The Skillest Podcast

Six DP World Tour wins. One of the most respected short games the sport's ever produced. This week we sit down with Brett Rumford — the Perth kid who was too small to reach par fours in two, so he built a short game that carried him around the world instead. Brett takes us back to chipping for six hours a day at Collier Park, caddying for tour pros as a teenager, and the day TrackMan showed u...

Baden and Clappy are back after a flat-out couple of weeks. Baden unboxes his first new set of irons in six years (thanks to Tommy Bailey at Avoda) and gets real about lie angle, and finally ditching his "Ben Hogan delusion." Clappy previews his upcoming Titleist shoe fitting and force-plate session in search of extra ground-reaction speed. Then the pair dig into the US Open: the Wyndham...

When Mark Govier and Alex Clapp are on, it's officially the Skilly Pod — and this one's a banger. Mark joins us fresh from caddying at the Women's US Open at Riviera with his player Pauline Del Rosario (Philippines represent 🇵🇭), giving us the inside scoop on that brutal Kikuyu rough, Charley Hull's refreshingly chaotic pace of play, and what it's like watching Nelly and G...

Chris Trott spent 20 years fitting golf clubs for the best players on the planet — from Dustin Johnson to Brooks Koepka to Tiger Woods. Now he's running the Trot Shop, a tour-style fitting trailer in San Diego, and what he's seeing from everyday golfers is blowing his mind. In this episode, Trottie pulls no punches on why most club fitting is broken, why shorter shafts outperform what OE...

The crew is deep into summer golf season — and this week there's plenty to talk about. First up, the Women's US Open heads to Riviera Country Club, and the guys make the case for why Riv might actually suit the women's game better than the men's. The iconic par-4 10th gets its due, and Coach Clappy shares why he'll be there in person — supporting his student Davina Zand as...

Drew Steckel has coached Kevin Na, Pat Perez, Jason Kokrak, and Chesson Hadley — and he did it all before turning 24. He's not rebuilding swings from scratch. He's unlocking what's already there. In this episode, Baden sits down with one of the most in-demand coaches on tour to talk about what it actually takes to revive a career at the highest level, why working inside the ropes ch...

In this episode, we sit down with one of golf instruction’s most recognisable voices to unpack how a former snowboarder from Vermont became one of the most diversified coaches in the game. Keith gets brutally honest about the mental rewiring it took to stop filling his calendar with back-to-back lessons and start thinking like a business owner — and the friend/mentor who helped him see it. We get...

Baden and Clappy kick off with a deep dive into the oddities of international timekeeping — Mother's Day, Father's Day, and why Adelaide is somehow half an hour ahead of Brisbane in summer — before getting into the golf that matters. Chris Wood's win on the Hotel Planner Challenge Tour gets the treatment it deserves: a former Ryder Cup player who bottomed out, rebuilt on the Mina To...

What happens when one of golf’s smartest media minds sits down with two golf-obsessed coaching nerds? You get a conversation that goes everywhere — tour players, TPI, coaching methods, golf media, LIV, mobility, practice, AI, and the future of instruction. This week on the Skillest Podcast, Baden and Alex Clapp are joined by Luke Kerr-Dineen from Golf Digest — one of the most influential voices in...

Why do great golf coaches disagree on so many things? And more importantly… does it actually matter? In this episode, Baden and Alex unpack the reality of modern golf coaching — where data is everywhere, opinions are stronger than ever, and there’s still no single “right way” to swing a club. You’ll learn:  Why disagreement in coaching is actually a strength   How different swing styles can all pr...

This week on the Skilly Pod, Baden and Clappy sit down with Mark Govier — Welsh Dragon, high performance coach at Altus Golf, and one of the most engaged coaches on the Skillest platform. Mark's coaching journey spans 30 years, from running his own academy in Wales to being recruited by Cam McCormick to join the Altus setup in Dallas, where he works with elite juniors, college players, and to...

Baden and Clappy are back to unpack a massive week in golf. They kick off at Harbour Town — a course that makes the case that great design, not a rolled-back ball, is how you defend par. From there it's a proper debate on the USGA's bifurcation plan: is it pointless engineering theatre, or the future of the pro game? The boys get into why slower swingers barely notice the change, the soc...

