Product Review - Golfers CBD (Part Two - Cold Turkey)

Welcome back to another slice of the Three Off The Tee pie. I hope you're well and getting out and playing some golf. The days are definitely drawing out but I wish the weather would hurry up and become more Spring like. At my home course we've had some heavy rain again this week and the course is still very wet in places. Add in a brutal wind and fearsome wind chill it has all been hard work. Indeed I did a piece on winter golf. If you missed it you can check out it here Winter Golf - Challenge or Chore

And so to the crux of the matter. The sharp eyed amongst you will see this is the second part of an ongoing product review on something called Golfer CBD. I filled you in with part one, on the company, their range of products and more importantly what it had done to help (or not) my game throughout January. Before we go any further if you missed part one, I strongly recommend reading part one here Golfers CBD Review (part one) and seeing what it's all about. You'll thank me.

If you are familiar with part one you'll be up to speed and the plan for the second part of this ongoing review of Golfers CBD, starting with their oil and gummies. The idea was to go cold turkey and not use their products for February and compare my feelings on the course without them, the effects on my scoring and my general thought process during a round. And that is what I did......up to a point. More of that to come.

Golfers CBD oil and gummies - Not allowed while I went cold turkey

So where to start? Well cold turkey has been very cold. I don't think that is a plot spoiler from part one. There was a variable thrown into the mix in part two with a lesson and a competition meant the whole month of cold turkey didn't go to plan.
A final request before I progress, to read part one.
Right here we go. The biggest thing I took away from part one of the test was just how at ease on the course I was. There was a feeling of quietness inside my head and a lack of swing thoughts. There was clarity in my decision making and in my routine which continued over the ball. Now as a 13.4 handicapper with lofty ambition to reach single figures, or as near as possible dammit, then I am still more than capable of hitting bad shots and during the first part of the test I most certainly did. However there was a sense of acceptance. Find it and hit again, hopefully better. Picking up some money in that period helped as well.
So how does that compare to my February golf? Let me sum it up by saying cold turkey, was very, very cold. Everything I said in the previous paragraph went out of the window. I was back to the old me and yes it is winter golf so maybe I should cut myself some slack, but I hit it terribly and the scores were a good 3-4 points per round lower compared to January. Where before I could be playing badly but calmer and get it round in a stableford score that started with a 3, last month was a constant battle. More swing thoughts, more disturbed over bad shots, meaning more swing thoughts, and do you know what, I didn't actually enjoy it as much!
One of the benefits I found in part one was an ability to concentrate and my swing itself felt more smooth and easy. Not so in February where in the bad rounds I looked like an octopus trying to negotiate a revolving door. No timing and while there were patches of good golf, usually on the front nine, the back nine would collapse and I struggled to keep a good score going. I had been tucking into the CBD gummies as well as using the oil for a boost but going cold turkey meant I couldn't do that either. I have nothing substantive or any medical proof of the differences between my two golfing months, and there will be those cynics that say the whole Golfers CBD is just a placebo effect, but my own personal experiences showed a distinct change between month one and month two.
Now then, if you were paying attention, and taking this blog in, you'll know that I said I went cold turkey......up to a point. That point was the February stableford at my club, played off the yellows. As I've alluded to, I still have a dogmatic belief I can get to single figures (or "The Quest For Single Figures" aka "The Quest" as it's known on here) and so I decided to break my cold turkey regime for this one event in an attempt to play well and generate a handicap cut.

Golfers CBD oil - 10%

Perhaps that decision in between the consistent inconsistencies of February highlights the benefit of the Golfers CBD oil. The competition was on Saturday February 12th and I had a lesson on the Thursday (10th) with only a brief range session to make the changes feel reasonable in the swing. So come on then, what happened? I'm glad you asked. I came second in my division and picked up the first place pot for the swindle. I could have won it but made a real mess of our fifth from 100 yards out not to score. That was the difference between a win or not. Gross par and I won.
The point is with the oil before going out and after nine and it was immediately back to that air of calm I've spoken about and I put in another very good performance. Again some may argue that it was the lesson. That may have contributed but having not taken the new changes onto the course and then going out with card and pencil in hand, and while I'd suggest it will have helped, I got far more from the Golfers CBD. There is a more than a tenuous suggestion in my testing to date, to suggest there are definite and positive benefits to using these products.
I have picked up more roll up money in the last two months than I can remember. My scores using the oil and gummies are far more consistent. I am enjoying my golf, even on the not quite hitting it well days, I am playing better using the CBD and I am competitive. So what's not to like?

