I am new here and have been playing golf for 20 years. I started around 20 years old and I am sorry I didn't start sooner. I have tried almost every method/system out there and I mean almost every one. I read a lot and spend way too much time studying how to groove a better golf swing. I have not read the little yellow book and have been told that it is way too technical and I would get more confused. It is definitely intimidating. I do like what I have seen here though. I think this may be my long lost answer.
Here is my question, where do I begin? Do I need the book? I see there are there videos to purchase and watch and I ask where should I start? Which would be the most helpful to get going in the right direction.
I apologize as this has probably been asked before but I am lost and a bit overwhelmed. If someone (hopefully Yoda himself) can give me direction as to where to start, I would forever be grateful.
The book is tough, but very important. Get the book and take it in small bits and pieces. Start with Mr. Kelley's recommended approach to how to read it which is in the first part of the book. You may not start getting anything meaningful out of it for quite sometime, but if you stick with it patiently it will start making sense along with what you learn by reading this website.
The best way to start is with video. Start with YODA'S free videos here in the gallery. Watch the Colin Neeman series, that will keep you busy. When you are done with those, buy the Alignment Golf dvds in the premium section. The best learning tool for TGM ever done.
Also, to get started right away with improving your swing the TGM way, I really like Bobby Clampett's book The Impact Zone. It's not 100% in line with YODA, but it's a great start.
TGM is not an easy road, but it's a VERY rewarding one if you stick with it.
Kevin
Originally Posted by scottcuban
Good morning all,
I am new here and have been playing golf for 20 years. I started around 20 years old and I am sorry I didn't start sooner. I have tried almost every method/system out there and I mean almost every one. I read a lot and spend way too much time studying how to groove a better golf swing. I have not read the little yellow book and have been told that it is way too technical and I would get more confused. It is definitely intimidating. I do like what I have seen here though. I think this may be my long lost answer.
Here is my question, where do I begin? Do I need the book? I see there are there videos to purchase and watch and I ask where should I start? Which would be the most helpful to get going in the right direction.
I apologize as this has probably been asked before but I am lost and a bit overwhelmed. If someone (hopefully Yoda himself) can give me direction as to where to start, I would forever be grateful.
Thank you
__________________
I could be wrong. I have been before, and will be again.
I am new here and have been playing golf for 20 years. I started around 20 years old and I am sorry I didn't start sooner. I have tried almost every method/system out there and I mean almost every one. I read a lot and spend way too much time studying how to groove a better golf swing. I have not read the little yellow book and have been told that it is way too technical and I would get more confused. It is definitely intimidating. I do like what I have seen here though. I think this may be my long lost answer.
Here is my question, where do I begin? Do I need the book? I see there are there videos to purchase and watch and I ask where should I start? Which would be the most helpful to get going in the right direction.
I apologize as this has probably been asked before but I am lost and a bit overwhelmed. If someone (hopefully Yoda himself) can give me direction as to where to start, I would forever be grateful.
Thank you
1. Watch all the free stuff on this site . . . .
2. Look at all the pictures on this site . . . .
3. Get in a bunker . . . put a line in the sand vertical to your stance line bewteen your feet where the ball would be . . . learn to take sand divots on the left side of that line
3a. make sure your left wrist is flat and right wrist is bent thru the ball when you are taking your proper side of the line divots in front of the ball
3b. Once you can do that learn to hit hard punch shots and verify that you kept your left wrist flat and right wrist bent
4. Stick you head on a wall or in a door jam . . . learn what your body has to do to make a pivot to keep your head from moving around . . .
5. Find a long straight line and learn to be on plane . . . lowest end of the club points at the "plane" line and club is parallel to the plane line when its parallel to the ground. Also keep in mind the entire shaft also LAYS on the face of the plane so if you can get some video of your motion down the line check to see if your club is doing anything wacky from approximately waist high down to waist high through the ball.
6. get a mop or wrap a towel around the head of your club . . . drag from about 3 feet behind your right foot on the ground simulating the thru stroke . . . . learn to feel "lag pressure" and what it means to keep your wrist bent and the clubhead trailing.
7. Take some video and load it here . . . .you'll get good advice
I hope you don't mind if you see me use some of that in the future for similar questions? Very well done Sir!
Kevin
Originally Posted by 12 piece bucket
1. Watch all the free stuff on this site . . . .
2. Look at all the pictures on this site . . . .
3. Get in a bunker . . . put a line in the sand vertical to your stance line bewteen your feet where the ball would be . . . learn to take sand divots on the left side of that line
3a. make sure your left wrist is flat and right wrist is bent thru the ball when you are taking your proper side of the line divots in front of the ball
3b. Once you can do that learn to hit hard punch shots and verify that you kept your left wrist flat and right wrist bent
4. Stick you head on a wall or in a door jam . . . learn what your body has to do to make a pivot to keep your head from moving around . . .
