zenchili

Interesting responses. It seems that some people think it's worth it and others don't. It also seems that it depends on your level. If you're already an excellent player, a top 100 instructor could be great for diagnosing flaws other instructors can't see. But that if you're not at that level, you're better off learning from lesser known teachers (who may be great teachers, they just don't have the fame). I didn't realize some of those guys charge up to 12k for a half day. Wow! I'm concerned that some of these guys might want to revamp my swing to fit their method. Has anyone experienced that? I'd love to go to Sea Island some time. The facility does look and sound amazing.

I've been considering going to a top 100 teacher,but I want to know what their success rate is with real people. Have you studied with Haney, Butch Harmon, Rick Smith, Mac O'Grady, etc? Have you improved? Or did you get worse? Did they make you better?

His name is Eben Dennis. You can see his website here .

Basically the routine is the same for all three shots. I address the ball and visualize the trajectory, and curve. Then I kind of let my body figure out what my hands need to do. When it feels right, I know it, and then I reproduce that feeling on the actual swing. It probably sounds strange, but thats the routine. But getting to the point where I can trust the feeling has taken a few days. As I've done this, I've become more sensitive to the subleties of the feelings. So that whatever shot I visualize, I then know when it feels right. I'm not sure how to describe it better than that. It's like asking a basketball player, when you're 10 feet from the basket, or at the 3 point line, how do you know how far to shoot the ball? I'd bet they tell you, they just feel it. I think golf is more like that than most people realize.

For the past six months I've used video almost every day, I've actually been one of the biggest fans of video. But the results I'm getting have shown me that there are other ways too. If you are successful with video that's great. I don't want to take that away from you. And if it works for you, even better. I never said you can't adjust from shot to shot. I'm sure that you can. Also, I'm not using a mirror behind me either. Now, you said something up feeling three different swings. I know it seems like that's the way it is, but it really isn't. The only thing I'm feeling to make those changes, is how my hands feel. And it's actually subtle feelings. It's not a big change at all. I guess it's hard to describe if you haven't exeprienced it. But for me, at least, it has really simplified the game. At the same time my accuracy, distance control, and ability to work the ball has increased. That's why I'm excited about it. I'm not telling you have to change, I would never presume to know what's better for you. All I'm saying is there are people who can benefit from a change like this, and I'm one of them.

Hey Zeph, That's an interesting idea but it's assuming that video is more correct than feeling. When I'm talking about shot making it's not only about the hands. You obviously need to consider the lie, any trees or obstacles in the way, and your trajectory. And all of those require some adjustment. There isn't really a stock shot where the only thing that changes is your setup. If you hit your 7 iron 160. How often do you have a 160 yard shot with a perfect lie, with no wind at the right temperature. Rarely. Golf is a game of adjustment and calculating, but that is where feel is great. Visualizing the shot, feeling it, and then executing it, seems a lot simpler for me then figuring out whether I need to hit my 7 iron 90%, 85%, 72% or really go after it and hit 112%. I think feel can actually do those types of calculations faster and more accurately than trying to figure them out "consciously". And that's what this exercise is really about. In my practice session todayI was able to alternate hitting high fades and high cuts accurately simply by feeling what my hands needed to do. It was the first time I had ever felt I had so much control with the driver. As far as whether video is more correct than feeling, I think what counts is getting it in the hole more efficiently. If you are not getting the results you are looking for, then you need to look at your approach. But if it's working, why worry about how it looks on video? That could be sending you down the wrong path.

