All Mine
 

I took up the book for one reason.

I want to own MY swing.

I took up golf at a late age, approached it intelligently because I wanted to get as good as I could as quickly as I could.

I was surprised to find how many "opinions" there were about the golf swing from instructors that wanted me to swing like them, and instruction articles that tried to explain how the pros did it. Most of the opinions conflicted with one another. Learning how to swing the club was as frustrating as playing to a high handicap.

The Golfing Machine enabled a clear understanding of the why and how. Plus it gives plenty of options to custom fit. There isn't a single way for me to swing, there is only MY way to swing and it only fits me, like a well tailored suit.

Homer wrote the book with Instructors in mind, but he didn't exclude guys like me that want ownership of their swing.

Bagger,

In the spirit of Bucket's question about how best to learn the information contained in The Golfing Machine, how much of your swing did you learn exclusively from your study of the book before you started getting lessons and explanations from Ben and Lynn.

I'll give my answer. None. I tried many different times to "get into" the book, but my eyes just glazed over. I don't think it's because I'm stupid. Everything I know about how to actually DO the things in the book came from personal lessons with Chuck Evans, Lynn Blake, Ted Fort (just a few minutes with Ted)and Brian Manzella (I also have the Chuck Evans, Greg McHatton, Chuck Cook and Brian Manzella DVD's).

Just the Book
 

RWH,

The way the book is written, I don't think it can be fully understood without help. These forums are invaluable for armchair work and I'm privileged to do what I do here. I bought the book two years after picking up my first set of clubs. I have always had the supplemental resource of a TGM forum to fall back on. I learned about The Golfing Machine from the very first forum that Chuck Evans started (ezboard) and later the TGM home office forum (both now closed). That was 6 years ago.

For three years, the TGM forum and Chucks forum were all I had to help decipher the book. Without them I wouldn't have made much progress. My scoring dropped from the high-90's to mid-80's during that period and golf became much more enjoyable. But I was stuck and couldn't seem to ever break 80. Ben Doyle was the first AI I spent time with. I would have continued with Ben, but Lynn and I were just beginning to develop a friendship at that time, so I visited him 9 months after seeing Ben.

I went to Lynn with a decent swing, and he corrected many alignment errors I simply couldn't see. It wasn't an overhaul but I had some very common faults. Inside takeaway, misaligned flying wedges at the top, and steering were the biggies. We also worked on short game. I still have it all on video. I've had hands-on lessons with Ben once, twice with Lynn, and once with Steve Ferguson. The second time I saw Lynn was when I met you and we had a memorable dinner at the Atlanta CC.

I'm shooting in the 70's now. Anything over 79 is a bad day. I play a couple times a month and practice when I can. If I could get out more I know I could go low. I've got to get my priorities straight!!! So for a middle aged guy that took up the game late in life and has been golfing 8 years, I'm very happy with my decision to base everything swing related on TGM.

Book reading in combination with the forums helped shave a ton of strokes off my game, and hands-on instruction is making me a player. If the book were my only resource from the beginning, it would probably be gathering dust and so would my swing.

Very interesting Bagger. Can't believe you only get to play twice a month. I have to agree The Golfing Machine is the best there is. I have dropped handicap from 8 to 5 since working on the principles this year with the help of Ian Clark and Rob Noel.

Chuck Cook
 

rwh,

Can you tell me if the Chuck Cook videos utilize TGM principles and whether or not they were helpful? Also, can you tell me the titles? Thanks a lot.

teach

Thanks for sharing. I think This is the True Essence of learning TGM. You need to visit someone who knows and believe TGM to understand TGM. Its Contagious.

Reading and Quoting from the book is easy. But I never understood until Comdpa Demonstrate through visual, feel.

And there is no way that you know exactly your own fault , nomatter how obvious without a coach to tell you, Force you to do something with total faith

Operating System -- Run Silent...Run Deep
 

I'm not answering for rwh, but I can tell you this:

At last year's PGA Merchandise Show, Joe Daniels, president of The Golfing Machine, LLC, hosted a gathering of TGM Authorized Instructors and 'interested others.' Chuck Cook was a featured speaker, and from the podium, he held aloft the 'Yellow Book' and said (paraphrased):

"This book has made me three million dollars."

That statement leads me to believe that Chuck's videos -- I have seen none -- contain more than a little TGM.

But I also would not be surprised if, as usual...

The genius and gift of Homer Kelley remains "under wraps."

TGM/Cook
 

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Yes, Mr. Cook knows some TGM. I've heard him speak also, and it is quite evident that TGM knowledge is there.

Prinicples, yes; use of terminolgy or mention of the book, no. But, if you know the book, you'll recognize a lot of things -- bent left wrist, flat right wrist at address, right forearm pickup, flat back shoulder turn, right shoulder works down plane to the ball with a swinging procedure; flat left wrist, bent right wrist at impact; forward leaning shaft at impact -- just to name a few. You will also recognize the use of the Chapter 12 progression of Basic, Acquired and Total motion.

Good, solid, helpful information, but nothing that anyone on this or the other TGM instructor forums don't know about. I really liked the 2 DVD short game set the best, especially some really cool drills. Titles: "Building The Perfect Swing" (1 DVD). "Building The Perfect Short Game" (2 DVD's)

I got his book and he identifies The Golfing Machine as part of his education in the intro . . .