Young Yoda

[milan]

Very Cool Stuff!!

What are those circular things in front of the students? mirrors?

I think that in the first shot Yoda is either holding a light sabre (darth maul style) or two flashlights joined at the ends.

Best wishes
Milan

[6bmike]

very very cool. what no dowels???

[Yoda]

Very Cool Stuff!!

What are those circular things in front of the students? mirrors?

Yes, Milan, those would be mirrors. I got the idea from Paul Bertholy, one of the more famous names in golf instruction in those days, when I trained under him during a three-day course at his home. Below is a September 1983 photo of Paul and me in his back yard near Pinehurst, North Carolina. Note the famed Bertholy Swing Bar in my left hand. And see, Luke, I told you my hair was blond!

Also, I've included another shot of how I trained students using the mirrors. First of all, check out that video set-up. It is commonplace today, but I promise it was 'anything but' in 1982! Students would pose in the Twelve Sections of the Stroke (except Preliminary Address, of course) as I called out the G.O.L.F. alignments and walked around adjusting everybody. Take a look at these guys in Section Eleven -- the Follow-Through (Both Arms Straight position). These are 'average guys' and they look like TOUR players! In the interest of full disclosure, I'm still working on the lady in front. Got to Flatten that Left Wrist and get those Arms extended!

[KOC]

Yes, Milan, those would be mirrors. I got the idea from Paul Bertholy, one of the more famous names in golf instruction in those days, when I trained under him during a three-day course at his home. Below is a September 1983 photo of Paul and me in his back yard near Pinehurst, North Carolina. Note the famed Bertholy Swing Bar in my left hand....

Dear Yoda,

Besides of the weighted bar, was that the right hand "claw" of the Bertholy method in the photo?

I spent a long time to read and try to understand the "method" during my long holidays (healing of my elbow). I read Paul preferred the flywheel action over the right arm thrust. Is that similar to TGM spinning the flywheel?

I also found a story that Moe Norman recommended Paul Bertholy to his friends and in return treated the manual as a treasure. Would you share more with us?

[BerntR]

I just have to ping this thread. I was playing the Royal Aberdeen the other day. The green fee was rather stiff but they gave us a goodie bag to sugar it. The backside spelled: "The origin of the 5 minute rule". Simple words with tonnes of historic content. Just like this thread.

Looking on how today's top performers strike the ball, it's obvious that Homer - and Lynn - was ahead of time when Lynn wrote his letter to Golf Digest.

[gmbtempe]

Wow, thanks for the bump in the thread, great conversation.

[Yoda]

Very Cool Stuff!!

I think that in the first shot Yoda is either holding a light sabre (darth maul style) or two flashlights joined at the ends.

Yes, milan, you are exactly right . . . I am holding "two flashlights joined at the ends". See Post #1 in this thead http://www.lynnblakegolf.com/forum/s...?t=2310&page=1. I used my simple homemade device to illustrate a principle -- adherence to the Baseline of the Inclined Plane throughout the Total Motion -- an idea totally foreign to the teaching methodologies of the day.

In my public seminars and classes, the lights would dim, and I would 'Trace the straight line Plane Line' with the flashlight beam. First, with the 'head end' beam in Start Up and then the 'butt end' beam later in the Backstroke. During Start Down and the first half of the Downstroke, the 'butt end' beam would continue to Trace the Line. In Release and to the end of the Follow Through, the 'head end' beam would once again point at the line. Finally, in the Finish Swivel and beyond, the 'butt end' would once again do the Tracing. When the beam ran parallel to the floor, it would also run parallel to the Line. Pretty dramatic stuff, especially with the dimmed lights and when you are seeing it for the very first time.

In those days, no one had ever heard of such a concept, much less found training aids commercially available, e.g., lasers, purporting to accomplish the same thing. I say "purporting" because I held the first beam near my #3 Pressure Point (Right Index Finger) and in line with my Right Forearm. So, when the first beam pointed at the line during Start Up and Release, so did the Right Forearm. When the lasers did become available, they all were mounted at the Clubhead end of a shaft. In this configuration, it is quite possible -- even probable given the popular 'hanging right arm' (Off Plane) Address position -- that the beam can point at the Plane Line while the Right Forearm continues to point well inside it. This works on the living room rug, but not so well on the golf course!

Anyway, my simple device predated today's popular Smartstick http://smartstickgolf.com/ by some 25 years. BTW, the Smartstick folks will be with us at The Barclays http://www.lynnblakegolf.com/forum/s...ead.php?t=5708, and we soon will be marketing the product on our site at a 10 percent discount to our members.

Stay tuned for the introductory post and link!

[rprevost]

I am not sure that this is the place to say this, but I want to second Yoda's comment on laser plane-line-tracing aid. This past Christmas I received one as a gift. It was the kind one attaches to the shaft. Unfortunately, I could never get on plane with it. My right forearm did not point inside the plane line, but outside it. And it caused all sorts of grief. On the course, I was constantly searching for the correct plane and ended up most of the time on a severly flat plane, well below the TSP. That made it extremely difficult for me to hit the ball first with any kind of power. I finally junked the laser aid and went back to the dowels Yoda gave me last year. It was a revelation, and every thing is back like it is supposed to be. In my case, modern technology did not help.