set of ions you're not thinking about reselling them you probably you might never do however. on the off chance in five years time a new set comes out that's longer actually the stronger loft. But it goes longer you'll get more money for these probably around 10 to 15 percent more so for the small price of 24.99 these castle bays you're gonna get killed by your mates your wife will leave you. But you'll get more money when you trade them in i'm doing it and then.

Lastly it's three for two on teas so pink castles get three of the presser two i've always needed twos there you go and we're gonna play golf for that team wow i literally came in for a pair of socks yeah. And i've walked out with two grands worth of your next.

Clubs a fisher putter a bay hill head covers that i didn't even know i needed castle bay six sixty thousand t-pegs golf insurance and you're you're nine quid better off abby it's a nando's tonight uh wow i don't know if you answered this question though did we that was yeah that went a bit wild just uh be careful when you're getting fitted not just american golf any retail any retail um listen it's just one of those things you just have to you have to have your head switched on. And lastly jokes sad american golf has really changed last few years yeah it's definitely certainly it feels a lot better since guy's now exposed secrets um okay couple more questions then.

Um david creasy has asked how do you decide what video to shoot each week that's a great question we well we have three strands of content i don't want to give too many secrets away here though we have coaching videos entertainment. And equipment so we try and rotate around that we typically release three youtube videos a week we typically then.

Release somewhere between 10 to 14 facebook videos a week if you're not on facebook do get on facebook it's free to sign up if you don't already. And you can follow the rickshaw's golf page the actual page which is over a million followers now thank you. For that um so we try and make sure that we've got content around those areas don't we mean guy we'll chat a lot we'll brainstorm a lot sometimes we'll have floods of ideas like sometimes literally we're writing our ideas down we're like oh my god we've got like 10 ideas down. And that banks it for the rest of the kind of next.

Few weeks other times it's a little bit trickier sometimes we're like oh what do we know. But then.

Suddenly a piece of motivation comes from somewhere either we do a coaching video something i've seen you can get inspiration from anywhere like you you'll text me a weekend. And go what about this for an idea or i'll text you at another time and go oh i've seen this should i buy this should i buy this i've just bought some golf balls that are mega interesting that have arrived today.

That's going to be fascinating um. So it's just always been on the lookout for new pieces of opportunity whether it's gonna be a really good coaching video an entertaining video or a new um piece of equipment like break 75 that whole idea started from you me and harry sat in my garage we were gonna film a set of callaway irons. And just weren't inspired no it was just it was it was inside the golf courses were closed the callaway irons weren't the most exciting in the world. And we just sat down what can we do what's different. And suddenly we kind of brainstormed this idea of break75 and that obviously ran for 12 weeks and we'll be coming back again next.

Year but like all those little kind of avenues or series or strands just keep kind of working away and we have we have notes on our phones and we'll share ideas all the time won't we yeah that's it it's taking inspiration from all the industries as well. For the youtube other youtube other golf youtubers and what we do is we steal all that yeah if you've got less than 100 subscribers. Or less than a thousand i'll just copy all your ideas no we don't we we um i must admit that i do kind of oh don't use the word copy what do you take inspiration from all the crazy other industries because you have to don't you um obviously we have a lot of golf clubs we review we could do we could do. So many more videos we read everything we get sent but a lot of it isn't it's hard to you know if a set of values is a new version of one from the year before it's very hard to make a story around it um. Or like a random hybrid yeah because it's. So like niche and also i think something like a hybrid it's i mean every club's personal. But it's so much doubt the individual like you might hate hybrid because it doesn't suit your swing whatever you're pulling it left it's going really high. And floaty somebody with a slice that might be the best ever so it's hard isn't it but i think we do a good job of that being able to i think we identify if it doesn't quite suit me who would it actually suit. But we do that with clubs that we know wouldn't suit me yeah. But like if we did it with everything it would be like i mean yeah it's hard isn't it even like with some of these chunky wedges we do well actually you you need the help okay another question there's like this one dominic uh how do you say that it's m a h o n man dominic mayhem oh yeah maybe like that i used to i used to work with a guy i'm sorry if i destroyed your name dominick. But a h o n mayhem mayhem [Music] really good question is what's your opinion on direct to consumer golf clubs really. So if you're not aware of those there's obviously brands that you literally buy from that from the brand clubs from the brand sorry so ben hogan are probably one of those popular ones common ones where you go on their website you can order them you choose your length you lie etc they ship them out to you i think it's really good because typically you make a bit more of a saving as we've just mentioned a minute ago when you have a third-party ie a retail store they're going to want to take money um i think the only thing that kind of trips up these direct to consumer brands is the kind of fitting element because it requires some knowledge from the golfer that's that's the only downside i see. But typically and also struggles to test them sometimes yeah i think some of them have like a policy we can get them try them. And send them back but what would be really good for these direct consumer brands if they would just be able to do pop-up fitting days sometimes if they could just go around the country do pop-up fitting days. So you've got all that information then.

