Early season primer

[Trig]

We had a request in the suggestion thread to have an early season primer with perhaps certain things to do each day to get ready for the golf season.

I thought I would start this thread to allow folks to give their ideas on this, I know there are some very experienced TGM'ers on these boards. I'm also sure Yoda will chime in when he returns later this week.

I would think chapter 12 is a great place to start. I would recommend focusing on your individual stroke pattern and review all of the components. Then one could go to section 12-5 and work on the basic motion curriculum.

My two cents!

[wanole]

to really dicypher what my stroke pattern is.

[EdZ]

OK, I'll start with a few general, but important, drills.

Get a broom.

Hold it about halfway down, with the top of the handle against your left side. As you first start, it can be helpful to split your hands by a few inches to really allow key feels to sink in.

The 'face' of the broom should be 'square', or alternately you can drill with it 'flat' on plane for a different perspective.

Do hip to hip 'swings', focused on 1) keeping your left arm and the handle in line and 2) keeping the 'face' of the broom 'square to its arc'. This is best done with a feeling and focus on your right hand and forearm, and ELBOW. The tip of your elbow should move straight back, up and in. Your right hand/palm should feel as if it 'faces the ball'.

As you 'swing' through, feel the extension of the right arm, the bend in the right wrist, and keep the handle from hitting your side. When you get to 'both arms straight', allow either rotation or bend/arch of the wrists. You won't get beyond near hip high, but you'll have some great feels.

As you do this, focus on 'bending the bristles' - feel the thrust DOWNWARD. Pose impact, push the bristles downward, and outward.

Do this for a week - hip to hip.

You will notice the broom will show you plane, it will show you if your left wrist is solid, and it will show you a very nice 'both arms straight' follow through. Notice your right forearm and shoulder, and elbow, down, out, and forward.

Close your eyes for a while doing these small swings.

After you have this down, get a basket ball. Practice moving from 'impact fix' to both arms straight by 'pushing the inside corner of the basketball' and notice the 'spin' you can put on the ball. Try spinning the ball first right to left, then no side spin, then left to right. Alternate using a split grip, and your golf grip with each of these.

Do this for at least a week.

Then move to holding the broom with the end touching your belly, a bit to the left of your belly button, split your grip - practice JUST the first few feet of a takeaway, and the first few feet past impact. Do this drill only after you have really understood the feels in the first drills. Don't let the handle move away from its 'connection', and again, limit this to a few feet back and through.

Close your eyes. See what you are trying to do in your minds eye. Have a mirror nearby, look, look, look......

[wanole]

Broom handle should rest on the left side of your body or should it ride up the left arm?

[Theodan]

Whew. That's wierd. I was making myself crazy working with a mirror and club to check the clubface orientation throughout the swing. So I bought a broom with nylon bristles so I could clearly see the clubface orientation upstroke, downstroke. I even cut the bottom of the bristles on a slant that placed them flat on the floor when my forearm and wrists were set properly in IF. Thanks for the other drills.

Charlie

[EdZ]

Broom handle should rest on the left side of your body or should it ride up the left arm?

it should be 'under' the heel pad, running up/under the arm, gently touching the side of the body (as the upper left arm should).

[Martee]

Not to get off topic, in fact this may be where to start the primer..

Why other that at Impact Fix and Impact do I care or would want to observe my clubface? Why do I want to monitor something that is 70 to 90 inches away from me, moving at upward 100 mph plus?

The Hands and On Plane alignment seems to provide the information that is more TGM'y than looking at the clubface.

What is it that the clubface provides that the hands don't?

[Theodan]

Not to get off topic, in fact this may be where to start the primer..

Why other that at Impact Fix and Impact do I care or would want to observe my clubface? Why do I want to monitor something that is 70 to 90 inches away from me, moving at upward 100 mph plus?

The Hands and On Plane alignment seems to provide the information that is more TGM'y than looking at the clubface.

What is it that the clubface provides that the hands don't?

For a beginner, whether the ball is going to straight or not. I work inside with a mirror in slow motion. "Fanning?", which plane?, plane shift?, back up and in?, top?, arc oriented to plane? Hands and feel lie, the mirror doesn't.

[Martee]

Originally Posted by Martee

Not to get off topic, in fact this may be where to start the primer.. Why other that at Impact Fix and Impact do I care or would want to observe my clubface? Why do I want to monitor something that is 70 to 90 inches away from me, moving at upward 100 mph plus? The Hands and On Plane alignment seems to provide the information that is more TGM'y than looking at the clubface. What is it that the clubface provides that the hands don't?

For a beginner, whether the ball is going to straight or not. I work inside with a mirror in slow motion. "Fanning?", which plane?, plane shift?, back up and in?, top?, arc oriented to plane? Hands and feel lie, the mirror doesn't.

I still don't follow the logic of clubface monitoring, it seems to me that this is position golf, not alignment.

Which Plane, well that is kind of something you get to select. BUT the club on Plane, simple, no matter which plane angle you select, the Plane Line will be the same for all of them. Checking that, even in slow motion seems lock in that you are going to return the club back to Impact correctly.

Monitoring the hands at the top, right and left wrist along with the right forearm/elbow alignment to the plane of motion indicates correctness of alignment and from here this should didicate your deliver path and deliver line.

At the top montioring the location of the hands to the right shoulder can be done with a mirror. Here you can ensure you are not turning the shoulders too much and getting too deep, etc.

The Look, Look, Look can be very powerful.

If the ball is not going straight, you may indeed have a position at the top with the clubface like you want, but it is the alignment at Impact/separation that defines if the ball is going to go straight. Again in slow motion you should be able to monitor the hands, their delivery path, the club being on plane to determine success. Of course their is ball position but that should be defined at Impact Fix, a time when the golfer does monitor the clubface per 3-F-5.

Keeping it simple, that is to the basics, what controls the clubface, clubhead and clubshaft seems to be an easier objective to accomplish since you can obtain for instance a clubface position at the top that is what you are looking for while getting there different ways. Being correct at the top doesn't ensure correctness at Impact. Being aligned correctly at the top allows for correctness at Impact without compensation, at Impact Fix correct, at the Top correct, at Impact correct. Kind of like connecting the dots. Just my thoughts.

Hands don't lie, feel doesn't lie either, it is rather a misunderstanding of what you have done. You think you are correct, but yet you havent checked or verify.

If anything, the clubface alignment can lie, like I said I can get clubface positioin, the same using various compensating moves that not only complicates the golf storke, but builds in inconsistencies and does not ensure Impact correctness.

It is not that I am opposed to clubface alignment, it is that at best it is secondary. JMHO.

[Theodan]

Clubface is just one part. And your body can feel like it is doing something. When an instructor looks at it, or it is filmed, or you look at it in the mirror it can be found to not be true. One may feel, the hands going, back ,up and in only to find they are going out, up and back to in etc. One may feel they have a zero plane shaft, only to find it is not so. I do mirror work with the dowels, too.

I, for one, want to make my swing simple and correct. When the snow melts, it will be IF, pickup and thrust through and smack the ball with my hands. My slow motion and mirror works for me, and at no time have I described or recommended my process of learning to anyone. Nor have I taken issue with how anyone learns, because we all learn differently. I don't believe this dialogue is germaine to this thread and you are welcome to PM me and I can explain how I learn motor skills.

My apologies. Please return to the normally scheduled thread.