Taly Williams - check this guy out..

hey all...

not sure why this guy's name hasn't popped up here, but this guy is definitely onto something.
Check out his site online and his youtube videos. He markets a training aid he calls the "mindset",
which is a very simple yet oddly profound thing that is basically just a visual extension of your left arm--
but that's just a very small piece of his platform. The main piece is a completely different set of fundamentals for golf than
what you're used to hearing. I know, "sounds like hype".. buy you gotta check it out (just google 'taly williams' or 'taly mindset'). Like I said, I really think he's onto something big here .. and it's all so utterly, confoundingly sensible.
And it's transformed more than just my golf game so far...

- jerry

What i get out of it is that the red ball at the bottom is to help you align right with the ball. As you stand it should point at the ball, on the backswing it goes straight back and on the downswing it should go right over the ball. The device in its self stops you from cocking your wrist, swinging your arms and releasing your arms and wrist through impact. It changes the swing from a bunch of moving parts to basically 1 solid robotic movement. It has been around for awhile, i remember seeing it on youtube about 3-4 years ago when i was searching Golf swings and things of that nature. Tho i would never buy it it seems like it would help with different aspects of peoples swings. Especially someone who slices the ball, needs help aligning themselves up and balance.

hey Nickynoodles,

I like your slogans. Just as a side note I like to do a sort of "be the ball" technique .. I find it really helpful.

I'm just getting into this Taly stuff now... and I see you've given it some thought. He does try to eliminate "moving parts". He teaches 3 'simplified' swings. One is when both the red ball and then your clubhead both pass over the ball, as you mentioned. Another is when the red ball follows your toeline, and a third is when you pull the redball straight back with your right hand (i.e. retrach right elbow) and then push it back into the ball. All three feature "no wrist" action (except some specialty shots)which he feels greatly simplifies the golf swing and makes it much more repeatable, with no loss of distance. (more on that later)

But, beyond all that I mentioned, and beyond the device, which I did buy and I do like, what I am REALLY hooked on here are his set of fundamentals that are so unique, and so absolutely spot-on (imo) that I've been absolutely beside myself since discovering this stuff.

They are:
1) you want to keep your left wrist and arm completely firm-- "rigid" acutally, throughout the swing. He calls them "rigid members" (an engineering term I believe.. he's an engineer who has won engineering awards, and was also a professional athlete)
2) you want to swing, not with the thought of "fast hands" or getting "clubhead speed", or anything like that at all, but rather with the thought of "maintaining flex in the shaft into impact".
3) you don't want to 'release' either with wrists or arms or anything (more on that below!!!)

And the second item requires the first item in order to work right. So, If your arm and wrist joint is 'rigid' then the 'next weakest member' will 'give way' which is the shaft, so you can flex it.. which is exactly what you want. You can't do that if you're loose.

And most golfers are WAY too loose. I was way too loose, I now know. I didn't think I was. And I could hit it pretty far. But I was way too loose.

Even pros that look loose, like Couples, are really, really firm coming into the ball. We just don't see it. We are fooled by pictures and videos which is another big part of what this guy talks about.

Then there's the impact position, and how to achieve it, which is another big thing, completely different way then I had ever heard articulated before.. and another thing that most golfers get completely fooled by pictures on. You don't want to 'release' at all, you actually want to try NOT to release. You end up with an impact position like what JB Holmes has.. which is tremendously efficient.. but Taly shows you how to actually get there.

But this is probably way too much info. Sorry.. I get carried away. If you're interested go to Taly.com and watch all the vids.. he explains all this stuff visually, in little pieces. Plus they are kindof entertaining.

best rgds,
jerry

hey iacas,
His website is "taly.com".In terms of you tube I don't think he has a channel, but there are a slew of his swing vids there (taken from his site mainly i think)...in you tube, search for "taly mindset". The device looks a bit odd at first, and the vids have a definite home grown quality to them. But it all kind of grows on you, eventually. The guy is really increadibly bright, and has a lot of really great ideas.
- Jerry

cool.. thanks iacas!
I actually saw that vid a while ago but it was neat to see it again now that I've absorbed some of this technique.
That's definitely on the same path as Taly, no pun intended. But I think that Taly actually takes it a few steps further w/ regards to not using the wrists at all, and even actually maintaining them as "rigid members" (both wrists and arms) in order to more easily flex the shaft, and also by swinging "not with the goal of 'fast hands' but instead with the goal of 'maintaining flex in the shaft through impact'". The last bit is really the coolest thing ever. I'm finding this stuff is absolutely amazing. Much much easier than the way I was doing it and far less fatiguing. I went through a large bucket a day or so ago (it was still warm enough here in Houston) and felt completely energized. Normally I would have been totally spent.

Plus I think Taly's left wrist impact position might be even more open than Blake's, but that might just be because Blake's grip is weaker. But they are definitely on similar paths.

Interesting... I read that you are into Utley. I've also been working real hard on trying to get a handle on Utley's techniques as well. In a very circuitous way that's what kind of led me to Taly.. but thats another saga for another day.

Here is a video where JP Holmes and Matt Killen, his TGM coach basically say the same sort of thing about impact. Later on in the video Holmes hits a 3 wood 300 yards... really inspiring...



- Jerry

That's awesome iacas.. very cool. very cool indeed.
I understand that there are a number of pros who carry one of these around but you don't know it because they haven't been paid yet to endorse it. His method is pretty simple. He calls them "simplified swings". And in none of the swings do you "release" or "use the wrists", or "roll your arms" or do anything intentionally to close the face, in fact you try to prevent those things from happening.He teaches 3 swings...
"without swing your arms (WSYA)", which is a body only swing and his version of one plane swing.
a "verticle arm drop" -- swing with body and arms on two planes
and "pull-push" -- his version of a one plane arm swing.

All this stuff is completely elaborated on his site, a lot better than I'm doing here.His method of swinging has worked wonders for me so far, in every part of the game, even putting believe it or not. I originally got into his stuff because I was looking for a way/ reason / excuse to firm up on my 30 yd pitches because I found, on my own experimentation (and I was working on the Utley short game methods), that they just had no consistency without my firming up. So I needed someone to tell me it was OK to firm up I guess.

These are the 3 main pieces of his "method" that I have tried to incorporate into my game and I HIGHLY recommend anyone
trying:
- "create/maintain shaft flex into impact" (this is the coolest part.. forget about fast hands or clubhead speed or anything like that, just flex the shaft!),
- "maintain rigid members" ( this is needed for the first part to work... I mainly focus on the left wrist and arm, but also the right too; you would think that doing this would be fatiguing but I have found the opposite to be true-- it's easier to swing this way because you're so much more efficient; similarly the common fear is you loose feel if you add tension.. but I have found once again the opposite is true.. I was actually loosing feel because I was way too loose),
- "swing by turning the shoulders and body and keeping the arms (i.e. the "rigid system") in the same place"
(the third only applies when I am working on the WSYA swing)

Other than that the only thing I watch out for is any recoil at the top of the backswing, as it disturbes the buildup of shaft flex into the ball.

I can't say enough great things about this method. I am still not sure which swing I will ultimately settle on.. I am mainly working on the WSYA swing presently put plan to check out the other two as well. But I'm so tickled by all this I don't care. My swing is now so much more efficient, with so much more consistent "zing". And the shorter the shot the more apparent it is how much this stuff is helping. My pitching is solid now. I completely reversed my putting priorities.. using the same method for that now too .. and now I can putt. The whole game has gotten a lot easier. Life is good.

ok.. i'll stop now..I'm starting to sound like an infomercial.