808hacker

I just got the SwingByte 2. It is great for taking a look at your swing path. They need to improve the descriptions of some of the parameters but in general, it works pretty well. The iOS app is still buggy, they need work there. Otherwise, it is very useful for what I see so far.

> One of the points is that pros only need to get up and down five, maybe six times per round Wouldn't that make it seem like you need to practice it even more for the times you need to save par? It sure seemed like Jimmy Walker was getting up and down so many times. It was amazing to watch. Also when Rory went up and down some 20+ times out of 25 tries. I can't remember the exact numbers. It was amazing to watch. Anyway, I am eager to check out the book. Thanks!

I haven't received my book yet (has been shipped). Without reading it yourself, most did not believe driving and ball striking out weighed other practice details Yikes, I hope the book doesn't have my son just bang away at the driving range ignoring his pitching and putting :-) I see the pros get up and down all the time. It is amazing. I do agree that GIR is important. I look forward to checking out the book. I already have so many books, I'm hoping this one is different. It will be interesting. My son is basically a 1 handicap and I have run out of ideas to help him. Therefore.... the book!

Count me in. Ordered the book and hope it will help my son! Me too for that matter!

I know this thread is supposed to be about improving beyond bogey golf, but for me, that's all I strive to be lately. 1: I rarely have time to hit the range. 2: I'm a terrible putter. 3: I drive the ball short. All that being said, my game improved a LOT when my Dad told me to play each hole as if bogey was par for me. It relaxed me thinking I have 4 more shots. Or if I screwed up the 2nd, shot, I still had 3 more. I worked a lot on getting a consistent swing that IF I executed properly would go where I aimed. My irons are decent and almost always I can hit the green if I am 136 yards in. So, all I do now is practice when I can with my Medicus (don't laugh). I sweep the mat and make sure I have a smooth swing. I also am now practicing putting more. I am almost always putting for par - but I frequently miss. So I make a lot of bogeys. I know everyone wants to be better than a bogey golfer, but I am lucky to play a number of Pro Am tournaments here and I don't embarrass myself. I hit a decent drive and decent approach shot. My putting is suspect but every now and then I sink a good one. I got a book called something like "how short hitting golfers break 90" or something like this and it has been a great book for the course management part. Right now for me, bogey golf is life.

Now that I think about it. We should wait for one of those demo days because I'm not sure if the local stores even carry a reasonable selection of shafts.

Good point. He needs to get tested. His handicap is .5 and he's 6 feet tall. He's using x-stiff Tour AD DI for his driver. Are there x-stiff woods that are sold at places like Roger Dunn? We don't have a large selection here in Hawaii. That's what makes it so tough.

Yes, but why does it always end up being the tour ad di? Too $$$

There are so many shafts out there. What are a few current shafts that I should be checking out for an extra stiff shaft for a 3 wood? Not for me but for my son. Are there a few shafts that really stand out currently? Thanks in advance. Aron

That 2nd youtube video I posted pretty much explains the new ball flight laws.

This one is only 10 minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR2zLVBSQm4&feature;=related

Here's a 40 minute explanation of the new ball flight laws. 40 minutes to explain this subject. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uepMzddHpas

Like I said, I am not contesting the laws. All I am saying is that just because it's a law and it makes sense (after studying and studying) doesn't mean it's easy to understand or apply. If this is so easy, why do we have to watch youtube videos and do all this when it's so easy? If it's transforming players, why isn't the info drawn out in an easy to understand way? Why not sell it since everyone else seems to sell the same tips over and over? Maybe.... 1: People enjoy being the only ones that know and enjoy telling others that they are wrong and the usual answer - go figure it out yourself applies. 2: It's not that easy to apply or understand and maybe the old way although theoretically wrong - did work _seem_ to work - even though it's technically incorrect. 3: Some people want to make money - the same people that keep on saying golf is easy - or that all you have to do is this or that - and it will happen. 4: insert your own. If all of this were so easy we would all be great players. It SEEMS as if the answer is simple: Aim club face for direction Swing path determines curvature Now try and do it consistently. Try it the old way or the new way. Does it really matter which way you do it if it works for you?

I'm not contesting the laws. All I am saying is IMO that it's not as simple to do as some people say and whatever the reality is, many people seem to be able to do things the old way. Now that we know the truth, I'd like to know many people are actually doing any better because of it? Has it transformed anyone's playing? Why isn't this the most major breakthrough in golf? In print it seems to be an incredible find.

Not sure about these ball flight laws in terms of implementation. The old way worked for a lot of people and it was a relatively simple thing to do. The new way seems just "iffy" in terms of implementation and due to the path AND club face open/close - still make for a complex relationship. If the swing path were perfect, then yeah, it's easy to just aim the club face, but the swing path rarely is (for normal people), so it's not so easy. IMO.

OK so if what I am reading is correct - direction is approximately 85% of the clubface aim - where it is pointing. Clubface swing path??? determines curve. So to hit a draw, you setup square, open the clubface a little, swing inside to outside or "to the right". But if the "true" ball flight rules say that an open clubface curves the ball right, then what exactly is happening with the clubface when you swing inside to out? What exactly is making the ball curve??? From the True flight laws, it would seem the clubface is closed. So it's closed according to the path of the club swing path, but pointed to the right of the target?? I am confused as to the difference between an open face (which is supposed to make the ball go right), and an open face at impact which makes the ball curve right. What does the swing path do to the ball at impact and how is that different from the clubface being open or closed? Thanks in advance.

