Is it right or wrong from Golf Digest
 

"Make contact on the right spot

One of the biggest misconceptions in shotmaking is that to hit a draw, you need to make contact on the inside-back portion of the ball (if you divided the ball into quarters, the quadrant closest to your right foot). This simply is not true. You need to hit the outside-back part of the ball. The inside-back quadrant actually is the right spot for a fade. To hit a draw, the leading edge has to be pointing down and to the left of the target when the clubface contacts the ball (exaggerated image, above right). For a fade, it has to point up and to the right. "

link:http://www.golfdigest.com/instructio...reaking80.html

I am new to TGM!

I Knew I Wuz Dif'rent
 

Great post, Leonjacky, and welcome home. You've abandoned the gaggle of geese and joined this fleet of swans. We've been waiting for you!

Right, Wrong, Unclear or all of the above?
 

If the answer to your post has to be right or wrong? Then wrong would be the answer, although completely unclear and lacking precision would be the best answer.

I'll start with three, although there are many more.

1) The clubface in relation to the target line has nothing to do with it. It's the clubface angle in relation to the clubhead path/force/line of compression that creates side spin or no side spin and back spin or no back spin.

So to draw the ball - you need to understand the clubface concept clearly- differentiated from the leading edge concept i.e. if the ball is well above your feet on a side hill the leading may still be vertical to your target line but the loft of the clubface is aiming well to the left.

You need to understand the on-plane and "circular" motion of the clubhead clearly, and then understand the relationship between the clubface and the on-plane circular motion of the clubhead, in order to draw or fade it. This article never differentiates the clubhead motion from the clubface direction and that is it's main downfall- the article shows how to hit a push fade or a pull draw- neither one will find the target. I'm guessing the guy that wrote it can't break 80!

2) In my view, the leading edge doesn't look down or up - it's an edge. The loft may decrease or increase as you open or close the clubface- and that certainly happens if your maintaining the same hand location with different shots i.e. drawing and fading with the same club.

3) The article is so unclear it's hard to say if it implies anything- "who would know?", but it seems to imply that your clubhead will be moving on a straight line through impact- i.e. steering.

Mike O.

The Beginning of the Beginning
 

Oops! Didn't see the quote marks on Leonjacky's post and thought the text was his. Should have read the linked article! Also didn't pick up the header as the question. Guess I just got too excited thinking that a TGM newbie had just found a nugget in Chapter Two!

The Clubface-Ball contact points referenced are right out of Sketch 2-B. Contact 'outside-aft' -- Hook. Contact inside-aft -- Fade. Contact 'middle' -- Straight Ball. But, as Mike O points out, the Clubhead Line of Flight (2-N-0) has a big part to play in the Ball's ultimate Flight Path.

Welcome to TGM, Leonjacky. Your search is over, but your journey has just begun!

Contant 'middle' -- Straight Ball Flight.

Visual inside-aft is the middle!

Not including external factors such as wind direction, what else?

Thanks!

You might be new to TGM, but it's obvious that you are THINKING about what you are reading, which is GREAT. As was pointed out earlier, the relationship between the face angle and the direction of the shaft travel at impact are what create any kind of spin on the ball. The 9 ball flight laws are physics and physics doesn't lie. We get to the right physics through the correct geometry (TGM). :p

Anyway, the other thing about this article that I really object to is the implication that working the ball is necessary to "break 80" It's possibly a necessary skill for those who want to play to a 2 or 3 or lower, but you can break 80 on any course in the US if you can hit a driver in the fairway and hit it 200 yards. 98% of the people who don't break 80 on a regular basis can't do so because their short game sucks scissors, not because they can't "work the ball". If you want to lower your handicap (assuming you have basically good mechanics), work on your game from 100 yds in. You score on the card the way you play from the red 100 yard dot on the fairway and in, pure and simple.

Obi WunPutt

Hi,
I'm new to TGM myself but have read the book several times and am still trying to "incubate".

I'm an okay player; however, when I'm playing good I can work the ball high, low, draw, fade, whatever.

Simply put, it is the spin that makes the ball move in flight. A ball beneath your feet has a tendency to move from left to right in the air. Why? - Because you are forced to put your weight on your heels to prevent you from falling down, so even if you make solid contact you will be pulling back which makes the clubface cut across the ball. If the ball is above your feet it has a tendency to go right to left. Why? - Because your weight is on your toes and most people will then come from the inside sliding the clubface across the ball from inside to outside.

Is the easiest way to hit a draw to hit the outside-aft portion of the ball - no. Can it be done - yes. Heck, I've seen people than can draw a ball beneath their feet with enough compensation. The easiest way for me to work a draw is a tip I read from Jack Nicklaus (not a very proficient drawer of the ball but could do it) - I take my normal swing but feel that my arms are slightly outrunning my body. This can be done with keeping the left wrist flat and the right wrist bent with some practice. What this does, at least for me, is keep my shoulders back a bit before they start the follow through. It's hard to cut across the ball (on a full shot) when your arms are even or ahead of shoulders after impact. Another simple tip to drawing is keeping right elbow a little closer to side on downswing promoting more inside to out swing path.