Golfer CBD gummies - mint flavoured

One of the great things about Golfers CBD is their presence on social media, especially Twitter Golfers CBD twitter link and they are regularly running competitions to win their products and have even had free giveaways so it is in your best interest to give them a follow and see what's going on. If you want to see what products they sell, more information about golf and CBD, lab reports and a ton of other stuff then log onto the website (Golfers CBD website).

So what's next for me and this ongoing review? In order to test further, this link between me taking the products and playing well and not taking them and playing not so well I am going to do a month of taking them competitively and not in social rounds. The competition season is about to start with a pairs better ball competition this weekend (13th March) which is an honours board event at my club (and I've won before) so it should be interesting. This cold turkey review has shown what I thought and experienced but lets extend it further and see if the correlation continues.

If any of you are using Golfers CBD I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment at the bottom of this blog or contact me on my socials at the front of the site. Have you found it has helped? Similarly if you want to ask a question please feel free by posting in the same way. I mentioned in part one of the review about a free giveaway. That's coming in the next few months so keep checking my blog regularly and keep an eye out on my social media.

Thank you as always for your time in reading my humble thoughts and opinions on golf related matters. The season is really about to start and I wish you well. Play well and I'll hopefully catch you for other blogs (perhaps a "Quest" update) on here soon. There will be some other product reviews coming as well, and these will also feature on my Three Off The Tee youtube channel. You can view the content to date by clicking here - Three Off The Tube youtube. In the meantime happy golfing and I'll see you here again soon.

Product Review - Golfers CBD (Part One)

Welcome along to my latest blog. I hope wherever this finds you, it finds you well and you are getting out and playing some golf. We are still in the midst of winter golf and while Royal Ascot Golf Club (my home club) has been playable, that has meant cold temperatures and some wet and muddy conditions. It is a subject I tackled in a recent blog "Winter Golf - Challenge or Chore" which I strongly suggest you read here - Winter Golf - Challenge Or Chore

However I digress. As the title suggest I am doing another product review. This one will be a bit different so bear with me as I explain. The product I am looking at, and indeed the concept itself will undoubtedly divide opinion and some will buy into it and the benefits and others will dismiss this as placebo at best and hocus pocus will no proven gains. I would hope the doubters will at least read what I've got to say, and the results to date, and will perhaps consider giving the product a go and trying it for themselves.

So what is this product, what does it claim to do and what has it got to do with my golf? I am looking at a company called Golfers CBD and in particular their oil and fruit gummies. Who are Golfers CBD? They are a UK based company (head office in Reigate in Surrey) who are selling CBD or Cannabidiol to improve a players concentration, recovery and sleep and even assist in treating aches and pains. As always with these reviews, I haven't been paid or had any remuneration for this review from Golfers CBD, they have had no input into this review and the views within this blog/review are mine, and are independent based on my own experiences and findings.

It is a developing market and with there are a number of other brands out there including one endorsed by Open winner Darren Clarke. However it is the Golfers CBD products I am going to look at. If you want to find out far more about what Golfers CBD have to offer then check out the website here - Golfers CBD website

The health benefits of CBD are well known and by influencing the receptors in our systems we can change how we react to stress, maintain a good mood and execute motor skills under pressure. The ability to influence these reactions, to aid preparation (through improved sleep) and recovery time makes this the perfect supplement for golfers.

The company are very passionate on where they source their CBD oil from. As well as that how much should you take? This can be confusing but the important calculation is the percentage of CBD. Their 1000mg oil comes in a 10ml bottle, this is 10% strength. Golfers CBD say some companies sell 1000mg oil in a 30ml bottle, this is additional carrier fluid so one third the strength at around 3.3%. Or to put it another way you need to take 3 times as much to gain the same benefits from Golfers CBD. You can get CBD oil from a lot of places including Holland and Barrett (a health store brand in the UK) so I guess the moral if you don't buy directly from Golfers CBD (and you can view all their products in their store here) is you need to do your homework and be careful what you are buying.

Golfers CBD have already got some well known names on board with their product including Solheim Cup player and victorious captain Catriona Matthew and they have a growing presence on social media especially Twitter. Check them out here - Golfers CBD Twitter. It may be in your best interest as they have frequent giveaways and so you may be lucky and get a chance to try Golfers CBD for free if you win.

