How Michelle Wie and Lydia Ko Were RUINED By This Person

loved by few hated by many David lead better has undeniably developed a legendary status on the golf course his technical expertise and Innovative approach to the golf swing made him an iconic figure but what was once celebrated and sought after has tragically become known as a curse lead poisoning it's incredible how everything this coach gets involved with seems to turn sour and is this really true the man who was once hailed as the best golf coach is now being accused of ruining the careers of his trainees can you believe it well let's get into details lead better Rose to prominence in the 1980s when he famously rebuilt Nick faldo's swing leading to falo's first major championship Victory this success catapulted lead better into the spotlight and soon he was working with some of the biggest names in golf Ernie El's Nick price and Greg Norman his teaching methods which emphasized a more Technical and analytical approach to the golf swing seemed to be the wave of the future but as the old saying goes the higher you climb the harder you fall and in recent years lead betters methods have come under intense scrutiny particularly in relation to his work with two of the most promising young talents in women's golf Michelle we and Lydia Co what was once hailed as revolutionary instruction is now being questioned by many in the golf world have led betters techniques which seemed so effective for established Pros actually hindered the development of these young prodigies to understand the controversy surrounding lead betters coaching of we and Co we need to go back to First appreciate the immense Talent these two players possessed before they began working with him Michelle we exploded onto the Golf Scene as a precocious pre-teen attracting audiences with her incredible power off the tea and boundless potential by the age of 14 she fearlessly took on the men's PGA Tour events going head-to-head with the absolute best players in the world and let me tell you she held her own like a true champion her natural athletic swing was a thing of beauty and many predicted she would dominate women's golf for years to come Lydia CO's rise was equally meteoric by the time she turned Pro in 2013 at the age of 16 she had already won four professional events as an amateur and almost unheard of accomplishment CO's early success was built on a simple repeatable swing that bellied her young age she may not have been the longest hitter but her accuracy and consistency were off the charts in 2014 at the age of 17 Co made history by becoming the youngest golfer ever to reach world number one this incredible feat is a true Testament to her exceptional talent and remarkable maturity but then something really weird happened with the both of them they started to decline in their game one mistake after another causing quite a bit of embarrassment and let me tell you do you know what the common factor was David LED better in 2004 we's parents hired him to help refine their daughter's game on the surface it seemed like a match made in heaven the world's top instructor working with golf's most promising young Talent But as time went on cracks began to appear in this seemingly perfect partnership people in the golfing World began to notice changes in we's swing someone asked in a tweet do you notice a trend most of the guys he ruined had a beautiful Rhythm and Unique Mechanics as we all know David is obsessed with the mechanics of golf and many of his students reduced their swing to the carbon copy David lead better swing well this pretty much cuts to the heart of the issue under lead betters tutelage we's once fluid swing became more mechanical and less natural the effortless power that had been her trademark was replaced by a more rigid technical motion and the results on the course were alarming while Michelle did manage to win the 2014 US Women's Open her overall performance during her time with lead better was underwhelming given her immense Talent injuries began to pile up and her confidence appeared to waver many of us couldn't help but Wonder had lead betters obsession with technique Stripped Away the natural gifts that had made we so special in the first place how can an extremely talented golfer go from such a high to so low in just one year for us the answer is simple poor coaching and perhaps some poor management Michelle's coaching was nothing short of a disgrace we once hailed as the future of women's golf has struggled to live up to the lofty expectations placed upon her while it would be unfair to place all the blame on lead better factors like injuries and the immense pressure Michelle faced certainly played a role it's hard to ignore the correlation between his involvement and her decline but if the Michelle Wei story wasn't enough to raise eyebrows about lead better methods the case of Lydia Co is even more perplexing in late 2016 Co made the decision to part ways with her longtime coach and caddy instead turning to David lead better for guidance what happened next caught Everyone by surprise under lead betters guidance CO's swing underwent significant changes the goal according to David was to add more power to her game without sacrificing accuracy but as we've seen time and time again sometimes the Cure is worse than the disease let's look at some cold hard facts in 2015 before working with lead better Co won five times on the LPGA Tour including her first major championship she finished the year ranked number one in the world and seemed poised for a long rain at the top of women's golf fast forward to 2016 and the cracks begin to show while Co did win four times that year including another major her form took a nose dive in the latter half of the Season her driving accuracy and greens in regulation percentage two stats that had been the Bedrock of