What brought you to TGM?
 

I'm curious about the story that brought you to TGM and why you stuck with it.
We all have a story, it would be interesting to hear the common threads.

Bagger

Various things - Alot of people where reading it on Manzellas forum and Brian himself said some interesting stuff and wanted to see what the fuss was about. When I looked up the golfing machine and looked at the forum there, there was this guy called Yoda who spoke about golf at a different level anything I've seen.

Ordered the book and here I am - studying it and love it. This stuff is just so much better than anything out there.

I just wanted to learn the proper golf swing. From what I was being taught by my Pro (Flat Left Wrist) I wanted to find out more and thus my journey in TGM.
I also like how its not a cookie cutter method as is quite a lot of the theories out there today, the book has options and I like that.
Alex

Back about 7 years ago, somehow I wanted to go back and study Mac's swing (not sure why, but again, those days I was 'flavor of the month' when studying the swing). I called up the publisher of Golf Digest and ordered the 1987 GD copy with Mac on the cover titled 'Best Swing on Tour?'. In the article, Mac reference seeking out Homer and his book, etc. I then proceeded to see if I could do a web search on 'The Golfing Machine'. Found a contact number so I decided to call and order it....at first, I thought I called the wrong number as a sweet old lady picked up the phone and said, "H-Hello?".

I said, "I'm sorry, I was trying to order a copy of The Golfing Machine but I think I have the wrong number." The voice said, "Oh no, I've got plenty of copies right here." I laughed and she laughed and she asked if she could sign the book for Homer for me...I said sure. I then asked, "Is this Mrs. Kelley?" She said, "I sure hope so!"

And now you know the rest of the story! The copy came about 4 days later....

FL-John

I took a lesson from a local non-TGM pro. He didn't tell/show me anything I couldn't read in Golf Digest for a lot cheaper, and I already knew most of that info was junk/incomplete. I Read some of David Laville's (sp?) posts on various newsgroups, which got me to buy the book, which led me to the TGM forums, which led me to the much better forums on Brian Manzella's, Chuck's, and now Lynn's websites.

The small victories, improvements in ballstriking, and knowing that one of these days I'm going to try to find time to schedule a visit with Lynn keep me moving along (plodding at the moment).

I was reading freegolfinfo.com.....

Got directed to some Manzella guy's golf forum....

Learned 10 times more real information than I ever have anywhere else.....had been reading GD and other random, vague, conflicting clutter before that- like lots of people.

TGM just really made sense to me and appealed to me right off the bat....I've always found it easy to tell whether something was genuine or not...the difference between quality info. and so-so stuff- clutter.

And I was obsessed with golf and perfecting my swing before that so.....here I am.

Honestly haven't made a HUGE breakthrough with my game yet but it got me away from some other crap swing things I was doing before or may have gotten drawn into (stay away from drugs kids!).

But I know it'll come together eventually.

And besides, if I don't make it to the Tour :cool: I can be a pretty damn good instructor from all the stuff I've picked up. :cool:

I'm like birdieman. Started on FGI and got intrigued by Brian's posts. Got directed to Chuck Evans site. After reading some posts from a fanatic calling himself Yoda, borrowed TGM from the library and started to digest it. It really appealed to the analytic part of me. That and I started to hit the ball much better than I did before.

Likewise David Lavelle- a forgotten early advocate of TGM. Bought the book at Rum Point GC in Ocean City, Maryland in the pro shop of all places. But after a few friends started learning from Mac and they noticed I knew what they were talking about and that I had a copy of Mac's yellow book- the hook was set. Lynn reeled it in.

Chuck's early site with PhillyGolf exploding questions in my head and followed Manzella from FGI exile to his are to other sources.

David Laville
 

The sequence:

David Laville offering very solid advice on some forum or newsgroup somewhere.

Took me to:

1. Brians site.
2. The forum on thegolfingmachine.com with the mystical "Yoda" who seemed to know everything. :)
3. Ben's video and the book

Downhill from there.

Sucker for Physics
 

I was perusing the GEA site about 6 months or so ago and kept seeing these "TGM" threads crop up from time to time. However, no one ever defined what that was or meant. I finally saw a reference to the Lynn Blake web site. I slowly gathered information and finally the yellow book. Basically, with a physics and math degree, TGM is a natural fit since I have always tried to analyze the game from a mechanics / geometrical perspective. I went in whole hog this past weekend with Lynn, Ted, and Lee at the SoCal LBGA. Now we get to see if I can apply what I have learned and improve over the next year!

