A Day With YODA
 

If you ever have a chance, get a few friends together, and get YODA to do a day long workshop for you. A great way to do it is to have him out on a Monday of a tour event that comes to town. If that doesn’t work, you and your friends can split expenses and fly him in. It will be the BEST money you ever spent on golf.

I was lucky enough to do this yesterday. Two of my friends and I were tutored by YODA all day. I then had one of my students pay for a 1 hour lesson with THE MAN at the end of our session.

We wanted to learn all TGM speak, and that’s exactly what we got. It was FANTASTIC, and we all learned so much!

My student doesn’t care if we study golf by Homer Kelley or Homer Simpson. He got Homer Simpson. I could tell YODA was teaching the principles we believe in, but with ZERO TGM and ZERO technical jargon. All dumbed down, just the way you could teach ANYBODY who can walk and talk.

My student is a tough nut to crack. Not very athletic, and a horrible looking swing for a guy that plays a lot. I have been getting him to swing a little better, but hit the wall. He was VERY skeptical about taking a lesson from YODA, as he had seen another TGM AI who he didn’t enjoy.

YODA started with some very simple drills, along the lines of the MacDonald drills. My student thought it was nonsense, but he remained patient. After about 15 minutes he started hitting balls. The guy had a G.O.L.F. swing. Of course he basically whiffed a few at first, but the motion was unmistakably better. At the end of the lesson he PURED 3 drives in a row. All dead straight and 40 yards longer than any drive I have ever seen him hit! YODA says he makes magic… no sh!t!

The best money I have ever spent on golf, and I can’t wait to do it again.

Kevin

Makin' It Happen In Minnesota
 

Thanks, Kevin. I had a ball working with you, John, Kevin (#2)and Frank. You were great students, quick learners and an absolute pleasure to be around.

I want to offer some details about Frank's lesson that will give readers insights as to what I do when I teach. I'll explain what I saw; how it differed from my 'picture' of what he could do; and how he and I worked together to make such a radical transformation in such a short period of time. As you saw, my approach is far from 'technical' and, also, far from conventional.

But, it'll have to wait: I'm operating from a remote terminal at the PGA and can't get it done now. Later!

:salut:

Sounds cool Kevin,

Look forward to the report Yoda. My new AI does not talk TGM jargon that much, though I am prodding him. Of course I am learning at a pretty accelerated rate with the book, this site, and other avenues so its going to be fun when I can converse in the correct verbiage.

Lynn Blake has been instrumental in my improvement as a golfer and my understanding and enjoyment of the Machine. Wouldn't trade the time I spent with him for nothing . . . proud to consider him a friend. Glad he got sick on that fortuitous day . . . funny how things start . . . LBG . . . look at where we been . . . look at where we at . . . can't wait to see where LBG ends up . . . been a fun ride. thanks Lynnard!!!!

I don't know where it will end up, but pretty sure getting there will be:

left-right-left-right-left-right :)

Kevin

What a trip!
 

Is that a left-handed thank you to Mike O as well?

Sounds awesome. Too bad I live on the other side of town or I would be making a lot more trips to The Swamp.




3JACK

I got to practice for a little bit today. So much discussion lately about the pivot...

I have done a poor job of studying the pivot, both in the yellow book, the MacDonald drills, and all the great information here. I have been too enamored with studying the power package, and swinging left... :)

Luckily, YODA found the pivot and plane to be my first wobbles. We attacked the pivot with YODA's version of the drills, and got me to feel the on plane backstroke, rather than the reverse loop I have used my entire career. It was great when I could make the proper compensation, but when I was off, nobody was safe.

Now coming back down the plane, I feel like I can do a much better job maintaining my alignments, and don't have to compensate with a flip. Man, we have nice fairways at Medina!

Now that I am on plane, shifting my weight properly using the ground forces (I always wanted to say that) I can focus on letting my accumulators release past low point into follow through, then to a proper finish swivel and pretty pose.

Man, this is fun!!!

Thanks again YODA!

:salut:


Kevin

Yoda getting down and dirty at Medina Golf & CC. Thanks Jerry G for the great pictures I had no idea you were taking!

Kevin

A day with Yoda is a day of complete smiley sunshine. We learned so much in such a relatively short period of time my head is still swamped. Every minute of the day was intensely interesting. I marvel at Yoda's depth and breadth of understanding, his passion for G.O.L.F. and his sincere respect for his students.
Now I'm stuffing nickels into a can to save up for a trip to the Swamp. That was the single most impactful golf day I have had.
Thanks, Yoda!

Could be right? Wow . . . not sure what to say . . . I think I just wet my pants.

Kevin,

I am jealous!!!Wish somedays I can :golfcart: to the State.