her success both declined significantly but here's where things get really interesting despite the clear evidence that CO's game was getting worse lead better seemed unaware of the problem in an interview with John Huggin of the golf paper in April 2016 lead better praised the changes they had made Lydia now has a golf swing she can use for a long time I smile when I look back at all the questioning on television Judy Rankin was asking why we would change anything which was fair enough but now Judy is saying that Lydia has one of the best swings she has ever seen and a perfect model to copy I take that as a huge compliment so talk about missing the big picture while lead better was patting himself on the back CO's game took a dramatic downturn her driving distance contrary to lead's claims actually decreased during their time together and maybe most worryingly her Fairways hit percentage and greens in regulation percentage both kept going down also the golf world took notice of what was happening social media soon reflected the growing concern man look what happened to Lydia Co since her management company signed a deal with David lead better he did what he does best take a golfer with an athletic smooth swing and just completely ruin it worst thing is he has her stuck with that a swing as a marketing tool and it is going to wreak havoc on her career for years to come and now this brings us to an important point lead betters a swing method which he heavily promoted during his time with Co has come under intense criticism from many in the golf world critics argue that it's too mechanical two one siiz fits all and strips away the natural athleticism that makes great golfers great everyone ended up hating the a swing CO's partnership with lead better ended in December 2016 but the damage was already done since then she's had a hard time getting back to the form that made her the best player in the world although she's shown moments of her old greatness the consistency that used to define her has been hard to find now it's important to know that David lead better hasn't just accepted these criticisms in fact he's been quite vocal in defending his methods and blaming others ESP especially in Lydia CO's case David pointed the finger at CO's parents saying her parents have a lot to answer for it's a case of unbelievable ignorance he also suggested that CO's father imposed swing changes without consulting her coaches and that fatigue was the true cause of her decline in form however many in the golf world aren't buying it aan Lynch a respected golf journalist called out lead better on Twitter for still blaming Lydia CO's decline on her parents lead better response result are plain to see sadly indeed they are David but perhaps not in the way you think so what conclusions can we draw from all this is David lead better really the golf coach who ruins careers or is he just an easy target for criticism when things go wrong the truth as always probably lies somewhere in the middle there's no denying lead betters past successes his work with Nick falo alone cements his place in golf coaching history and it's worth noting that not all of his students have struggled Ernie for example had a fruitful partnership with lead better but the cases of Michelle we and Lydia Co are hard to ignore these were two of the most naturally gifted players of their generation and both saw their games decline significantly under lead better tutelage it's a pattern that's difficult to dismiss as mere coincidence because the thing is these aren't the only careers that have been ruined after the lad poisoning Bob TW Aaron battley Ty Tren Charles Howell Justin Rose David Duval all of them improved their careers only after they moved on from David so what the heck are we missing here perhaps the real issue lies in lead better approach to coaching young developing players his highly technical mechanics focused method may work well for established Pros looking to make minor tweaks to their games but for young players still developing their swings and OnCourse strategies it may be too much too soon and there's also the question of lead better willingness to adapt his methods to suit individual ual Players golf is not a one-size fits-all sport and what works for one player may be disastrous for another the best coaches are those who can tailor their instruction to the unique needs and abilities of each player ask yourself how many majors could Michelle Wei have won if she had been allowed to develop her natural swing could Lydia Co have dominated women's golf for a decade or more if she hadn't made those fatal swing changes yes the Allure of working with a big name coach can be strong but at what cost so why do players continue to seek out lead better Services despite the potential risks part of it may be his undeniable Charisma and marketing Savvy David has built a veritable Empire around his golf instruction withies books and training AIDS bearing his name he's a master at self-promotion and his high-profile successes have given him an aura of infallibility in some circles and there's also no denying that lead better possesses a Keen Eye for the mechanics of the golf swing many players who have worked with him speak of his ability to quickly identify flaws and suggest Corrections the problem it seems is not in lead better ability to diagnose swing issues but in his approach to fixing them and sometimes maybe even often fixing prodigies doesn't mean completely changing their swing and let's not even mention the the a swing which can be painful to watch sometimes so what do you think has David Leed better been responsible for the decline of many golfers or is it just bad luck let us know know what you think in the comments and if you liked this video give it a thumbs up subscribe and hit the notification Bell for more golf content