The first thing Garrett and I worked on was an awareness of the Baseline of his Plane and the need to Trace it. After he hit a few warmup wedge shots, I handed him a six-iron and asked him to aim at the yellow flag in the distance. Almost every shot went left of that target. Not by much, but nevertheless, definitely left.
After some Q&A as to his basic concepts, I laid down two clubs on his Plane Line (one fore and one aft of the ball) and asked him to 'trace' them with his right forearm and forefinger pressure point. He had already told me he swung strictly with his left arm -- a point I disagreed with and told him so (he was confusing the 'feel' of Left Arm Power with its true origin). Anyway, I asked him to humor me and proceeded to demonstrate the simple move I wanted him to make through impact. His next three shots were dead on the money, as were most of the next dozen or so.
Then, I showed him how he could adjust his set-up to make this move even easier and more consistent. At Address, his left wrist was in a Cocked condition. This resulted in a 'low hands' position that would have to be corrected by the time his left wrist returned to its Level condition at impact. Also, it made it difficult for his Right Forearm to be properly aligned for its best work during Start Up. From the down-the-line view, I told him I wanted to see half his left forearm above his right. That would require his new 'higher hands' and a bend in his right elbow.
This new alignment and its totally different feel was somewhat of a struggle. But, despite his awkward feeling and my constant tweaks to his efforts, the ball continued to go straight. At the conclusion of our lesson -- it ended when Brian Gay arrived at the scene -- he was pounding drives dead on line, all from his new and improved set-up and always with the ball teed directly between the two clubs marking his Baseline.
Obviously, Garrett was pretty good at arriving in the correct impact alignment long before I came along. He's spent the better part of his life at this quest. But, I minced no words in telling him he could choose between his current Compensated Stroke and an Uncompensated one. I also told him that I didn't know if the end result of our work would be an extra fairway a round or an extra GIR every two rounds or even just improved proximity to the pin. But, I was convinced that if he stayed with it, then over some period of time -- a round, a tournament or a season -- it would make a difference.
I ran into him on my way to the practice tee after the morning round -- before I knew what he shot -- and asked him if he used the "new stuff".
"Yes," he said, "But I chunked a couple of short shots. I'm a feel player -- I don't really know what I do on these, I just hit it -- and I had a little trouble with the new feel." As he spoke, he demonstrated the higher hands we had worked on.
As usual for students, he had started with the trouble spots in the round, not the high spots. This habit wears on the Self Image and should be broken as soon as possible.
Undaunted, I continued on: "So, did you use it tee-to-green?"
"Yeah, I did."
"Well," I asked, continuing to draw him out, "How did it go?"
"Oh," he said, "It worked worked great."
Then, with a grin, he added . . .
"I shot four-under".
Hi All, please please reread the part Yoda says about all students starting with the trouble spots in their round rather than the high spots. Huge, really really huge!
Worked yesterday with Garrett Willis, who I first met in 2007 in Atlanta at the AT&T at TPC Sugarloaf. Garrett won on the PGA TOUR in 2001 and last year on the Nationwide at the WNB Classic in Midland, Texas http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/h038/.
How happy is Garrett that you worked together?!!!
Any insights you can share with us Yoda and has Garrett been in touch?
__________________ The student senses his teacher’s steadfast belief and quiet resolve: “This is doable. It is doable by you. The pathway is there. All you need is determination and time.” And together, they make it happen.
post 7 answered the first of my questions Yoda so don't worry about that.
What I want to know is whether Garrett will be in touch because he 'wants more'!!!
Were it me, the answer would be "Hell yeah!"
__________________ The student senses his teacher’s steadfast belief and quiet resolve: “This is doable. It is doable by you. The pathway is there. All you need is determination and time.” And together, they make it happen.
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