- 4 minutes ago
In this video, Neil Tappin and Jezz Ellwood look at the tech so many golfers now use on the course. They highlight the rules-related do's and don'ts!
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00:00As in every area of life, tech has become a really important part of the experience of playing golf for
00:05many players.
00:06And in this video, we're going to take a look at the rules of golf and look at what you
00:10are and are not allowed to use tech for while you're out on the golf course competing.
00:15So this might be apps on your phone, laser rangefinders. We're even going to look at adjustability within golf clubs
00:20and even training aids as well.
00:22Now, the advice in this video comes courtesy of Jez Elwood. He's the Golf Monthly rules guru. He'll be able
00:27to tell you exactly what you are and are not allowed to use tech for while you're competing out on
00:32the golf course.
00:33Right, we're here at the London Club. Let's get started.
00:37Right, so the first thing to say is that this is quite a technical, quite a complicated part of the
00:42rules of golf.
00:42Yeah.
00:43If you are interested in finding out exactly what all the details are, go to rule.
00:474.3a and you'll have to do it in the full rules, not the player's edition. It won't have all
00:53the detail in there. You can find the full rules on the R&A's website.
00:56OK, so let's start, Jez, with looking at weather conditions, in particular, I guess, wind.
01:01Wind, yeah.
01:02There's some things that you are and are not allowed to do when it comes to judging the wind. What
01:06are you not allowed to do?
01:07What you're not allowed to do is have something at the course with you that actually measures wind direction and
01:13speed on the ground.
01:14At that given moment.
01:15Yeah, so an app on your phone that tells you it's blowing from the northeast and it's 15 miles an
01:21hour.
01:21As of right now, so you could be stood on a par three thinking, oh, this is into the wind,
01:24but how much into the wind?
01:25You can't find that information out, but you are allowed to look at weather forecasts, aren't you?
01:29Yeah, you could look at the BBC weather forecast and it would say today's wind is 20 miles an hour
01:34from the northeast.
01:35That's fine because that is a forecast rather than what is actually happening on the ground live.
01:41Yes, and there's also a slightly strange element in this rule about using an artificial, something artificial to judge the
01:49wind.
01:50Yes, I think we'll all have seen and we'll all have done throwing up the grass or whatever to try
01:55and work out where the wind's coming from.
01:56That's fine.
01:57That is fine. The rules say what you can't do is use anything artificial to do that same thing.
02:02So the example it gives is powder.
02:04I've never seen anyone throw up powder to measure wind speed and direction, but maybe some people have done.
02:10You can't do that, but no problem in whipping out a light piece of grass from somewhere, throwing it up
02:15and seeing what's going on.
02:16Yeah, I think the advice here from us would just be, be careful if you're using your phone while you're
02:20out on the golf course and don't use an app that tells you kind of live wind speeds.
02:24That's probably the only scenario where you're likely to come unstuck here.
02:27Right, so the next one is all about lasers.
02:29And I think for the most part, people know that these things now are legal within the rules of golf.
02:34They don't need to be a part of a sort of local rule enabling you to use them or a
02:38competition rule enabling you to use them.
02:41But there is something that you need to be slightly careful of here. Jess, what is it?
02:45Yeah, there is. With the rangefinder, a lot of them now are pretty clever devices.
02:49They can adjust the distances for slope.
02:52So if you're playing a 150 yard shot uphill, it might tell you, yes, it's 150 yards, but effectively it's
02:59playing 165 yards because of the slope.
03:02You cannot use that feature in competitive golf.
03:05A lot of rangefinders have that functionality and you just need to be careful that it is switched off before
03:11you play.
03:11It's the sort of thing that can happen. It can accidentally be flicked on during the course of a round
03:15of golf.
03:15Just be wary of it because it's the sort of thing where if you accidentally use it in a scenario,
03:20you could get caught out.
03:21Even if you're not trying to gain that advantage by finding out what it is going up or downhill.
