Tylenol Drill

[Octopus]

I am quite new to The Golfing Machine and have a question about The Flying Wedges. I have read about it in the book and watched Yoda`s video. But I have a question about what I presume is a drill for practising The Flying Wedges. I remember reading a copy of Southern Golf(a free golfmagazine on the Gulf coast) a few years back where Ron Gring, AI, wrote about a drill I think he called the Flying Wedges (and he described it as a Tylenol Drill since it helpes for everything). You simply adress the ball then pre-set your wrists (left wrist flat, right wrist bent, club paralell to the ground, club paralell to the target line) and then you simply add a little backswing and hit a punch shot. Is this a good drill for the Flying Wedges if practised correctly or are my recollection of the article probably flawed?

[Martee]

Actaully the article was in Feb 2002 issue of Southern Golf.

Rx for your golf game
By Ron Gring

The “Tylenol Drill”

Homer Kelley, who wrote The Golfing Machine, calls this drill the Flying Wedges. One of my junior players at TimberCreek named it, “the Tylenol Drill because it cures everything.”

I don’t believe it lives up to that standard but it does require you to execute an impressive number of motions and sequences perfectly or you will miss the ball completely.

Most importantly, it serves as one of the most efficient methods to train your central nervous system to eliminate waste in the swing while deeply engraving the feel of a more precise and powerful basic motion.

The first step in this process is to practice the postures in front of a mirror or glass door where you can verify that you are in the correct locations. Not only can you see for yourself the correct appearance, but also you can establish the correct “feel.” If you own a weighted club, using it in this environment will speed up the learning process.

Start from normal address, waist bend and knee flex. Flatten the lower spine by pushing your rear end back toward your heels and your back belt loops up to the sky. Point your belt buckle toward your toe stance line. Pull your chin down and into your throat and pull your ears back over your shoulders. (It is the only time in your life a double chin is a good thing!).

Finally, pull your belly button in toward your lower back, (make your-self as thin around your belt as possible.) While here, start noting, every detectable distinguishable change in “look” and “feel” from your normal address.

If you are not capable of achieving all of these address locations at first, stay with it for a few days. It will become easier as your flexibility and endurance improves. Practicing the remainder of this drill from any other address position guarantees that you are making your old habits permanent.

From this new address posture, set the wrists by moving the clubshaft from address to parallel to the ground. At this point, as you look down at your hands they should be in the center of your stance. The grip must be directly over the toe stance line and your elbows should be as close together as possible.

For right-handed golfers, the back of your left hand should be flat and in alignment with the forearm, even arched ever so slightly. The feeling is that the fingers and palm are curling upward toward your chin. The right triceps and elbow are pressed firmly against the rib cage.

Again, stop and notice any detectable, distinguishable change in “look” and “feel.”

Yes, you will feel a great deal of muscle tension here. But remember, you are in “training.” You are training your motions, alignments and postures, not actually playing the game.

Exaggerations, in front of the mirror, are necessary for programming and re-programming the central nervous system. It needs to know what too much is, before it can do it the right amount.

Next, slowly turn to the end of the backswing, using the rotation of the hips and shoulders, not the elbows. Try to breathe deeply at the end of the rotation. Again, notice the differences in the “look” and “feel.”

Now, slowly turn into the downswing to a location where the right index finger is directly over the inside the right foot.

Again, for right-handed players, your left arm and your right leg should be in a straight tilted line with each other from the right ankle all the way up to the left shoulder socket. The hips are open, more toward the target than to the ball. The left hipbone and the belt buckle are directly over the left ankle. The left shoulder must be significantly higher than the right. The elbows are as close together as possible and the right elbow should be located in front of the right hipbone touching the rib cage with only a slight bend.

The clubshaft is located directly over the toe stance line. The back of the left wrist remains flat, or arched toward the ball and the clubshaft should be at or above parallel to the ground. Again, stop and notice the “look” and “feel” of this location breathing deeply as you study the changes.

Finally, slowly shift the weight completely to the left foot, rotate the hips, then the shoulders and allow the clubshaft to release while maintaining a flat/arched left wrist and a bent right wrist. Continue to rotate until both arms are straight and the hands are at waist high in the finish. The clubface at this point is from at least straight up and down to 45 degrees closed, lying flush against the inclined plane. Once again, note the change in “look” and “feel” from how you normally swing.

After a few sessions using the weighted club in a place where you can verify the changes yourself, begin to use the drill on the practice tee.

Try to hit short punch shots with a lofted club. If you execute the drill perfectly, you should feel very solid contact and see very low-ball flight with a slight draw. Granted, it is not that difficult to hit a low draw. However, it is very challenging to hit a low draw using this formula.

Try to induce the feeling that you are making the release of the club as if there was never going to be a one. Make sure you have it right before you increase the speed. Then gradually increase the distance of the shot by 10-yard increments until you lose the “feel.” Then go back to the low punch draw to verify that the movements are correct. An inability to verify the movements and execute the drill perfectly at less than full speed would indicate it would be impossible to execute the new “feel” at full speed.

The Flying Wedges is an ideal you should strive to achieve. It is not necessary to execute the drill perfectly to play great golf and shoot great scores.

It is a terrific way to train your swing with more efficient movement, with proper sequencing, and builds in precision and power over a long period of practice sessions.

By using the flexibility exercises and the drill, you are improving your range of motion, which in turn, limits your risk of injury. By enhancing your functional range of motion you are providing the elasticity to actually swing the way you think you are swinging.

Equally as important, you are training specific golf-like movements in a technically controlled style that eventually will become habit. Don’t turn away from it because it is challenging. If parts of the stretches and drills seem difficult, those are most certainly areas that need your most devoted attention.

There were six pictures that accompanied it.

[Burner]

Actaully the article was in Feb 2002 issue of Southern Golf.
There were six pictures that accompanied it.

And here is a link to the article and the pics'. Pic' #1 seems to be no longer archived.

LOOKIT

There are two articles so just scroll down to "Tylenol".

[EdZ]

Also known as the 'pump drill' this drill is good for feeling pitch elbow position.

If done with a 10-2-D grip, I would consider it a good drill for feeling the wedges as well as OTT prevention and 'throw out'.