Order them online yeah well like you said the big benefit with the doubt to consume is you're cutting out the middleman. So whereas normally they sell in american gold for a club pros got making the profit on them alone not a lot like we said. But you're just getting them from the the the brand so there's no you know there's no middleman the only thing you don't typically get then.

You you might not pick up as many bargains let's say. So for example if you if you're a retailer and you've got a stock of the old taylormade driver on the shelf and then.

New stuff comes in that typically gets this knocked down you know not down in price direct to consumer you might see a little bit of that as they tail off that production line but really they can probably just stop producing that product yeah. And bang in with the new products at the same price yeah. And that's it as well you're also going to find if you walk into a pro shop. And you know the pros had a good day or whatever and you want to buy a new sim too you might go i'll tell you what you're good man but i'll do a good deal on that. And do your stupid discount that he can do it's his own stock he does what you can give to free if he wanted to whereas on a direct-to-consumer it is the price. So although it's cheaper typically you're not going to get a discount necessarily the other things as well. And we we've obviously had a lot of talk about american golf today.

But you know if you go and if you if you can find a really good pro. Or a really good service someone like a dan webster we've had on the podcast before and you get a really good fit in and like say he's the pro and you're a member of his golf club or he goes through driving range and you know you feel like i know dan wouldn't do anything bad to me he's going to fit me in the right way he's going to get me the best deal. And he does that kind of handing over doesn't he hand over session he'll invite you down. And unbox the clubs and you get to hit him in front of him and he might do a gapping session. For you and throw in like a personalized towel or a hat or it's those extra bits you don't get from direct to consumer you maybe don't get from american golf that you can only really get from independent yeah yeah you know a pro. Or or someone like a tour x or a txg over in canada it's those little touches that you sometimes don't get but then.

Obviously you pay more for those little touches i guess i think it literally it comes down to what you want what kind of clubs you want what experience you want you can go to sports direct. And buy a driver that's going to be cheap that's going to perform all right off potentially without being with a sales member of staff he's got no interest in golf who's normally on the trainers who's on goal. For that day um but obviously if you're not spending a lot of money you might go somewhere that's a bit more special it's like a tourette somebody get that experience so it's all down to what you want really the last thing as well the benefit of direct to consumers they typically don't sponsor tour pros either and they don't spend loads loads on like marketing materials so when you think about it when you go into any store that's got a big tailor-made stand that has to be paid. For from somewhere um okay one more. And well a couple more actually this is definitely on you rick's i don't have a clue on this one. But from joe fraser advice for new assistant pro in the golf world um i probably just have to rewind myself to when i was assistant pro. For me i was just a sponge. And i really worked as hard as i could there was a couple of things i did really well as an assistant pro i tried to learn from my senior pros i was working underneath. So at the time i was working on the natalie adams. And peter at mia i noticed what they did well what i want will take inspiration from i noticed how they run their teaching diary. For example i noticed how pete ran his business and his and his staffing and his rotors and his buying of stocks that was something i was always very intrigued more than just sat back. And kind of just did my job. And turned up every day i asked questions i said you know natalie you know you've got six juniors there on a camp how do you separate the six juniors in an hour. So they all get the same amount of level of coaching or how do you deal with different ability golfers in the same group. For example how do you work out your taxes how do you work out your marketing your advertising. And in it i either learned from observation or learnt from asking and again with p on the on the pro shop side of things more the business side of things like i was very interested in okay what's the new stock coming in how much did we pay. For that item how do we get bulk buy on if we bought all this stock what bulk buy did we get what's our what's our payment terms. And all these things that from a business i was i didn't know i knew how to play golf. So so to speak loosely but it's all these other things now as i turned it into a business well i want to know every single aspect of it so as an assistant pro i very much wanted to kind of digest information and for me i got a lot of information as i started to become you know more active on social media started soaking what other coaches were saying. And now there's a wealth of knowledge out there that you can dive into you're soaking as much as you can my last piece of advice. And honestly i think this massively helped me in my whole development. And i learned this from mia and this really got instilled on me i have a really strong relationship with members like learn their names talk to them be open with them like build these kind of relationships and rapports because even now how many years have i been like 15 years i've turned pro i know people i met 15 years ago as a member that i'd classify as friends now and or or really good business um people that i might need in the future you know what i mean. So a golf club you're very lucky you get to meet a lot of individuals from all different sectors of life yeah learn get to know them like don't don't be a recluse. And kind of hide away and almost just be the assistant that's ground on the driving range every day which obviously is a part of your world speak to members ask them how they're doing what they do. For the work go and play golf with them it's so important to kind of build those relationships i think again i'm not a pga pro the only thing i would say from my time in the golf industry is some people doing the pj might literally want to ask you know aspire to have their own shop. And and have a good um business doing that and fitting and coaching and that's perfectly fine there's so many successful people eg or dan webster who've done that but equally there's so many more avenues now for pj pros probably more than ever like whether it'd be having like your own driving range or you know joke said working like an american golf could be a good crib some people just want a golf marketing company exactly youtube well that's it. And even like when i was at nike loads the sales reps were pj pros who'd gone into that. So even little things i'm sure this you would anyway but like every rep that comes in from titus from callaway from mizuno get paly with them you know don't fake it but just be be nice and you never know there might be a sales rep job company actually i do want to get into that. And being a pj pro is a massive head start over other people aren't correct. So you know don't limit yourself to the shop although that's also a great job there's loads to do. And then.

