In our forums, our members have been responding to a fascinating post from GolfWRXer ‘Soloman1’, who has recounted his first-hand experience with Bryson DeChambeau. The post details his short time with Bryson during his second year on Tour in a thread that has gripped our readers.

From Soloman1:

“Oh no, not another Bryson thread!? Yes, another Bryson thread. But this one’s a little different. 

I want to talk from a first-hand experience with him and not third, fourth, or no-hand experiences or random feelings that I do or don’t like the guy because of (fill in the blank).

Quick background: He was an earlier adopter of my 3D motion system because it was portable and gives objective data, not myths of feelings about the swing. Why guess when you can measure tilts, rotations, body angles, wrist angles, swing planes, etc.?

Bryson had won one tournament and was struggling a little at the beginning of his second year on tour. Plenty of tour pros used it in the office or around the country – lot’s of names that you’d know and others you may not know. They all get the same time and energy.

I was asked to go to Dallas to spend a couple of days with Bryson in the summer. I had just gotten back from an extended trip to Asia and was worn out. My wife had died six weeks before; I had to empty a house full of memories in Tokyo, where we lived for decades. Bryson and others didn’t know this, so it had no influence on how he treated me.

First of all, Bryson was unfailingly polite. Some of you may be disappointed by that. He was polite the several other times we met at tournament sites. The golf course is his world, like all professionals, so on course and off course can be very different. You may not be the same person in your work environment either.

Is he driven? Of course, as all tour pros are, but I would say more than the average pro. He had spent time playing some practice rounds with Tiger, the ultimate driven professional, so he knew first hand what being driven looks and sounds like from the best in the world. There are plenty of guys (and women pros) who can be unpleasant to be around because of their ego, but Bryson wasn’t anywhere near some of them. Now, on the other hand, I’ll tell you who is really a… Just kidding. I’m not going to tell.

In most all cases, the player doesn’t want to know or need to know the gory details of the mechanics that are being looked at carefully. Their coach will translate it into a feeling and a few words that the player needs to hear, based on their experience with the player. Bryson wants the details and drives the ship.

OK, so Bryson started being interested in wrist movements. He was hitting irons on the range and not very well. He was frustrated and had been that way for half of the year. He couldn’t cure the lefts he had, and that is trouble city. I have to give him credit. He listened to what I said after only 2 minutes after I showed up. He had been there for hours. I moved one part of his body, and that one thought for him. The next ball and the rest after were perfect, and he was like a kid with a grin who just hit a ball flush for the first time. He just needed to hear a different voice, and I give him credit for listening.

One of my favorite ideas in engineering, business and golf is that you can’t hear a good idea if you aren’t listening.

The next day was raining, so we were indoors. He was still asking a lot about wrist angles, and he was working on driver and woods. Now, this was before bulking up and speed-distance quest. Even early on tour, Bryson was one of the longest guys out there, and that is a fact. He had a “Fairway Finder” driver swing that he used a lot. His distance stats were affected by that, but trust me, he could flat bomb it even then when he chose to. Of course, today is a different beast. He’s just trying to find the way for him to be as good as he can be.

He was getting frustrated again because his launch monitor numbers for his 3-wood didn’t match the ball flight. He was +4 path and -2 face to path, but the ball was starting a little right and dropping right from the top instead of a little push draw. Well, he decided that the balls were wet because they were brought in from the range, and this was the cause of his angst and shot shape going awry.

Again, I have to give him credit. He did listen, but he didn’t believe me.

The reason was obvious, but I had to prove it. He had to be hitting it a little on the heel, but he wasn’t having any of that. We put a sticker on the face, and sure enough, there it was. Now he accepted it. But I told him that I didn’t think it was a good idea to change anything in his setup or make him try to manipulate the swing until I saw what his pressure trace from my other product.

He resisted again but got him to do it, and Voila, he had a move that was a little too much toward his toes near impact. I asked him not to change anything but try to make more of a lateral move with pressure.

His next ball was not only that little push draw on target; he gained 20 yards (yes, 20 yards) of carry. Boom, mic drop. I was done. I’m kidding.

He’s an athlete. Sure, he works hard and is intense when things don’t go perfectly. Is that a fault? It can be if you start to think you know everything and you did it all by yourself.

He won The Memorial two weeks later. He won three tournaments within three months.

The only negative thing I have to say is that I think it was ungracious to not reply to my simple text of congratulations after The Memorial. Maybe the politeness only applies in person? I think a better man would have said thanks, that maybe I’d helped him a little since he’d been hitting it poorly for six months, but I’ve never heard a word from him.

Don’t worry; I don’t need counseling… haha. I’m old fashioned, so I still think expressing a little gratitude is something people of substance do. He didn’t figure it out all by himself, and everything going wrong is not always something else or someone else.

I just thought I’d give a first-person account of my short experience.”

Here are a few posts from our members reacting to the thread, but make sure to have your say at the link below.

• Roejye: “Thank you for the story. I guess I’m weird in that I don’t really have an opinion on him. I really liked hearing about how polite he was and how he was willing to take input from others. I think it would have been nice of him to send a response after he won the memorial, but his phone could very well have been blowing up after it.”
• straightshot7: “Good story and well written. Thanks for sharing. I wouldn’t worry about the lack of text back. I have some close friends who can’t respond to a text to save their lives. I don’t understand it, but I don’t think it’s malicious. Maybe he’ll get back to you later. Either way, you got a cool experience, right?”
• TexasTurf: “I understand the negative feelings that people have towards him from watching on TV. I felt the same way before I met him. I can’t get into details, but as I have said before, he is the nicest professional golfer I have ever met. I’m an introvert, he is definitely an extrovert. But he goes way out of his way to show his appreciation for the people who are involved in his success.”

Entire Thread: “My first-hand experience with Bryson DeChambeau“