Short Game Golf is an instructional DVD from Expert Insight. Expert Insight was founded by professional poker player Phil Gordon. Gordon is one of very few four time winners on the World Poker Tour, with winnings in excess of $1.3 million. Gordon entered the world of instructional DVDs with “Final Table Poker,” a DVD allowing the viewer to “get inside the mind of the expert.” The success of FTP prompted EI to plan roughly 30 entertaining and educational releases in subjects like gambling, NASCAR, wellness and yes…GOLF.
Jim Furyk and Fred Funk
Phil Gordon means business when he uses the word “expert.” The Short Game Golf DVD features Jim Furyk and Fred Funk as his inside experts, with narration and commentary by Jim Furyk’s dad Mike. Funk and Furyk are two of the best short game players on the planet. It’s a good combination having these two players not only for their skill level, but since their styles are different. On each short game shot Funk and Furyk can show you two completely different approaches.
The Short Game Challenge
The format of the DVD is a short game competition between Jim Furyk and Fred Funk, who are two very good buddies. There are 9 holes of play with varying short game shots including chipping, pitching, lob shots, bunker play and more. During each shot Funk and Furyk tell you everything that is going through their minds. They explain the concepts of the shot they are playing and why they’re playing that particular shot. The players’ commentary is aided by nice 3D graphics, great camera angles and commentary from Mike Furyk as well.
Each player receives a score on the hole depending on how close his shots end up to the cup. The player with the best score after 9 holes wins the Expert Insight short game trophy (just as nice as the U.S. Open trophy…sort of). I won’t divulge who the winner was. You’ll have to get the DVD yourself to find out.
The Production
I must comment on the production of this DVD, having come from a background of audio/visual production of over 20 years. Every production component of this DVD is absolutely top notch. Camera work, audio, editing, graphics, scripting, directing etc. EI obviously spared no expense. Even the artwork on the DVD disc and case are nothing but pro.
The DVD menuing is terrific. It’s easy to get around to the lessons or drills you want to find, or you can just start playing from the beginning and watch the whole program.
Lessons And Drills
Along with the short game challenge are lessons and drills which are presented by Fred Funk. Fred takes you through drills for bunker play, and lots of great shots and concepts for situations around the green.
Fred covers the concept of using different clubs with the same swing around the green to achieve different bump and run distances. It’s a great concept. You only have to learn one swing, but since you are using different lofts your distance varies.
Fred also covers the “clock” concept of distance control for wedges, in which you bring your backswing to certain positions of the clock, like 10:30. I use this concept in my normal game. For instance, a full backswing lob wedge for me is 100 yards on the nose. 10:30am is 90 yards. 9:00am is 75 yards. 7:30am is 50 yards. The clock theory makes those supposedly tough “half shots” seem much easier to judge.
Conclusion
People spend $600+ on new drivers every year. Fancy putters are $250 or more. Gear heads spend thousands of dollars trying to buy a game but it just doesn’t work. Save your thousands this time and just pick up the Short Game Golf DVD from Expert Insight. The $29.95 you’ll spend on the DVD will knock way more strokes off your game than another driver will.