podunker

They are the same concept basically. He just put out a new book with some different explanations on the same things. I have the swing machine golf book, and the body swing book is really just an update, but same concept.

Just to follow up on this. I took the shafts out and did some testing. I used the same balls, tees, hole, etc. to try to keep as little variance as possible. Once again, I don't know what my swing speed with the driver really is. Most are saying I am in the 100-105 range, because of how far I hit my 8 iron. Most say with that swing speed I should stay with the stiff flex shaft. Because of those statements, I almost didn't even try the other shafts out. MAN, WHAT A MISTAKE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN! The first thing I noticed, was that the two x stiff shaft did feel a little heavier obviously. The next thing I noticed after hitting them, was that the shot dispersion was much tighter. Not only on solid strikes, but also shots off the toe. The dispersion was even tighter with the 'ahina than the Pro Force. Both were much better than my stiff flex. Miss hits with my stiff flex usually ended up being a rope hook into trouble. Not the case with the x stiff. I noticed a little lower launch with the Pro Force than the 'ahina. Now for the distance. To my surprise, I was about 10-12 yard further with the x stiff. I couldn't believe it. Better shot dispersion and more distance! The 'ahina is the one I am keeping. Glad I tried them out. Guess it does pay off to get fitted.

Well I was just looking at some charts on the internet and guessing about the swing speed. Maybe it's closer to 100-105. I hit a good drive about 285 and my TM 3w about 240-250.

I just purchased a new to me Titleist 913D2 Driver that came with a stiff flex 60 gram RIP Phenom Aldila. I just got the head adjusted the way i like it, which is A2, a little open face. I tried several spots, but this setup gave the straightest and farthest ball flight. A slight draw usually. Then as I was playing a round today with my buddies, we started discussing shaft flex and they said I should be using an extra stiff shaft. I have never had my swing speed really measured that I can remember. Just had irons fitted, and they gave me stiff flex steel shafts. So I figured that's what I needed in everything. Well, after doing some research, looks like I might just need extra stiff in my Driver. I hit my 8 iron about 155 yards on average, to give you an idea of my swing speed. My guess is it's around 120. Anyhow, one of my friends said he had two extra stiff shafts for me to try that he used with his old 909 and 910 drivers. So he gave them both to me, since he no longer has a Titleist driver. The two shafts he gave me are: UST Proforce V2, at 76 grams, and a Mitsubishi Diamana "ahina at 72 grams. They both have the sure fit on them already. So I was just curious if anyone knows anything about either shaft? And also if you thought it would really make a difference in driving distance or not. Funny thing is, I have always used stiff shafts in all my drivers. Guess I should get fitted, but not likely to happen any time soon. I am going to take them out and try them in a few days, but wanted opinions on them. Also, with these extra stiff shafts, am I going to have to go through the process of getting a different setting for the head. Didn't know if these shafts might need a little more loft or less loft etc. Thanks in advance

Oops........it is suppose to read left hand on top....not right......sorry. Man I should have proof read that.........Eric can you fix it or can I do it somehow. It makes no sense as written.

These thoughts are actually from an old golf instruction book written by Gerry Hogan, but man did they really work for me. 1. keep the left hand on top of the right for as long as you can on the downswing. (Great for helping me not cast the club and holding the lag as long as possible. Don't worry you will square it up at impact if your grip is right and keep turning your body) 2. imagine the club is a hatchet with the cutting edge facing down when you grip the club normally. On the downswing you are trying to chop/hit the sharp edge of the blade into the back go the ball. This keeps you right elbow tucked in on the downswing and the left hand on top of the right. He explained it like this I think. Put your hands together right out in front of you with palms facing each other like your praying. Take your back swing and rotate your left hand on top of your right all the way to the top. On he downswing keep your left hand on top and try to chop the backside of the ball with the bottom of the hands. You have no choice but to keep your right elbow tucked into your side if you want to hit it, two hand karate chop the back of the ball. I don't know if it will help anyone or not. For me, too many swing thoughts can just kill me. One/two is max for me. These two thoughts have been awesome for me to make solid contact more consistently. I know, they only work if you have the other key elements right...........but I love them.

