Should you comply with golf personalities on YouTube, chances are high you’ve come throughout Padraig Harrington’s “Paddy’s Golf Suggestions” movies on his YouTube Channel.
Instruction content material can typically get overwhelmingly technical however Harrington’s “hearth chat” fashion is disarming and simply digestible. He’s constructed a small however loyal following of 176,000 subscribers after the thought for documenting his tips about a YouTube channel was born through the pandemic when he posted his first video on Sept. 29, 2020, (shot on his iPhone) on the chipping inexperienced of his Dublin, Eire, house.
The three-time main winner says his inspiration for these movies comes from his ardour for sport enchancment.
“I simply love the sport and I would like individuals to get higher at it,” Harrington mentioned in an interview with MyGolfSpy. “Why do I do Paddy’s Golf Suggestions? It’s all due to pro-ams. I play quite a lot of pro-ams and I really like teaching the blokes that play in them. It simply comes naturally, I suppose. I really like them and questioning why a few of them are nearly as good as they’re and why a few of them are underachieving.”
While you learn the feedback on his YouTube channel, followers are clearly appreciative of the time he takes to make the movies and likewise how personable he’s at tournaments as they watch him from outdoors the ropes. Some are fortunate sufficient to play in pro-ams with him. Harrington acknowledges his gregarious persona naturally connects him with unlikely, and generally unsuspecting, college students.
“Mainly, each one that comes inside eye contact with me, you’re getting a lesson. That’s simply the best way I’m,” the 53-year-old mentioned.
“I’m not going to grow to be a YouTuber”
Harrington embraces the part-time coach function however his focus remains to be on taking part in full-time as he preps for his fourth full season on the PGA Tour Champions. The Irishman and long-time caddie Ronan Flood talked this subject over at size as they regarded round at what all the opposite YouTube golfers like Bryson DeChambeau are doing with their channels.
“It’s humorous. We talked about doing instructing movies and (Flood) checked out me and mentioned, ‘You realize you’re not going to vary.’ And I mentioned, ‘Effectively, what do you imply?’ and he says, ‘If you wish to develop your YouTube channel, you’re going to need to do what Bryson does. You’re truly going to need to go on the market in your weeks off and spend time with celebrities, at completely different golf programs, with like Bryson’s subjects like Break 50. That’s an awesome problem.‘”
However Harrington is a realist and he understands there isn’t any means he has the vitality and further time that Bryson does to make that prime degree of content material. Harrington says he performs about 30 occasions per yr so it doesn’t go away him quite a lot of leeway.
“I’m undecided what number of occasions Bryson is taking part in, 22 or one thing. So he’s acquired eight weeks on me to make that YouTube content material. Nevertheless it’s actually good, I’ve acquired to say. As a participant, he’s the primary one to actually cross that divide. I take pleasure in his content material—put it like that. I watch it.”
Harrington’s want to instruct and provide leisure golfers a few of his sage recommendation is there however he has to handle his obligations.
“I must exit of my means to do this like Bryson does and my caddie informed me, ‘You continue to suppose you’re a participant. You continue to like taking part in.’ And that’s what I actually love—taking part in the sport. So I’m not going to surrender that point. I’m not going to grow to be a YouTuber. I simply can’t. I can’t spend 30 days of the yr doing that.
“I’m completely happy sufficient to do my particular person classes and do the issues that I’ve time to publish as a result of that’s on my time. I can do these after I need to and I can handle it. I’m answerable for it. However to take the subsequent step could be an excessive amount of. I’d need to retire. And I don’t suppose I need to retire from taking part in golf in the mean time. I don’t suppose I’m going to go to the subsequent degree like Bryson has accomplished however I’m going to proceed on with the stuff I like doing on YouTube.”
A unique tackle the YouTube golf rat race
Most of Harrington’s movies are between six and 20 minutes in size which is sensible for a chatty persona just like the two-time Open Championship winner who appreciates having the ability to say issues with out time parameters.
“I had accomplished industrial shoots up to now for corporations and after they say that I must nail my strains in two minutes it truly creates a little bit of stress. Like you must be on level for that actual time. I like having some flexibility.”
And Harrington additionally likes to let his manufacturing crew hit the document button, execute his first take and transfer on to the subsequent factor. He wouldn’t be bothered to restart from a small mistake.
“All of those movies and ideas you watch are first takes. Each video I do. Now, I’d restart within the first 30 seconds if I acquired it incorrect however as soon as I’m within the video for 2 or three minutes I’m not going again to the beginning. So if I fumble at that stage, I’m simply going to hold on like nothing occurred. I’m not going to re-edit a video since you try to do this and doing a two-minute video takes an hour. If it ended up changing into like that, I simply wouldn’t do these movies.”