Rob

One more thing...
 

I forgot to mention - that was the easiest way for me to draw a ball.

I've been studying this here yellaw book and have discovered that I'm a hitter by nature.

For all you devotees, you know that this means I have certain advantages and disadvantages over a swinger. One of the advantages that is supposed to be available to a hitter is that they are reportedly able to draw the ball by simply putting it a little further back than normal in their stance and fade it by putting it a little further forward. When I first heard of this I thought it was a bunch of junk. But I tried it and dang if it don't work!!

The more I understand (not read) about this book, the more I like it!!! Now if it only had a chapter about a magic button that made me more consistent.[-o<

The Words of the Master...
 

You can start off at Roman Numeral X.
It would simplify things so much if new comers to the book started off here.

Mr Kelly said in 1-E: "The only real short cuts are more and more know-how."

To answer your question, the fastest way to be consistent is to obtain more and more know-how.

It is only when you know what you have to do, can you practise what you need to practise so that when the time comes for you to do what you have to do, you can do what needs to be done.

I started at X. Read the suggested pattern in two days. Have reread the book several times. I have a lot of know how in my mind but like I said I'm in "incubating" stage, I have mind memory but no muscle memory yet. Kind of hard to break old habits, you know?

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
 

Yes, I get you loud and clear.

I think I started out in TGM in one of the "best" ways one could have.

I had a dislocated left shoulder from playing rugby which reduced me to just reading the book and doing drills utilising my hands only.

With no ball, most people have good swings. Put a ball in front of them, you will have transformed their swings from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde.

In 3-F-4, Mr Kelly outlined a practice procedure that is helpful when adhered to.

Indoor range - Mechanics
Outdoor range - Ball Flight

Said the Master of the indoor range..."There, the hypnotic effect of distance, line and hazard drawing attention away from the Hands and inducing a compulsion to Steer the ball, can be analyzed and procedures adopted for correction."

Works for me...;)

Thanks
 

Very cool section, thanks. I've got a net outside in the yard and have worked my way up from chipping, pitching and punch shots. But when I try to put it all together for a full swing, I lose that sound of compression or either start flipping again.

Food for thought
 

In the 1999 Championship at Medinah Country Club Tiger Woods came to the last hole with a one stroke lead over Sergio Garcia. The hole demanded a right-to-left ball flight. Listen to how he achieves it.

“I teed my ball and committed myself to the right-to-left ball flight. I took a deep breath, relaxed and muttered to myself. “Let’s aim for the inside of the ball and turn this bad boy over.” I made a full turn and swung aggressively, aiming for the inside quadrant of the ball and keeping my head well to the right so I would release the club properly.
I’ve hit better tee shots, but I can’t remember when. I just smoked it, the ball hooking about five yards and stopping in a perfect spot smack in the middle of the fairway.”

Maybe he doesn’t read Golf Digest.

How To Hook The Ball
 

Clubhead Line of Flight: Inside Out Plane Line passing through Inside Aft quadrant of the Ball per 10-5-E.

Closed Clubface Contact point: Outside aft quadrant per Sketch 2-B.

Result: A 'glancing blow' (2-D-0) that produces a "five-yard draw."

Close but not quite - It really is the inside aft quadrant that initially gets struck for a straight shot and nothing visual about it. At the impact point/initial contact point with the ball, the ball deforms and stays on the face as the clubface is closing during the 'impact interval', by the time it seperates, this original contact point becomes square to the line of flight.

I am waiting for my yellow book
 

Thanks for all of your replies. I made an order of the yellow book and the expolsive golf dvd last night! Just can't wait anymore.

Good for you!
 

Congratulations!! Don't let the book overwhelm you. It looks daunting at first but if you read it in the order prescribed in the preface on pg. X, it gets more and more understandable.

Just don't take it personally when you are no longer able to communicate with your golfing buddies because you are speaking a different language - flying wedges, throwawy, magic right forearm, etc.

You know to tone it down to their level when someone asks you what grip you're using and instead of saying overlap, interlock or 10 finger. You reply "strong single action." lol:p

2-C-1 #3, Impact Point is basically on the Center Line.

So, please correct me if i am wrong?
 

I am picking up the book with reference to vid of the Gallery.

So, it is correct to draw (fade) a ball in my understanding?

1. Hold the club with square club face and aim the inside (outside)quadrant of the ball
2. Whole Body aim to the right (left) of target line
3. Inside-out (outside-in)swing path in relation to target line (but remain inside-square-inside swing path in relation to base line)
4. 1-2 degree open clubface at impact and square at separation.
5. Finish with swivel (with angle hinge)

Finally, in order to hit it straight, it that we just manage the base line and plane line on the same line, impact with 1-2 degree open clubface at the aft part of the ball?

Sorry for my poor writing. I will try to adopt TMG's terms in next post.

Enjoyable frustration to start
 

Go slow- it is not a race to get through the book and magically apply all you read.

Best bet ------> read the archives of Lynn's ground breaking posts from the old TGM forum or Chuck Evan's old forum. The archives are the best way to understand the Book of Homer.

:p