I guess I'm not really surprised by the differences in responses to the post. My instuctor is not tired of working with me. Anyway, it sounds like some people think like this is a good challenge if you already have sound fundamentals. Maybe, but this is the way my instructor will also start teaching beginners. He will have them learn to feel their hands and understand the role of their hands in the swing. No video. No swing positions. And I think he has had quite a bit of sucess. This is also how he was taught the game by the players mentioned above, Jimmy Demaret, Jackie Burke and Ben Hogan. Other instructors that I have talked to about this challenge love it too. But there are a few different philosophies in teaching today. I think very technical instructors may reject this challenge and want to keep their students reaching certain positions. Hank Haney for example is a very technical positions type of teacher. See "The Haney Project" first season with Barkley. I think TGM instructors though are probably the most technical as the TGM is written basically for engineers. A lot of your old school instructors Claude and Butch Harmon, Jim McClean, Harvey Penick were all feel instructors. No video, or very rarely. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to teach, I think different students learn differently. I learned the swing in a very technical way, but I am throughly enjoying feeling it. I don't think I'll entirely drop technical or video, I think I will just use it differently once this challenge is over for me. I have 26 days left. One of the things I'm seeing, is increased creativity and shot making. Rather than standing by the ball and making a swing. I really visualize the type of shot I want to hit, I feel it in my hands, and I'm able to execute it more easily than before. And I don't have to have any swing thoughts, other than remembering the feeling I want my hands to have. I think that's a pretty cool way to play golf.

I've been informally working with a pro who I really respect. He gave me a challenge. No swing analysis, no swing videos, for 30 days. Now let me give you a bit of background. For the past six months I've been doing a lot of video analysis, and I think it has helped. So for me, it was difficult to give up the video for a month, but in the end decided that I had to stop being dependent on it and accepted the challenge. Around the same time that he recommended this, I've been talking to another pro in Dallas, who learned the game from Jimmy Demaret, Jackie Burke and Ben Hogan. I told him about the challenge I received and he thought it was a great idea too. I've been doing it for a few days and I've been seeing really good results. During these few days I have not taken any video. What is happening is that my feel is becoming more fine tuned. I'm becoming more able to see the shot I want to hit and hit it. The pro in Dallas has been coaching me through this process and it is really simplifying the game for me. I think we make the game so much more complicated than it really is. I also decided to extend the challenge. I decided that for that month, I'm not using any tips from the internet, magazines, or golf channel. I really just want to focus on developing feel and I think that technology, while good, can lead to being too technical. Playing golf, I think, shouldn't be so much about the swing, it should be about playing the game, and I think developing great feel is a big part of that.

I agree Ft-IQ is high launch. Project X shafts driver shafts are really good. I just tested the 6.5 and it is a spin killing machine. My trajectory was flat, with lose spin. Lower spin than a whiteboard with great feel. Highly recommended.

You're right. I shouldn't have said that it's the wrong way. It's not really what I meant. And I agree there are lots of ways to hit a golf ball. The important thing is finding the way that works for you. That being said, the average amateur player has issues with slicing and coming over the top. IMHO that has to do with too much right side dominance and lack of knowing how to use the left side properly. Can they learn to hit the ball well without learning how to use the left side? Yes. For my swing letting the club face square naturally eliminates a variable and adds consistency. It allows me to really go after it without relying on timing it perfectly.

I certainly don't mind a spirited debate. I think ideally you have basically a balance between the right and left side, with one being slightly stronger. I think a lopsided amount of one versus the other can lead to unnatural swings. With right side dominance it's harder for me to clear my hips. When the left side is just a bit more dominant, the hip clearing is absolutely natural. When my arms are pulling, rather than pushing, I find the club face squares itself without any hand movement. When I'm more right side dominant, I find I need to use my hands to try and square the club face. So in my swing, I prefer left side dominance, but not a huge dominance. Simply that the scales tip slightly in favor of the left side. As far as the stretching of the left arm, I get a very good stretch on the backswing. On the downswing thought, by rotating hard with my left side and pulling, my left arm stays tight to the chest, the club face sqaures naturally and I get better ball striking. When my right side dominates more, I find the left arm moves away from the chest on the downswing. I personally don't find that to be a good thing as I think it can lead to an over the top move and makes releasing more handsy. My $.02.

I just wrote about this. Basically in most right handed golfers, the right side ends up being dominant. The problem is, the swing is more natural when its a pulling motion, rather than a pushing motion, and pulling comes from having the left side be more dominant. Take a look at the article I wrote, and let me know your thoughts.

I know you probably "feel" like you bring it down the same path, but that feeling is probably not as accurate as you think. One of the great things to do with video is analyze it on the computer. I'd suggest getting the V1 Home version (basic is free), and drawing some lines on the swing. It's amazing what that will show you.

