No More Lies

The lie: LIV was doomed to fail from the start and was a terrible idea all around. With LIV 2.0 reportedly gone after BC Partners pulled next year's funding, Brian Manzella, Golf Digest's No. 14-ranked teacher in America, and Sam Osborne, 12 years a touring pro, sort the good ideas from the horrific ones. The good: another tour for a game with more tour-quality players than ever, a world tour at elevated-event money, the shotgun start, walk-up music, above-board appearance money, and anything new on TV. The horrific: hostility toward the other tours, the world ranking points bait and switch, an unwatchably bad TV product, and the money. The Manzella Open, first prize $3,000, is Jon Rahm coming? No. Rahm's reported $300 million would take 4,000 years to earn back, because he's a great player and not a draw. You went after players with money, so the tour had to keep them with money, so it killed itself. Same dough, what would you do? Sam: buy the European Tour. Verdict: it went down the toilet, but it didn't have to fail.Chapters0:00 Cold open: show the proof1:16 LIV 2.0 and BC Partners, as reported1:56 The Lie of the Week: LIV was doomed from the start2:27 Greg Norman's mid-90s world tour4:11 Sam's good ideas: competition, shotgun start, teams6:21 Another option, not a rival8:16 More tour-quality players than ever8:54 The David Toms tour school story11:43 The 60th guy on the 1990 money list14:11 The shotgun start and the weather draw15:52 Everybody knows TV golf blows17:36 The horrific ideas: hostility toward the other tours18:35 The world ranking points debacle19:49 Brian: pro-LIV, or pro the idea21:34 The TV product: unwatchably bad22:58 The time machine: same dough, what would you do?23:25 Sam: buy the European Tour28:21 The Manzella Open: is Jon Rahm coming?29:36 You went after players with money, so you killed yourself31:47 Verdict: it didn't have to fail

The lie this week is that the left arm has to be straight at impact and past impact, with both arms straight and together. Brian Manzella, Golf Digest's No. 14-ranked teacher in America, and Sam Osborne take on the 2026 version of the argument: AMG and their Gears numbers on one side, the stack and tilt camp and their stills on the other. Brian owns a Gears system, explains how the markers and ten cameras actually work, and lands on the verdict in one line. You do not want it straight.The case: a young player who picked up 26 yards on an 8 iron after Brian bent his left arm and cupped his wrist. The Methods of Golf's Masters from 1975, with Thomson and Middlecoff more bent at the top than anyone Brian teaches. Bobby Locke, Ed Furgol, and Lee Westwood, bent like a dog at impact and one of the most consistent players of his generation. Sam Snead's book on how Hogan always hit a draw with the driver. Michael Jacobs, who studied cadavers with Tom Myers and wants it bent at impact. Wild Bill Mehlhorn. The coaxial cable arm. And at the end, Rory McIlroy on Gears, 7 iron at 99.7, left arm bent about 20 degrees.Chapters0:00 Cold open1:18 The lie: straight left arm at impact and past it2:24 Faldo, Nicklaus, and the beginner's cliche6:56 Brian, Ben Doyle, and the former flipper11:05 AMG vs. the stack and tilters11:45 How Gears actually works15:42 "You do not want it straight"16:03 A 176-yard 8 iron with a bent left arm17:09 The Methods of Golf's Masters, 197519:00 Peter Thomson and Cary Middlecoff21:50 Ed Furgol and Lee Westwood23:30 The worst hacker at City Park25:57 The 90-minute cure for boxed arms29:45 Snead's book: Hogan always hit a draw31:17 "We wouldn't have spent 40,000 on it"34:37 Michael Jacobs: bend it at impact38:54 The coaxial cable arm43:33 "Straight left arm ain't worth a damn"47:32 Pebble on the sim: 257 to the pin53:34 Rory McIlroy on Gears: bent 20 degreesNo More Lies is Brian Manzella and Sam Osborne: the lie, the argument for, the argument against, and what you really ought to be doing.New episodes of No More Lies every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.#NoMoreLies #FunnelGolf #BrianManzella #GolfSwing #RoryMcIlroy

