Full Swing

If ur new to golf this will be a very interesting series, meeting the golfers, exploring personalities, etc. If you've followed golf for the last 2 years this will provide limited access to the PGA world that you didn't already know. LIV golf controversy is heavily portrayed. The most interesting aspect has to be mental turmoil of Bruce Koepka. Golf being a one man sport where if u don't play well you don't get paid provides an insightful view to the personalities, sometimes even the wives. But again if you follow PGA it's par for the course in golfspeak; LIV socks, PGA is king and BTW Rory is the golden child.

Netflix has done a great job with their sports documentaries, and their golf series is no exception. 2022 was an excellent year to start following golf, and the episodes are packed with emotion and suspense. Golf is a sport that translates incredibly well to television, and the stakes are high - one poor shot can be catastrophic and ruin any chance of winning. In contrast, a tennis match is often long and grueling, and a single mistake may not determine the outcome. Like Formula One, the intensity of golf lies in the knowledge that one misstep can knock a player out of the running for the win.

Like Drive to Survive and Break Point, there is a lot of information we already know (rules, etc) but it's explained quickly. These shows are aimed at general sports fans, and in that aspect, they're great. Even if you're already familiar with golf and its players, it's still fascinating to gain an intimate look into the athletes' thoughts and emotions - and perhaps even more so for more casual fans who may not have seen this side of the sport before.

What I hoped to be a deeper inside look into the players lives was more surface level than I had hoped. It might be a useful watch for those who are just becoming acquainted with golf and to learn all that goes into being a pro golfer, even though I think they didn't even scratch the surface on this either. I was hoping for more behind the scenes than straight up player interviews that consumed huge amounts of time. The other half was just recapping tournaments we'd already scene this last year. Golf channel already does these specials adequately already.

Overall the themes get a little repetitive with few episodes really varying from the other. The formula is basically :

1. It is incredibly hard to play on the PGA tour because of all that talent there is and it is getting harder and harder

2. There are a lot of things outside the golf course that people don't see that goes into it.

3. Looming threat of LIV golf that goes into no more detail than what someone following golf already knew.

4. Recap the chosen players big event for that year.

I was looking for more gossiping and getting the behind the scenes look. Not what I was hoping for as an avid golf fan, but maybe it will bring the average netflix viewer who hasn't been as exposed to golf into the fold.

Full Swing is Netflix's first attempt at taking a cookie cutter approach to their incredibly successful Drive to Survive series and applying the formula to another sport. Unfortunately all the things that make Drive to Survive so successful for diehard F1 fans - insight into specific controversies, dynamic of teams and racers, and the governing bodies decision making - are completely absent from Full Swing.

True golf fans will have to wait until the very last episode before Full Swing attempts to wholly address the PGA's inside decision making on LIV and the future of the sport. Rather unfortunately, it's only told from Rory's perspective. Like a heavily guarded military, we get no actual insight from PGA officials, footage or audio of player and league meetings, nor official interviews from PGA organizers.

What Full Swing does is spend most of it's time loitering around the personal life stories of specific players. It's edited in a way that wants you to believe the Netflix crews were following these players before their breakout or reaffirming wins, but in reality, you can tell the interviews and personal life filming was just cleverly edited and mixed with stock Tour footage to trick you into the timeline of events.

If you want to know certain golfers better, this is a good show for that. If you're hoping it brings something new to the table that was unknown or unseen by the golf community, this show offers little in that regard.

Like series 1 and 2 but sadly series 3 is a real bore and dissapointment. It jumos around too much back and fourth in time due to there being very little unfolding story lines. The characters are boring this season and all around relies way to much on fast cutting and bland master interviews that don't forward any sort of narractive. Feels like Full Swing has done it's day and should be retired.

Like series 1 and 2 but sadly series 3 is a real bore and dissapointment. It jumos around too much back and fourth in time due to there being very little unfolding story lines. The characters are boring this season and all around relies way to much on fast cutting and bland master interviews that don't forward any sort of narractive. Feels like Full Swing has done it's day and should be retired.