It always surprises me how such a little thing can make a difference in contact. The you showed in that thread Iacas is very similar to my normal grip. Especially the way"both" the "V's" line up between my right shoulder and head. The grip for this swing is very different feeling anyway. The left hand "V" points toward my right eye, and the left hand "V" points toward my left eye. Like they are opposite of each other, not like I was ever taught. I think the left hand is even more in the fingers than the grip in the thread you posted shows. It's all about the feeling. Maybe just the grip change would do the trick!

Ok I was able to go to the course today. Initially it was awful as expected. I was having big trouble with hooks, hooks, hooks. I finally got the grip weak enough and started to hit some nice draws. I was just in the practice area hitting shots. Once I got a little comfortable with it I played nine holes. I really had to focus on the grip and when I did I hit it very well. Probably a little longer than my normal swing. I was also making great contact. Having the grip in my fingers was the key. I felt like I could really relax my arms and wrist just let the swing happen. I felt like it created more lag. I shot a 37. Needless to say, I will stay with it and see how things progress. Don’t get me wrong. I have no illusions that I am doing the swing exactly like the book says. I am sure I am not as upright on the backswing and am still probably not finishing like they suggest. I do love the feeling of having the grip more in my fingers and not in my palms. Love the contact I was making. Still getting used to the weak right hand also. When I revert back to my more strong grip, hook, hook, hook!

Disclaimer: I am a tinkerer by nature when it comes to my golf swing. I am around a 7-8 hdcp, but would say my putting is very good and that carries me. I have tried many concepts over the years and learned something from them all. Yes, I call them concepts, SnT, Natural, Single Plane, etc. My biggest problem has always been consistency. For example, I shot a 73 last Sunday, and and 81 five days later. I hit a bunch of solid iron shots with the 73 and could not hit a solid shot with the 81. In my mind, nothing had changed with my swing between those few days. Contact changed, and when I couldn’t make good contact, I started changing my swing mid round to fix it! Guess how that worked out? Here are my first impressions after skimming the book, watching the seminar, and taking a few swings in the yard without hitting any balls. Trust me when I say this, I have never read anything from Leadbetter except the stuff he puts in the golf magazines a few years back. I don’t get any of those publication now, and haven’t a couple years. So I feel like I can be pretty fair when trying this concept out. The first radical change for me was in the grip. Gripping the club more in the fingers is an unusual sensation for me. I always wear out my gloves first in the heel of the palm. The new grip inherently seemed to make the club handle set lower and seemed to me to loosen up my forearm pressure. It also made it much more natural to keep the club head outside the hands on the backswing. Having the right hand in such a weak position was also a big change. When I watch the seminar, I also noticed when Dennis Watson was swinging the club early on while Leadbetter was talking, his wrist seemed to be very loose, and limber. I kind of like the feeling honestly. I also liked in the seminar how David explained the shoulder or upper body turn. Sometimes an image is all it takes. The way he let his arms hang down in front of him and used them like pistons to show the turn. I always struggle with this feeling myself. It’s a lot like one particular other concept that has you turn your left shoulder down instead of around to turn. I am very intrigued by the follow through they show in the seminar. I have a BIG problem with rolling my hands, and even whole upper body sometimes on the follow through. So It is going to take some time to get used to just flipping my right hand up. I am going to continue to read, and hope to hit some balls tomorrow……….so I will update.

This deserves a bump. GREAT DRILL FOR MAINTAINING SPINE ANGLE ON BACK SWING AND FOLLOW THROUGH! I have a tendency to lose my spine angle on the follow through. Especially later in the round when I start to get tired. When I do, my draw turns into a pull hook. once again, FANTASTIC DRILL. I, myself, will add a little hip slide towards the target on the downswing, so it feels like an actual golf swing. I even finish up with my weight on my left side, for right hand golfer, on the follow through. As for the comment above. It's just an exercise to get your body in shape to stay in the right spine/shoulder angle. However, in a good golf swing your right shoulder will be coming down towards the ground on the swing plane as you move into impact position. That's enough talk about the swing...............never rmind. It's just a great exercise to improve your game, period!

