Books
 

I have finished Percy Bommer's book. Now I'm starting to read Tommy Armour's book: How to play your best golf all the time.

I'll copy up something Yoda wrote to keep in mind:

...

Looking at Yoda's many different vidoes, it seems important to use a walking/mark time motion together with the right forearm takeaway in the backstroke. That means lifting the left heel. This is probably a good thing because it makes it easier/more natural to to put the heel down again and do the necessary weight shift in the downstroke? (together with a little hip slide to the left and bringing the right elbow (more) into the right hip area (for swingers). I wonder if I'm on to something here. If not, please intervene.
:golf:

Any comments from my learned friends?

Hinging
 

For me angled hinging in the basic motion feels like hitting and

horizontal hinging is more swinging like?

Vertical hinging feels akward, but is maybe done easier by opening up the clubface and stance making it into a semi cut shot?

Any comments from my learned friends?

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
 

It seems like ALEX CEJKA has made an albatross (or double eagle as you perhaps call it) on his first hole today!

http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/04...2011/r005.html

One month to go. This off season has been long. November and December were record cold. January was mild - so too the first 10 days of February. But the cold has now come back again. In addition I have been blessed with a 14 days flu.

I don't think I have made any improvements these last months compared to what I experienced in October. Not got much worse either, I hope. So it will be interesting to see what will happen and what new things - or a better understanding or better motions will show up to bring my golf to the next level, whatever that may be.

Experience tells me that it is the amount of bad shots - OB, in the water, short fat shots, lousy putting etc that ruins a round. So it's not just about the few very good shots - it's more about getting rid of most of the bad shots and being more consistent. I guess good alignments and rhythm are keystones in that respect. Something to think about the next 4 weeks.. :dontknow:

to heel or not to heel
 

My learned friends shine by their absence. Too bad.

There's been a lot of talk about a hands controlled pivot. That's in the backstroke - or in the downstroke as well?

Is it fair to say that the backstroke starts with the upper body and the downstroke with the lower body?

We have learned the importance of swinging the hands - not the clubhead. That has bearing on the pivot in some way I guess ...

:dontknow: :scratch:

If you do everything correct, lifting the heels is partly a function of how wide stance you use and how much knee bend you have at address.

With a narrow stance and deep knees you can turn and shift without lifting the heels. I never lift my left heel in the back stroke. The right heel stays on the ground almost till impact. Sometimes it stays on the ground in the follow thru as well - even with a driver. But then I am perhaps guilty of coasting a tad to much.

Heel lifting or not is not a fundamental IMO. Do something with it if it causes problems. Leave it alone if not.

There may be good reason for widening the stance more than I do, in which case you may have to lift the heels to make a proper motion.

I think one of the points of the MacDonald drill is that you have the synchronisation of the pivot and the arms in you already - in your walking pattern. Just try to adopt that walking pattern to the golf stroke. It shouldn't be necessary to think of whether you lift your heels or not.

As usual - you shed interesting light on the subject. Thanks.
:hello:

Hands controlled pivot:

The whole point with this expression is that ideally you want your pivot to work as an extension of your hands.

When you pick up an object from the ground with your hand you:

• aim for the object
• bend your hips
• bend your knees
• lower your upper body
• straighten your right arm according to aiming point procedure, straight towards the object
• straighten each of your fingers in a simultaneous straigthening procedure, called open your hand. This must happen before the hand has reached the object
• place your hand right above the object
• bend all your fingers around the object - the picking up procedure
• and so on

But if you apply a hands controlled procedure to do this you simply pick the object up with your hand without thinking about every little detail every part of your body must contribute to.

Equally, when you apply a hands controlled procedure in golf, you either hit the ball or swing at the ball with deliberate hands. Most things pivot related happens as a response to your hands but even if you have one or two pivot related swing keys you think of.

So hands controlled pivot has a lot to do with how your ball striking skills are organised in your brain. But there has to be some mechanical backup too.

Pivot controlled hands: The golfer either has focus on the pivot and / or the pattern is such that the hands aren't able to what you want them to do. For instance an involuntary flip release.