I had been fighting the yips with my chip shots off and on for the past few years and had taken lessons from a number of pros. The advice I always got was keep your left wrist firm and you can't yip the shot, like I didn't know that. When I asked the pros how to keep the left wrist firm, I was told just keep it straight and use a ruler or comb inside my watch band, but even that didn't help. :???:

I was looking online for solutions and came across the 4GEA forum, where I read about TGM and keeping the right wrist bent through impact. I thought TGM had gone away with Bobby Clampett's career, but nonetheless I went out and practiced chipping keeping my right wrist bent and I hit chip shots more flush than I had in quite a while. I then searched the web for more information on TGM and came across Brian and Lynn's sites. I called Brian for a lesson and was just blown away with his knowledge and the way he could simply explain cause and effect.

Sadly, I still have occasional problems with the short shots - years of bad habits are tough to break. :mad: However, I am hitting more solid shots than I did before and I have a clear road map of what I need to do to continue to improve.:smile:

TGM works for me because I need a reason why or how to do something, not just be told to do it. TGM provides the framework for the why and how and it works for me.:D

Back to the GO days
 

First heard of Chuck on the Golf Opinions board, then BM showed up there briefly, and was quickly banned there. Then I found Chuck again at the TGM board, and Brian again at FGI (whoops, banned again). Yoda surfaces from the swamp at Chucks site and TGM board, and Brian has his own site. Bought the yellow book. Kept lurking and working, seldom posting (you guys ask all of the intelligent questions I can't even begin to think of asking myself. Thanks to all for this).

The long and short of it is that I have gone from hacker city to clean, consistent ball striking. My scores have gone from the 100's to the 90's to the 80's without even a TGM lesson (that will be in the future, God willing).

Goal is to be in the 70's next year. THIS STUFF WORKS!!!

Makin' A Difference
 

Thank you, efnef. This is what it is all about.

A True 'Friend Of The Firm'
 

Mathew,

Thank you for all your contributions to our site and to Homer Kelley's great work, The Golfing Machine®. Your unsolicited animation of the Hinge Action concept (Sketch 1-L) is revolutionary and will one day be recognized for the genius that it is.

Can't wait to see you next year at LBG Academy St. Andrews 2006. Get ready...

I'm in a huggin' mood!

A hug from Yoda sounds cool :) !

Just cannot wait to meet you finally :).

Yo Da Man :)

Maybe 8 or 10 yrs ago when I was flipping on chips and having trouble keeping my left wrist flat someone (don't remember)told me keeping the bend in my right wrist would keep the left flat. That stuck and it became something I'd fall back on... but only in the short game. Then a year ago on GEA someone named DukeNasty took a lesson from Yoda... and mentioned the the bent right wrist. I went to the range and tried hitting full shots that way and slowly had some sucess... bought the book and was convinced it was a unique work by a very intelligent man... went to see Ted Fort in Feb 05 and that is the story.

I've followed Brian from his days at FGI (what a party) to his own site. Bought the book together with Hebrons "secret and Lies..." (TGM light) on recommendation from Manzella. Then Yoda came by and wupti today LBG-forum is my browser start-up site.

I'm a gymnastics teacher and have always enjoyed studying movements and coordination in sports. TGM is perfect for that for the #1 sport in the world.

Two years ago, a poster in the golf channel forum by the name of arizona1984. I think he is mcjordan on this site. The guy just argued like crazy and made sense in a sea of ignorance. The journey took me to the yellow book, Evans, Manzella, Yoda. Enlightenment brought improvement. I hope to attend workshops in the future. Sincerest thanks to all in the TGM family.

Lookin' for Love in All the Right Places
 

At age 10 I began reading Jones (Ernest and Bobby), Hogan, Armour, Dunn, Bomer....

I became a PGA Professional 20 years ago. I want to get results with my students and my own game. Like many of the dedicated golf professional that post here, I expected more from myself than anyone else expected. I wanted to go the extra mile and find "The Truth".

Invested countless dollars and hours trying to find that truth (My golf library has over 1,000 books, some dating back to the turn of the century, and over 500 tapes on instruction alone). Some day my heirs will sell them off and make a fortune. Finally figured out there was no one truth, but many.

Added TGM to the collection about 1985. Knew all along TGM had the answers, but I didn't have all the pieces to the puzzle. Searched high and low for any information relating to TGM, still do. The long and winding yellow-brick road has brought me hear to the Emerald (now light green) City, with occasional visits to Manzellaland. Only difference is that I pay attention to the man behind the curtain; The Wizard of Yoda.