Well here I am again experimenting and loving the results so far. I have been trying out parts of the Single Axis, Single Plane, or Moe Norman type swing for a few weeks now. One of the biggest problems for the Am Golfer is inconsistency. That goes for any level of amateur golfer, from single digit to high capper. I myself have always really struggled with it my whole golfing life. It always amazes me how I can shoot a 75 one day and two days later go out and do, what I think, is the same exact thing, and shoot 83. I hear that same complaint from a guys who shoots mid 80's and then shoots a 97 two days later. We, I , never feel like we are doing anything different in our swing. So what is the answer. I always say, "Thats why we are amateurs." After thinking more about my swing, I think the more variables you have in it, the more inconsistent you will be. The more movement up and down, or back and forth, the more inconsistent you will be. For that reason alone I think adopting a centered pivot or steady head will only help the average golfer. I have wondered for the longest time, why we don't set up in an impact position all the time when we swing the club, or as close to it as possible. After all that is the position we want to be in ultimately. I think keeping most of your weight on your left leg or side is part or a piece of setting up in an impact position. Some even slid their hips left at setup. The same thing goes with your grip. I never understood how someone could set up with a weak grip and get back to impact right. Especially with the right hand set up very weak. At impact your grip seems like it should be on the strong side. Especially if you are keeping your right elbow in like the experts say. A weak right hand grip seems like it would cause you to have to straighten your right arm out too quickly. It seems like you have to have a fairly strong grip to keep your left arm above your right, from the behind view, at impact. I never really thought about the arms at setup though. Yes, I have leaned my hands away from the target before, and now lean them towards the target like they will be at impact. Doesn't it make sense to have your hands ahead at setup if that is how you want them at impact. The one part I never thought about was the way the arms hang from the body. Most golfers hang their arms straight down or close too it at setup. But that is nowhere close to how they are at impact. So to make a good swing you have to totally change the positions of the arms during the swing. Which, to me, causes a big variable in your golf swing. That was the biggest thing that got my attention with the Moe Norman type swing. The swing sets the arms up at setup like they will be at impact. Which makes a lot of sense to me. Yes it looks funny to some people. Yes it feels really funny when you first try it. But the results for me have been great. For myself, one of my big problems was inconsistent ball contact. I would hit a few fat shots and few thin or toe shots a round. I think it was do to the fact that I had to raise my head up at impact to go from relaxed arms hanging down at setup to a straight left arm at impact. If I didn't raise my head, I would hit it fat. However, if I raise it too much, I get the thin or toe hit. So on days that my timing was good with my head, I would hit good shots. On days when it was a little off, not so good. By setting up like Moe, you take the head movement up and down out of the equation. I don't have to worry about hitting it fat or thin. I just return it to the way I was at setup! I am loving it right now, and have been hitting the ball as solid as i ever have. Center club face strikes are so sweet! I'm not saying it's the answer for everyone, but it seemed to work for me. I have adopted the straight left arm setup, and stronger grip of the swing with a lot of success. In particular the position of the club in the grip. More in the palm or down the life line, instead of in the fingers. I think this grip has also helped me solve another problem I have of flipping the club through impact sometimes. It' very hard to flip the right hand when the grip is in your palm instead of your fingers. Just food for thought.................

Lately I have been doing a lot of reading on the golf forums about golf swing techniques etc. It amazes me how many people will not try something just because of a "Gimmick Name" it was given for marketing purposes. Whether it be Gravity Golf, 5 Simple Keys, Stack and Tilt, etc. Some of the most enjoyable times I have with golf are trying new things. If they work great, if they don't great. What works for me and by body type, age, athletic ability, might not work as well for someone else. What works for them, may not work for me. To me the amateur golfer should try whatever he can to get better, it's not like his lively hood depends on it. Pro golfers would be reluctant to make a change for that reason alone I'm sure. But us amateurs have nothing to lose by trying something new. Forget about the "Names", just try some different things and see what happens. It might only be a part of what they are trying to teach. For example keeping a steady head, or holding the lag, or transferring weight to inside back leg, etc. One little thing like that can make a big difference to some players. Most of the time it's just the "feeling" that your doing that thing that makes a difference in your swing.

