Parking lot lesson
 

check this out

I met lynn blake at the OCN golf course restaurant on a friday night talked about golf swings and mentioned that I thought I had a few flaws in my swing, mostly with body movement and my left arm(left handed). I saw lynn in the parking lot on sunday and he asked me how it was going i told him that I was still exp. the same problems. we proceeded to go through some drills in the parking lot not involving any golf equipment. i played yesterday and on the first hole striped one down the middle 287yds the next hole 280yds the longest drive of the day 291yds prior to the half hour in the parking lot my drives were around 240yds. I've had lessons in the past but nothing has ever produced such a dramatic change.

Hey Lynn grastontechnique.com

Barry Smith

Green
 

Congrats on the improved play!

I am a little green over your encounter! However, I have taken many a lesson from Yoda, courtesy of cyberspace!

Yoda, I will be in the Outback Steakhouse parking lot (71st Street, Tulsa location) Friday evening @ 7:21 pm. See you there?

Green Tinged Okie

Parking Lot Pals
 

Thanks for the invite, Okie, but I can't make Oklahoma this week. Maybe next! :laughing9

Your best bet is to PM rwh. He knows his TGM and is a delightful dinner companion. Good luck!

OHHHHHH man that was a BAD BAD FATAL MISTAKE you just done Okie . . .

I'm sure Mike O will be there now . . .

Would you rather have flowers or memorials sent???

I gotta call that Outback and make sure nobody eats any hamburgers there that night . . .

Been nice knowing you man . . .

Parking Lot Teaching Studio -- Part I
 

Thanks for the boost, Barry. Our chance meeting in the parking lot gave us both an opportunity to learn. :)

For the Forum, here's what happened . . .

I had been teaching all week at Orange County National in Orlando and was loading up the car late Sunday afternoon in preparation for my trip back to Atlanta the next morning. As I walked toward the bag drop for my gear, Barry had finished his round and was walking away from it. As fate would have it, we met in the middle.

We had introduced ourselves the previous Friday evening in the resort's 19th hole and had talked some golf. But talkin' ain't doin', and doin' is what gets it done! So, as we stood there in the parking lot, I asked him to make a couple of 'swings' for me -- neither of us had a club -- and he did.

:shock:

Then we got down to business!

:rambo:

A major part of our training consisted of Barry and I walking side-by-side and straight ahead (say, south to north) while swinging our arms freely and continuously in front of our advancing bodies and in a "parallel motion" (west to east and back again). We would walk about 30 yards, and then turn around and repeat the drill returning to our starting location. We must have been quite a sight, because more than one group of departing golfers stopped and stared. :laughing9

We did this over and over until Barry was able to coordinate a free arm swing -- independent of a twisting torso -- with the likewise independent 'walking' of his legs. It's simple once you get it, but it's a little harder to do than you may think. Try it!

The key is to be on your right foot as you swing back and on your left foot as you swing through. At first, Barry would do exactly the opposite, i.e., he was on his left foot as he swung back and on his right foot as he swung through. And he would take big, ponderous giant steps -- not a natural walking step at all! -- as he attempted the coordination. We stopped and started more than a few times (and shared more than one laugh) as he gradually got the hang of it.

For more of our lesson and Barry's transformation, stay tuned for Part II!

:3gears:

Parking Lot Teaching Studio -- Part II
 

Once Barry was able to walk straight ahead while swinging his arms side-to-side in perfect timing, the job was to translate that natural action into a 'golf-like' motion. I asked him to assume a golfer's stance -- no more walking -- and to duplicate the continuous and "parallel" free arm swing with natural leg action (loading and unloading foot and knee action). Alas, now that we were making something more akin to a golf swing, his old habits instantly took over. His upper torso swayed and twisted in the backstroke, pulling his head out of position and his now not-so-free arm swing far inside.

After showing him what was happening (and why), I then defined new 'on plane' alignments and demonstrated how to maintain them. I also explained how this radically different motion related to our coordinated 'walking and arm swinging' drill. After only a few minutes, Barry's action was centered and his "pivot controlled hands" had all but disappeared. His motion now had the unmistakeable look of a first class, "natural" golf swing, i.e., "hands controlled pivot".

By now, the sun was setting, the temperature had dropped and the wind was picking up. Time to go. It had been only a half hour or so, but without a club and without hitting the first ball, we had made real progress. We had focused only on the motion, and when the motion changes, the result changes.

I was tickled to read Barry's post and of the results achieved when he took his new motion to the course. Yessir, 'ol Yoda was mighty pleased . . .