5. Find a long straight line and learn to be on plane . . . lowest end of the club points at the "plane" line and club is parallel to the plane line when its parallel to the ground. Also keep in mind the entire shaft also LAYS on the face of the plane so if you can get some video of your motion down the line check to see if your club is doing anything wacky from approximately waist high down to waist high through the ball.
6. get a mop or wrap a towel around the head of your club . . . drag from about 3 feet behind your right foot on the ground simulating the thru stroke . . . . learn to feel "lag pressure" and what it means to keep your wrist bent and the clubhead trailing.
7. Take some video and load it here . . . .you'll get good advice
__________________
I could be wrong. I have been before, and will be again.
Thank you both for the help. I have been looking at the free stuff and would purchase the premium stuff but I just want to do it a productive order.
TGM is most certainly a "journey" . . . . one thing you want to define is WHERE you intend to go prior to your embarking down the Yellow Brick Road . . . . the road CAN BE (doesn't have to) rough, difficult, and include dead ends seemingly at times.
So you need to define what your destination is . . .
a. do you want to learn/conceptualize the items that will make you a better ball striker?
b. do you want to "learn the book"? TGM is a puzzle with tons and tons of mixed up pieces . . . seemingly with no outside or corner pieces at first . . . are you putting the whole puzzle together? Or are you gonna just get enough pieces together that you can tell a set of eyeballs from a set of boobies . . .
c. do you wanna teach it . . .
TGM is most certainly a "journey" . . . . one thing you want to define is WHERE you intend to go prior to your embarking down the Yellow Brick Road . . . . the road CAN BE (doesn't have to) rough, difficult, and include dead ends seemingly at times.
So you need to define what your destination is . . .
a. do you want to learn/conceptualize the items that will make you a better ball striker?
b. do you want to "learn the book"? TGM is a puzzle with tons and tons of mixed up pieces . . . seemingly with no outside or corner pieces at first . . . are you putting the whole puzzle together? Or are you gonna just get enough pieces together that you can tell a set of eyeballs from a set of boobies . . .
c. do you wanna teach it . . .
]
Well, I guess my primary focus is being a better ball striker nad enjoying this game a little more. I don't expect to be Nicklaus and I don't even expect to become scratch, but I do hope that a single digit handicap is possible. When (if) I get there, then I may strive for more.
I don't need to be a GSED and I don't need to become a teacher but it would not be nice to have a better grasp of things and be able to diagnose and correct problems that may arise. I am realistic at this point in my life. I'm 40, not super athletic but not a spaz either. I played sports growing up, (baseball, hockey, and a little touch tackle) and I was average to pretty good, never a superstar. I am setting my expectations low and hoping for the best. I hope this is the correct path?
Either way, thank you for the assistance.
Well, I guess my primary focus is being a better ball striker nad enjoying this game a little more. I don't expect to be Nicklaus and I don't even expect to become scratch, but I do hope that a single digit handicap is possible. When (if) I get there, then I may strive for more.
I don't need to be a GSED and I don't need to become a teacher but it would not be nice to have a better grasp of things and be able to diagnose and correct problems that may arise. I am realistic at this point in my life. I'm 40, not super athletic but not a spaz either. I played sports growing up, (baseball, hockey, and a little touch tackle) and I was average to pretty good, never a superstar. I am setting my expectations low and hoping for the best. I hope this is the correct path?
Either way, thank you for the assistance.
Absolutely a valid path! You can certainly get to single digit . . . to me much of that is simply getting some proper concepts in your mind and applying them. Certainly the biggest component is sustaining and manipulating the line of compression . . . . sounds like something complicated . . . that if you said to a regular cat he'd smack a toof outcha mouth. But basically you have to understand 2 things . . . . how to hit the ball SOLID . . . you're not gonna have fun as you say if you are sticking the club in the ground behind the ball all the time . . . . and then understanding what causes the ball to fly the way it flys . . .
you MUST understand that the FACE is for all intents and purposes totally responsible for the ball's starting direction . . . and the paths RELATIONSHIP to the face determines the direction it curves . . . if your path is RIGHT of where the face is looking then the ball curves LEFT . . . if the path is LEFT of where the face is looking the ball curves RIGHT.
Now we must assume that you can hit the ball reasonably on the sweetspot for the rules to apply . . . and per the above you sound like you ain't no spazz . . . so if you want a ball to start left of your target and then peel back to the right you'd better have the FACE LOOKING LEFT the target to get it to start left and have the path left of the face to put fade spin on it. For a draw . . . face is gonna look right of the target to get it to start right of it and then the path is going to be right of the face to put draw spin on it so she curves to the left.
So if you take the Imperatives and Essentials as defined by Mr. Kelley as the skeleton . . . then you can start hanging meat on it . . . .
