Swamp Report

[Trig]

Bagger and I were in the Swamp this past week and had a great time.

I came away with some specific items to work on as follows:

1. Pivot. My old "turn" was to turn my shoulders back and load up my right leg with about 90% of my weight. This was causing me to go inside and sway. My new pivot is to start with more weight on my left side and to let the left knee dip a bit. There is still a good bit of weight on my left side at the top - much more than before. I used to think this was a reverse pivot but Yoda convinced me otherwise. This is going to allow me to get the club in a much better position.

2. Extensor action. I learned to add more extensor action than ever before. This will help keep the club on plane and add more structure to my hit.

3. I really learned how to drive down/out/forward until my right elbow passes my "line of sight".

I think these things are going to make a dramatic difference in my action. The teacher can teach but the student must apply. I'm going to work on the new items a bit and then hopefully I'll be able to post some before/after pictures of my motion.

There is simply no substitute for hands-on TGM instruction, especially if you can get it from the best in the world!

If you get a chance to go to the Swamp or one of the LBG schools - do NOT pass up the opportunity!

[Theodan]

Trig....... What a fortunate guy! I'm sure you had a great time. And thanks for all the effort you have put into the board!

I'm trying to clean house on my pivot. I have cleaned up 2 terminal errors by going to a Square-Open (10-5-B) setup. Sometimes though, I make such a weight shift for the forestroke, I end up with a "chase". Virtually zero weight on my back foot. I saw nothing to this degree in Yoda's and Luke's swings. All leg work was very subtle to maintain perfect balance.

Can you give a guesstimate of weight on the left and right sides at Top, for say .. a midiron. If I leave more weight on the front side it'll wratchet down my disco legs even more. I just don't want to overdo it. Thanks.

Charlie

[Bagger Lance]

I can vouch for Trig and I'm going to keep a keen eye on his pivot. It's something I picked up last November from Yoda and will never go back. Ted and Yoda confirmed last week I'm doing it correctly. I heard multiple times, "that looks just like Hogan".

Charlie,

The position as best I can describe it is; At setup you will feel balanced 50/50 between the feet but...you will feel the upper quadriceps in your left leg pushing down on the ground as though you were attempting to level a mound of dirt under your left foot. You will feel "decidedly leftward".
From that position, you should feel like you can launch yourself into a full sprint targetward if you wished. That is your address feel. Think of Ben Hogan and review the video on this site to get the look of it. There is not much perceptable change in weight shift, in fact you can get the feel without a club by taking your address position as described above and simply raising your right hand into an "oath" position, parallel to the plane line about 4 inches behind your squared right shoulder (at address, you are actually taking your right hand to the turned shoulder location). Your left knee will need to flex a bit and your rear-end will rotate targetward to get the right hand there. It's OK to let the right knee straighten but not lock as you turn. (An Option) For many conditioned in pop instruction, this may feel like a reverse pivot but it isn't because your weight isn't shifted to your left foot on the backstroke and right foot on the downstroke. It is quite the opposite.

That's all folks...

Now for a quickie on my swamp report.

I have a tough decision. I have been working on swinging for all of my 6 years of playing golf. I have been determined to make it work and feel very close to taking all of the non-compatible (read hitting) components out. The gotcha is, I made a serious attempt to try hitting last week and demonstrated it with relative ease. In fact, it felt simple and the results were very satisfactory. Ted, Yoda and Trig all agree I'm a natural hitter and should seriously consider using it, but after investing all of this time in swinging I hate to turn in the towel and move on. I have made my decision but am not ready to announce it yet.

Other than that, I take my right hand a little too inside the plane which also effects my extensor action. I thought it wasn't inside enough .
I also need a slight adjustment in my grip to get my #1 pressure point aligned properly.

These seemingly small changes make a big difference.

Bagger

[drewitgolf]

Bagger,

Why limit yourself to "strictly swinging" or "strictly hitting"? You can do both; just not at the same time.

[lagster]

Bagger and I were in the Swamp this past week and had a great time.

I came away with some specific items to work on as follows:

1. Pivot. My old "turn" was to turn my shoulders back and load up my right leg with about 90% of my weight. This was causing me to go inside and sway. My new pivot is to start with more weight on my left side and to let the left knee dip a bit. There is still a good bit of weight on my left side at the top - much more than before. I used to think this was a reverse pivot but Yoda convinced me otherwise. This is going to allow me to get the club in a much better position.

2. Extensor action. I learned to add more extensor action than ever before. This will help keep the club on plane and add more structure to my hit.

3. I really learned how to drive down/out/forward until my right elbow passes my "line of sight".

I think these things are going to make a dramatic difference in my action. The teacher can teach but the student must apply. I'm going to work on the new items a bit and then hopefully I'll be able to post some before/after pictures of my motion.

There is simply no substitute for hands-on TGM instruction, especially if you can get it from the best in the world!

If you get a chance to go to the Swamp or one of the LBG schools - do NOT pass up the opportunity!

.................................................. .................................................. ......

Your description of the Pivot and weight shift is interesting.
I once met a fellow that knew Sam Snead's son. He struck the ball very nicely on the range. He told me that Sam did not shift much, if at all on most shots. He felt as if he stayed on his left side.

