My visit to Ted Fort

[smbkmb]

I had the good fortune to travel in the direction of Marietta and felt it might be my only opportunity to see Ted Fort. I called him and even though my schedule was very up in the air, he accomodated me in every way. From the first time I talked to him, I was totally impressed with his confidence in his teaching method. I had not read "The Golfing Machine", but I had read many posts here and on Manzella's forum. Ted said he would have me compressing the ball before I left. That confidence and great positive attitude convinced me I needed to see him. So, I made the trip to see Ted for a half-day lesson. I asked him to give me everything he had because I didn't think I could make it back anytime soon. He obliged my request, and we bascically covered most things in the half day.
He quickly determined that I was trying to mix swinging and hitting. He
started to show me the hitting stroke. Man, what a hitting demonstration.
He murders the ball. It was very impressive. He first got my grip straightened out, which wasn't too far off. He then focused on my setup, by getting the left wrist straight, hands in front of ball at address, and a bent right wrist. He had me lower my right forearm closer to my body to get more right wrist bend. I am 6' 6" tall. He then talked to me about extensor action and how to put pressure in my grip at the proper places in order to assist in maintaining extensor action. He had me then practice the right forearm pickup with this extensor action. I hit a few balls and in fifteen minutes I was compressing the ball. He pointed out the unique sound associated with compression. It was an exhilarating feeling to compress the ball and gave me immediated confidence in what he was teaching me. He told me before I came that compression would happen and it did. He said he can do this for anyone and I believe he can. We proceeded to talk about the angle of approach and a bent right wrist at impact. These are my two biggest problems. I am an over the top player and I do not hit the ball as far as I should. He had me hit many balls while he watched from behind and I began to hit some that were compressed and I was on the correct angle of approach. It rained almost the whole session, but he has an awesome building and setup that allows you to continue to hit. His computer setup is awesome and lets you compare your swing to before and after. That helped tremendously. I hated when the lesson was over, but it was my best experience in golf. I have played three times with this swing with no practice sessions. I have hit the ball more crisply than ever. I still have trouble with throwaway and the finish swivel and still get over the top, but not near as much as I use to. The guys I play with have been shocked and jealous of the change. I'm writing this to tell any of you who have a chance to see Ted Fort , it will be a great experience. He is a wonderful teacher with a great attitude and he loves what he is doing. This is a great website and we are lucky to have Ted as part of it. Thanks to all of you for your posts. Scott

[Uppndownn]

Sounds like another successful mission to Marietta!
Way to go Fort Knocks!!!!

[YodasLuke]

I had the good fortune to travel in the direction of Marietta and felt it might be my only opportunity to see Ted Fort. I called him and even though my schedule was very up in the air, he accomodated me in every way. From the first time I talked to him, I was totally impressed with his confidence in his teaching method. I had not read "The Golfing Machine", but I had read many posts here and on Manzella's forum. Ted said he would have me compressing the ball before I left. That confidence and great positive attitude convinced me I needed to see him. So, I made the trip to see Ted for a half-day lesson. I asked him to give me everything he had because I didn't think I could make it back anytime soon. He obliged my request, and we bascically covered most things in the half day.
He quickly determined that I was trying to mix swinging and hitting. He
started to show me the hitting stroke. Man, what a hitting demonstration.
He murders the ball. It was very impressive. He first got my grip straightened out, which wasn't too far off. He then focused on my setup, by getting the left wrist straight, hands in front of ball at address, and a bent right wrist. He had me lower my right forearm closer to my body to get more right wrist bend. I am 6' 6" tall. He then talked to me about extensor action and how to put pressure in my grip at the proper places in order to assist in maintaining extensor action. He had me then practice the right forearm pickup with this extensor action. I hit a few balls and in fifteen minutes I was compressing the ball. He pointed out the unique sound associated with compression. It was an exhilarating feeling to compress the ball and gave me immediated confidence in what he was teaching me. He told me before I came that compression would happen and it did. He said he can do this for anyone and I believe he can. We proceeded to talk about the angle of approach and a bent left wrist at impact. These are my two biggest problems. I am an over the top player and I do not hit the ball as far as I should. He had me hit many balls while he watched from behind and I began to hit some that were compressed and I was on the correct angle of approach. It rained almost the whole session, but he has an awesome building and setup that allows you to continue to hit. His computer setup is awesome and lets you compare your swing to before and after. That helped tremendously. I hated when the lesson was over, but it was my best experience in golf. I have played three times with this swing with no practice sessions. I have hit the ball more crisply than ever. I still have trouble with throwaway and the finish swivel and still get over the top, but not near as much as I use to. The guys I play with have been shocked and jealous of the change. I'm writing this to tell any of you who have a chance to see Ted Fort , it will be a great experience. He is a wonderful teacher with a great attitude and he loves what he is doing. This is a great website and we are lucky to have Ted as part of it. Thanks to all of you for your posts. Scott

Scott was willing for me to share his pm that he sent me and I wanted to respond.

PM from Scott to Ted
"i hope you read my post about my visit with you. I was there around May 20 for a half-day. 6' 6" from Dallas, Tx. Anyway, I have been telling everybody I see in Dallas about you. I have had i think tremendous success adopting your method. I have never hit the pin with such accuracy. The last few times I have played, I seem to be putting for birdie 50% of the time or better. I make 3-4 per round and have shot 77, 78, 77, 76 as opposed to my 83-88. This is without putting too great either. Thanks for everything. My next step is to improve my length. My drives are 250-270 and my PW is 110 yds, 7 iron 150, 5 iron 170. I am afraid to try to hit the ball further because I have become so accurate, but I know I will have to hit it further to go lower, i.e., reaching par 5's in 2 which I never do. Any ideas? Also, my occasional error with the driver is a pull hook or hook. That would be throwaway and lack of extensor action on the follow thru , correct? Anyway, you are great at what you do.
thanks, Scott"

I wanted to post his results, because I'm very proud of what he's accomplished. He may not have wanted to boast about his scores, but he has every right to be proud of them.

Scott,
I appreciate all of the good press in Dallas and on the Forum. I'm very happy that you've seen the immediate results that I thought you'd achieve. You are correct in that the lack of extensor action could cause the lack of distance. And additionally, the lack of extensor action can lead to throwaway and the left shots. Keep applying the #1 and #3 pressure points. If you maintain the right forearm flying wedge, it will be really difficult to hit it anywhere but straight. Keep me posted on the continued improvement.
Ted, Luke, Nuke, Fort Knocks

[Yoda]

Ted Fort is among the best instructors in golf. If you want to take your game to the next level, call him.

Be warned, though: Since last month's birth of Ted III (already a confirmed Hitter), he's only working half-days...

That would be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.