So you've heard about what CBD is, how it works and how Golfers CBD think it can benefit the average golfer as well as elite and professional players. So what has that got to do with me and my golf? Well, I have been trying the oil in the basic level at 10% as shown below

Golfers CBD oil

I have had an inkling to try CBD for my golf for a few months. This may have come from my social media seemingly being bombarded by different companies (big brother is clearly watching) offering their wares. Again, being transparent, I won the oil and gummies in a free to enter draw from Golfers CBD so that has clearly influenced which make I have tried. I have had to pay for the another batch of oil. That said, I had already been drawn to their products via their social media and so they were always going to be the first manufacturer I used.

The astute amongst you will see this is part one of the review. I am planning to use the Golfers CBD products throughout the golfing season and also to see how it helps with sleep and treating any aches and pains (so my glass back will be a prime candidate).

So lets start at the beginning. I have been using the oil for all my rounds since the new year. I take a couple of drops about 15 minutes before I tee off and have been taking a couple more after nine holes. I have not had any golf instruction during this period and because of the freezing temperatures, strong winds and rain we have had in my neck of the woods, any range time has been restricted to two sessions since the new year so I have had to rely on rocking up and playing on the day and not honing my swing in the evenings.

I can only report on my results in January since using the CBD oil but in the weekend roll ups, I have come second (and picked up some money) and third several times. I have even won the Sunday roll up (and a nice £75) pot which is something I haven't managed to do in well over two years. In very simple terms I have played under my handicap three or four times and those games where I wasn't under handicap, my scores were still well into the thirties, even though I didn't feel I hit the ball particularly well and struggled with my short game in the wet winter conditions.

There will be those that simply say this is a change in my golfing fortunes and I am simply riding the crest of a purple patch. That's possible, and I'd love it to be true but my form before Christmas and before taking the oil simply wasn't that consistent. If you've read the this blog you'll know that consistency in my golf is not a common theme. There will be some that say this oil is a placebo and by taking it I am somehow shifting my thoughts into a better place. Again, that is a point of view but not one I subscribe to based on what I've seen to date.

I don't have any scientific data to back that up. I'll leave you to look at the Golfers CBD site and see what they say about the products. What I can do is give you my feedback on the oil and how it has affected me. In very plain and simple terms, I have an air of calm when I am out of the course. I have far fewer swing or technical thoughts in my head (a regular problem), and feel I can see the shots more clearly. There is an air of acceptance of the outcome be that a good shot or bad. I am simply playing on an even keel emotionally.

Golf takes time and you can be out on the course for four hours or more. That's a long time to concentrate and every round will present stressful situations and emotional challenges. The Golfers CBD website talks about CB1 receptors. These receptors are moderators of your memory, mood, motor function, perception of pain, stress response and thinking. For the player there are many obvious benefits just in the course of a single round of golf, particularly the positive effect on mood, motor function, stress response and thinking. This is what I have found. I am more positive about my golf and the outcome of the shot, and even if I hit a shocker I can deal with it.

I have talked about playing under my handicap but I can honestly say I haven't played great golf. I have topped shots into a hazard, struggled with the driver and messed up chips. What I have managed is to find a way to get it round, sometimes playing ugly. To do that I have had to accept the poor shots. That is something I haven't done often, and a poor shot would often see me question technique, moan about bad luck or get wound up inside. Taking the oil before a round and after nine has changed all that. My response to poor shots is so very different. There is a calm, something I am struggling to put into a cohesive sentence, but an air of positivity and a mood shift towards thinking I can make the best of any round and situation I find myself in. As I say it's hard to put into words but in practice there has been a real change in my golfing persona. Some who know me would say I am a glass positively empty when I play, not even half full, but since using the oil that has definitely changed for the better.

I have also had the Golfers CBD gummies (see here - CBD Gummies) which have let me have a boost on the way round. I have tried to keep these in reserve but I had a very good round last Sunday (23rd January) and thought I may have been in contention to pick up the pot for a second week running (although a magnificent round well into the forties put paid to that) and started to get ahead of myself in the closing stretch, The gummies helped put me back into a more focused place. What I have tried to avoid is taking the oil and the gummies together too often. While the proof has seemingly been in the pudding with my performances, and the oil in particular has given me a good base line to start this season long review, I don't want to be reliant on taking more and more products to stay at the same level.

I am going to play February cold turkey and not use any of the oil or gummies and see what effect that has on my performance. I will be interested to see if the level of consistency remains (or indeed improves). Will I still have the aura of calm, focus and lack of swing thoughts? It should be an interesting comparison.

