Well, here goes...I will start with stating that I am probably the least likely individual to attend the OCN Academy and had every reason not to: not a big believer in overly technical teachings, new to TGM, turned off by the Homer Kelley book for all the obvious reasons and, for those of us who live in the NE, we go into hibernation for the next 3-4 months and thought that a golf lesson at the start of winter was about as logical as a ski lesson in July.
But my buddy Cliff persisted and glad he did, because I can honestly say that for a guy who's taken more than my fair share of lessons, this was one of the best golfing "experiences" I've ever had. I say golf experience, because in my view, we not only learned a dramatically different way of compressing a golf ball, but also learned so much more about the game of golf. As a jaded New Yorker, I expected a bunch from Lynn and he delivered in spades.
Just by way of background, we had four golfers in our group and they were about as diverse as you could fathom: one club pro (Rick), who was one terrific individual and almost served as a second instructor in that he knew TGM well and had a swing to die for; then there was an Asian lady, Kim
, that joined us after day one of the Academy and hit the ball very well (she could drive the ball 200yds with only about 85lbs of torque on her small frame), then there was my buddy Cliff, who plays to about an 8 and is a solid all around player, but sometimes a pain in the arse (had to say that cuz I know he'll read this
; and of course myself, who plays to about a 13.
Let me start with Lynn. Lynn is passionate, bright, personable and is genuinely concerned with getting each of his students to "get" TGM. Never was I, or any of the other students made to feel silly about asking a question or not being able to get in a certain position. Lynn also knows the golf swing cold and has a VERY good eye for detecting even the most minor flaws in one's swing and IMMEDIATELY figuring out the cure. There were numerous times when Lynn was looking after someone else's swing, and out of the corner of his eye, be checking out mine and saying "hey, Paul try that swing without moving your right hip to the outside". As an aside, the guy hits the ball a ton and his swing is like poetry in motion.
The golf facility at OCN is also second to none. They had everything we could have possibly asked for and the place is a magnet for aspiring and seasoned golf pros. We saw 3 or 4 of the Korean LPGA players tooling their swings, saw a batch of mini tour players and then one of the highlights of our trip, Larry Ziegler, PGA Senior Tour player, gave my buddy Cliff about a 15 min lesson and showed us a variety of shots and how to hit those shots.
I won't take you through what each day comprised of, but will tell you that by the middle of the third day, each of us were hitting a golf ball like we never had before...total compression, when done correctly and for a guy who's always been short his golf buddies, I nailed a couple drives like never before and hit my irons with so much more authority and zip.
Did it happen every time? Absoultely not, but I went from being able to create lag and cream a drive once every 25 shots before Lynn (aka an accident
), do that 1 out of 5 times by day two, then do that 2 or 3 times out of 5 by day three...my hope is that if I work on what it is I need to work on through the winter, I'll get to 3 or 4 times out of 5 when the season begins...THAT'S HUGE!!, AND THAT'S THE POWER OF TGM!
I will also say that the social side of this trip was almost worth the price of admission. We had a blast with Lynn each night at the local Houlihans with Lynn having his usual Martini to take the edge off and my buddy Cliff draining Lynn for every ounce of golf knowledge. On the final night, Lynn brings his computer into Houlihans to give us a full video analysis of each of our swings...now that's dedication! This guy literally spent from 8:00 a.m. till 10:00 each night with us and never showed the slightest sign of fatigue. Then Lynn, knowing that we were staying an extra day to golf, offers to spend the day with us, at no charge, to help our games just a bit more...amazing.
I played 9 holes after the Academy and I was probably about as nervous on my first hole as any pro on any given Sunday, thinking that I'd top a drive or hurt myself with trying to combine all my new knowledge. But, I creamed it, and I nailed a bunch more drives like I never had before and crisped my irons.
Yup, the magic wore off a bit after a few holes, but can only blame myself in that my old swing was dueling my new swing in my "incubator" and my worst shots were shots I attribute to me consciously going back to my old swing for my pitches and thinking that I still don't have 100% faith that I can execute on all the new teachings.
This was truly a grand experience...I can't say enough good things about Lynn and my fellow students (Rick: hope you're reading this!) and I can't wait for the start of a new season to put it all together.
Thanks Lynn
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