What goes around comes around.........or something along those lines. Just a quick update on what has happened with the new season starting. I tried to get right back into my "Swing the Club" not "Hit the ball" mode from the get go, and things didn't go well. I noticed at the end of last season my lower back was having lots of problems dealing with the torque being developed by initiating my downswing with all lower body. I mean it was hurting all the time after I played and I was spending lots of money at the Chiropractors office. Once again, when I started back up this year, same problem. It got so bad I couldn't play for a while. I was also having a heck of a time keeping lag in my swing or not flipping. the loose arms feel was actually working against me I think. I have finally resigned myself to a few truths about my game also. I am a "Hitter" and not a "Swinger", as hard as I have tried, I can't get rid of the hit instinct in me. With my back issues, I also decided I have to change some things, for health reasons, just to be able to play. So I went back to the thing that got me going in the right direction in the first place, Evolution Golf! I went back to what Dave Wedzick had taught me in the summer of 2010. It was like putting on a favorite pair of broke in shoes, oh what a great feeling. I started with some of the same drills as I used back then. I looked more into the 5SK stuff they are teaching now. Really pretty much the same as they taught back then under S & T. I was amazed how easy it came back, and It also showed me that I had lost some of the fundamentals that I had been using last year anyway. Two things stood out to me this time around. I used to play Callaway X16 irons when I first started this in 2010. I know play the Taylormade Speedblade irons. One to the things I didn't like with the x16's and Dave's method was how low the ball flew. My new clubs hit it much higher than the old ones did. Without losing any distance. My wife, who has never left the S & T method she learned from the beginning had the same problem with her ball flight. She helped herself a little by not putting as much weight on her left side at address with her short irons. Which helped her hit them higher and thus stay on greens better. The second thing I noticed...............NO MORE BACK PAIN! Looks like I am back in the fold for now with the 5SK stuff. We'll see how things progress.

Louis Oosthuizen -13 Kevin Streelman -11 Ryan Moore -11

Just giving this a bump for the new golf season. I am getting cabin fever myself, so maybe someone can get some use out of this post!

Hey Nighthawk, thanks for suggesting Fred Shoemaker's book. I read some reviews and it seems much like what I am trying to do right now. STOP FOCUSING ON TRYING TO HIT THE BALL! I ordered it from Amazon for 11 dollars or so. I waste that much on cokes each week, so couldn''t resist it for the price. Sounds a lot like what Paul teaches. By the way, have had Paul's book for a month or so, nice read, but actually like his website better. Ignition Golf. It just helps to see on video what he is talking about. Still playing well, but still have to focus on swinging and not hitting. When I hit a bad shot it's usually because I am hitting at the ball!

The only compensation I need is that I hope it saves someone a little time and frustration in their golf journey. I have to admit it was kind interesting writing and then reading how mine has played out so far. I wish I would have had the Internet 20 years ago when I started!

Thanks Champ, It took a while to write, but you were exactly the type person I was hoping to help and maybe save some frustration!