03:25Yeah, and I think some of the rangefinders, I believe, even have a different kind of front piece that you
03:29can put on it so that it shows your fellow players that it's in legal mode.
03:35I know there's another device that has a flashing light on it that shows when it's legal versus not legal.
03:41Again, that highlights to the playing partners whether you're using it properly or not.
03:43So just one to be careful of if you're using lasers out on the golf course.
03:47Now, there's quite a bit of tech out there that helps golfers figure out certain things about their golf game,
03:52for instance, how far they hit the ball.
03:55And you just need to be a little bit careful when it comes to this information if you're playing in
03:59competition.
03:59Jez, what do people need to look out for here?
04:01Okay, well, it's essentially a differentiation between information gathered before the round and information gathered during the round.
04:07Right, okay.
04:08So you can use your historical stats to look at during the round and work things out.
04:13What you can't do is use any stats you've generated during that round to then affect what club you hit
04:19on a certain hole or how you decide to play a certain hole.
04:22So, for example, you're playing that day and for whatever reason your three-wood's only going 200 instead of 220.
04:27You therefore decide to hit driver on a certain hole because you know you're going to need that to clear
04:31a lake.
04:32But because that's been based on information gathered during that round, that is not allowed.
04:36It's strange because you would think that information is already logged inside your brain.
04:40Yes, yes.
04:40But what you can't do is use your technology to find out exactly how far each of those previous three
04:44-wood shots have gone, right?
04:46Yes, during that round.
04:47During that round.
04:47You can look back on your previous record that you hit your three-wood 215 on average or whatever it
04:51is.
04:51Yes, so it's a fine line and it's a little bit of splitting hairs here but it's something that I
04:57think is important to know for all of those golfers that like to use this sort of tech to find
05:01out how far they hit the ball.
05:03Okay, so some of these rules are fairly niche but they're well worth knowing about.
05:07And the next one, Jez, we're going to talk about is video and audio.
05:11So what are you allowed to watch and what are you allowed to listen to and what are you not
05:14allowed to watch and listen to in your own course?
05:16Well, I think it says here that you are allowed to listen to video or hear audio on unrelated matters
05:22so you can catch up on the news in the middle of the round and it does say you can
05:27listen to background music.
05:28Yes, so your speaker that you've got on the buggy, that's fine, that could be playing music as long as.
05:33Yeah, well, it then goes on to say what you can't do is listen to music or audio to eliminate
05:38distractions or help with your swing tempo.
05:40So if you've found the perfect song that has a drum beat that suits how you want to take the
05:44club away and get back to the ball, you can't play that to help you take the club away and
05:49get back to the ball.
05:50Yes.
05:50Essentially.
05:51Now, I'll be honest and say I'm not entirely sure how that rule gets policed but it's in there anyway.
05:55It's in there.
05:56Now, the other important one to talk about is about video footage of the competition that you're currently playing in.
06:03Yes, that's another interesting one. It says you can't watch video footage of other players playing holes out on the
06:08course.
06:09You're in that competition that might help you decide what club to hit or what strategy to adopt on a
06:15certain hole.
06:16Again, not sure how often that happens.
06:19I don't play in enough high quality profile events for that to happen.
06:23People don't often video competitions that I'm playing in, certainly.
06:26But it's in there, I guess, to cover all possible eventualities and it's in there for a reason but it
06:33might be quite a niche reason.
06:35Yes, so there you have it. That's what you need to know when it comes to video and audio.
06:38Okay, so this one is about training aids and stretching devices, I guess you would say, so things like resistance
06:44bands.
06:45So, Jez, you are allowed to use these things if you're stretching, right?
06:49Yeah, you are. There's a specific exclusion.
06:53It says you can use any equipment for general stretching other than in making a practice swing.
06:57Right, and herein lies the area. You just need to be slightly wary of it.
07:00So, if you, for instance, had some alignment sticks in your bag, you would be able to use them to
07:04help you stretch.