Pure speculation from my side but: I think a lot of golfers who struggle to take their swing from the range to the course do so because they play pivot controlled hands on the range, but when they get on the course they bring a hands controlled mindset that is not compatible with the stroke pattern they have rehersed.

Wow - you really have a lot of interesting and important stuff to pass on to me - and other readers. Thanks again. :golfcart2: :golfcart:

Arthritis
 

I guess that being 60+ is asking for some age related problems like stiff and arthritis fingers. It doesn't effect my swing much yet, but I notice that the fingers unfortunately are not what they used to be .. Does anybody have some good advice in such matters?

:dontknow: :scratch:

Raw Food Diet.

Sushi? :-#

Because today 2/15/2011 is my Mom’s 99th Birthday, I am in a good mood so here are ideas from my wealth of useless information.

Avon Chamois grips
Warm Epsom salt hand bath-
Glucosamine supplement
Ginger ale
Copper bracelet
Sleep with hands closed

As I am here let me mention some pivot ideas.
The ideal is hands control of pivot. BUT FIRST, Learn your pivot. All power originates from the pivot. First learn how to make your pivot move your hands. Soft, hard, delayed, power into impact bag etc. Because the pivot is way out in front of your hands. Once you have learned where the pivot can take your hands you can start to use your hands and they , your hands will get the pivot out in front as needed because they will now know what the pivot is capable of. Hope this makes sense. It is my feeling.

The Bear

Agree with bear about the pivot.

You build the total motion from ground up to the hands. Then you build a command & control system from your hands and down towards the feet.

In my opinion, to play the pivot controlled hands game requires a stroke where you can control the lag pressure all the way through impact. No freewheeling through the ball and no discontinuity in the down stroke. When you have that control, you can just take dead aim and simply think about how you want to hit it and how hard you want to hit it. You need to focus on the lag pressure that you can feel in your hands to get there.

Did you buy 4 Iron in the Soul, Air? And Golf in the Kingdom?

Only the first one - which I have read. Interesting, funny and revealing insight into a caddie's world.

I'm not sure I can see this in my mind, so I'll have to chew on it. Do you have a video you can can refer to? :scratch:

A lot of good advice here. Thanks. :clap:

Are the MacDonald drills relevant in these matters? :dontknow:

What is it that you can't see in your mind?

Originally Posted by BerntR View Post
Agree with bear about the pivot.

You build the total motion from ground up to the hands. Then you build a command & control system from your hands and down towards the feet.

In my opinion, to play the pivot controlled hands game requires a stroke where you can control the lag pressure all the way through impact. No freewheeling through the ball and no discontinuity in the down stroke. When you have that control, you can just take dead aim and simply think about how you want to hit it and how hard you want to hit it. You need to focus on the lag pressure that you can feel in your hands to get there.
..
I just have to understand what you are saying. You also mention pivot controlled hands - which we don't want? I quess that "No freewheeling through the ball and no discontinuity in the down stroke" is a little complicated to grasp. So I'm not sure what's going on - when I can't see it (in me mind). Sorry.

sameness
 

Does anybody know anything about a principle in golf called sameness? How does it work? Is it of any interest or importance on this site? :scratch:

I am afraid that for this answer you Must open the book.
Chapter #1 1-J
While U are there read.
Chapter #1 1-K

The Bear

Thanks - I need the push (kick) :blackeye:

But I couldn't make sense of it. Big Surprise.

Hcp
 

I haven't played any real golf since October. My lousy hcp is still 21,5 and it's supposed to go down to - let's say - 17 this year, based on what I have learned (and have yet to learn?)..

I'm used to playing a lot of par 3 holes (my home course is a par 65). I do my best scoring on par 3's. But we only have 2 long par 3 - about 200 y. So on the shorter ones it isn't that difficult to get a GIR. But on longer par 4 I can't get there in 2 shots - and may miss on the 3th as well and with 35-40 putts it's not that easy (for me) to do any better than bogey - and I usually have more double bogeys than par - so to be realistic a round better than +18 is not be be expected without being in the "zone".