So there you go. A very unusual product to review but one that I think you'll hear a lot more about in the next few years as research data and more reviews come through. I can only give you my own thoughts on what I have found and that is there definitely seems to be something in this and that there is a basis to say it has helped my game so far. It will be up to you to decide if you want to give it a go for yourself, maybe after seeing my ongoing reviews through the season. At this point, I am a convert and it has seemingly improved my game.

To finish, I will be giving away a Golfers CBD gift pack in the future and details on how to enter will be in a future review so keeping following this blog. It'll also be on my social media so if you don't follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/hackergolfer) please do so. While you are at it please look at my Three Off The Tee youtube channel and subscribe. You can find it here - Three Off The Tee youtube channel

A Golfers CBD gift pack will be given away as these reviews progress - keep following the blog and my social media links

Thank you for reading this review and I hope it has at least given you some food for thought. Don't forget to check out the Golfers CBD website as there is a host of information that may help you. I am really excited to see how this plays out over the course of the golfing season and what impact it actually has on my game. So far so good but lets see what happens and how it helps my game (or not) once the competitions start and will it help me on the Quest For Single Figures? Join me for the next part of this product review soon. 

Coming Soon.....Great Reading, Great Reviews and Something A Little Different

Welcome one and all. I hope this quick preview blog finds you well and wherever you are in the world, your golf is in a decent place and the season treated you well. I will be doing my own review of my 2021 season closer to the new year is the tradition on my this blog. Use the search button to look back on previous years. It may make some fun reading on how this addicted golfaholic had so many hopes and finding out if any came to fruition.

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to read my inane ramblings and especially those that commented via my social media. Please feel free to click on the links and leave a comment on whichever platform you wish to.

So, to the heart of the matter. I have a couple of great blogs coming apart from the annual review of the year. I was lucky enough to recently win a twitter giveaway by a company called Golfers CBD and so will be talking about my prize and the product.

My prize from Golfers CBD

I'll be doing a product review (as always) but this will be a slightly different one as I'll be using the products over the course of the season, so from around March, and reporting back to tell you how it's going. A huge thank you to Golfers CBD and I am sure their goods will make a difference. If nothing else it will provide a real discussion point. It is actually a product that I've been interested in for some time and had planned to test in due course. The CBD market and its relationship with golf is growing and there are a few names in the market place. I guess the big question will be - DOES IT WORK?

Golfers CBD - Does it work?

As I have said, I think the subject of CBD will create some interesting discussions and as always please use the social media to let me know your thoughts or comment at the bottom of the blog itself.

If that blog is going to be something new topical and provoke interest and discussion, the next subject will split opinion straight down the middle. It is a divisive topic and when mentioned on place like the Golf Monthly Forum (come and join their conversation here) it causes no end of heated debate and argument. So what can be so inflammatory? The answer is - AIMPOINT

For the uninitiated, this is a method of green reading based on feeling the slope of the putt with the feet and using your fingers to calibrate the amount the putt will break. This is called Aimpoint Express although originally it was a chart based system. I have benefitted from being through two tuition sessions with Jamie Donaldson, who is Aimpoint's European senior instructor and works with a number of European Tour players as well as teaching the Aimpoint method to club golfers.

Jamie Donaldson - Aimpoints Senior European Instructor

I have included a video from the Golfshake website which shows Jamie teaching a basic Aimpoint read. Watch it here (Jamie Donaldson Aimpoint Read)

Again, it is a topic I have visited on many occasions on this blog including this post which includes a video I did at my home golf club to give you the reader a mid-handicapper demonstration. I strongly suggest you click here to watch it. (Aimpoint Demo)

Having said all that, I am planning to give you an update and to show how easy it is to use in a real time situation and dispel some of the myths, especially about it being a cause of slow play. I have to reiterate, although I've been taught by Jamie Donaldson, I am not a tutor and only showing it as an example of something that has definitely helped my game. If however having said that and you'd like to know more there is lots of information on Jamie's website

So then, plenty of interesting stuff coming soon. I hope you'll enjoy all the blogs heading your way as well as the Aimpoint video coming to the Three Off The Tee youtube channel which you can find here (Three Off The Tee Youtube Channel). Again, there's loads of great content on there already so head over and check it out. While you are there don't forget to subscribe. The more people following the channel the more opportunities I'll be able to start offering to you in 2022.

Thanks as always for reading. I hope this blog whets your appetite for what is to come and that you'll be a regular visitor to the blog in the future as well as delving back into the old blog. In the meantime, stay safe, enjoy your golf and I'll talk to you through this blog soon.