[lagster]

When I was young I got a good dose of Jimmy Ballard, and the results were not pretty. My father is a PGA professional who became a Ballard convert in the early 80s and eventually assisted Jimmy at a few of his schools. A lot of Ballard's ideas are easy to misinterpret or take to extremes. There is no doubt that many Ballard students, myself included, developed a sway. I also had a very slack left arm, due to his insistance that the left arm shouldn't be straight. For me, though, the biggest problem with Ballard's ideas is the lack of emphasis on the hands. Basically, shift your weight back, fire your right side, stay connected and your hands will do what they are supposed to. That may work with some talented players, but for me it was a recipe for disaster. In the past 10 years, I have drifted from book to book, reading and rereading various ideas from Leadbetter, Nick Price, Jim McClean (a Ballard disciple), Percey Boomer and Manuel de la Torre. SOME of them had SOME good info, but no one gave me a complete understanding of the swing, nothing "clicked" for me, and my overall idea of the swing was very piecemeal.

I think Ballard's swing CAN work for a highly talented player who already has "educated hands", but once I entered the world of TGM about 6 months ago, I can see why it didn't work for me. I had no idea what my hands should do in the swing. I had no stable base (due to a sway) and no constant radius (due to lazy left arm). My right side tries to dominate, so although I am generally a swinger, the right side tends to take over (which I think was the root of some periodic shank problems I had in the past). Nearly everything I am doing now is an "undoing" of what I was taught when I was 11. With TGM I finally have a comprehensive understanding of the swing and what I should be trying to achieve in various parts of the swing. More than anything, under my old understanding, I wasn't complying with ANY of the 3 imperatives, and now I know that however my swing evolves, it must incorporate them.

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Hang in there!!! I think many people can relate to what you are saying.

Once you educate the hands, and get the Hands Controlled Pivot idea going... you should start feeling, and playing better.

Some did(do) well with Jimmy... some did(do) not.