Not every shot is perfect (almost none of the shots are "perfect"), so where should the lower scoring come from? Maybe 18-20 is good enough if it can be done on a regular basis. Time will tell. Good scoring has to coinside with good statistics - in GIR, driving distance, fairway hits, putting etc. Dream on ...

:golfing_banana:

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIFxbOZezhE
Better golf.
i.e.
Better driving, pitching, chipping, bunker shots, putting...

I was mixing the terms here. I meant hands controlled pivot.

Well, that helps.

Isn't the whole business of the hands controlled pivot that the right hand/forearm starts the backstroke and everything else - the pivot (hips and shoulders) and the flying wedges follow (in a connected way)? + the foot work :golf:

In my opinion the whole point is to be "hands on" at the moment of truth (impact).

I had the impression that Yoda favoured a back stroke that started with the hands and the hands only. I can make it work but I don't like it.

However, after watching his videos from the PGA conference it appeared that the feet and hips and shoulders are into it as well. From the very first beginning.

If I understand this correct:

Yoda teaches the stroke with emphasis on the hands and on the right side of the pivot. But that doesn't mean that the rest of the body isn't in on it. I think he emphasises the parts that he want the student to focus, while the other parts is supposed or deemed to respond accordingly. So: When you pick up the club with the right forear, the pivot starts to move at the same time. So in other words, it's not only the club you put in motion with the RF pickup. You put the hips, feet and shoulders in motion too.

If you watch when Yoda talks about Davis Love's waggle - coupled with the MacDonald drill (left-right-left-right) you will see that the feet responds to the motion of the arms.

That's my impression as well.:salut:

His Truth Is Marching On
 

You're beginning to understand me, Bernt.

The Pivot (Body Control) is Zone #1. Its six Components comprise a full 25 percent of the 24 Components of The Golfing Machine. I've taught this for 28 years, and at the same time, I've taught its control by the Hands (Purpose) in Zone #3.

How many times must I post this link?

http://www.lynnblakegolf.com/index.p...20861548192705

:eyes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEe-IgEtVSU

Getting It Right . . . Left
 

Actually, Bernt, it's "right-left-right-left".

Not being a smart a**.

:)

It's the difference between a "reverse" pivot and the pivot of champions.

:salut:

Originally Posted by BerntR View Post
Did you buy 4 Iron in the Soul, Air? And Golf in the Kingdom?

Speaking of the ...
The last one actually arrived today -

8888
 

Nice number of posts. But you have to watch your daily average - it's dipping under 4.00 again. :naughty:

Feel
 

We learn to ride a bike by feel. Is it the same with golf? But more difficult - more mechanics. But a feel must be personal and one's own. I can't have anybody else's feel. But the mechanics and alignments can be the same. But with wrong mechanics we can get a wrong feel, I fear. So we have to know what we are doing. But is there a limit to how much knowledge of mechanics one must or can have so that it doesn't interfere with the feel we want to develop? :think: :dontknow:

Thank you for the clarification, professor Yoda.

:salut:

Re: Feel
 

I think if you grow into the game as a kid and develop almost an effective stroke by instinct - with a couple of cosmetic flaws, there is a risk that a little knowledge can lead to messing up the swing, whether it comes from the player, a well meaning father, a mediocre pro or bad advice from other players. But this is likely to depend on the person. And in this area as in many others: Knowing just a little can be dangerous.

For guys like us, Air, who tend to think about what is the correct or best-for-me way to strike the ball, and who knever have had good golf instincts, knowledge is much better than the alternative.

And besides, when you get above a certain level of knowing, when the pieces start to fall in place and you begin to see the whole picture, things get a lot simpler. They always do.

I guess you are right - again.:thumleft:

I used to play regularly with a guy who was very good and had been playing since he was 5. I had picked the game up in college and was still looking for the "how to" instructions.

I once asked the guy what his right knee was doing. He said "I don't know, and further more I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!" He just knew how his swing felt and didn't want to be thinking about it during the swing...

I wonder how it would be to learn to ride a bike as a 30- 50 year old man?

If you start young with golf - you can be an easy swinger (rider). Born to be good (wild).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMbATaj7Il8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS5KFDhytEA
:golfer: