"Drive the spike" -- What's the supposed to mean?

[boogielicious]

I reminds me of this guy I saw at the range a few years back. He and I were alone there. He was muttering to himself below the level I could make out what the words were. Then he got louder. "Hit down on the ball!" "Hit down on the ball!" "Hit down on the ball!" "HIT DOWN ON THE BALL".

He repeated this for five minutes while hitting his remaining balls. Then he finished and walked towards me repeating it. He stopped and said it right to my face. "Hit down on the ball!"

I said, "ok". 

Then he left. 

[JonMA1]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

I reminds me of this guy I saw at the range a few years back. He and I were alone there. He was muttering to himself below the level I could make out what the words were. Then he got louder. "Hit down on the ball!" "Hit down on the ball!" "Hit down on the ball!" "HIT DOWN ON THE BALL".

He repeated this for five minutes while hitting his remaining balls. Then he finished and walked towards me repeating it. He stopped and said it right to my face. "Hit down on the ball!"

I said, "ok". 

Then he left. 

Sounds like a deleted scene out of the movie Rain Man....

“Yeah.... of course you have to hit down on the ball. Definitely have to hit down”

[colin007]

2 hours ago, boogielicious said:

I reminds me of this guy I saw at the range a few years back. He and I were alone there. He was muttering to himself below the level I could make out what the words were. Then he got louder. "Hit down on the ball!" "Hit down on the ball!" "Hit down on the ball!" "HIT DOWN ON THE BALL".

He repeated this for five minutes while hitting his remaining balls. Then he finished and walked towards me repeating it. He stopped and said it right to my face. "Hit down on the ball!"

I said, "ok". 

Then he left. 

I think I know that guy...

[nevets88]

Hit down dammit!

[Buckeyebowman]

On 7/9/2018 at 9:54 PM, iacas said:

Ugh.

OK, you think Bob Toski is a shlub! Well, when your accolades exceed his, I will listen!

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

OK, you think Bob Toski is a shlub! Well, when your accolades exceed his, I will listen!

I don't care if you listen or not. I'm content to know what I know, and teach how I teach. I hate the idea of actively "releasing" the club. I've written about it extensively.

My playing accolades don't exceed Nick Faldo's. Never will. Doesn't mean he's right when he says the ball starts on the club's path or that I'm wrong when I explain what actually determines the ball's flight, start direction, etc.

If you want to listen to a guy because of "accolades" instead of considering what they're actually saying… be my guest. Doesn't bother me in the slightest.

[Zeph]

I have used a feeling of driving a nail or stake into the ground before, but only with irons. I had a mental image of a nail going through the ball and into the ground at an angle, so I would hit the head of the nail with the club at impact, to promote a downward strike. IIRC, it wasn't too bad of a swing thought, but I don't know if I worked on the positions too and actually had a chance. Doesn't matter what I imagine if the hips are back, too far rotated and head forward. 

[boogielicious]

9 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

OK, you think Bob Toski is a shlub! Well, when your accolades exceed his, I will listen!

Listening doesn't appear to be one of your strengths. 

[scotth]

LOL.  In one of those hilarious ads directed at your online content and viewing just saw a huge ad on the side of this forum for something called square to square and a headline in a massive font that said "Don't chop wood!  Drive the spike".

My wife couldn't figure out what was so funny when I started laughing.  

[BaconNEggs]

Not a fan of these analogies unless the instructor is working with someone to get them to do something very specific, and that person understands the analogy and the analogy helps them accomplish whatever that thing is. For general online instruction, I think they can cause more harm then good. I think of Shawn Clement immediately in particular for these analogies (although I do like him).

In this case, I believe that "driving the spike" is supposed to represent a spike that is nailed in horizontally into an object (near the ground) like an upright wooden post, and you are taking something like a sledge hammer and driving the spike into it by staying behind it and coming in at a relatively flat attack angle-- otherwise, if you came into the spike at a steeper angle, you'd mishit the spike.

"Chopping wood" represents a motion more akin to throwing your arms and shoulders over the top in more of a casting action.

At least, that's my understanding of that particular analogy. I very much doubt an 11 year old would get either of those, though.