"The Impact Zone" by Bobby Clampett

[iPutt]

What handicap range do you think that this book is good for? I'm nowhere near "new" to the game and already have a pretty good understanding of the swing. I guess I'm looking to take my game to the next level. So would this book help me or would a lot of it go over a mid/upper handicapper's head?

[Danattherock]

The dvds are $250

https://secure.ultracart.com/checkou...merchantId=SIZ


As for getting them if you can't practice, can't say I would. When you see the dvds (especially if you have read the book) you are going to want to hit the range. I have watched the dvds maybe once a week for the last 3 weeks, hit balls at the range 3 times per week, played yesterday for first time in a few weeks. Everything is better. Drives are straighter, pushed a few that were right fringe and one ball found the woods, but no hook or mishits that plagued me in the past. Iron shots from par three tees were all over the green or fringe. Wedges were automatic from 100 in. Much better golf that I normally experience as a bogey golfer. If you have access to a range, an indoor range (dome) perhaps, I would say go for it. But watching the dvds without being able to hit balls wouldn't be of great usage.


For what level of golfer the dvds are aimed toward, I would say folks shooting over 85 if I had to draw the line in the sand. With reading Bobby's book (twice now), watching the dvds, thinking about what it all means, visualizing (with dvd section), etc.. I feel as if my scores have dropped 10 strokes per round. I went out the other day and played the first round of golf in a while, spent most my time lately on the driving range and practice putting green. I didn't even keep score, wind was blowing 30 mph, late afternoon worried about running out of day light, had been up 24 hours. I work 12 hour nights, live on Nantucket where I work, flew over to the mainland, rented car, to course etc.. Point being, not ideal conditions. I hit one ball in the woods. Thinned one out of a sand trap 40 yards over the green. These are the only 2 bad shots the whole round. I got birdie on two holes, one of which was a 40 yard lob wedge. Many pars, equal amount of bogeys. Maybe got double bogey on 2 holes. Guessing I would have shot 85-86. I have shot in the 80's literally 6 times my whole life, so this is huge for me. Forward leaning shaft at impact, swing bottom 4" forward of the ball, lag in the swing being released as close as possible to the ball, that is the major worth of Bobby's book and dvd. If you do these things well, this info may not be as much use to you. For me, I wasn't doing any of these things so my gains have been gigantic.

My suggestion, read the book first. Work on your swing a bit. See if you feel you are making progress. If so, buy the dvds to gain a clearer picture of what Bobby teaches.



-Dan

[grandaddy510]

i just picked up the book from amazon. haven't got out on the course yet but i've went to the range 3 times since i've gotten it working on the flat wrist and aiming point. it has really helped my chipping and pitching a ton. it really gets you turning thru the ball and getting your weight shifting forward. haven't really worked on the full swing much other than dynamic 1-2, i'm still trying to get the feeling of the loading early in the back swing. naturally i load closer to the top it feels a little awkward so i'm planning to work on that this week.

[Danattherock]

Take it slow and follow the book. I spent weeks putting, chipping, and hitting pitch shots before I really "got it". Wonderful information and the flat left wrist is the foundation. Spend time doing dynamics 1-3 and it will pay off big time. I was a flipper a year ago. The flat left wrist alone was huge for me.

-Dan

[wrx_junki]

Flipped through this book at BNN today and think I may purchase this along with Golfing Machine. Hopefully can work on some of what they say during the off season. Going to go back to flip through a few other books since my thumb is still out of commission.

[Danattherock]

Be sure to read (and understand) The Impact Zone before reading TGM. Think of The Impact Zone as cliff notes for TGM. I just got TGM two days ago. It is not a fun read. I am hoping it will give deeper insights into what I have learned in Bobby's book, but it won't be fun reading I can see already. Looks more like a book for TGM instructors than the average golfer. Got mine on Amazon from The Golfing Machine for $38 (7th edition brand new hard cover). Just thought I would tell you as many are selling the book for $80+. Buy directly from the source and it is fairly affordable.