The Masters is done for another year — and Rory McIlroy made it look frighteningly comfortable. Baden and Clappy break down how a man who ranked second-last in driving accuracy for the weekend somehow won by three, why Augusta may be more forgiving than it used to be, and whether any of the chasing pack ever really had a chance. Then the conversation turns to a topic that lit up the coaching world...

Augusta National is the greatest stage in golf, and this week it's centre stage. Baden and Alex (Clappy) kick off Masters Week with an unfiltered preview — debating why the Masters beats every other major (no phones, perfect contrast, Amen Corner), picking their contenders for the Green Jacket, and revisiting Tiger's single most iconic moment on that course. They also touch on what it ac...

What do you get when a pain-riddled amateur golfer goes down every rabbit hole imaginable — coaching, biomechanics, club grinding, and manufacturing — and ends up accidentally building one of the most disruptive equipment brands in the game? You get Tom Bailey and Avoda Golf. Tom joined us for a wide-ranging conversation about how a bench grinder, a brother with an e-commerce background, and a fru...

The comeback continues. In Episode 2 of The Skillest Pod, Baden Schaff and Alex Clapp dive into everything happening in golf right now — from Tiger’s latest situation to the rapid rise of launch monitors, VR golf, and what the future of coaching actually looks like. They cover:  The reality behind Tiger’s latest headlines   Why launch monitors are about to be everywhere   VR golf, wearables, and t...

The Skilly Pod is back — and we’re kicking things off with Alex Clapp. In this episode, Baden and Alex set the tone for what this podcast is all about: getting better at golf, building better coaching businesses, and having a bit of fun along the way. We dive into:  Alex’s journey from 45+ hours of in-person coaching to building a global, hybrid coaching business   Why consistency beats any “secre...

We had an AMAZING FINISH at Pinehurst, and Ludda (our boots on the ground) had plenty to document. The boys broke down the iconic moments from the tournament, analyzed Rory's swing (and collapse), as well as discussed the significance of the face of LIV beating the face of the PGA... As always, you can sign up for Skillest here: https://skillest.com/ Download the app: https://apps.apple.com/u...

Happy U.S. Open Week! Ludda is out this episode, as he will be our "boots on the ground" LIVE from Pinehurst (stay tuned for more podcasts this week) but in his place TODAY, we have the brilliant Alex "Clappy" Clapp, a renowned golf coach and Skillest icon. In this pod, Clappy breaks down what to expect from Pinehurst this week, as he recently played the course. Later on Baden...

The boys break down the 2024 PGA Championship as they talk Schauffele winning, the biggest surprises of the tournament, and other amazing stories from the weekend in Valhalla. As always, you can sign up for Skillest here: https://skillest.com/ Download the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/skillest-1-sports-coaching/id1054851741

The boys are BACK and brought some championship level energy to this pod! They broke down all things PGA Championship play at Valhalla, who they think will win it, and yes... they mentioned Scottie Scheffler's all time performance today. As always, you can sign up for Skillest here: https://skillest.com/ Download the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/skillest-1-sports-coaching/id1054851741

In this episode, it was all about the man of the hour, David Lutterus. In this very casual yet epic one-on-one interview, Baden explores the incredible origin of our international man of mystery, revealing some awesome tales and inspiring knowledge about our lovely co-host, the only and only "Ludda." As always, you can sign up for Skillest here: https://skillest.com/ Download the app: ht...

On this episode, Baden gets technical with a LONGTIME friend of the Skillest Platform, coach Alex Moore, who has been on the app for 6 and a half years. They discussed the influence that the great Mac O’Grady had on his coaching career, how he uses the MORAD teachings to assess students on Skillest, and they broke down Moore's very wholistic training style.

One of the first ever Skillest Podcast guests returns after all these years as Ryan Ruffels is back on the program! On this episode, the guys talked about Ryan's involvement with Jason Day's new clothing line Malbon Golf, how YouTube and other social media platforms have transformed the golf industry, as well as the fate of LIV and PGA. An epic listen for Skillest followers and newcomers...

We finally got him! Terry Rowles, one of the most renowned names in the world of golf instruction, NOT ONLY joins us on our podcast...Terry is becoming a Skillest Coach! In this episode, we welcome Terry and his research-based approach to the Skillest family as well as provide a tease of his coaching process in general, such a process where students often experience immediate improvements.  Catch...