"Third Rail" topics

[brianmontgomery2000]

No religious conversion required.

Just big ideas to understand.


So it is with the The Golfing Machine:

Centrifugal Force.

Hinge Action.

The Inclined Plane.

As they are fundamentally . . .

And, in their endless variations.

For me the "conversion" was more one of accepting the TGM components (and the big three) and abandoning "position" golf -- very freeing to know there is no one "right" way to swing a club but many variations on a theme.

I say "religion" but maybe a better term would be "belief system" or even just "system" -- a way to understand and explain the world around us from more easily seen/understood (address, alignment) to the more mysterious (impact, compression).

For me, TGM provides a system that I can learn and apply. I'll interpret everything else through that view. That's why Trackman and D-plane are important elements to incorporate and explain in TGM terms. If we have real data (Trackman interpolations aside), then we must be able to explain it by TGM or change TGM to improve it or ultimately we should abandon TGM in favor of a superior system

So far, it looks to me like TGM as a system explains or includes all the popular "methods" or applications (S&T, Hogan, etc.) at least as well as any other system can explain all of them. That's why I find it interesting -- a Unified Field Theory for golf! Learning it should de-mystify the swing and only leave execution as the final frontier to ball striking (and then the final, final frontier of "scoring" -- but that's bordering on voodoo and witchcraft there... ).

[david sandridge]

If you are doing LFT the muscles fire to do the pickup and they need to relax is swingers to allow for "throw out" Of course hitters don't have to worry about that cause they are firing them. Lynn can you elaborate this

I'm incubating that sentence and my chicken may hatch(a Ben Doyleism) without you sittin on it.

[innercityteacher]

For me the "conversion" was more one of accepting the TGM components (and the big three) and abandoning "position" golf -- very freeing to know there is no one "right" way to swing a club but many variations on a theme.

I say "religion" but maybe a better term would be "belief system" or even just "system" -- a way to understand and explain the world around us from more easily seen/understood (address, alignment) to the more mysterious (impact, compression).

For me, TGM provides a system that I can learn and apply. I'll interpret everything else through that view. That's why Trackman and D-plane are important elements to incorporate and explain in TGM terms. If we have real data (Trackman interpolations aside), then we must be able to explain it by TGM or change TGM to improve it or ultimately we should abandon TGM in favor of a superior system

So far, it looks to me like TGM as a system explains or includes all the popular "methods" or applications (S&T, Hogan, etc.) at least as well as any other system can explain all of them. That's why I find it interesting -- a Unified Field Theory for golf! Learning it should de-mystify the swing and only leave execution as the final frontier to ball striking (and then the final, final frontier of "scoring" -- but that's bordering on voodoo and witchcraft there... ).

Because TGM is based on a solid bio-mechanical foundation, almost all swings can be described and worked with, imho.

ICT

[brianmontgomery2000]

Because TGM is based on a solid bio-mechanical foundation, almost all swings can be described and worked with, imho.

ICT

Yep, system versus method. I think that is both its obvious strength but also its ultimate downfall -- it takes a lot of work and study to understand the system and then you still have to put your pattern(s) together and then you have to be able to execute it. I think most methods do the first two parts for you.

Downside to methods are, however, you better hope the pattern they teach fits you!

So, TGM is ultimately for those willing to work on multiple fronts...

[innercityteacher]

Yep, system versus method. I think that is both its obvious strength but also its ultimate downfall -- it takes a lot of work and study to understand the system and then you still have to put your pattern(s) together and then you have to be able to execute it. I think most methods do the first two parts for you.

Downside to methods are, however, you better hope the pattern they teach fits you!

So, TGM is ultimately for those willing to work on multiple fronts...

During Christmas break from school, I went a little crazy and started to read the promotional material and view DVD's from Mr. Greg McHatton (Swinger with TGM pedigree), and I'm reading Gravity Golf (Swingers with TGM backgrounds whether they realize it or not), SwingMachine Golf (Swingers who are somehow related to TGM), the Somax institue and "Secrets in the Dirt," which are TGM guys.

My swing lacks power. Mr. Mchatton, as a Swinger, focuses on Hips. So do the Gravity Golf guys and so do the BEn Doyle folks, imho. I'm not sure what the SwingMachine stuff is.

What I've noticed is that with passive arms and hands, my hips cause my arms and hands to really fly up in the air. The Gravity Golf guys seem to be playing "above the rim" so to speak!

Maybe I'll pick up a few yards in distance being really loose and Swinging from my heels and hips. They brag about Jack Nicklaus and Freddy Couples. They remind me of Greg McHatton, too.

Anyway, I see TGM elements everywhere and I do want to teach golf after teaching school in about ten years, so all of this is prolegomena to my last career. I'm excited about seeing Lynn in April and while I'm putzing around I will do some of the hip exercises recommended by the Somax people but will not buy there $275 machine!

I need to lose weight. I'm losing a few pounds on Weight Watchers. I have to check with my doc about the hip exercises but nothing they list (leg lifts) seem too wild.

ICT