Fortunately he employs a multi-camera manufacturing crew to document the movies with him and provide you with what he calls “shiny” thumbnails to get viewers’ consideration on YouTube.
“I do the content material however I don’t know how one can do the advertising and marketing facet of it. YouTube is all about these sound bites and the thumbnails and all that type of stuff. I wouldn’t know that and I definitely wouldn’t have the inclination. I’ve learn slightly bit about it however I would like a manufacturing crew behind me on the subject of the precise YouTube stuff and placing it on the market and making an attempt to get these clicks.”
So what number of days a yr does Harrington find yourself spending on his golf ideas movies?
That’s a loaded query. On the floor, he does two to 3 lengthy manufacturing days at a course per yr. Harrington, his manufacturing crew and supervisor Adrian Mitchell search to place out two quick movies per thirty days from these days of multi-camera filming.
“On daily basis I’m engaged on the preparation for my ideas and fortunately I’ve found an awesome useful resource: it’s known as the PGA Tour Champions. All of the gamers have little nuggets of data so I spend a complete yr gathering—I’m principally plagiarizing, if you wish to say. I’m trying in every single place to search out the following tips. So it’s the yr of preparation after which I most likely do two massive days of filming after which quite a few little days by way of the video manufacturing.”
Mitchell evaluations every quick video from a golfer’s perspective to make sure they’re comprehensible and informative—they usually normally are.
Timeless, old-school classes
A fantastic instance of Harrington’s brilliance at instructing is his easy but informative explanations that attraction to a large viewers. His “The way to Management the Clubface at Affect” video from this previous October is a main instance. It’s 11 minutes lengthy—and he regularly speaks to the digital camera and says issues like “we” would need to do this drill. He then reveals two or three sensible drills for the bogey golfer that give on the spot suggestions on clubface management.
“I’m getting suggestions and that’s essential,” Harrington says as he places water on the face of his driver to see every vary ball’s dimple marks from influence. He additionally attracts a black dot on some golf balls to assemble rapid suggestions of which groves he’s hitting with iron pictures.
With out breaking focus or vitality degree, Harrington then seamlessly transitions to incorporate newbie golfers within the second half of the video by instructing them to not concentrate on hitting the ball straight, however slightly on hitting pictures that transfer to the left or proper by overly manipulating the clubface. The concept being that, so as to know the place sq. contact is, you’ll be able to determine it out finest by exaggerating the opposites with both a shut or open clubface at influence.
“Padraig actually enjoys teaching and serving to golfers enhance in any respect ranges—from newcomers to the sport to extra skilled gamers,” Mitchell says. “That features through the pro-ams he performs every event week, in addition to by means of his YouTube channel.”
Harrington’s supervisor stays in contact with the manufacturing firm they use for manufacturing, post-production and social (Viral Nation) all through the modifying course of, making requests for amendments—after which he offers remaining approval when he deems every video is prepared for {the golfing} public.
“I take the angle after I movie these that you simply take it or go away it,” mentioned Harrington. “Should you don’t like what I’m saying otherwise you don’t like my content material, there’s loads of different individuals to observe. Should you do like my content material, nicely, then that’s nice. And this content material all got here from the COVID time after I first began doing these movies.”
As for what’s subsequent in 2025, Harrington is mulling whether or not he needs to return for a time to taking pictures some tips about his iPhone after which getting these shorter movies out on his X and Instagram feeds.
“I’d truly choose to do (video ideas) extra typically with shorter movies. And that’s possibly a mannequin going ahead the place I simply return to two-minute movies on Twitter and Instagram like I used to do in COVID. That may be quite a bit simpler. I may simply movie them on my iPhone and right here you go, when you prefer it or when you don’t. The query all the time with these items is how a lot do you need to commit, how a lot manufacturing do you need to put into it to get to the subsequent degree? Are you ready to go that further means? Proper now with my golf, I’m not ready to show round all that point.”
Harrington says he want to produce extra movies in 2025 on how gamers can coach themselves.
“Ultimately, the weekend warrior is admittedly most fascinated by hitting the golf ball higher. So I’m most likely considering my subsequent technique on YouTube is making an attempt to offer classes that may assist individuals train themselves. So when you see this, that is what it is advisable do in case your divot seems like this. That is what you’re possible doing and that is what it is advisable do correctly with divots.”
Harrington says he’s captivated with teaching technique for golfers as nicely however thinks these sorts of movies simply don’t resonate with the YouTube golf viewers.
You may’t say the person isn’t captivated with instructing. And he’s an awesome instance of an professional in his craft who’s in a position to get out of his personal sport and outcomes to search out pleasure in others’ enchancment—even when he’s not fascinated by maximizing views like different YouTube golf celebrities.
Prime Photograph Caption: Padraig Harrington has a small however loyal YouTube following. (GETTY IMAGES/Christian Petersen)
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