My guess is most of you on this site are like me. I love golf, playing, watching, and reading about it. I am constantly perusing this site, other sites, youtube, and reading books to improve at this crazy game. I don’t have an instructor in my town, and probably wouldn’t have the funds or time to see one on a regular basis anyway. I know in a perfect world, one without kids, jobs, etc., that consistent lessons are the best way to probably get better. I have been playing for 20 years or so, and my wife for 3. Going to post some stuff that will hopefully help someone out along the way. First of all, by all means, when you first start playing, try to get some lessons from a Professional to get your fundamentals right if you can. I didn’t do that when I started and it took a lot of time, painful playing, and hard work to get them right. My wife, on the other hand, had some instruction and developed much quicker than me because of it. Just getting the grip, stance, etc. right from the beginning can be hard. That’s not even factoring in all the other crap you have to learn like putting, chipping, pitching, rules, etiquette, etc. What took me 5+ years to get a good grasp on, my wife learned and got a good understanding of in her first year. Secondly, I want to say up front that I am not advocating any swing technique, book, or training aid for anyone. I am just telling you what worked for me. It may not work for you at all. Golfers all learn differently. One person can explain something one way and you get it. Another person can explain the same thing a different way, and you can be lost. The feeling one person gets when learning a skill may not be the same feeling that works on another person. I am going to go ahead and list some of the books, training aids, and Instructors I have read, listened to, used, or watched in person or on youtube. All of them helped my game in some way and continue too. The evolution of the Internet played a big part in my game getting better. It’s a huge resource for people just starting out in the game today. By the way, I am at my lowest hdcp ever (4) at age 48! I will explain along the way what each did for me. Books- Not including 20+ years of Golf Digest and Golf Magazine. Golf My Way by Jack Nicklaus Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf by Ben Hogan First two golf books I ever read. Both of them are Classics. At the time I read them, about 17 + years ago, I was just trying to get the fundamentals down so I was probably too new to the game to get the full benefits of the books. However I would greatly recommend them to help get your fundamentals down. I probably should reread them both myself! Basically that’s is all I used when I started out in the game and up until about age 40. My older brother was a very good player and he taught me a few things along the way. I also figured out that playing with better players helped me improve, but also got in my wallet! During those 12 years I got my grip down pretty good, went from a weak slice to a draw or hook by changing my swing path, and became a pretty good putter. Putting was the one thing I did well early on. I had to adopt a reverse loop type swing to get the swing path right, but it worked for the most part. Still struggled with pitching, and fat shots. I started out like a lot of us shooting around in the mid 90’s to 100’s for the first ten years or so. At age 35, when I changed my swing path from over the top to inside out, I was a mid 80’s shooter, but could throw a round in the high 70’s if I had a good day around the greens. In my early forties or about five or six years ago, as my children got older, I started playing a little more often. I also started getting more interested in instructional books. Two short game books in particular. The Short Game Bible by Dave Pelz The Art of the Short Game by Stan Utley Both of these books were instrumental in changing my thinking about the short game. Pelz got me to pay particular attention to my wedge yardages and caused me to add a gap wedge and lob wedge to my set. His book is probably more for the analytical type player. Utley helped me more with my short game swing, and his book is probably more for the feel type player. I was still hitting some bad shots around the green, but not as many. Two great reads! Greg Norman’s Secret was also the first training aid I used. It worked great to help me keep from flipping my wrist at impact on chips and pitches. At that point I was shooting anywhere from mid 80’ s to mid 70’s with a rare 72 or 73. I was wildly inconsistent from week to week. I didn’t make a lot of birdies, but could make a lot of pars by getting up and down, with the occasional birdie on short par fives. I was still using the reverse loop Furyk type full swing that was generally the cause of my inconsistency. If my timing was a little off, I could shoot some high scores. The ironic thing was I actually won my Club Championship by shooting 75-70 in 2008. That 70 was the lowest round of the year for me, with a 32 on the back nine, picked a great time to do it! You would think that would have been a watershed moment for my golf game and me. However, I couldn’t shoot better than a 76 the rest of the season and I started to get very frustrated. I would shoot a 34 and follow it up with a 44. That kind of stuff. I shot just as many 42’s as I did 37’s. The fact that I had won the Club Championship had just made things worse really. My expectations for myself had gotten too high, and other people’s expectations of my game went through the roof. This just added extra pressure ever time I teed it up. Soon the joke was on me, and it was just known as a big “fluke” that I won. I was almost at the point of quitting all together. The following year, 2009, I decided I needed to fix my full swing somehow. I researched the Internet and stumbled across a variety of swing methods. I started to get into the mental game also. I also watched a ton of the Golf Channel and it’s instructional shows. Every Shot Must Have a Purpose by Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriott The One and Two Plane Swing by Jim Hardy The Picture Perfect Golf Swing by Michael Breed Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect by Bob Rotella Jim