Netflix has offered its subscribers many sports documentary shows over the years. The streaming service has debuted series that explore the worlds of football, basketball, rugby, tennis, and even polo. Of course, the platform’s biggest success has been “F1: Drive to Survive,” which will premiere its seventh season next month. However, for me, “Full Swing” is its current champion.
In Netflix’s own words, “‘Full Swing’ follows the world’s greatest golfers on and off the course during a relentlessly competitive season.” And it really does deliver the drama on all fronts. The show seeks to get into the minds of these highly driven athletes and also explores their home lives, displaying how events away from the green can help or hinder their success on it.
“Full Swing” season 3 arrives this week (on Tuesday, February 25), and I can’t wait to dive back into one of my favorite Netflix series. And for the record, I’m no amateur golfer myself. I come from a family of golf fanatics but have always been the black sheep incapable of getting to grips with even the basics. That is to say, “Full Swing” can be enjoyed even if you don’t know a birdie from an albatross.
The latest season of “Full Swing” is certainly looking set to be a dramatic one covering a tumultuous season in the sport that saw some huge moments including Bryson DeChambeau vs. Rory Mcilroy at the US Open, Ludvig Åberg’s making his major debut at The Masters and the bizarre incidence that saw world No. 1 Scott Scheffler arrested. Plus, the build-up to the Paris Olympics is covered and the Presidents Cup is included for the first time.
Despite, the on-green drama being high-stakes, and the show incorporating pretty much every relevant name in the game (yes, for those curious, Tiger Woods does briefly appear), it’s episode four, which follows a pair of caddies, getting the most plaudits at this early stage. This is a perfect encapsulation of what makes “Full Swing” so compelling, sometimes it’s the unexpected, or even the seemingly smaller, stories that are the most interesting.
You need to binge “Full Swing” on Netflix now
If you’ve been neglecting “Full Swing” up till this point, you’ve missed some great television, but the upside is you’ve now got three seasons to binge, and you really should make the time as soon as possible.
That’s 23 episodes of intense sporting drama, personal insights into what makes a champion, and several surprisingly engaging side stories. The show isn’t always about being the best either. One of my favorite episodes focuses on Joel Dahmen, who declares “Someone’s got to be the 70th-best golfer in the world, and it’s me. I’m really OK with that.”
For fans of Netflix’s popular “Drive to Survive,” I think “Full Swing” is an essential watch. Much like Formula 1 racing, golf is a significantly more demanding sport than it may appear to those out of the loop. Plus, in golf, much like in motor racing, while players typically have a team around them, when they step up to the plate, everything rests on their shoulders alone.
I’m excited to jump back in “Full Swing” now that season 3 is streaming, and if you consider yourself even somewhat of a sports fan, then I implore you to give the series a chance. It’s easily among the streaming service’s best sports docuseries to date, and that’s no small feat considering Netflix has launched a ludicrous amount of them in recent years.
Watch "Full Swing" season 1-3 on Netflix now
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