"There is no place like home." Thanks for leaving the light on.

Yellow-Book Road
 

Shouldn't that be "yellow-book road". ;)

A few years ago I was watching a tournament on TV and saw Brad Faxon interviewed on TV. He mentioned he was working with Ron Gring who was a golfing machine instructor. Had never even heard about TGM then. So, did a search on the internet, ordered the book, and actually read it. Didn't understand some things, but other things made sense. Put the book up on a shelf and forgot about it. Then,as I kept hitting various internet golf sites, I came upon Chuck Evans on golfopinions.com, and then some feisty guy on FGI named Manzella. Then, followed those 2 guys to their sites and began reading posts from some guy named Yoda. Pulled the book off the shelf, spent a day with Yoda last spring and some time with YodasLuke this fall. The journey is on! Dr Dave

in re: Yellow Book Road
 

Yodas, Manzellas & Doyles, O my!:shock:

It was something Brian said on FGI that clicked and opened a light bulb and turned on a door.....wait, that's not Exactly what happened:D

June 2005 - I stumbled across a reference to TGM on the 4GEA site. Then went to Manzella's site and read the instructional articles and bought the Flipper video. Started to lurk on Lynns site daily. (HCP 12.5)

July 2005 - Bought the book from thegolfingmachine.com. Read it several times. Only focus was the 3 imperatives. Daily reading of Lynn's & Brian's forums as well as the archives.

Aug/Sept/Oct 2005 - Just absolutely love TGM. Read all forums daily. My consistency had improved vastly. TGM is the real deal. I dont even listen to or consider any other swing ideas. I now have TGM tunnel vision. If it isnt in the book I dont want to hear about it.

Oh yeah my HCP has dropped 5.5 strokes too. Now a 7.0 as of 10/31. All due to TGM. I love, Love, LOVE it.

An Affair To Remember
 

Terrific post, JPs. Thanks for your inspiring story and for letting us know we helped along The Way.

TGM is the real deal
 

FGI to Brian Manzella to Canton, GA - The rest is history. The greatest thing about the TGM journey aside from the oustanding improvement has been the great friends I've met - especially the crew at Canton - an All star cast I was privileged to "hang out" with.

Hahaha good stuff JP. I'm the same way man.....I pick up a GD sometimes out of curiosity but usually find myself laughing and bashing their stuff.

It Works!
 

Last year I was really frustrated around December and wanted to see improvement this year. I saw TGM discussed on a forum that I frequent and looked into it. Saw some things that really made sense to me and took some lessons from Yoda and YodasLuke in February...after that I was hooked. Yoda and YodasLuke are just the nicest guys and they have a passion for TGM...this is because they know it works in describing and understanding the golf stroke.

I have made a lot of improvment this year...not completely where I want to be, but I am heading in the right direction.

Thanks Yoda, YodasLuke & Homer!!

Keith

hello yellow-book road
 

a little over a year ago i decided to "find my own swing"...started experimenting in my garage hitting foam practice balls and seeing how the went off a 2-foot side X 8-foot tall board about 15-feet away...also started searching the internet for golf info and read about this moe norman guy...found a forum (SAGF) about swings like his and read a bunch (w/little useful info)...kept pounding balls trying to figure out what made them go where...a post on SAGF lead me to a debate on brian's site started by a SAGF-stalwart and i just started following the yellow-book road from there...like many others i found this little green guy whose posts made more sense than anything else i had read...read more about TGM and Mr. Kelley (and chuckled that he apparently did much of the research for TGM in his garage)..bought the book last january to be able to follow the references and have read it through twice...various circumstances kept me from playing much golf this summer and/or making it to an LBG affair, but i am striking the ball better, but need more practice time for consistancy and playing time for scoring...in reference to another thread i don't post much unless it's a non-TGM-technical topic like this one since i don't feel i have any expertise, but i'm having fun and making progress...don't have the time to browse tons of sites, but this is by far my first choice for usefull info (written and video)...thanks to everyone who puts so much effort into it...my wife and i don't usally exchange christmas gifts (just buy for the kids), but a LBG-DVD sounds pretty good this year:-)...cheers!

-hcw

Makin' It Happen
 

Thanks for this, hcw. Your post personalizes the mission, and I appreciate it.