The biggest lie the show has taken on: that Ben Hogan's Five Lessons has been bad for golf instruction for 69 years and turned golfers into slicers. Brian Manzella, Golf Digest's #14-ranked teacher in America, and Sam Osborne go through the critics (Brandel Chamblee, GolfWRX, Golf Digest, the USGTF) and then the book, chapter by chapter: the heel pad grip, the stance and the right foot, the posture, the waggle, the pane of glass, the training exercise from the Ed Sullivan Show, the free ride, and the supination pictures. One rule throughout: what Hogan prescribed, not what Hogan did. The verdict: it's a good book, a regular Joe shooting 90 can break 80 with it, and if everybody did it to the letter nobody would be over a 10 handicap.Chapters0:00 Cold open0:43 New Orleans and Lake Geneva2:04 Today's big lie2:23 Ben Hogan wrote two books3:02 Five Lessons, and eight fundamentals3:14 The lie: the book made slicers4:03 Harvey Penick and John Jacobs4:43 The critics, one at a time5:13 Brandel Chamblee5:32 "The origin of bad golf instruction"6:10 Sam: "That's nonsense"6:49 What makes a bad teacher7:47 1957 to 2007: would golf be worse?8:28 Hogan never retracted a word9:14 Chamblee's weak grip claim9:30 "Didn't you make it on tour?"9:43 GolfWRX: 75% end up slicing10:32 Golf Digest and tour level torque10:42 "Which torque, Luke?"10:56 The Life magazine secret vs. the book11:24 USGTF: weaker than tour11:47 The grip: heel pad and forefinger12:33 What he prescribed, not what he did13:01 148 million golfers13:35 How many can pick it up? 16%14:40 The Vs: right eye and chin15:30 Twist leverage and gamma rotation17:04 Sam Snead's grip17:47 The water pistol drill18:40 Would this grip make more slicers?19:06 It would probably screw up Scottie Scheffler19:53 Stance and posture20:34 Square right foot, ball on the left heel21:56 Ball position: what YouTube will say22:52 The D plane element23:14 Right foot back: 90% of slicers23:47 Ben Doyle and the firing squad24:14 It's hand placement, folks24:38 Hitting it low: move the ball back?25:22 The shooting stick25:49 Less booty up in the air26:18 Would Hogan's posture make slicers?27:15 Right arm more bent than the left27:45 The waggle28:04 Hey Brandel, hey GolfWRX29:09 The delayed pivot and the right leg post29:32 The top: 90 and 4529:53 "I would've made a lot less money"31:27 The pane of glass31:48 Manzella's most famous thing: the sickle33:24 All you Ben Hogan book haters33:40 Straight back and flop it34:19 A little flatter, under the glass35:03 Dropping the plane coming down35:23 The training exercise35:48 Google Ben Hogan Ed Sullivan Show36:21 The number one most important drill in golf36:51 Does that look handle-dragging slicey?37:49 The one thing that might: the free ride38:52 Would the free ride make slicers?39:13 The one hand ball throw39:35 Supination and the arched wrist40:07 Cupped, flat, arched: HackMotion40:31 90% of slicers wouldn't slice again40:46 Sam: before his time41:18 "I wish I had three right hands"41:44 Nobody over a 10 handicap42:08 Practically everyone can break 8042:40 Where's the evidence?43:12 69 years of bad instruction?43:37 Total baloney44:06 Don't stay away from the book44:17 Regular Joe shooting 90 can break 8044:27 Sam: way ahead of his time44:47 An original Anthony Ravielli45:06 Proved piece by piece45:33 Great show

The lie: bow your wrist at the top, keep it bowed at impact, and you'll hit it better. Brian Manzella, Golf Digest's #14-ranked teacher in America, calls it one that just doesn't want to die, and says it's definitely not for 99.999% of the people. Sam Osborne is back in his seat and tends to agree. It only takes a few minutes in some old golf books to see this was kicking about 60 or 70 years ago.First, the terms. Bowed, arched, flexed: it's all the same thing. Nobody says to bow it at address, but there's a sect that wants forward hands, and Brian's read is that they're in the business of selling push draws. Then the backswing: most of the people who teach arched like it laid off, and it turns out there are two ways to arch a wrist. Sam's problem with it: that's a young man's game, with the stress it puts on your body and your wrists. And try it yourself: flex your left wrist, put your left arm above your shoulders, and you'll almost certainly bend your left arm.Then the confession. In 1993 Brian wanted a student to flatten his wrist. The student didn't want to do it, Brian wouldn't budge, and the man never took another lesson. He went on to hit balls at City Park three or four days a week, cupping his wrist, and became a single-digit handicap of some note. Brian: he was right and I was wrong. And the era when Lynn Blake called Brian's the flattest left wrist in golf? The worst he ever played.And what's right. Hogan didn't have much forward lean in his prime. Nicklaus was notorious for not having it. Trevino had his wrist arched, hit the ball low, and had to learn to hit it higher. Lee Westwood had a noticeably cupped left wrist at impact and was a fantastic ball striker over decades. What HackMotion and the old AMM graphs show: slightly cupped at the top, moving toward bowed on the way down, then coming out of it into impact and more past impact. Brian's number: 95% of the golfers in history who could beat him learned that sequence completely organically and have no idea that's what they do. Which is why Sam doesn't believe the motorcycle move is going to help a great many people.Plus where "flat at the top" came from: Dick Aultman and Square-to-Square, the rock and block, and how it took over golf instruction. Why nobody, Trevino included, plays from shut to open. And the discovery Brian says got the least action of anything he's ever put on the internet: bend the elbow at the top and the wrist arches more while the clubface stays relatively the same.The fix. Work on your grip. Get it under your heel pad, learn a good left hand grip, point the club at the target at the top with the clubface sort of matching your forearm, and hit the crap out of it. You'll do most of the other stuff. Then the homework: a pair of white gloves and a backhand slap.No More Lies is Brian Manzella and Sam Osborne: the lie, the argument for, the argument against, and what you really ought to be doing.New episodes of No More Lies every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.#NoMoreLies #FunnelGolf #BrianManzella #BowedWrist #GolfSwing

