Thanks John. I am happy at what I am doing and the way I am doing it.. Really enjoy teaching TGM principles because i beleive in them. Theres no groping in the dark here. Identify the components that need work and cement their correct execution relentlessly.
The game of golf, i have learnt is so dependent on correct rhythm, that it becomes the first component for me to tackle in all cases. It takes a while to drill it into the hackers but the results are amazing when they realize what its all about. Thats what I attack first ( Of course if the player is erring in these areas which normally is the case) In many cases improvement is almost immedeate with rhythm correction. MOST guys are trying to hit it farther than their bodies and minds can handle and frustratingly for them with faulty impact alignments which gets worse as the more balls they hit. They all know what rhythm is but somehow cant transmit it to the swing - they need education.Train the body to execute and swing within physical and mental parameters and 15 min later the reaction is" Geez I didnt know that I could hit it that far with that slow a swing" . Actually all that changes is the pace of the swing but the clubhead is travelling at almost the same speed if not more due to timed release of the power accumalators. But the feeling the player gets is that he's swinging slower whereas he is actually giving the loading and unloading procedures their required time to load and release by swinging from the feet. The timing improves the balance is better and the swing centre is much better controlled------- Better shots!!
At least i can be proud that in my knowledge over a 1000 more persons now know where the shaft needs to be at impact for it to be effective - because that is somewhere near the number of persons I have taught and I have had to tell each one.
Secondly and most surprisingly, 99% of my students when they first came to me had no clue as to how the club is designed to be used. Their education into the game had obviously been misdirected, maybe not knowingly, but thats the sad and bitter truth of the majority of golfers who could have been...... . If the computer hasnt been fed the right information to begin with how can it print out the correct result. There could be a host of reasons why they dont swing it that well but the three essentials and three imperatives, if indoctrined into their computer early in the teaching process makes the difference between a hacker for life and a respectable golfer within a year of starting golf.
Better players have most of their components in place and here lies the capability of the instructor as to adhere to the material in chapter of samenesses and differences and of course what I have mentioned in capitals below ...TOUCH....
Normally John , I refrain from changing the swing pattern (Hitting or swinging) of any player. They have what they've got and I build on their strengths with the essentials and imperatives because some of those is what they come to me to adjust and repair. Most of my good player students are swingers but thats just a draw of the lot.
I am a very staunch believer and very particular about the Pivot components execution, SECOND TO THE HANDS which controls it , as it is the basis of maintaining balance in the swing and it is the most important factor to successful execution of the stroke . You could have majority of the components in place, but without a balanced machine????!!!! Forget it.
I am only a GSEB and I have a lot more learning to do, but I am giving the other teaching pros here a run for their money -- Just because I am sure I have a clearer understanding of how the swing works or should work. And TGM has taught me to become better than them in KNOWING WHAT TO TOUCH AND HOW MUCH TO TOUCH, as opposed to the tip of the day teaching methods that they employ. Therefore, consequentially I communicate with the student that much more efficiently, effectively and productively. Its ALL in there John - ALL TGM.
Sorry if I've strayed off the subject on a tangent blowing my own trumpet - but I guess thats the way it is. Its a great feeling , so, why not share it?????
Vikram
__________________
"If you keep on thinking what you always thought, you'll keep on doing.what you always did. And if you keep on doing what you always did, you'll keep on getting what you always got."
That's a superb post Vikram, and it is easy to see why you are having such great success. Keep up the good work and we may just one day see one of your students in the news or on our tv's. Keep up the great work
__________________
"If you keep on thinking what you always thought, you'll keep on doing.what you always did. And if you keep on doing what you always did, you'll keep on getting what you always got."
The game of golf, i have learnt is so dependent on correct rhythm, that it becomes the first component for me to tackle in all cases. It takes a while to drill it into the hackers but the results are amazing when they realize what its all about. Thats what I attack first ( Of course if the player is erring in these areas which normally is the case) In many cases improvement is almost immedeate with rhythm correction. MOST guys are trying to hit it farther than their bodies and minds can handle and frustratingly for them with faulty impact alignments which gets worse as the more balls they hit. They all know what rhythm is but somehow cant transmit it to the swing - they need education.Train the body to execute and swing within physical and mental parameters and 15 min later the reaction is" Geez I didnt know that I could hit it that far with that slow a swing" . Actually all that changes is the pace of the swing but the clubhead is travelling at almost the same speed if not more due to timed release of the power accumalators. But the feeling the player gets is that he's swinging slower whereas he is actually giving the loading and unloading procedures their required time to load and release by swinging from the feet. The timing improves the balance is better and the swing centre is much better controlled------- Better shots!!
Vikram
Can you elaborate on how you get your students to re-program their computer with "rhythm correction"?
Because most people are trying to hit it much farther than they actually can the startdown is invaribly too quick to allow the pivot components to get into proper place and in sequence.
I ask them to address the ball with a very narrow stance, picture a child on a swing with their eyes shut and move the club head at the same speed as they think the child would move. They get the picture right away. You see, the child swinging is a slow movement the image can be easily related to. I think every adult as a child has experienced a swing and has had fun while on one so the picture is the easiest to assimilate.
If not then imagine a huge clubhead and a child sitting on it. you dont want the child to get left behind either way, whether you are swinging back or forward. You should be able to keep him sitting on that clubhead and make him swing like a normal swing.
Simple questions like where will the child be almost motionless?? At the end of the backswing for sure. Where will he be moving the fastest? At the bottom of the swing of course. You dont want him to be left behind in the downswing so how would you swing down?? Smoothly I guess. Ask for a replication of action (Mechanics) to what sensation it produces ( Feel) and you get an unhurried start up smooth transition and sustained accelleration. "Let mechanics produce and feel reproduce." HK.
The moment the thought of a child is pictured every thing becomes rhythmic from fear not to hurt the little being from falling off. Thats how i try and put it through and beleive me it works, always . Build up the tempo from there and within ten minuites you got flow, rhythm and gradual accelleration. All you need is a stationary post and you have a swing on which you can build.
Another thing that really works is the water bottle drill where I make them swing a 1/4 full of water bottle, cap up at address, from start to finish without the water being allowed to touch the cap anytime in the swing. Ive managed to attatch one to an old shaft so its quite like the real feel one should get. If you follow the bottle with your eyes in a back and forth continous motion for three or four fairly slow swings and are succeeding in keeping the water from hitting the cap, shift the focus to the hands for the next four swings. You'll be presently surprised at the way the hands behave - The way they should.
Its a different thing if I see the same student swinging at his normal hasty fashion two days later at the range. Thats a seperate issue altogether, Its called mental INdiscipline and impatientce. Hugely rampant and the most highly practiced element in the ametuer golfing world..
Vikram
__________________
"If you keep on thinking what you always thought, you'll keep on doing.what you always did. And if you keep on doing what you always did, you'll keep on getting what you always got."
The water bottle drill sounds great. The cap remains pointing upwards towads the sky all the way to the end of the backswing, correct? If so, that requires a very smooth and slow downswing, which is the point, correct?
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