07:05You might sort of hold them and do some stretching, you know, rotations, whatever it might be.
07:10But what you can't do is, let's say you want to hit a draw down this fairway.
07:14You can't then put the alignment sticks on the ground in the direction that you want to be in, practice
07:18it,
07:19and then take the alignment sticks away and hit the shock because that would be giving you an unfair advantage.
07:22Yeah, that comes under the not allowed, in any other way, creates a potential advantage by helping you prepare for
07:27a stroke.
07:28Yes.
07:28I think that would also mean you couldn't put the resistance band under your foot and make a practice swing
07:32with it
07:33because it specifically excludes making a practice swing when you're using stretching equipment.
07:37So, yeah, I think that's the key distinction here.
07:39And I think for a lot of golfers, they will have alignment sticks or maybe other training aids stashed somewhere
07:44in the bag.
07:45Okay to use them to stretch with.
07:47Not okay if you're using them to make a practice swing or to prepare yourself for the shot that you're
07:51about to play.
07:52That would be in breach of the rules.
07:53Okay, so for this one, we're going to talk about the tech that is within a lot of today's metal
07:58woods,
07:58in particular the adjustability that we see.
08:00So, the stealth driver that I've got in my hands here has a movable weight and it has an adjustable
08:04loft sleeve.
08:05Now, Jez, when it comes to adjusting these on the golf course mid-round, what do you need to be
08:10careful of?
08:10Well, you need to be careful of the fact that you can't do it, essentially.
08:13Yes.
08:14You know, tempting though it may be if you're hitting a weak fade that day and you want to straighten
08:17it up a bit to move it across.
08:19Yeah, that is not allowed under the rules.
08:21Or if you've been to the range, been practicing with the driver in a very specific setup and then forgotten
08:26to put it back
08:27and you've already played two holes, uh-uh, you're not allowed to change that, I'm afraid.
08:30No, you're not.
08:31What you can do is if a screw comes loose or falls out or whatever, you can restore the club
08:36to the condition it was in at the start of the round.
08:39Yes.
08:39That is the extent of any tinkering you can do.
08:42Yes, so well worth remembering if you have adjustable, I think it's mostly wood, but I think there's certainly some
08:47putters out there that you can adjust as well.
08:49Jez, you've also got some quick-fire little things around tech for people to remember.
08:54Yeah, I mean, if you're really wanting to get into the equipment side of it, there's a whole 100-page
08:57document, but that really covers what happens before the manufacture of the club, effectively.
09:03Right, okay.
09:03What the comp, how the clubs have to be made to conform.
09:06Yes.
09:07But three quick-fire ones, which you may or may not know, tees can only be a maximum of four
09:11inches long.
09:12I'm not sure who'd want, I suppose, maybe long-driving people use high-tees, but they're not covered by the
09:17rules of golf in those long-driving competitions.
09:19You can't use a two-faced chipper, so because a chipper is not a putter, it needs to conform to
09:26the rules of other golf clubs, and they can only have one striking face.
09:30Yes.
09:30A two-faced chipper is not allowed, an attempt to know it may be.
09:34And then putter grips.
09:36Putter grips, yeah, putter grips, you can only put them on putters, so if you've developed a chipping stroke that
09:41is effectively your putting stroke, slightly extended, and you want to put a putter grip on it to make it
09:47feel more comfortable, you can't do that.
09:49You need a grip with a round cross-section, only putter grips can have that flat bit down the front.
09:55Yes, so hopefully when it comes to equipment, hopefully that's helpful.
09:58Okay, so there you have it, that's our look at tech within golf.
10:02It's complicated at times, it is a bit niche also at times, but hopefully there's some things in there that
10:06you might find useful, because there might be occasions where you encounter some of this stuff.
10:11If you have any questions, please do leave them below, we'd love to hear from you.
10:14But that's it for now from The London Club, thanks for watching, we'll see you next time.
10:19See you next time.
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