Hardy’s book taught me a lot about the golf swing in general. It showed me that I was a two plane swinger who wanted to be a one plane swinger. This is also about the time I started looking at video of my swing, wow what an eye opener. This is when the first big light bulb came on for me. “ What you feel like your doing, is not always actually what you are doing in your swing. “ Breed’s teaching and Hardy’s book also started my fixation with the proper swing plane. The other two are great reads on the mental side of the game. Helped me keep in the moment a lot better and play one shot at a time and not worry about score as much. Just add them up at the end of the round. My game didn’t really improve much at all that year. I went from trying to stay on plane with a one plane swing to reverting back to the reverse loop swing when I wasn’t hitting it good. By mid summer I was just not playing much. My wife even tried to get me out there by showing an interest in the game herself. I introduced her to the game in late summer, and in hindsight it was the best thing I ever did. The first time I took her out, she struggled even making contact with the ball. She was shifting her weight way back on the back swing and not getting it forward at all on the downswing. Just like she swung a softball bat when she was a kid. Her head was moving all over the place, down and back on the backswing and up on the downswing. So to keep her from moving all over I had her place most her weight on her left leg and take a few swings keeping the weight there. I had recalled reading about some drill or something like that on the Internet. Wow, what a difference that made. That solved the back and forth head movement right there and she could actually make contact with the ball. I then held a shaft above her head when she would swing to keep her from moving up and down. Before long she was making decent contact most of the time. We didn’t get much further with the few times we went out the rest of the year, but I kept on researching the internet for tips. One day I stumbled upon a swing method that was being called the “Stack and Tilt”. I thought it sounded familiar, and read about it. It was very similar to the drill I was using to teach my wife how to swing. I read up on it a little, and went out one warm winter day in the yard to try it. Bam, I had my next breakthrough moment. So that is what compressing a golf ball feels like. I think I was using a six iron at the time. I loved that feeling and the ball was just rocketing off the clubface. Something as simple as moving the ball back in my stance and keeping most my weight on the left side had made a HUGE difference. Needless to say I spent the rest of the winter searching for as much information I could get on the “Stack and Tilt” swing. I was like a Coon in a garbage can. I ordered the book first: The Stack and Tilt Swing by Michael Bennett and Andy Plummer A must have book! Taught me how to compress the golf ball, something I never knew how to do up to this point. The correct way to hit irons! The main reason I could not hit the ball well off of tight fairway lies. I also searched the Internet for help and found two great Instructors that had some great videos. Nick Clearwater Dave Wedzik Both the guys had some fantastic drills showing the techniques. They were invaluable in my learning process. Dave, and The Golf Evolution had a big impact on golf in my life, as you will read. When spring hit I went to the course as often as possible and liked what I saw and felt. I was still hitting some fat shots, but hitting a lot of really nice compressed iron shots that were little draws. I was using the book and instruction videos to help my wife also. Finally in July 2010 we decided to make the trip to Pennsylvania to see Dave Wedzick at his Golf Evolution shop. My wife and I spent two wonderful days getting personalized instruction from Dave and James Hirshfield. I can’t say enough good things about how they treated us. It was an 18 hour trip one way, but well worth it. My biggest problem was my swing plane as usual. Dave tried to give me feelings to work on to help me fix it. They were really impressed with my wife’s swing for someone who been playing less that a year. She soaked up the instruction like a sponge. By seeing an Instructor in her first year, she was able to make changes very quickly. By waiting 18 years, I had trouble getting out of my bad habits. Dave has since moved away from the “Stack and Tilt “ slogan with the Golf Evolution and is teaching the “Purestrike Five Simple Keys”. Pretty much still teaching the same stuff, but focusing on the five keys that all swings must have to be good. Since that trip my wife has stuck with what she learned. She has gotten better and better very quickly and shot her low round of 82 just last week. Her ball striking, especially driving is very good. She just needs to keep working on the short game to break into the magic 70’s. Unbelievable for someone that has only been playing for three years. She is proof that having a centered pivot is can make you a consistent ball striker. The early instruction she got also made her swing develop on plane from the beginning. It’s been a different story for me. I still struggled with swing plane and “feelings” when I got back home. I could hit my irons well, but struggled with my woods. I got the shanks a few times. My divots started to get deeper and deeper also. I stuck with it until last summer. But every time I would think I was getting it, I really discovered my swing was just reverting back to some of its old habits. Don’t get me wrong, I learned a lot, and am a better player for trying it. I was shooting in mid to high 70’s most to the time. The biggest thing is not moving my head around and having a centered turn on my back swing. That has stuck with me and made me a more consistent ball striker. I also have not been doing the reverse loop swing like a used too. My swing crosses the line at the top, but most to the time I get it back on plane coming back down. I am sure if I had regular instruction from Dave I would have fixed my problems and be playing even better. But that was not going to be possible, even with the evolver online program he had set up. I ordered a