Also, it seems like you pull the club inside quite a bit on the take away. Take a look at the face on video, there's not a lot of width there. That also probably forces you to re-route over the top a bit. You look like you get a pretty full shoulder turn but there's very little lower body rotation.

I like the Sanyo FH1. I don't need more than the 240 FPS that it gives. I find any more FPS becomes tedious to watch because it takes so long, but 240 is a really nice slow motion rate. Also, it does 1080p at 60 FPS if I really need it. The video at that resolution is gorgeous, but overkill for golf swings. I actually record most of my golf swings at 640 x 480 30 fps or 240 fps at a slightly smaller resolution, and use the higher resolutions for vacations, special events etc. The camera is about $500, but totally worth it in my opinion. Really beautiful HD footage. You can see some slow motion videos (240 FPS) on my blog.

That training aid looks interesting. Looks like it could also be used to help keep your weight centered over your center of gravity instead of letting it drift over your toes or heels.

Another thing you could do is just start hitting something solid, usually chips and pitches help with that. Over the course of an hour practicing you can increase the length of your swing. Each solid chip/pitch will build confidence. That can get you back on track. You can also try the 6 finger drill I wrote about. You hold the club with just your thumb, index and middle finger of each hand and take a few swings. What you'll find is that it is much more difficult to mess with the path and the swing suddenly finds its rhythm again. Give it a shot, let me know if it works for you.

I like v1 home.

I've got a home simulator and it is a blast. I had a friend come over and we played our usual match, except this time we played it at Torrey Pines South Course. It was so much fun and it doesn't ruin your swing. In fact, a simulator used properly is a great practice and learning tool.

I use the Sanyo FH1. It is a consumer grade video camera, records on SD cards, can do full 1080p HD. However there is a slow motion mode at a lower resolution that does 240 frames per second. I use this a lot. You can see video footage from it a the following link: This is my swing as of December also, the videos on this link were taken at the traveler's championship in Hartford, CT and include Vijay, AK, Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson, Danny Lee and Rickie Fowler

I forget who said this. "Swing easy and live with the extra distance."

Fred Couples and Ernie Els swings look slow but they are not. They build up serious clubhead speed. Let's say you have two golf swings. Identical except for the club head speed and whether they hit the sweet spot. A 95 mph swing that hits the sweetspot will actually outdrive a 105 mile an hour swing that misses it. Most amateurs never learn what it feels like to hit the ball solidly. There is a world of difference between hitting solid shots and not. If you can learn to hit it solid at a slower speed, you may in fact not lose any distance, you'll gain accuracy, and if you groove the swing, you can actually learn to develop more club head speed with it.

Definitely refresh on the basics. Check your alignment, posture and grip. It's a good time to get back into good habits with those things. Although these are basics, they are also crucial. I wqould say 90% of bad swings start with a problem at setup. Make sure your setup is consistent, use a couple of clubs to ensure proper alignment. If you have a video camera, bring it to the range. You don't want to just start swinging away. Check the video and see where your swing is at so you can catch any bad habits right away. You don't want to ingrain a bad habit just because you didn't notice it. I think the winter is a great time to make swing changes and improvements.

Video does show it all, doesn't it. I have had some shocking moments myself looking at video and comparing it to what I thought I was doing. Over time I have learned to use video as an effective tool to analyze and improve the swing. Often what we think we are doing and feeling, isn't actually what we are doing. Video really demonstrates that and is an awesome tool if you know how to analyze what you are looking at and know what it should look like. If the system has video reference try to use the videos of pros that are most like your swing. In other words, if you have a one plane swing, don't choose a two plane pro. There was a place like that near me, I spent all winter there and it was awesome. Unfortunately they closed down so now I do simulator, video and work with training aids at home. The shaft does not need to be on the same plane as it was at address. If you are swinging correctly and have a one plane type of of swing, you'll the see the right elbow following that original plane. On the downswing you would then see the right elbow coming down on that line with the club head on the same path that it went up or a tad flatter.

Good post.