Tommy Armour -- How To Play Your Best Golf All The Time

[Yoda]

Just dusted my copy,which was next to Percy Boomer's On Learning Golf. I will review and look forward to your discussion.

That's a good idea, DRW, and I encourage others who own the book to do the same thing. And those who don't own this classic?

Buy it!

Amazon has used hardcovers going for as low as $2.98. That, my friends, is truly one of the great bargains in golf. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...e=UTF8&s=books

This is going to be a great thread, and HTPYBGATT is the required text!

[KOC]

Eager to see. Just brought it though amazon. But by "Inside the book" on page 26, backward leaning handle, catch on the upswing?

[Yoda]

Amazon inside the book, backward leaning handle, catch on the upswing? page. 26

That is one of the many graphics I'll be posting. Armour believed in hitting the driver on the upswing -- that drawing went a bit overboard to make his point -- and everything else on the downswing. His address with the driver was also decidely different than with the other clubs.

Let me get all these graphics up tomorrow -- I've already got them scanned in -- and we'll talk about it. Like I said above, we're going to have a great time with this one!

P.S. I've got a full day on the Lesson Tee tomorrow, so don't expect anything up until the evening. See you then!

[EdStraker]

Eager to see. Just brought it though amazon. But by "Inside the book" on page 26, backward leaning handle, catch on the upswing?

Tommy Armour was wrong about hitting the driver on the upswing, but chapter 7 "How to Get Ready To Swing" has some great info.

[EdZ]

That's a good idea, DRW, and I encourage others who own the book to do the same thing.

I must have read your mind Yoda... I've got the book, and have read it long ago, but just yesterday, under flashlight, and having been offline for a while due to the power of 'Ernesto' taking Williamsburg back to the days of the early settlers, I pulled it off my shelf and began reading it again.

I immediatly noted his mentioning of PP#3 when discussing the grip and recall a post shortly after your Pine Needles class when Peggy Kirk Bell exclaimed "That's what Tommy told me".... Tommy Armour.

[Yoda]

I had hoped to be deep into the Tommy Armour thread by this point, but the images I have scanned are on my office computer (which is not exactly 'next door'). Fortunately, my teaching schedule has been non-stop -- -- but, unfortunately, it has not permitted me to make that trip. And I don't really see that easing for the next week or so. Unless I go in at night, it'll be tough to get to those files. But if I can, I will. Promise.

Interestingly, my student the past two days, Bob Crissy, a former PGA TOUR player and now a teaching professional in Boca Raton, Florida, trained for four years with Tommy at Del-Ray Beach Country Club during the last years of his life. We had a great time today at lunch with Bob reminiscing about those days. Really terrific stuff about how Tommy actually taught, some of which I will share as the thread develops.

[ColtsFan]

Yoda,

I love this book, and got it after John Redman had talked about the influence Armour had on his teachings.

Would you say Armour was a proponent of right arm take away or was he, like others of his time, more inclined to let the left arm guide the club back?

He also believed in turning the hips freely (Snead, Singh) as opposed to inhibiting the hip turn (Hogan, x-factor)This free hip turn is not taught as often these days.

He was most know for his "whack the hell out of the ball with your right hand" advise, but I think his concern with proper foot work (driving the right knee at the ball ala Hogan) and keeping a steady head is certainly timeless advise.

This is a classic, and even though Im a TGM newbie I would think there had to be some things Homer saw in Armour that made its way into the machine book.

[Yoda]

Yoda,

Would you say Armour was a proponent of right arm take away or was he, like others of his time, more inclined to let the left arm guide the club back?

Tommy Armour didn't make a big deal of 'how' you got the Club back. He didn't care if you had a "One-Piece" Takeaway or if you "dragged" the Clubhead back or if you broke it up sharply. He felt that the Grip, Footwork and Steady Head were done correctly, everything else would take care of itself.

He advocated a Left Hand Control of the Clubhead and Clubface and a Right Hand control of Clubhead Acceleration. To give the Left Hand the necessary authority, he advocated about twice as much Grip Pressuer in the Left Hand than in the Right.

So, considering all the above, my guess is that he allowed his students to take the Club back pretty much any way they wanted...as long as their Footwork was as he prescribed -- Knee Action motivating the Pivot and its Hip and Shoulder Turns -- and that the Left Hand was in control.

His views were completely consistent with TGM, and I will draw those parallels in a later post.

[ColtsFan]

Thanks for your reply Yoda.... I sent you a PM about a swamp visit.

[Uppndownn]

Play the shot you've got the best chance of playing well, and

Play the shot that makes the next shot easy.

HTPYBGATT, page 14.