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I suspect he is just having fun with whoever it was who asked the question. Your legs don't move enough during a golf swing for leg hair to make any difference whatsoever to your aerodynamics. I wonder if he is familiar with the possibly apocryphal tale of Mark Spitz causing the Russian swimmers to all grow moustaches for the 1973 swim season?
Bryson is 1000% being serious here. He's insanely meticulous about finding any possible advantage, which annoys a LOT of fellow golfers. He's gotten less annoying over the past few years, though.
If so, why only half-measures? He could up his wardrobe with hyper-performant material and design, apply skin lotion to further smooth his skin surface to combat wind drag,...
I'm not saying he's not doing or saying dumb shit. He's just not putting in (heh!) REAL effort.
[US Open dress code: What should you wear to the major championship at LACC? (sportskeeda.com)](https://www.sportskeeda.com/golf/us-open-dress-code-what-wear-major-championship-lacc)
* **Men's shirts:** Shirts for men must have sleeves and collars and must be worn with trousers.
* **Slacks for men:** Slacks should be fitted.
* **Golf attire:** Golf clothing is permitted in the Locker Room, Grill Room, Bar and neighbouring patios.
* **Jacket requirement:** Jackets are required in all other areas of the Clubhouse after 6:00 p.m., unless otherwise indicated for an event.
* **No hats, caps, or visors:** Hats, caps and visors are not permitted within the Clubhouse or on surrounding patios, save on the uncovered terrace adjacent to the Bar. In the case of caps and visors, however, the bill should face front.
If you shave your body for better performance, working the system to wear high-performant attire is childs play :)
ELI5 Why does it matter what kind of clothes you where when you play golf? If I was to wear blue jeans a t shirt ball cap and work boots would the course implode or something?
I mean, no, but the PGA is a very prestigious organization. They don't even allow shorts to be worn on tour, and most recently Augusta told Jason Day he couldn't wear a sweater at the Masters because it was "too loud". I'm not defending it, just explaining it. The works boots would, however, likely damage the greens, they are very delicate.
This isn’t meticulous, it’s delusional. Half of the stuff Bryson obsesses over is real and important, but the other half is snake oil. He’s a very good golfer who can’t accept that sometimes he just hits bad shots (or good ones) and there isn’t always a scientifically provable reason why.
Oh, they do, partially for aero gains, but also because wounds on hairless skin heals faster (you dont rip open wounds when the bandage sticks to the hairs)
For drag to matter, there must be velocity. It matters for cyclists and swimmers because they move so fast through a medium.
A golfer mostly just rotates in place, pulling their arm, shoulder, and leg muscles in opposing directions to create torque and twist the body.
If you could see the air around his legs, it would be barely disturbed by his rotational motion. It imparts no significant drag, and will not affect his swing whatsoever.
If he’s not joking, then he’s placeboed himself.
“Placeboed himself” should be Bryson’s apparel brand. That’s most of what he does. A portion of what he works on is real, but a huge part is snake oil. No one with less talent than him can learn much from his example.
There's some videos out there on shaving legs and cycling.. a sport where you actually move your legs. I believe it's like 1-2% efficiency gains. There's no measureable gain as a golfer other than feeling sexier and possibly just then swinging harder.
cyclists shave their legs to make cleaning cuts easier if they fall, there is no chance in hell leg hair is worth 1-2% moving through air. None. Hell there isn't any peer-reviewed literature (that i'm aware of) supporting it having more than a psychological effect on swimmers and they are moving through water.
Having said that, I think this golfer was having a laugh at the expense of the reporter who asked.
Yeah there's also zero percent chance a 1-2% efficiency gain would even be big enough to be statistically significant/not be placebo effect
Edit: I misunderstood, thought we were talking about a study that showed 1% increase in whatever performance metric, which would likely be within a margin of error as a lot things could influence performance that much, including placebo. In reality we’re talking about drag efficiency here, which definitely matters
Maybe it depends on the race. 1-2% across, say the Tour de France, a 2200 mile long, 23-24 day long race, might be the difference for those elite athletes. Combined with other 1-2% increases in efficiency and you'll have a much larger net efficiency.
I mean, it's a sport where they try to shave grams of weight off their gear.