The lie: early extension is the root of all evil in the golf swing, the thing that separates good players from bad players. Brian Manzella, Golf Digest's #14-ranked teacher in America, opens with his answer: it's the single most overrated thing there is to work on if you want to improve your ball flight. Sam Osborne reserves judgment, for a few minutes.First, what it is. You're bent over your belt buckle at address, and at some point through the ball you have no forward bend at all. Everybody extends. Johnny Miller, Weiskopf, Nicklaus, Watson, Norman, Faldo, Tiger, Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Justin Rose. Sit in a stadium seat looking at your feet, then do the wave. That's the move. The one guy who doesn't is Mr. Havercamp in Caddyshack.Then the argument. Draw a line on your backside from a down-the-line camera, and if your hips come off it before impact, they call it early extension. By that definition Brian puts it at 98% of all golfers, at least. The term didn't exist until video cameras and line drawing, and TPI made it popular. The sales pitch Sam got as a young player: stay in your posture or you'll block it and hook it. Sam's answer: if it's a must, Jack Nicklaus has got a lot of trophies in his closet.And what's right. Sam Burns at 16, hips around 60 degrees open at impact, and why a player that open looks "on the line" on 2D video without staying in forward bend at all. Why slicers do it more than non-slicers: the club is shifted out, and standing up is a fit-in move. Nicklaus, Craig Stadler, and David Toms on the turned shoulder plane. And what Brian thinks Michael Jacobs would say: it's an effect.The fix. Brian uses it in a lesson fewer than five times a year. Get in a good posture, upgrade your whole swing before you ever look at it, and it shows up less on its own. Go to the range and try to keep your butt back and you'll hit the ground more, hook it more, or slice it worse. Sam's last word: Jack early extended his way to a sixth green jacket.Chapters 0:00 Cold open 0:43 No More Lies 0:55 The lie: early extension is the root of all evil 1:19 Brian: the single most overrated thing to work on 4:47 Sam at 19 and the low 3 iron 5:51 What early extension actually is 7:54 The stadium wave: everybody extends 8:43 Every swing everybody likes does it 10:06 Mr. Havercamp, the one guy who doesn't 10:49 Is it just the direction you extend? 11:25 Sam: video, V1, and "you're standing up" 13:26 The argument: the line on your backside 14:05 98% of all golfers 14:53 Teaching a new golfer to bend over 16:53 The first lesson Brian ever gave, 1982 18:54 Where the term came from: video, line drawing, TPI 20:47 The sales pitch: stay in your posture 22:15 Jack Nicklaus, the most famous early extender 22:51 Sam Burns at 16 24:13 Why wide-open players look "on the line" 25:13 Slicers early extend more than non-slicers 27:31 The fit-in move 28:38 Turned shoulder plane: Nicklaus, Stadler, David Toms 30:32 So what should you care about? 30:46 Brian uses it fewer than five times a year 31:52 Michael Jacobs: it's an effect 33:54 Should you practice with your butt on a wall? 34:33 The 6 handicap from The Brian Manzella Show 36:08 The solution: posture, then upgrade the whole swing 37:51 What happens if you go try it anyway 41:13 Why it's still a thing 43:29 Sam: extension is a power move 44:17 The move worth learning 45:59 What most people will do instead 46:28 Way, way down the list 47:14 Go watch the '86 MastersNo More Lies is Brian Manzella and Sam Osborne: the lie, the argument for, the argument against, and what you really ought to be doing.New episodes of No More Lies every week. Subscribe so you don't miss one.#NoMoreLies #FunnelGolf #BrianManzella #EarlyExtension #GolfSwing