Ben Hogan also looked as if he did this. John Schlee called Hogan's shift a "dynamic weight shift"... as opposed to a "static" weight shift.

Now... what do you feel is the difference between what you are doing, and the 10-14-C (Shiftless) version?

[Bagger Lance]

Bagger,

Why limit yourself to "strictly swinging" or "strictly hitting"? You can do both; just not at the same time.

Drew,

Exactly!!! That is the decision I've made. You beat me to the punch.

Ted diagnosed my hit as 4-barrel and I don't see any difference in distance between swinging and hitting. There is a noticable difference in ball flight between the two. Hitting has a more boring trajectory and the sound of compression is more pronounced. More importantly, I noticed my misses were much better with hitting, whereas a miss with a swing can be punishing.

Thanks,

Bagger

[mb6606]

Your description of the Pivot and weight shift is interesting.
I once met a fellow that knew Sam Snead's son. He struck the ball very nicely on the range. He told me that Sam did not shift much, if at all on most shots. He felt as if he stayed on his left side.

Ben Hogan also looked as if he did this. John Schlee called Hogan's shift a "dynamic weight shift"... as opposed to a "static" weight shift.

Now... what do you feel is the difference between what you are doing, and the 10-14-C (Shiftless) version?

I know Yoda posted that your view of the ball should never change. Thus resulting in a stationary head. If your head is truly stationary
the pivot, weight shirt etc. become less complex with far less motion.

[krpainter]

Bagger/Trig, thanks for the update on your swamp experiences...always enjoy hearing the post-reports. Trig, give some updates on how the pivot is working out...something I have been workin hard on the last month or so (going to a standard pivot instead of right knee brace pivot).

I remember from earlier posts (when you guys talked about getting together during Masters week) that you mentioned about doing a long drive comp between you guys and Luke the Nuke...wondering if you did this and would you be willing to share the results?!?

Bagger, sounds like hitting could work well for you...hard to make the transition though to somthing you know could be good long term, but hurt your scoring short term...have you tried any hitting since you have gotten back from GA?

Keith

[Bagger Lance]

I remember from earlier posts (when you guys talked about getting together during Masters week) that you mentioned about doing a long drive comp between you guys and Luke the Nuke...wondering if you did this and would you be willing to share the results?!?

Keith

Here's how it worked out.

We were in the bays due to the wet weather and I was working on my hitting stroke with the driver. I busted a few that carried as far as my normal swing, about 280 carry. Ted quickly walked over from nowhere with a big grin on his face and said "It's time for the long drive show".

He quickly walked into my bay, no warmup swing.

He hit a guided missle to the back of the range and just over the fence, at least 30 to 40 yards past me. The smile never left his face and he said in typical Ted Fort fashion, "There you go". I dropped my driver, stretched out both arms and bowed repeatedly. He left as quickly as he came in, leaving me in a silent stupor.

I haven't taken hitting to the course yet, but I'll let you know how it works out.

Humbly Yours,

Bagger

[Trig]

Originally Posted by Trig

Bagger and I were in the Swamp this past week and had a great time. I came away with some specific items to work on as follows: 1. Pivot. My old "turn" was to turn my shoulders back and load up my right leg with about 90% of my weight. This was causing me to go inside and sway. My new pivot is to start with more weight on my left side and to let the left knee dip a bit. There is still a good bit of weight on my left side at the top - much more than before. I used to think this was a reverse pivot but Yoda convinced me otherwise. This is going to allow me to get the club in a much better position. 2. Extensor action. I learned to add more extensor action than ever before. This will help keep the club on plane and add more structure to my hit. 3. I really learned how to drive down/out/forward until my right elbow passes my "line of sight". I think these things are going to make a dramatic difference in my action. The teacher can teach but the student must apply. I'm going to work on the new items a bit and then hopefully I'll be able to post some before/after pictures of my motion. There is simply no substitute for hands-on TGM instruction, especially if you can get it from the best in the world! If you get a chance to go to the Swamp or one of the LBG schools - do NOT pass up the opportunity!

.................................................. .................................................. ......

Your description of the Pivot and weight shift is interesting.
I once met a fellow that knew Sam Snead's son. He struck the ball very nicely on the range. He told me that Sam did not shift much, if at all on most shots. He felt as if he stayed on his left side.

Ben Hogan also looked as if he did this. John Schlee called Hogan's shift a "dynamic weight shift"... as opposed to a "static" weight shift.

Now... what do you feel is the difference between what you are doing, and the 10-14-C (Shiftless) version?

I'll have to reasearch the book a bit to comment on the 10-14-C question.

Yoda showed me lots of pictures and videos of classic golf swings and they all look "decidedly leftward". We also looked at a bunch of Trevino lesson clips and I can't tell you how many times he talked about having weight on the left side.

Yoda called it a "sag"....that is, letting the left knee sag during the backstroke. But just enough to allow for the right forearm take away to occur.

This pivot change actually was made in Yoda's living room the last night I was in town....haven't hit a ball yet...but will give full report soon!