I timed Keegan taking over 2 1/2 minutes before taking a shot to the green while playing the Sony Open. He's incredibly accurate but that fidgeting is a little too much.

One thing I haven't seen in this thread are the extreme slow downs that happen because of betting. Everyone knows about them and every /shotputt looks like serious dough is exchanging. From what I have seen, this really slows down a round and they don't like to be bothered. You can't even ask them if you can skip ahead.

I am still using this swing and it continues to work for me. It's nice to have something that is repeatable and gives good results.

>If you simply turn your hips to initiate the downswing you'll end up with all your weight on the outside of your target foot which is where you want it. Yes it works for me, but since I read online (too much), I wondered about that. Before I used Paul's method I was like most of my friends - chunking the ball, hitting it left, then right. One day might be great, the next day terrible. Only after I really got the feeling of using the hips like he says did I start hitting the ball much straighter. Like anything else in golf, who knows if it works for someone else? It has allowed me to practice much less at the driving range; I don't need to practice to get the ball going straight now - just a few swings to get loose. I was watching a bunch of people playing Oahu CC yesterday and wow, when I watch that, I'm not that bad :-)

>s your handicap out of date? It says 24. It might be, but I am still crappy. My drives and approach shots are much better since I have used Paul's method. I only play recreational golf. I needed a swing that would keep me in bounds and allow me the chance to enjoy the course. This swing gives me that. My problems are with pitching and putting and I accept that. In reality all I really do is play with my son and play in Pro Am tournaments. Not much more. I was trying a swing which I won't name right now and I got golfer's elbow and a host of other problems. Only when I really took Paul's swing seriously did all of these problems go away. I'm not a pro so right now, almost everything Paul says makes sense to me. The #1 thing I don't understand re: the swingmachinegolf is that he believes in rotating the hip without much of a slide - but there's a lot of tips online that promote a slide first - sometimes the slide looks pretty big.

Hey guys, I've been using Paul's method for 3 months now and all I can say is "it works". As long as I have loose wrists, powerless arms and start the swing like he says, it works. Every time I feel tension creep in and forget to start the swing like he says - something bad comes back. It's gotten to the point where all of my bad shot wasting is on pitching and putting. I've made so many good shots using his method that I don't feel like looking any further. I have no idea if it's a "pro style" swing, but it is an enjoyable swing that is easy to do and produces great results. It's just a great feeling to be able to nail it down the fairway straight compared to my old way of hitting. I still make bad shots now and then, but I know exactly that it was because of a bad habit and I can tell why. Let me put it this way: I've made way more good shots than bad and I am enjoying driving the ball more than ever. Now I have to deal with being right next to the green and then wasting all my shots pitching too far and putting too short. :-(

I agree Ernest. I am still working at it. What is happening now is I really see how bad lots of parts of my golf is (by video). I have not gotten much increased clubhead speed, but so far, I am still hitting very, very straight. Bad habits still try to creep in a lot. This swing still seems to be working, but we will see this weekend. It takes a lot of effort to not try and smash at the ball. A LOT of effort! As someone said above, the biggest improvement if you try Paul's swing is proper weight shift. I hardly hit behind the ball now. It still happens, but much, much less. The ball goes a lot straighter too. We will see how it lasts. At least the swing is not a weird one like some of the others I have tried.

Just to follow up. I used the swingmachinegolf method and hit incredible shots. I just wish some of you could see how crooked I used to hit the ball before trying this method. Left, right, slice etc.... On good days I might develop a pull or hook that I would work with on the course... At least I wasn't slicing. I know this sounds like a commercial, but this swing really works for me. If you just let the lower body start and do the turning and don't let the arms get in the way (keep them loose), it is hard to hit crooked shots. Now the bad habits did creep back in - trying to use the arms too much, but I was aware of it, and once I caught it and adhered to the lower body method, the shots became straight again. The best part is that it is truly effortless when you do it right. What I want to do is test it on someone around here, because right now it seems like a miracle.

I have been playing for only around 3 years but it has been up and down. I've read tons of books, watched as my son got better and better as I got worse. About a few months ago, I saw Paul Wilson's videos online. What he said made a lot of sense to me. What I like is that he explains things very clearly and when I go to the range, I DO see the problems he mentions all over the place! I slowly tried his ideas but I never got it. I never believed that I was using too much arm and was trying to brute force swing the club. I tried to relax, to loosen up. I tried to shift my weight; friends tried to help me. Nothing worked. I got worse and even tried some weird swings that I purchased online. Some of them made me straighten my legs, try to time my wrists on impact and a ton of other unnatural things. I did know about using the lower body but no one around me could really explain it clearly, much less show it to me. It was frustrating. I knew the jr. golfers did it, because you can clearly see that they are not strong, yet they can hit pretty far and they clearly do use their lower body. To make a long story short, I really decided to do the steps to try Paul's swing and I finally got it. When I execute it like he says, it is effortless and the ball goes straight. It's hard to believe, but it really does work. It's not going to fix my short game or my putting, but I'm looking forward to the next round of golf I tell you.