Also, Ben Doyle is the 1st TGM instructor and aided Homer Kelly in making of the book from what I understand. His website has some DVD's for sale. I just got mine today, but have not seen them yet. Title is How to Build a Golf Game and it is $100. Many of the TGM principles are covered in the dvd and that is why I bought it. Might be worth checking out. He actually sent a nice hand written note with a few tips and suggestions. I was impressed.

Aside from Homer Kelly who is of course passed, Ben Doyle is the most senior TGM guy around. He still teaches out of Quail Ridge GC in Carmel,California. Might be making my way out to see him for a few days in January. Ironically, at $100/hour, he is more affordable than many of the newer guys teaching TGM. There are some 120 TGM instructors around the world, Ben is the grand daddy of them all.


-Dan

[wrx_junki]

Yeah was thinking about getting TGM because I read in the preface that some thoughts were credited to TGM. Thought it would be better to read TGM as a basis but looks like I'll be good with just the Impact Zone for now. Maybe graduate to TGM in the future.

[Danattherock]

That is a logical plan based on what I know. Homer Kelly wrote TGM in like 1970. Ben Doyle was the original instructor as I recall. He is the one Homer taught the program to and Ben passed it on to other TGM instructors. Ben Doyle taught Bobby Clampett this method when Bobby lived in Carmel,California. Bobby had great success with it and many years later wrote "The Impact Zone" as a way of spreading TGM principles to the golfing public in a way that they could better understand it. Homer Kelly ---> Ben Doyle ---> Bobby Clampett ---> you and me. All TGM principles being passed down the line.

-Dan

[iacas]

Flipped through this book at BNN today and think I may purchase this along with Golfing Machine. Hopefully can work on some of what they say during the off season.

TGM is a book that basically tried to define EVERY possible golf swing, and which parts of things go best with other parts. It's nowhere near an instruction manual. I'd hesitate to get the book if you're even a serious casual golfer - flip through a copy if you can find one somewhere first.

Think of The Impact Zone as cliff notes for TGM.

Well, a cliff notes for a small portion of TGM, sure: Aiming Point, mostly.

Also, Ben Doyle is the 1st TGM instructor and aided Homer Kelly in making of the book from what I understand. His website has some DVD's for sale.

Ben Doyle was the first instructor to take it up, yeah. Homer Kelley was a guy without a college degree but an inquisitive, engineering-oriented mind. He was a troubleshooter for Boeing and then spent like 20 years to write the first edition of TGM. It's dense. He died giving a lecture shortly after the sixth edition (which many will say is far better than the current 7th edition).

[QUOTE=Danattherock;551534]Aside from Homer Kelly who is of course passed, Ben Doyle is the most senior TGM guy around. He still teaches out of Quail Ridge GC in Carmel,California. Might be making my way out to see him for a few days in January. Ironically, at $100/hour, he is more affordable than many of the newer guys teaching TGM. There are some 120 TGM instructors around the world, Ben is the grand daddy of them all. I'd agree, that at that rate, it's a steal. Lynn Blake is also relatively inexpensive and is very nearly Doyle's peer in TGM. Look up Lynn on YouTube for some good videos... There's no question TIZ is a descendent of TGM, and Bobby was awesome before he started listening to other people, but sometimes the descendent is a better read than the originator. For even a serious casual golfer, that's likely true here.

[TourSpoon]

Ordered the book last night...started with putting this morning on the putting green looking 2-3" in front of the ball. Putts were dropping! Will report back in a few weeks.

[TourSpoon]

Ok, I have done some research (reading this thread and a couple of other discussions) and started the aiming 3-4 inches in front of the ball with chipping. Then I went to the range and started with wedges. When I got to about 40 balls I started hitting my 9 iron so pure I didn't want to stop. All through the clubs it made a difference and this kind of contact has got to be a glimpse of the next level. With my driver I looked 4 inches ahead and slightly right of the line...guess what...easy draw (I hit it pretty straight). We will see how it goes but so far it was some very promising practice.

