Joaquin Niemann’s fantastic performance in The Grid challenge marked the last episode of our first batch of episodes.

To recap, here are the five brave souls who dared challenge The Grid:

• Bryson DeChambeau
• Scottie Scheffler
• Brooks Koepka
• Cam Smith
• Joaquin Niemann

(And yes, before you ask, don’t worry. There’ll be another batch of episodes dropping soon)

Anyway, to mark the occasion, I wanted to run through some tips each of these players shared during their time on The Grid. Let’s get into it…

1. Hard is better than soft

When you’re in-between clubs, the decision is always binary: More club and swing softer? Or less club and swing harder? Different guys have different preferences, but Bryson was clear on his: Swing hard.

His logic makes sense. If you go the swing-softer route, you could swing too soft and miss short. Or you could not swing soft enough, and miss way long. When you try to swing hard, you essentially have a hard ceiling. You may miss short, but you take going too long out of the equation.

2. Sideslopes help shallow

Brooks says his tendency is to get too steep during his swing, which can cause him to get handsy through impact.

If this sounds like you, Brooks’ go-to drill is to hit golf balls with a ball above his feet. You could accomplish the same thing hitting an iron off a high, driver-length tee. This forces his body to turn more, because it makes the club move more around your body.

Our own @LukeKerrDineen explains how Brooks Koepka prevents his golf swing from getting too steep. 🔬 pic.twitter.com/7w08iAmzew

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) December 18, 2024

3. Fundamentals are all you need

One of Brooks’ genius qualities is that he understands the golf swing—and, crucially, the things that make it work. One of those things is the fundamentals.

“One of the best pieces of advice I got was: Grip, posture, alignment, ball position, that’s all you need,” he says. “If you can do those well every time, you’re going to be pretty good.”

4. The late save

Remember those crazy follow-throughs Scottie Scheffler did on Augusta’s 10th hole? That’s a save follow-through, he says, adding that it happens when the club gets stuck behind his body on the downswing. He whips his right shoulder high around him as he tries desperately to get the club back around him.

On those occasions, Scottie is actually trying to do that, because of how severely right-to-left Augusta’s 10th hole moves. But for the rest of us, it’s important to understand what the save follow-through is, and that the problem lies on the downswing.

5. Scottie’s important metrics

These are four numbers Scottie cares about the most, in order:

• Carry Distance
• Spin Rate
• Ball Speed
• Clubhead Speed

The next time you find yourself in a simulator, keep an eye on those metrics, too.

6. Beware weird numbers

At one point in his Grid challenge, Scottie hit what he thought was a good shot that went a strange distance. He noticed the spin rate was different than the others. He suspected the ball was a little wet.

“I’m able to toss that out and hit the same shot again,” he said, then proceeded to hit the same shot the perfect distance the next go-around.

The lesson for the rest of us is to recognize outlier numbers, both good and bad, when you see them. Having a realistic understanding of your carry distances will help with that. If you hit a 7-iron 190 yards because it bounces and rolls, that doesn’t mean you hit your 7-iron 190 yards every time.

7. Practice hitting numbers

It was interesting to hear how many pros say they practice similar to how The Grid challenge itself works. Amateur golfers, do the same: Find a number on the range, and try to hit your ball exactly to that target. No more aimlessly hitting golf balls into the distance.

8. Small mishits, big swings on big clubs

As Joaquin Niemann says: Even tiny mishits on longer clubs will result in huge swings of distance. Worse mishits won’t be as severe with shorter clubs.

So budget that into your approach shots. If you’re facing a long approach shot, taking an extra club or two will give you some margin for error on mishits. On shorter shots, taking an extra club may be a good idea, but may not help you quite as much.

9. Working out before rounds

Brooks Koepka says he works out before rounds, in large part because he likes feeling tight, to prevent his swing from getting too long.

The key, he says, is consistency. If you don’t work out consistently, you’ll get sore and yes, it could negatively affect your game. But if you work out consistently, you’ll get the best of both worlds.

10. Shape it short or long

This is more of a low-handicap tip, but each Grid contestant said that when it came to adding or subtracting five yards, they’d rarely worry about swinging harder or softer. Instead, they’d try to make the same swing in terms of effort, but try to hit a draw or a fade.

That way, the golfer doesn’t need to stress about changing much. A fade will naturally subtract some distance; a draw will add some.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com