Today from the Forums, we take a look at a discussion on how WRXers would improve golf TV coverage. Golf TV coverage has come in for its share of criticism in recent weeks on the likes of social media, and FairwaysToHeaven kicks off the discussion with his six ideas to improve the broadcasts:

• “Fox seems to lead the way with the drone footage, and it was pretty impressive at Pebble for the US Open. Not sure if its money or logistics that prevents more use of drones, but check out this feed… You can’t tell me networks, if they actually cared about quality of coverage, couldn’t incorporate drone usage more.

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• We absolutely need more handheld cameras to eliminate the generic top-down views from towers to greens. Give me more views as if I’m watching from the sidelines rather than a tower. No more tracking ball through the air which gives us ball in sky look.
• We must show off the course elevation. Current tv camera angles not only eliminate elevation and undulations but eliminate hole layout, sense of distance to pin, etc. and many shots are so generic the viewer wouldn’t be able to tell if it was footage from any other course in the world…example…every top-down zoomed-in view of a player putting on green.
• Stop zooming in on putts rolling towards the hole – which only eliminate player, caddy, fans reactions to a miss/make
• I’m ok with recorded footage. Show more shots. Show fewer tap in putts.
• And of course…. eliminate the fluff…showing the announcers, showing a FedEx cup leaderboard in February, we can have CEO interview audio while watching golf…we don’t need visual, etc”

Our members have been getting involved in the discussion and sharing their thoughts in our forum.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

• LeoLeo99: “Get a chance to watch the feature group telecast. I forget where I was watching it, but they use more handheld cameras, and they stay with a group. So, you see all the interaction between the players and caddies. It’s a lot more of “being there” feel to the broadcast.”
• FlyingBasset: “Really great responses in here so far. I’ll summarize my thoughts since they have mostly been covered. 1) Drone coverage – not happening. Drones large enough to carry HD cameras are NOT quiet. And the noise is also not constant as claimed – any time they move or even account for wind they change pitch quite a lot. It’s one thing if you can drown it out by being over the ocean, but players would hate this IMO. The cost-benefit ratio is just not there compared to things like ShotLink and ShotTracer. 2) CEO interviews – Eh, give them their 15 minutes for the money their companies are paying. 3) Shots covered – I completely agree with showing more shots and less putts. I don’t watch to see the best players in the world tap in 2 footers – I do that enough myself. Overall it just needs to be a higher shot-to-putt ratio. Overall, we have so much to be thankful for with golf coverage. ShotTracer and ShotLink have revolutionized how we watch golf, and I think that has a lot more room to grow. PGA Tour Live allows people to get the extra golf-coverage they want for a reasonable cost. And if you subscribe through Amazon Prime, no commercials to boot! Best $65 I’ve ever spent (I’m watching at work right now!) Bonus Gripe: I know we said no ragging on announcers, but give us more stories or opinions instead of generic comments. They’re around these players all day! I would honestly rather hear about the pastrami on rye Rory had for lunch instead of ‘OMG he hits it sooooooo far!’ on every, single, tee shot.”
• Fyll: “Bring on the drones.”
• Hawkeye77: “Remember the fad of showing the putting line all the time? Eventually wore off and thank goodness. Tracer is okay; I like it in the little box off to the side. ‘Demanding’ having every tee shot and iron shot traced isn’t necessary at all, and plenty of them get shown. Still enjoy watching golf and not a video game like the NFL has become.”

Entire Thread: “How would you improve golf television coverage?”