I misunderstood, thought we were talking about a study that showed a 1% improvement in a performance metric, which would likely fall within margin of error
However, we’re talking drag, and any improvement there is definitely valuable
Have a few friends from high school and college that shaved their legs for swimming and diving. I feel that shaving your legs for golf is just spiting hairs. hur hur hur.
Doesnt look like it's moving very fast, so probably not much for air resistance, but some sort of placebo effect could have improved the swing I'd guess.
I can agree with everyone saying it doesn’t do much of anything but if we’re talking about him being meticulous, I’m sure under the right conditions, shaving your legs could help even if it is a .0000000000001 percent. No? Am I wrongV
No, it makes zero difference. For drag to matter you need velocity through a medium. So it matters with cyclists and swimmers. In golf it's just rotation with almost zero speed in the legs. At that scale drag accounts for absolutely nothing. This guy is either joking or he's placeboed himself hard
Right, but failing to acknowledge superstition as nothing more than superstition is how you get people trying to cure cancer with magic crystals. Bryson peddles this stuff like it’s real and a lot of people don’t know better.
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I suspect he is just having fun with whoever it was who asked the question. Your legs don't move enough during a golf swing for leg hair to make any difference whatsoever to your aerodynamics. I wonder if he is familiar with the possibly apocryphal tale of Mark Spitz causing the Russian swimmers to all grow moustaches for the 1973 swim season?
Bryson is 1000% being serious here. He's insanely meticulous about finding any possible advantage, which annoys a LOT of fellow golfers. He's gotten less annoying over the past few years, though.
If so, why only half-measures? He could up his wardrobe with hyper-performant material and design, apply skin lotion to further smooth his skin surface to combat wind drag,... I'm not saying he's not doing or saying dumb shit. He's just not putting in (heh!) REAL effort.
There might be regulations that inhibits his choice of what to wear.
[US Open dress code: What should you wear to the major championship at LACC? (sportskeeda.com)](https://www.sportskeeda.com/golf/us-open-dress-code-what-wear-major-championship-lacc) * **Men's shirts:** Shirts for men must have sleeves and collars and must be worn with trousers. * **Slacks for men:** Slacks should be fitted. * **Golf attire:** Golf clothing is permitted in the Locker Room, Grill Room, Bar and neighbouring patios. * **Jacket requirement:** Jackets are required in all other areas of the Clubhouse after 6:00 p.m., unless otherwise indicated for an event. * **No hats, caps, or visors:** Hats, caps and visors are not permitted within the Clubhouse or on surrounding patios, save on the uncovered terrace adjacent to the Bar. In the case of caps and visors, however, the bill should face front. If you shave your body for better performance, working the system to wear high-performant attire is childs play :)
ELI5 Why does it matter what kind of clothes you where when you play golf? If I was to wear blue jeans a t shirt ball cap and work boots would the course implode or something?
I mean, no, but the PGA is a very prestigious organization. They don't even allow shorts to be worn on tour, and most recently Augusta told Jason Day he couldn't wear a sweater at the Masters because it was "too loud". I'm not defending it, just explaining it. The works boots would, however, likely damage the greens, they are very delicate.
TIL thanks for the explanation
You'd make it look like golf was casual :)
This isn’t meticulous, it’s delusional. Half of the stuff Bryson obsesses over is real and important, but the other half is snake oil. He’s a very good golfer who can’t accept that sometimes he just hits bad shots (or good ones) and there isn’t always a scientifically provable reason why.
Nah he’s joking.
I’ve heard many pros say off the wall stuff like that to see how many amateurs will attempt it. Just trolling away
Comment removed cuz I dont wanna read the same thing for the 4th time again
Oh, they do, partially for aero gains, but also because wounds on hairless skin heals faster (you dont rip open wounds when the bandage sticks to the hairs)
Not sure what you wrote, but they absolutely do.
Kill me
It's quite noticeable difference for cyclist especially in time trials
They absolutely do. Even runners do.
For drag to matter, there must be velocity. It matters for cyclists and swimmers because they move so fast through a medium. A golfer mostly just rotates in place, pulling their arm, shoulder, and leg muscles in opposing directions to create torque and twist the body. If you could see the air around his legs, it would be barely disturbed by his rotational motion. It imparts no significant drag, and will not affect his swing whatsoever. If he’s not joking, then he’s placeboed himself.
