I have been watching the Tom Tomasello videos lately as I patiently await spring and golf again. What he teaches is amazingly simple and it seems to be more swinger than hitter? Would this be correct?
I have been watching my "Alignment Golf" DVD as well as the "From Mechanics to Feel" series that I downloaded. I have Brian Gay's fundamentals too. Yoda's golf channel video is also terrific as there is so much good stuff packed in there.
Am I doing more damage than good by reviewing all of these or is there enough consistency in everything? I feel like hitting is more natural for me than swinging is, but I don't know. I know my "feels" go back and forth. How do I settle in with something for consistency?
Thanks for any input.
I feel your pain. I'm trying to get to a consistent "hitting" pattern and had to sort through all this, too. From my point of view, there is consistency -- you just have to get used to listening for when something is more swinger or more hitter (and everyone seems pretty good about saying it).
The Tomasello vid's seem almost all swinger except for the "punch" stuff. He even says you'll lose a club's distance "hitting" or "punching"! That kind of screwed me up for a while, so the TT vids are kind of out for me. (Ted would have a pretty big arguement with that, and I think I actually gained about a club when I went to the hitting pattern.)
My plan is to stick with Yoda's teaching and what I read here on the forum. At least until I have a better overall grasp of TGM and esp. the Hitting pattern.
Funny you mentioned that about losing distance, I also got a little apprehensive about it which is why I wonder if swinging is the way to go. Besides Tom Tomasello's comments, Brian Gay seems pure hitter and he seems to be one of the shorter hitters for the tour. I struggle with the right forearm takeaway which for me makes it easier to be a hitter. I set up with an impact fix and if I cock my right wrist back right on plane, then take the club back like Tom said, I am in a pretty good position. This is where it gets dicey for me. I can slide my hips forward and throw my right forearm directly at the ball (on what feels like a 45˚ angle) and it's perfect...sometimes. I think it is because at times I let my shoulder be a fly wheel in more of a swinging feel and that screws me up.
Thanks again for input, I appreciate it.
"Switter" is definitely not the way to go -- you have to get that right shoulder in the proper position to be the pushing backstop as Yoda describes. When you do that (for me, it feels like slowing the shoulders down and "driving" it versus "spinning" them), you can hit the ball a ton. I'm a bigger guy, and still can hit the driver 280 - 300 and hit 5 iron 200.
At the end of the day, length is somewhat overrated among amateurs -- would it really be that big a deal to lose some yards on tee shots or our irons if we became incredibly consistent in our ball striking? I am looking forward to the day when I can complain exclusively about my short game and putting!
Good news, I don't even think you have to give up length to be a "hitter"...
I think most golfers will become more consistent when they find more distance. In both cases you need to eliminat unproductive motions and let the strongest parts of your body to have main roles.
When you start to find an effective pattern you can always choose whether you want hit every ball as hard as you are capable of all the time or settle for an effortless 80% effort that give you a lot of headroom for real time adjustments. Hitting a ball at max speed is in many ways the ultimate test because you don't have any extras to spend if the clubhead or clubface is heading in the wrong direction.
There is a very clear correlation between distance and handicap. Part of is due to athletism and part of it is due to superior stroke pattern. If you're strong and hit it short you probably don't have a good stroke and you probably aren't very consistent either. If you're short and incredible good you are probably a good given talent in every department except speed and strength. And perhaps you go by the name Corey Pavin.
I am 6'3" 230 lb and decently athletic. I can score anywhere from 80-100 so inconsistent is a good description of me. I feel like I SHOULD be longer and I know I can be. I have felt the "on the screws" perfect impact and ball flight and I am forever on a mission to find it again and again. I do not have a good short game by any means. I always read that the fastest way to lower one's score is through the short game. I play with a guy every Sunday who it short and plays a slice. He chips well and putts light's out. He also beats me most of the time. It feels awful to lose so often to a guy like that. He could be very good if he learned to hit the ball better but I seems he is happy where he is.
My thoughts are that I want to be a consistent ball striker because on days when I am hitting it well, I can beat him easily and the game is fun. Quite frankly it feels great to blow a drive past him by 70 yards. My problem is that I don't do it often enough. When I am playing well it makes him play poorly. The big drive will deflate him. The same way on days when I am having a tough time, he will sink a big putt and beat the tar out of me (and my spirit.)
I know I will never be on tour shooting 70 but I do feel that I am playing way short of my potential. Maybe I am fooling myself?
The search continues...
I can shoot anywhere between 75 and 95 - and outside this range on both sides on an extreme day.
When I have my best stroke I feel like I can hit the ball with everything I've got and get a very good result. But I score better if I am a bit more humble about my abilities, take one more club and hit it 80%.
Hmmm... maybe I'm wrong about the distance part I guess it depends on where you come from. People who have a slice or OTT tencendy - that have to swing "easy" to square up the club - I think they can learn a thing or two by hitting the ball as hard as they can. I guess that my main point is that if your stroke doesn't work if you try to hit the ball hard you are compensating. And if you're playing with a stroke that breaks down if you try to hit it hard you're not playing to your potential.
If you know already how it feels to hit the ball a long way you should work more on the short game. Around the green, inside 100 yards and creative short game. It will make you less dependant on goot tee to green performance and it will feed off to your long game in a very positive way. I see people on the driving range who hit crap shot after crap shot because they have some problem they can't figure out. What happens then is that they repeat a dysfunctional pattern over and over - so they basically practice a stroke that then want to stop doing, which is not a good idea. I am not much better than those guys and I do fall into the same trap from time even though I knew better.
If they took an hour around the chipping green instead they might actually find their lost rhythm. That's what I do when I listen to my common sense. And it works pretty well too.
If its information on Hitting you're looking for , Id suggest you're best served with the information found right here provided by Yoda and Luke. Hit the search button using their names and it'll all come up. Luke isnt exactly short off the tee by the way......he's done a real good job of overcoming that suggestion about Hitting. Real good.
I guess it depends on where you come from. People who have a slice or OTT tencendy - that have to swing "easy" to square up the club - I think they can learn a thing or two by hitting the ball as hard as they can. I guess that my main point is that if your stroke doesn't work if you try to hit the ball hard you are compensating. And if you're playing with a stroke that breaks down if you try to hit it hard you're not playing to your potential.
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