I am trembling as I write this right now as I can't believe how well I am doing EVERYTHING so much better with my golf game. A few weeks ago I was stumbling around trying to find a level of consistency with my game. I had a some very good rounds over the years but could never sustain good play or find consistency. I tried virtually everything out there to some degree. I am not a method jumper and if anything I probably spent too much time going down roads that lead to dead ends.
I had been a little hesitant to come down the road of TGM as I was always told it is waaay to complicated and ties you in knots. Perhaps if I just read the book and had no where else to go this might be the case, but this site and the people involved here have been great.
Basically, the last few years I have gotten worse, not better. I am seeing the guys I usually play with improving and it is very frustrating. I could get by competitively because none of us had great short games. Now I see these guys getting better with that and I was quickly falling behind. I saw the video of Yoda hitting the driver a couple of years ago and I kept going back to it. I was thinking this guy is hitting the ball great and I would love to know what he is doing. That was the beginning and now I am here and it is awesome.
Understanding the difference between hitting and swinging has been the greatest discovery for me. I had heard the two term but never really understood it like I do now. I believe my chip and pitch shots were always so inconsistent because I would use that right arm thrust but instead of stabilizing the shoulders, I was trying to turn them aggressively. Obviously this lead to shots all over the place and inconsistent contact. I also realized that this may be the case in my full swing as well. I went to the range and tried it out and had incredible results. Not only was my ball flight better and longer, it was more crisp and I felt like I could really control where the ball was going. I played yesterday and had an awesome round.
I hate to sound like a commercial but the Alignment Golf DVD is largely responsible for so much of this. I really do keep picking up new things each time I see it. Some things are just soaking in as the context changes for what I doing. I posted in the putting tab how I have been an awful putter and largely wasn't even anxious to see the putting disc but that too, has been a blessing.
I realize that I am babbling on way to long here but I am beside myself with glee. I can't wait to play again. I am off to the range this afternoon and have never looked forward to it more than I do right now.
Thanks to everyone for all of the help so far. It is greatly appreciated!
__________________ 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.
Update to my update....
I went to the range today and was very anxious to get going. My basic motion shots (chips) were working well again. I had good control of distance and trajectory. My thought was keep the head still and don't get overactive with the lower body or the shoulders. At this point I am a hitter, not a swinger, so that should explain the quiet, stable shoulder thought. I was making very clean contact with very good compression. The pitch shots were good and so I was ready for for some acquired motion shots and so forth. I was having trouble on full shots with my irons. I usually hit either the irons good/woods bad or just the opposite. Today was no different. I was hitting the Driver very well, about a 240-250 carry with a slight draw. Not the best distance, but considering it was 50 degrees and raining and I was hitting rocks disguised as range balls, I was not too upset. I had GREAT control. My 3 wood was going about 210-220 on the fly with a dead straight ball or a slight draw. I took a step back and thought about it and then made some adjustments. I will ask for some input or thoughts anyone may have about what I focused on.
1. I felt like on full shots that my hands were very low at address. I was hitting the ground more in the heel of the club with all of my irons. My solution was to get the left wrist feeling like it was in more of an uncocked left wrist position. They may have really been in a somewhat level wrist position, but because my hands had been so low at address before this, they really now felt uncocked. This had good results as now I could keep my left wrist flat through the whole swing and at impact.
2. Mid-Body hands also helped. I was really getting the hands way forward with the irons and then when I made the backstroke, I was letting the club get way behind me when fanning the right forearm. I was also running out of right arm on many shots and making very thin and inconsistent contact. I felt better about doing this when I came home and read what Daryl wrote to a poster; "Acquire the Flat Left Wrist at Impact Fix. Center the Hands. Ball Positioned before Low Point and Right Elbow Bent. You will learn to Flatten the Left Wrist and Bend the Right Wrist with Extensor Action as the RFT slightly Turns the Hands." I felt like I was just tracing the line with my trigger finger and using that to hit the ball.
The line in bold REALLY made me feel better about things as that is what it felt like I was doing. So while I am far from where I want to be, I feel like I am as close as I have ever been and see a productive path to get me there with TGM and LBG. I look forward to "Alignment Golf II".
BTW, my putting prowess continued to be there! I was lagging 30 footers to 2 feet and making EVERYTHING inside 5 feet. If you knew me, you would also know that that feat is nothing short of miraculous!
Last edited by scottcuban : 04-25-2010 at 09:27 PM.
Reason: left something out..running out of right arm
I just love seeing pieces like this. I know the feeling. It is like having been lost for years and all of a sudden you have an inkling of where you are.
Hybrid Mode