few new books last summer that I thought were great reads. The Four Magic Moves by Joe Dante On Learning Golf by Percy Boomer Build the Swing of a Lifetime by Mike Bender The first two are older books that had some great information in them. Because they explain similar fundamentals, but in different ways it gives the reader a better chance to get that right “feeling” when learning them. It amazes me that this information was available so long ago. Dante talking about how your wrist should move on the backswing was a light bulb moment for me, and helped me not get off plane near as much. Bender’s book has some great drills in it. Up until about four months ago I had stayed pretty study, but was not improving. Strange, because with my wife’s improvement, we were playing more than we ever have. I even started struggling with my pitch and chip shots again by not making good contact. Kind of like having the chip yips. I adopted the Dave Stockton method on chip shots around the green and liked it. You just move a little closer to the ball and make a putting stroke. I needed it to make good contact chipping. My pitching was still not getting any better. I was starting to get down on my game when the Internet saved me again. Three Instructors, one book, and a Slogan have had a huge impact on my game in the last four months. In those four months my hdcp has dropped from a 7 to a 4. I have shot some of the most consistent golf in my life, and my ball striking in the last month has been the best it’s ever been. My last four rounds have been 73, 74, 71, 72! Erik J. Barzeski – A 5SK Instructor that runs the Sand Trap web site. The Impact Zone by Bobby Clampett Geoff Jones – Instructor also known as Slicefixer, author of “Encyclopedia Texarkana” Paul Wilson – Instructor, author of the book Swing Machine Golf. Also has Ignition Golf web site. Slogan- “SWING YOUR OWN SWING!” As I said, I had been struggling with my pitch shots. I was chunking them for the most part. I found a video on the Sand Trap of Eric showing a simple pitching method and at first I didn’t get it. It wasn’t until I found a second video of Eric and Dave Wedzik explaining the lag in the pitching swing and showing it, that the light bulb came on. LAG, LAG, LAG! That is going the over riding theme to my improvement in the last four months. You have to have lag to make good contact, period. The reason I was chunking my pitch shots was because I was losing my lag, or flipping wrist through impact. I broke out my old “Greg Norman’s Secret” training aid, and used Eric’s method, presto! No more flipping wrist or chunking. But when I took off the training aid, I would start to flip again. I needed some sort of feeling to stop doing it. Loose wrist was the feeling I needed. Feels like club head is still moving backwards when I start moving arms forward. The key is to make sure your “turn” back through is the momentum that’s causing the arms to come forward, not the arms pulling. If you don’t turn your hips, you will lose your lag trying to “hit” with your arms. Enough on the swing jargon, I can answer questions on it later. Anyway, I started hitting my pitch shots solid again. This got me thinking about my full swing. I checked out some video of myself and I was also losing my lag in the full swing, commonly called “casting”. I stumbled onto a “9 to 3 “ swing thread on the website Golfwrx that an Instructor named Slicefixer, Geoff Jones, had started. It explained a lot about lag in the swing and how to hold it though impact. He has some videos out and wrote an eBook called “Encyclopedia Texarkana” that has some great insights. Once again, lag is the key! One of the most common themes I hear about the full swing is “being on plane”. However, when I watch a lot of professional golfers I see many who are not on plane and they hit the ball great. Inbee Park comes to mind right of the top of my head. After reading Bobby Clampett’s book I decided to stop searching for that perfect swing plane. The moment of impact is the key to good golf. Being on plane at the top is not absolutely necessary. It makes coming into impact on plane easier for sure. But you can still come into impact on plane without being on plane at the top. Many good players do just that by a small rerouting of the golf club on the way down. I think my fixation with a perfect swing plane was a detriment in the long run. As Arnold Palmer says, “Swing your swing!” When I started pitching better I immediately thought the same concept should work in the full swing. That’s when I stumbled on some video from Instructor Paul Wilson. I’m sure I saw it before, but it just didn’t register with me. He advocates loose wrist on the full swing and initiating the downswing with the hips turning first. I went and tried to hit some shots that way and was amazed how I was able to keep the lag in my wrist so much better. The by-product of this was what really amazed me, no fat shots. In the last month I have been working on Paul’s swing technique. Just ordered his book yesterday, and joined his website. I can honestly say I have never hit the ball so solidly in my life. My scores reflect that. I have went from hitting 8 or 9 greens in regulation to 11 + greens in regulation per round. I rarely hit a fat shot, I will hit more thin than fat. The feeling of swinging the club through the ball and not hitting the club into the back of the ball is key. I still have a lot of what I learned from Golf Evolution in my swing, but just added some of Paul’s stuff. A lot of the stuff I do is in the Purestrike Five Simple Keys range. Right now that is where I am at with my golf game. I am excited again to play. My wife is sticking with her stack and tilt swing and playing well also. Hope this story helps some of you and I would be happy to answer any specific questions about the books, swing techniques, etc. from my perspective if someone has some. Sorry for such a long read!

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The second swing is better. It is much more on plane. You come back outside in the top swing and the face of the club is pointing skyward. I would take either one myself!

Fowler E Phil +1 Dufner +2

Webb Simpson -11 Nick Watney -10 J. Senden -10

Mickelson-275 McIIroy- 276 Donald -276