I took up golf just under 10 years ago and from the start wanted to do things properly. At the time the Leadbetter swing was all the rage. Not Knowing any better I went down that route and ended up having a lot of lessons with Leadbetter's partner Denis Pugh. It did not work for me and I felt there was a huge hole in knowledge that I needed filling. I was not getting real info from the coaches when I asked them questions but knew somewhere out there there must be answers. Because I was not getting what I wanted from coaches I tried to work out what pros were doing by myself watching them and studying their swing's frame by frame. I noticed there were different actions that all seemed to work. So something was wrong with the idea that the single method being sold as the way. I experimented a lot but without good results because I could not find real help despite my best efforts to find people who could help me. My friend and playing partner David Hawkins (hawks92) is very big into golf equipment and told me about Golfopinions.com. Chuck Evans was the moderator there and I found his posts very interesting. They were very specific and unlike any of the ideas I had come across before. Chuck went on to form his own website and I followed him there . Phillygolf gave me some really good advice and I started to feel I was on to something. Brian then turned up at Golfopinions and made his thoughts clear on how poorly golf instruction was being served and ruffled a few feathers. Having been through loads of bad coaching I agreed with him. Everything he said was consistent with my real life experience findings. I read all of his posts and followed him to FGI after Golfopinions gave him the chop. The same thing happened to him at FGI and he set up his website. I had a good feeling about Brian from the start and the more I read his posts the more certain I became that this guy knew his stuff. I decided to follow all his advice and ask a ton of questions and my ball striking got a lot better but although pieces of the puzzle were coming together there were missing bits. I got the book read it a couple of times and did not like it at first. I am on my 17th reading now and have a better idea but nowhere near the understanding I want . The Ben Doyle video helped a lot. Then Yoda turned up and things really started to liven up. I liked his style and the generous way he was happy to share his information. When the Canton trio of Blake, Doyle and Manzella decided to put together a golf school I decided to leave England and go to the States for it. At some point I wanted to meet all 3 of these guys this was a one off opportunity that I could not miss and I was not disappointed. The school was fantastic for me and at the end of it for the first time ever I had a clear idea of what I should be doing. I did a lot of filming there to keep a record.. Watching Michael Finney swing gave me the visual image I needed. We have the same kind of body type. The coaching I got from Lynn, Brian and Ben was fantastic . Not only were they good coaches but I really felt that they wanted to help me. At no point did I feel I was being patronised and being seen as a meal ticket. I liked them all as people. Ted Fort was the real surprise . I did not really know much about him. He is a great coach and with Yoda behind him is destined for the top. I will be going to more schools for sure. As far as I am concerned TGM is where it is at and the more I learn the more certain I become. One thing that concerns me is that it is not being properly represented. It was only by chance I stumbled on TGM and if I started playing golf from scratch it would be unlikely that I would have stumbled on it. This has to be addressed. The fact that the original thread's question has been posed is a clear indication that something is wrong. I have put in a lot of effort in golf . Much of it wasted . Had I got the right info early I would have saved myself a lot of suffering. There are a lot of lost golfing souls out there that need sorting out. The TGM organisation must get it's act together otherwise the legacy of Homer Kelley's life's work will be short changed. .

Gave up the game tad over two years ago out of frustration, had been stuck on the same handicap for years and wasn't doing anything about it. About six months later I started logging into internet golf forums and came across Manzella on FGI. His talk of mashing the ball hit the right note. I'd always hit it best shots when trying to keep the ball under an obstruction, punching down and through the ball. My normal full swing lacked even a portion of that powerfull feeling. Started to work on my swing and eventually got the itch to test myself out on the course. Now I mostly lurk here and sometimes at Brian's site.

Went out for my first round in four months a few days ago. Had been doing some mirror work and other indoor drills during the interval. Ended up with 3 over. Even better, I wasn't searching for a swing, I knew exactly what I wanted to be doing, even after such a long break. Thanks TGM and big thanks to Yoda et al :)

Wow!!!!!!!!!

Great stuff and a great thread!!!!!

TY Mike...

I thought perhaps maybe more would have been following me and Randy!.......

Oh well...

And David was almost my first eposure as well.....


Bottomline...I am an Athlete....and I sucked at golf!!!!....and so....the journey began!!!!!!!

TY all...

Oh Gad-

I forgot about Randy- yes, he was most definitely an early influence and mentor. The two of you worked so well as a team.

Some guy handed me the book
 

A co-worker of mine who I had played a lot of golf with came over to my office one day. He had a little yellow book in his hand and handed it to me and said, "I'm not sure if you are ready for this, but check it out".

