Perhaps it would be easier to consider the "Imperatives" as something that you must have ....an "Essential" as it would be nice to have...Of course I did work for Michael Hebron...
Perhaps it would be easier to consider the "Imperatives" as something that you must have ....an "Essential" as it would be nice to have...Of course I did work for Michael Hebron...
Aircon in your car is nice to have but not essential ( at least in the uk! ) but wheels on the other hand....
By the way, when you read Mikes transcript of Homer talking about "essential" versus "imperative"... it kind of makes the stationary head argument less significant... it sounds like Homer's key learning objectives were imperatives... everything else ( whatever you call it) is aircon in the UK ( desirable/advisable/ nice/ recommended etc)
OK, I think that's in my noggin - the rest of the components that make up the human golfing machine all vary from person to person and from swing to swing, but they must comply with the three imperatives. If you do those things right, the ball should go where you've programmed the machine to send it. Sound accurate? Sounds Good!
Maybe I'm just giving these items too much importance, but I'm still curious why he would call out those three things at such a high level. Do you have any thoughts on this? Is it possible he's identifying three things that have great influence on other components? If you do not execute those three things as intended, it's going to be awfully tough to consistently execute quite a few of the other selected components as intended, no?
I see where you are going with the thought process- which seems logical to me- your thought process that is.
I would say it all flows from 1-L. So in 2-0 under essentials and imperatives you've got to keep the Machine concept and everything he talks about in 1-L in reference. The Essentials and Imperatives in 2-0 is really the segway - he's building the bridge- that is - he is referencing, reviewing, and summarizing the Machine Concept- what a precision stroke includes based on the 1-L The Machine Concept and then the first paragraph after the Basic Essentials and Basic Imperatives leads us from the Chapter 1-L Machine concept right into the science- and the geometrical relationships. So based on this Machine Concept- here are the scientific application and verification and elaboration of that Machine Concept- it's his logical progression.
So really the essentials and the imperatives covers all 21 items in 1-L- you could essentially check them all off the list with those six items. Now, looking at the essentials and imperatives in regards to or in relation to the Human- sure you could have a little head movement, not be perfectly balanced like the machine, maybe have a little variation in clubhead travel i.e. rhythm but as long as you have the imperatives you'll be Golden. So the Machine is perfect on all six items- Stationary Head, Balance, Rhythm, A "Flat" left wrist, a lag pressure point, straight plane line. But in the Human application- the essentials can be off a little as long as you are accomplishing the imperatives. But all six are the important characteristics of the Machine.
I may be stating the obvious here, but I don't think anybody said this directly.
The 3 imperatives are directly related to the machine concept. They give control of the clubface, clubhead, and clubshaft. If we want to control the ball, we must first control the object that comes into contact with the ball.
So I see the 3 imperative as being the basic machine assembly. If any machine part (or imperative) is missing something must be compensated in the swing to make up for the missing part.
The 3 essentials make the already assembled machine more precise and consistent.
Trying to improve your motion without a properly assembled machine (or without the 3 imperatives) is like trying to use your brand new lawn mower when it is laying in pieces on the ground, or maybe it was put together incorrectly. So it looks like a lawn mower, but you will have a very hard time cutting that lawn if the blade does not spin, or there is no gas in the tank.
Great post, I like it a lot!
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"In my experience, if you stay with the essentials you WILL build a repeatable swing undoubtedly. If you can master the Imperatives you have a champion" (Vikram).
The reason you can't sustain the lag is because you are so eager to make the club move fast (a reaction to the intent of "hitting it far"). So on a full shot you throw it away too early, which doesn't happen for your short chip. (bts)
He certainly meant that the Imperatives are more important than the Essentials. Here is a direct quote from Homer Kelley in regards to this section of the book and referring to essentials and imperatives. I have bolded in black the section where his voice has added "life" or importance if you will - where he get's excited or feels like he's really making an important comment. I put in red - my own side comment regarding his discussion.
Starting off in 2-0 referring to Essentials he says "It's farther down the line than the imperatives - the flat left wrist and the clubhead lag and a straight plane line. See you can move your head, you can wobble a little and your rhythm can be off and you can still play a pretty good game of golf. If you bend your left wrist and you don't have a lag pressure point and a straight plane line- you can't - nothing in the book makes sense- It won't work- This is I think the reason behind that (why those are imperatives and more important than the essentials), with these three things- If you don't do those three things, The book will only confuse- the farther you go the more confused you get because nothing works."
Here is a direct quote from Homer Kelley in regards to this section of the book and referring to essentials and imperatives. I have bolded in black the section where his voice has added "life" or importance if you will - where he get's excited or feels like he's really making an important comment. I put in red - my own side comment regarding his discussion.
Starting off in 2-0 referring to Essentials he says "It's farther down the line than the imperatives - the flat left wrist and the clubhead lag and a straight plane line. See you can move your head, you can wobble a little and your rhythm can be off and you can still play a pretty good game of golf. If you bend your left wrist and you don't have a lag pressure point and a straight plane line- you can't - nothing in the book makes sense- It won't work- This is I think the reason behind that (why those are imperatives and more important than the essentials), with these three things- If you don't do those three things, The book will only confuse- the farther you go the more confused you get because nothing works."
Thanks for transcribing this, Mike.
A comment from 'the man' himself to 'hammer down' the Mission-Critical point.
I would say it all flows from 1-L. So in 2-0 under essentials and imperatives you've got to keep the Machine concept and everything he talks about in 1-L in reference. The Essentials and Imperatives in 2-0 is really the segway - he's building the bridge- that is - he is referencing, reviewing, and summarizing the Machine Concept- what a precision stroke includes based on the 1-L The Machine Concept and then the first paragraph after the Basic Essentials and Basic Imperatives leads us from the Chapter 1-L Machine concept right into the science- and the geometrical relationships. So based on this Machine Concept- here are the scientific application and verification and elaboration of that Machine Concept- it's his logical progression.
So really the essentials and the imperatives covers all 21 items in 1-L- you could essentially check them all off the list with those six items. Now, looking at the essentials and imperatives in regards to or in relation to the Human- sure you could have a little head movement, not be perfectly balanced like the machine, maybe have a little variation in clubhead travel i.e. rhythm but as long as you have the imperatives you'll be Golden. So the Machine is perfect on all six items- Stationary Head, Balance, Rhythm, A "Flat" left wrist, a lag pressure point, straight plane line. But in the Human application- the essentials can be off a little as long as you are accomplishing the imperatives. But all six are the important characteristics of the Machine.
Good post, Mike. I want to chew on this a little more, but at first glance this makes perfect sense to me.
I think Homer eludes to the human essentials vs. machine imperatives distinction in 1-L when he talks about balance and force.
Originally Posted by Homer 1-L
In every athletic activity, success seems to be unquestionably proportional to the player's sense of balance and force - whether innate or acquired. Off-balance force is notoriously erratic. The mechanical device has no balance problem but the human machine does, and mastery of the Pivot (Zone #1) is so essential for good Golf.
Given that premise, it makes clearer (to me) the reason why the impertives would be more important even though all 6 would be required for the perfect machine. If one bends thier left wrist, there's not much the human part of the machine can do to "save" or compensate, where-as if one isn't perfectly balanced or moves thier head (these are closely related IMO), they can make the necessary compensations. It's not perfect, but certainly managable until more precision can be built into one's machine. I realize this is essentially what you said in your post, but that human vs. machine distinction does help me get what Homer might have been thinking when defining those 6 items.
) but wheels on the other hand.... 
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