Essentials
1. Stationary Head - Mr. Kelley is saying you want a CENTERED pivot. Why? Centered motion results in predictability. OK . . . predictability of what? Hand Path, Plane Angle and Low Point. The club is gonna bottom out where your left shoulder is . . . so if you are moving you head all around you're gonna move low point around as well . . . there's part of your "hitting it solid component." Also if your head Bobbs . . . moves up and down you are going to disrupt your radius and likely shift the plane line and/or angle . . . HANDLE LOCATION . . . just like a side hill lie . . . if you raise the handle the face vector opens . . . if you lower it it shuts . . . tape a tee to the face and see the implications . . . Mr. Kelley said . . . plane shifts are HAZARDOUS . . . .and the become more hazardous the closer you get to the ball (impact). You'll hear talk of educated hands a lot out here . . . but the most educated set of hands can't compensate for a whackjob pivot. If you shift the plane angle through the ball you effectively created a sidehill lie DYNAMICALLY.
2. Balance . . . you want to stay upright . . . you want your machine to have the proper weight distribution TO THE BALL . . . in other words you don't wanna have weight hanging back thru the ball . . . screws up the whole system . . . if your weight is forward it's easier to get your handle forward . . . we want the clubhead LAGGING the handle . . . you want to lean the ENTIRE SHAFT ON THE BALL . . . hard to do that hanging back . . . also weight back makes your clubface want to close fast . . . think of a dog on a chain . . . run outta chain . . . dog get choked . . . in this case clubhead passes handle and face closes FASTER . . . we want uniform predictable motion of the clubface (hinge action).
3. Rhythm . . . first of all you need to know what Rhythm AIN'T . . . and it AIN'T TEMPO . . . Rhythm is the CLUBSHAFT and LEFT ARM staying IN LINE . . . if you don't know about the Tally . . . look it up . . . the key to this is the left wrist motion and it's relation to the pivot as described in #2 above . . . Vertical Motion in the left wrist is GOOD . . . vertical motion is defined by Mr. Kelley as cocking and uncocking . . . think of HAMMERING . . . you hammer nails on a vertical plane . . . you hammer golfballs on an INCLINED plane . . . same motion . . . rotational motion (turn and roll per Mr. Kelly) is good . . . BUT HORIZONTAL LEFT WRIST MOTION is DEATH . . . this would be defined as BENDING your left wrist . . . we don't do that and have Rhythm . . . you start bending your left wrist and the motion of the clubface becomes erratic . . . low point can be compromised . . . so how do you NOT bend your left wrist . . . . 1. you learn how it works 2. you make a pivot in such away that it doesn't lead to a disruption of your left wrist alignment . . .
__________________
Aloha Mr. Hand
Behold my hands; reach hither thy hand
Last edited by 12 piece bucket : 03-29-2010 at 04:50 PM.
That was a lot to take in but I believe I understand basically everything you said. It sounds much less complicated than what I have heard (and read) on the TGM. I am confused about something and this may be me putting the cart before the horse, I don't know, but here goes....
I believe I am a hitter as opposed to a swinger. I see what the basic differences are between the two, but obviously have much to learn. Isn't the hitter basically going at the ball on the right forearm plane? I can feel very powerful thrusting the right forearm (and heel of the right hand) at the ball and through the ball. How does this affect the grip? Do I need a strong left (lead) hand grip with the right palm's heel inline with the plane line? How does the club then get on the left arm plane? What am I missing here?
Again, I apologize if I am getting ahead of myself and focusing incorrectly here. I am just trying to get a little better with what has been driving me nuts so far. I have been playing for a while and read and studied much and have had some degree of success (15 hcp) but I want to get to the next level and be more consistent.
Thank you again for your patience and time.
Last edited by scottcuban : 03-29-2010 at 06:06 PM.
That was a lot to take in but I believe I understand basically everything you said. It sounds much less complicated than what I have heard (and read) on the TGM. I am confused about something and this may be me putting the cart before the horse, I don't know, but here goes....
I believe I am a hitter as opposed to a swinger. I see what the basic differences are between the two, but obviously have much to learn. Isn't the hitter basically going at the ball on the right forearm plane? I can feel very powerful thrusting the right forearm (and heel of the right hand) at the ball and through the ball. How does this affect the grip? Do I need a strong left (lead) hand grip with the right palm's heel inline with the plane line? How does the club then get on the left arm plane? What am I missing here?
Again, I apologize if I am getting ahead of myself and focusing incorrectly here. I am just trying to get a little better with what has been driving me nuts so far. I have been playing for a while and read and studied much and have had some degree of success (15 hcp) but I want to get to the next level and be more consistent.
Thank you again for your patience and time.
I'd say without having a look it's kinda hard to say . . . but essentially the geometry is the same for hitting and swinging . . . the loading is different . . . but again that's really get ahead of the game without seeing what you got going on . . . at the end of the day Mr. Kelley said swinging is pulling and hitting is pushing. I'd wait awhile before I went too far down that road too early. Time for milk at this point not red meat.
As a 15 you should figure out what your tendencies are . . .where is your ball striking lacking?
Do you hit the ball fat? Do you hit big curves? Which way does it curve?
See if you can put your swing up . . . you'll get plenty of help. Forget about hitting/swinging at this point . . . you need to get a baseline on what's happening now . . . then you can work on implementation.
Put some video up . . . nobody will make you look bad.
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