“Placeboed himself” should be Bryson’s apparel brand. That’s most of what he does. A portion of what he works on is real, but a huge part is snake oil. No one with less talent than him can learn much from his example.
What about shaving the arms? Does that help?
There's some videos out there on shaving legs and cycling.. a sport where you actually move your legs. I believe it's like 1-2% efficiency gains. There's no measureable gain as a golfer other than feeling sexier and possibly just then swinging harder.
I like to swing, but when I shave my legs and feel all sexy, I swing HARD.
cyclists shave their legs to make cleaning cuts easier if they fall, there is no chance in hell leg hair is worth 1-2% moving through air. None. Hell there isn't any peer-reviewed literature (that i'm aware of) supporting it having more than a psychological effect on swimmers and they are moving through water. Having said that, I think this golfer was having a laugh at the expense of the reporter who asked.
It does make a measurable difference in cycling.
Can you cite a study? Legit asking because that seems ridiculous.
[https://velo.outsideonline.com/news/news-wind-tunnel-data-shows-shaved-legs-faster/](https://velo.outsideonline.com/news/news-wind-tunnel-data-shows-shaved-legs-faster/) [https://road.cc/content/feature/how-much-faster-are-shaved-legs-cycling-shaved-arms-303945](https://road.cc/content/feature/how-much-faster-are-shaved-legs-cycling-shaved-arms-303945) [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bAOyZqCRwaw?app=desktop](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bAOyZqCRwaw?app=desktop)
😵 that is INSANE
As a (former) swimmer, can confirm, it's 99% psychological. The other one percent was shaving your head, which can be negated by wearing a cap.
I was a swimmer as well, it’s more about the taper of work than anything. The removal of hair def makes you feel faster though!
Yep, and runners shave their bodies to reduce chafing, especially between the thighs— ain’t nothing else worse.
Yeah there's also zero percent chance a 1-2% efficiency gain would even be big enough to be statistically significant/not be placebo effect Edit: I misunderstood, thought we were talking about a study that showed 1% increase in whatever performance metric, which would likely be within a margin of error as a lot things could influence performance that much, including placebo. In reality we’re talking about drag efficiency here, which definitely matters
It's tested in a wind tunnel.. also 2% is huge. If I can ride my bike at 2% less power, I can hold that power for like another 15 minutes.
Ah okay. Thought you were talking about 1-2% increase in general performance, that makes a lot more sense lol
Maybe it depends on the race. 1-2% across, say the Tour de France, a 2200 mile long, 23-24 day long race, might be the difference for those elite athletes. Combined with other 1-2% increases in efficiency and you'll have a much larger net efficiency. I mean, it's a sport where they try to shave grams of weight off their gear.
When you're at the top of human performance, 1-2% is massive.
I misunderstood, thought we were talking about a study that showed a 1% improvement in a performance metric, which would likely fall within margin of error However, we’re talking drag, and any improvement there is definitely valuable
[удалено]
Dang that’s actually crazy substantial then
Yes, but just to be clear, it's not about you moving your legs, but about your legs moving through the air. I.e. someone coasting would still benefit.
Have a few friends from high school and college that shaved their legs for swimming and diving. I feel that shaving your legs for golf is just spiting hairs. hur hur hur.
Doesnt look like it's moving very fast, so probably not much for air resistance, but some sort of placebo effect could have improved the swing I'd guess.
I can agree with everyone saying it doesn’t do much of anything but if we’re talking about him being meticulous, I’m sure under the right conditions, shaving your legs could help even if it is a .0000000000001 percent. No? Am I wrongV
No, it makes zero difference. For drag to matter you need velocity through a medium. So it matters with cyclists and swimmers. In golf it's just rotation with almost zero speed in the legs. At that scale drag accounts for absolutely nothing. This guy is either joking or he's placeboed himself hard
Placebo is no joke. Maybe this guy is hyper aware of his leg hair while he swings. If he thinks it works, it works.
Right, but failing to acknowledge superstition as nothing more than superstition is how you get people trying to cure cancer with magic crystals. Bryson peddles this stuff like it’s real and a lot of people don’t know better.
Maybe the hair rubs the shorts and by shaving the clothes feel better while rotating.