Then I got addicted to the enthusiasm of some guy named "Yoda" on TGM's forum. I PM'd "Yoda" and asked him for a lesson and he said he didn't give lessons anymore. About 8 months later he changed his mind!

Thanks for the book Bagger. And thanks to Yoda for "getting back in the game"!

:) :) :) :)

It was fall of 2000 and my instructor had the book. He was a GSEB authorized by Sally and was well grounded in the TGM principles. I did some poking around on the internet, found the TGM forum, and eventually bought the book. I distinctly remember when the book came and I sat down on the couch and started to page through it. I remember thinking to myself, "What have I gotten myself into? This is crazy."

But slowly it all started making sense. As always, there were questions that I couldn't find answers to - either because people simply didn't know or because the nature of communicating via forums wasn't the best for communication. With the help of my AI I improved rather nicely nonetheless. I was a high 80s/low 90s shooter that first year of high school in 2000 and by junior year had cracked the varsity squad - I beat out probably 12-15 other guys for one spot. I won our state regional tournament that year with a one-under 70 (many more stories can come out of that round because it was a clearkey epiphany!) Senior year I was individual conference medalist and our team lost the state tournament in a playoff.

I am of course grateful to Lynn for making St. Augustine happen. Chuck and Randy also were big influences there. I had hit a semi-roadblock in my book study around that time and felt that to progress forward I had to really get some info from "outside the box." It needed to be first-hand stuff because parts of this book are just plain hard to understand using only a keyboard. St. Augustine opened up a lot of the book for me. I remember Danny Elkins asking me after the first day, "Matt, what is the biggest thing you've learned so far?" I told him, "I never knew how important the right forearm was." I still feel that way.

I feel fortunate to have connected with these people because it opened up such a network for me. There are countless others on the forum here that I've met as well and it was a pleasure.

What are friends for? Trig's swing has made a huge tranformation ever since he took ownership of it and he is deadly in our skins games as a result.

Iron sharpens Iron.:)

I took up the game 7 years ago at 39. Didn't even know how to hold a club prior to that. I found myself wading through all the trade rags trying to find the magic move that would break 100. Had a few lessons with the local range pro's at my club. All of them seeking their PGA qualification and each trying to get me to pattern after their swing. After a few years, the contradictions from every source nearly drove me away from the game for good. I did an internet search on "swing plane" which landed me on Chuck Evans first EZ-Board forum and read posts from Randy, Philly and a few others. The language was clear and precise and they seemed to understand the swing better than anything I had read till then, and I think they would readily admit they were really struggling to understand TGM at the time. You guy's have come a long way. :D

I made my way over to the Golfing Machine forum (when it was still active), and ordered the book from Sally in 99. Started posting and trying to learn the yellow book. Like Metallion said, it's been downhill (handicap-wise) ever since. On a really bad day I shoot in the low 80's. I'm convinced I would still be struggling to break 90 right now if I hadn't stumbled on TGM. Thanks Randy, Philly and especially Chuck for keeping the fires going. It's my time to help hold the torch and give back everything that Homer has given to me. My contribution is helping the worlds best G.O.L.F communicator bring Homers work to everyone that needs it as badly as I did, and still do. Lynn Blake is turning the golfing world upside down. The package is all there, the timing is right, and we all need to help deliver it.
Respect goes out to all y'all.

Bagger

Mike Hebron's books got me first interested in TGM and Brian Manzella greatly increased my interest.

17 July 1982.....Place Troon Scotland...John Allen May and Bobby Clampett..between watching him and reading about it, bought the book.

Of course being somewhat slow and dense, I really didn't get that much of it till 2000 with Chuck Evans...

And Then there was and is...Yoda...The fog lifts, the truth is known...

Still learning...

Still can't remember the all the chapters...but there is time...

David L. MIA?
 

So what happened to David Lavelle? (sp?) Is he still posting anywhere? I remembered seeing some of his posts on rec.sports.golf newsgroup. Pretty strong advocate as I recall.

Bagger...ty for your post. And yes, I struggled big time to learn the terminology (I remember Chuck, Randy, Todd trying to explain the flying wedges to me - a disaster!). You and I, while not recently, have chatted alot in the past - always been a pleasure.

Thats the thing. I know recently I have been questioning alot of hte 'minutia' of TGM - but it comes from wanting to understand better. And where better then here? With friends?

Also...I am utterly amazed at how quick some of the members here have learned the book and the concepts. Truely a testament to the type of people the book draws.

I love this Job. I thank God for every day he gives me in the Corp. Ooo rah.