Im thinking the left-right-left etc is so great right now. Didnt really love it at first though, didnt know what to make of it. But after 6 or 7 lessons and Lynns insistence, Im finally convinced of it being the basis of the golf Motion. Melhourne, McDonald, Vardon, Hogan and others would agree I think.

Hmmm but is the left, right, left in TGM or is it more AG, Alignment Golf? ( "A Motion, Aligned Geometrically, Learned Mechanically and Played by Feel") Lynn's lessons are consistent with TGM, indeed honour TGM, but are not solely TGM.

Lynn needs to write his own book, I think. There is more, much more left to be said. Homer would applaud it, probably foresaw it.

I agree 100%

Alignment Golf.

Kevin

KOC, I think we would ALL like to see you come to the states and shake your hand!
:salut:

Kevin

Great day at the PGA today. MattS from Rochester, JerryG and myself. All we wanted to do was see my hero, BRIAN GAY working on Alignment Golf...

Kind of funny, we hung out on the short game area and saw EVERYBODY. Tiger came over, practiced basic and acquired motion within several yards of us. There were people behind us 15 deep just to get a glimpse of him. The three of us were straining our necks looking towards the practice tee to see if Brian had shown up.

I guess we could have watched Tiger without feeling guilty. Afew minutes after Tiger left, we were still looking towards the range. Who do you think was standing 4 feet from Tiger watching him?

YODA :laughing9 :laughing9 :laughing9

I guess no one can ever stop learning from these great players. Even the MASTER.

Brian was really fun to watch, VERY centered pivot, even more so than on the videos. Such a simple, repeatable action. Anyone on tour that moves off the ball on the backstroke now would stick out like a sore thumb. It's all about the tripod as Mr. Kelley told us 40 years ago, and YODA still tells us now. There are no funky, contrived moves needed, just the bio-mechanically correct pivot that YODA teaches. Take it a little different direction, and many guys use VJ Trolio's pivot as well. The two really are not very different to my eye.

By the way, I forgot to mention Yodas swing. It is beautiful, for an older fellow :laughing9 , and he can walk the walk as well as talk the talk. After hitting 4 shots for us while stone cold, I asked him why he is teaching and not out playing. You know what Trevino said about teachers, well, I believe he would trust YODA with his livelyhood.

Thank you to Jerry, Kevin S, Matt, and YODA for making this such a special week.

:salut:

Kevin

Was Tigers left foot coming off the ground, if ever so slightly?

Sorry man, besides watching for Brian, all I could see were Tigers teeth! :)

Kevin

I'm a HUGE Tiger fan by the way. If anyone takes my last post as rude, I apologize. Tiger is a great guy and I have nothing but respect for him.

Kevin

Fast Friends On a Fast Track
 

Thanks, Bucket. Back at 'cha!

And you're right: There's been a lot of water under the bridge since we first met at the Cracker Barrel on that winter's day, and God willin', a whole lot more to come. Thanks for your incredible support these past five years. I 'preciate it!

Ahh, that don't cut it . . .

I luv ya, man!

:salut:

Gettin' There
 

Thanks, Kevin. You've almost got it!

:)

Instead, it's:

Right-left-right-left-right-left. :)

Otherwise, it's a 'Reverse Pivot' and 'Rock and Block' and . . .

"FORE RIGHT!!!

:laughing9

That's not what Michelson said!

Man, what a stupid I am! :laughing9

Roberto

Prima Facie Evidence
 

Thanks, guys, for posting these pix of our 'works in progress'. We made that little white ball behave, didn't we? What fun we had!

:salut:

First came cracker barrel then came luv . . . you really know how to make a girl blush . . . I may have to start brushing my teeth.

Denture Darling
 

You have teeth?

:laughing9

Woooooo! Nice one!

YODA Be Proud!
 

Master Yoda,

Frank came out tonight for the first time since his lesson with you. He said he was sure he couldn't repeat what you taught him, he never has before with any teacher...

I watched him from the shop. He looked like a G.O.L.F. er for the first time ever. I could tell he was still frustrated even though it looked so good from a distance.

I hopped in a cart and headed for the range.

I remembered EVERYTHING you had talked to him about just by remembering your words and actions. It was like you were still there. He had motion. Right-Left-Right-Left.. Left wrist was hinging like you told him. But his right hip was not moving.

Frank, remember Yoda wanted your left foot squarer so your right hip could turn out of the way at startup? Oh Yeah

Beautiful job on your backstroke Frank. I see wrinkles in your left wrist (#2 Accumulator for you teachers) Oh yeah, I'm trying hard to do that.

Frank, remember the goal post drill? Oh yeah, let's do some of those...