But not surprised.

;-)

Bob's Golden Arches
 

Sounds a little like Bob McDonald (exercise 6 and 7).

Would you like fries with that?
 

Yes it does, but the first post said it was an Outback lot, not Mickey D's.

UPP in freezing but warming up Ohio

Marching Orders
 

But the "Arches" could also be referenced to the feet :salut: . To the left, to the left, left, right , left...

Exactly but the description really made the diagrams come to life - Thanks Lynn!

If there is ever time for your DVD - can the MacDonald exercises be part of that??? Would be even better to see than to read...

As luck would have it I found this on youtube...make Barry's first attempt at the exercises?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqhlQfXUk7w:)

Old Time Religion
 

Right you are, Drew. In fact, the MacDonald Exercises (#6 and #7 from the book Golf, Robert MacDonald, 1927) were the basis for Phase II. See http://lynnblakegolf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4435 and click on the images to enlarge.

A modified Mehlhorn drill (from the book Golf Secrets Exposed, Bill Mehlhorn and Bobby Shave, 1984) was the basis of Phase I. Bill Mehlhorn was a premier ball striker and a three-time leading money winner on the PGA Tour in the '30s. [I strongly recommend this book and have arranged with Bobby Shave a 20 percent discount for LBG members. Just drop Bobby a line at info@mehlhorngolf.com, tell him which products you want (I recommend the videos, too) and that you're a friend of Lynn Blake Golf. That will do it.]

The bottom line is that the basics I teach stretch back at least a century (to Harry Vardon). But the precision I teach goes back only to 1969, the date Homer Kelley published the first edition of The Golfing Machine. Finally, the application I teach is unique to each student and is often 'made up' on the fly. I see the motion as it is and then, as it could be. My communication skills and the player's dedicated effort bridge the gap.

It is what I do.

:)

One Less
 

OKIE,
This is Yoda- I'll be there Friday evening- make sure you wear an orange shirt so that using an example "I could see you say from down the street with a scope." By the way- let me know what kind of car, make, model, color that you drive- and arrive alone.
Thanks-
Green Man

Boom! Not gonna see you Sooner
 

Gee whiz, "Yoda" I am going to have to pass on the oppurtunity. I am an OU fan, wearing orange is forbidden! As for my ride!

Whew . . . I'm glad to hear Silver Surfer is still around . . . he's been AWOL . . .I was worried that Mikey took a vacation way up NAWTH. . . he's probably got his tongue stuck to a lamp post up there some where.

This could be the start of something new.

We can schedule Yoda at a new Parking Lot location each Friday Night (summer only). And rather than Ball Retrievers we’ll hand out dent removers.

I’m thinking $40 bucks a head at the gate and 20% of concessions. I’m sure we can get the “Cracker Barrel” to sponsor the event each week.

We’ll market the events as “Tune Up and Fill Up For The Weekend”

On Special Occasions, $60 buck per head and all you can eat; Cracker Barrel can arrange the Dinning Tables in a miniature 18 hole putting course.

I’m estimating 28K per month and we cut Yoda in for 45%. :golf:

wooo! funny mikey . . . much better than you telling us about how you built spaceships and used to date Einstien's cuzinz' brother or whatever that was . . .

Mike O works at In & Out Burger (for reasons obvious) . . . he could probably get us a hook up on the venue.

I'm sure Mike O is a great Fry Chef. However we need to think bigger and I know that Yoda will lean into this a little more if it's a Cracker Barrel.

No no . .. Mike O is Special Sauce Specialist . . .

Do you mean he organizes all of the Packets of condiments and separates them into their own bins for customers to choose? Wow. That's an important job. Overtime? :salut:

If Yoda keeps doing Parking lot lessons, maybe we can all pitch-in and for Christmas next year, and buy him a portable Golf Matt. A lightweight roll-up one. :laughing9

Oh it's ALOT worse than that . . . he's in charge of PRODUCTION.

I won't go there.

He's got weekends off . . . so you'd be awight to go there on Sunday probably.

Ya, but will Yoda be there?

Heck naw . . man that dude's way over qualified to work at In&OUt Burger . . . he'd probably qualify for district or maybe even regional manager. He'll be a corporate I'm sure.

Oh!
 

Oh! But so tempting!:happy3:

Missing Person's Report
 

Sorry Bucket,
Life can sometimes get in the way of so much fun. Just ask EdZ and 6BMike...Yoda always leaves the front porch light on for the Prodigal Sons of TGM :) .