[Zeph]

The aiming point technique works, what I found hard was to ingrain the change while looking at the ball again. I don't want to look 3-4 inches in front of it, but once I move the eyes back, the swing bottom moves back again.

[iacas]

The aiming point technique works, what I found hard was to ingrain the change while looking at the ball again. I don't want to look 3-4 inches in front of it, but once I move the eyes back, the swing bottom moves back again.

That's kind of the point of aiming point though - you don't ever really switch back to looking at the ball. You look a little in front of the ball. It's not much - an inch or two - so you can still "see" the ball well enough to hit it solidly.

[Old1964]

I read through chapters 1-3 tonight - did a couple of the drills, trying to keep an open mind, but not finding a lot here that makes me go, "wow".

I wonder what Clampett would say about the habit of turning one's head toward the target before impact. I heard an interview with Annika Sorenstam a couple of months ago in which she explained that she doesn't focus on the ball. She said that she focuses on making a great swing. The video that was shown during her explanation showed that her head turned toward the target significantly - so that she was looking a long way ahead of the ball at impact.

Here's a youtube video - if you freeze it at 2:10 -2:11 (depending on video lag) you will see just how far down range she is looking before impact.


I wonder if she is taking the idea to the extreme - or - if she is doing something altogether different?

[The Recreational Golfer]

I wonder what Clampett would say about the habit of turning one's head toward the target before impact. I heard an interview with Annika Sorenstam a couple of months ago in which she explained that she doesn't focus on the ball. She said that she focuses on making a great swing. The video that was shown during her explanation showed that her head turned toward the target significantly - so that she was looking a long way ahead of the ball at impact.

This move started life as a drill to get her to turn everything together through impact. She liked the results so much that she decided to keep it as a part of her regular swing. She mentioned this on her 12 Nights segment last week on TGC.

[iacas]

This move started life as a drill to get her to turn everything together through impact. She liked the results so much that she decided to keep it as a part of her regular swing. She mentioned this on her 12 Nights segment last week on TGC.

Yeah, it's unrelated to Aiming Point or Bobby's book.

[Sandwedge74]

Originally Posted by iPutt

What handicap range do you think that this book is good for? I'm nowhere near "new" to the game and already have a pretty good understanding of the swing. I guess I'm looking to take my game to the next level. So would this book help me or would a lot of it go over a mid/upper handicapper's head?

hi iputt,

I think this book is great for any range of player. Some very low handicapers or scratchers may disagree but I suspect that's only cuz they are so far along in the game that these particular concepts have become second nature to their swings. Putting aside  - ball striking is the holy grail of improving in this game - at least in my humble opinion. This book is dedicated to that subject totally and completely. If nothing else it can help you greater understand what goes into really good ball striking. I feel this book is a valuable investment. good luck!

Andrew

[TourSpoon]

Originally Posted by Sandwedge74

Quote:

Originally Posted by iPutt

What handicap range do you think that this book is good for? I'm nowhere near "new" to the game and already have a pretty good understanding of the swing. I guess I'm looking to take my game to the next level. So would this book help me or would a lot of it go over a mid/upper handicapper's head?

hi iputt,

I think this book is great for any range of player. Some very low handicapers or scratchers may disagree but I suspect that's only cuz they are so far along in the game that these particular  concepts have become second nature to their swings. Putting aside  - ball striking is the holy grail of improving in this game - at least in my humble opinion. This book is dedicated to that subject totally and completely. If nothing else it can help you greater understand what goes into really good ball striking. I feel this book is a valuable investment. good luck!

Andrew

I have to agree and I am sure that most of the low caps would as well.  These concepts are not that well ingrained in most golfers and according to his research most single digits start the impact on the correct side of the ball, but are far from the four inch ideal.  I wish I had picked this book up when I started playing as it really breaks it down for you as to what proper ball striking should be.  I will not be giving this book up and is probably the best golf read I have.