Great job Frank, we're close, what did Yoda call what we do after we have released the club to both arms straight? Oh yeah. Finish swivel?

Yes Frank, show me how you get the club to go back up plane.

YOU GOT IT FRANK!!!

He proceeded to repeat what Yoda had taught him just a few days before. And just like making shake-and-bake chicken. I HELPED!!! He was puring the driver again 40 yards further than he ever had before, just like last Monday.

Yoda, I want to tie my wagon to yours. When are we going to start getting teachers LBG certified? I want to be part of the revolution of handicaps finally coming down.

:salut:

Kevin

"Always two there are,
no more, no less:
master and an apprentice."
_____________________Yoda

Tiger's View
 

We (the crowd and the photographers) are always looking at Tiger. I thought it would be fun to show his view looking at us!

:laughing9

How does that work Yoda? Does one just wander over to observe Tiger
quietly or is there some chit chat pre amble or...........did he set up shop beside you or........

Nice photos.

Personal update,

• Frank is having a blast.
• Another of my students had his best round ever today. Thanks Mr. MacDonald...
• I hit balls for the first time in a couple of weeks. Compressed draws. No yips. Really fun to feel the "ground forces" again. More importantly, a new CENTERED PIVOT with zero pain! Maybe I'll even try playing again.

YODA, you are the GREATEST!!!

Thank You,
Kevin

On Becoming A Player
 

Thanks for posting, Kevin. The Golf Stroke is a complex, athletic motion that can be made a whole lot simpler than most people realize. That is what you learned in our session at Medinah, and that is the way it is.

Again, I say . . .

If you can walk and swing your arms from side to side (in perfect timing with your 'walking' motion), you can learn to swing a golf club the same way. In doing so, you can learn to swing it the the same way the pros do -- the same way they learned to do it as kids. You won't hit the ball as far as they do -- nor as straight -- but you will hit it with the same authority, and you will begin to post scores you heretofore only imagined.

You will wake up every morning and know that you are 'doing it right', and that you deserve the lower scores you now are producing. You will have become not just a golfer, but a player.

And that's a good thing.

:salut:

Yoda , would this be swinging your arms independent of your shoulders? Would shoulder motion be arm driven or hip?

Yoda,
It has been about three months since you visited us in Minnesota. On that day at Medina I thought I was starting all over again. You gave us your all throughout the day and gladly much of it was actually absorbed into this puny brain.
I used to play pretty fair golf and actually thought I knew something about the golf swing. Kevin Carter introduced me to TGM and I learned otherwise. After a hip injury and lots of confusion I couldn't break 90 earlier this year.
After Medina it started to come together bit by bit. Visits with Kevin including chipping and range time, revisiting the MacDonald drills, Homer's book, daily visits to LBG Forums (the website with the most golf expertise available) have been a huge learning process.
3 weeks ago it started to slowly come together. Last week the score started to appear. My last two rounds on two different quality golf courses were 75.
"Thanks" seems a little shy for what I have gained, but I at least get to buy coffee for Kev.
Regards.

Our Man At Medina
 

Jerry,

From 90+ this summer to 75 this fall is a pretty fair leap. Congratulations!

I have written in the past of the void I feel -- I liken it to post-partem depression :crybaby: -- after doing a national workshop, whether it be one day (as in your case) or two or three (other typical LBG formats, public or private). I feel the same way after our annual The Barclays Golf Academy in which our five-man professional team gives more than 500 individual lessons (and hundreds more in group format) during the four days of the tournament. That 'void' is born of the distance that now separates me from my students.

In each instance, we have come together from afar; we have worked; and we have bonded. Then -- poof! -- it is over, and we return to our respective homes. I know we have 'cracked the egg' and am proud of the progress we have made. But, I also know that even more lies immediately ahead, especially if it is facilitated and monitored by a competent teaching professional.

Thank God for guys like Kevin Carter.

He makes your story -- and mine -- possible.

:salut:

cool story, way to go JerryG

Way to go JERRY!

Jerry works harder at TGM than any student of the game I know. He seems to find something new in the book to help him EVERY day, and this website is where we come to confirm it. I appreciate the kind words, but its all you baby! I look forward to your calls and emails about what you have found and how it is affecting your swing. It always makes my day!

Thanks for the kind words YODA. You are the BEST!

Kevin

In MN
 

I know these are older posts, but if ever in MN again. I need to know - located in MN.

Bartly

I am making the trip from Chicago to Cuscowilla to see Yoda next Tuesday and Wednesday. Very excited!

it will be an absolutely unforgettable experience. You are in for the treat of a lifetime. It is the single best thing you can do for your relationship with the game of G.O.L.F.