Last one this is um something i've not got any real ideas on. But with me i'll ask anyway see if you've heard anything from baden aldridge have you heard any rumors surrounding 2022 clubs if so what are you most excited by i don't feel like i've this time next.

Month we'll have a different answer the only thing i have heard i told you this speaking i'm not going to say which brand i had a phone call with one of the big big brands recently very briefly just seeing how we're getting on. And he said to me that next.

Year's driver from said brand is gonna be very very kind of revolutionary. And not just a little iteration of what's currently out remember tell that to you you do i'll tell you off uh if you want give me the initial of said person just the first initial second initial of said person s oh doesn't work second in it yeah i've got it i've got it um okay. And apparently i don't know why i've not seen it yet probably will this time next.

Month we might have started to see stuff it's literally the time the time now where we start to see product what you'll normally see is that drivers typically will launch at the start next.

Year. So 2022 start the year that's when the drivers launch we will typically get them at the start of december we'll learn about them in kind of november time yeah. So let's say coming up soon we'll have much more knowledge um yeah i've not seen that much. Yet i don't feel that excited i don't yeah i was going to say that the words of my mouth i don't at all. But brands have a way of bringing stuff out that makes me intrigued well it always works i'm not sure well doesn't always but i'm intrigued to see what's coming next.

Well what does it see today.

That patrick can't lay one with loads of old clothes yeah i know again we've said this kind of thing before. But it does just prove to knit time. And time again that you don't need the latest and greatest but what the brands will 100 do i said i'm not we're both in the same boat not that excited right now. But 100 percent start of the year they'll come out with the fastest face ever they start the other then.

Okay let's try. And probably be good and you go yeah it's better than last year's buy a couple of yards. Or it's more forgive you know it looks better so we'll end up wanting it people end up wanting people to buy it but as it stands i'm not bothered yeah we'll see what we'll see what the future holds a couple of things then.

Rich before we end what how far when are we matt 54 minutes oh nice um again a little bit housekeeping if you're watching this video on youtube please like down below subscribe to the channel um watch people just comment as well rick why not yeah say nice things yeah it's been a very i think it's been a very informative podcast today.

And it's free so people don't pay for this no. And if you're listening on apple and you want to give us a five star rating please do we always appreciate those. And then.

Obviously any more emails podcast at rickshield.com and we are maybe soon we'll announce the guests that are on the live episode with they're all locked in. And confirmed so maybe and lastly actually i can't do a podcast next.

Monday i'm off next.

Monday. And tuesday for my birthday oh for god's sake so i'll have to do friday i may do two. Or just do that one anyway. So well would that be 98.99 anyway it would be if we do it that way. And other things yeah whatever all right should be next.

Week yeah 31. wow how do you feel old gray. And fat put on a stone somewhere wedding welcome to the club it's all right it's look getting married couple of blokes put on a bit of timber love our footsie like a beer occasionally love our food love our food what do you do we're just one of the lads just yeah swirl loads as well now don't we off camera am i looking at your arms. For i'm just debating whether to get the united tattoo on my left arm on my right i think on the right arm cr7 see. And then.

England badging you're the one bulldog on your leg i like that barbed wire somewhere yeah big just a big off tribal right down the right arm. And then.

Cantona on my chest that one that can i used to have on my chest because just to show that i used to also like oh yeah you're not a new fan i'm an old school fan really old school fan guys thanks. For listening random one but hopefully you enjoyed it um like subscribe review and we'll see you next.

Week with ryder cup and a cool guest what a flat ending thanks for listening have a great day at work everyone or whatever you're doing if you're in the bath have a nice soak up my headphones.