[pshr]

I started reading the book and the forums in Dec. I was an 8 index then. By Feb I was a 7, then by Apr a 9. Then down to a 7 again by June. Crazy ride so far. I feel that I've turned a small corner and am now trending at 5. I have not seen any AI yet. I did see EC for a quick look and some tips. Mostly trial and error. I know without a doubt that this is the real deal. Read this article from Ron Gring. Changing old habits must be done over time with series of small steps
DAPHNE, Ala. — It’s like clockwork.
Near the end of almost every golf instruction session I give, the player will invariably ask, “but Ron, how long will it take to get this down?” The truth is I wish I knew. Then, I could predict when a player could break par, get his/her tour card and win their first major.
What I do know is that habit formation is a very complex subject. You see, habits reside in the unconscious part of the brain. This part of the brain never sleeps. It is always active. It takes care of breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, the release of chemicals into the bloodstream, oversees the care and maintenance of the body and controls the central nervous system. The central nervous system controls muscle contraction, which is how the golf club is moved from address to the follow-through. New habits are formed by “re-wiring” and “over-writing” old central nervous system programs.
I can hear you saying . . . “What does this have to do with my swing? In English please!” If a player has decided to change a particular component or variation in their swing, immediately they are dealing with trying to over-write old habits.
Unfortunately, habit formation has an agenda all its own. Habits do not care about a 24-hour clock or how much motivation a person has. Habits do not care how many balls a player may hit or how important golf is to that person’s mental well-being. Certainly, habits do not care if you have a tournament to play in on Saturday and you need this to improve now!
Habits form at a pace unaltered by effort and intensity. Habit formation is similar to placing eggs in an incubator. The egg hatches when the chick, not you, cracks the shell.
There are ways to speed up the process. Here’s one that may work for you.
You must realize when trying to change habits that until you can execute new movements perfectly at less than full speed, it is impossible to execute the changes with any degree of precision at full speed. The brain will automatically default to the old habit because it does not know how to execute the new movement when you go “all out.”
The truth is an inability to execute a motion at one-quarter, or one-eighth, or one one-hundredth of full speed perfectly indicates a serious fault at full length/full speed.
In the learning phase, the player must be willing to practice hitting shots 5, 10, 15, or 20 yards at full length to learn the exact feel of the new motion and build in the speed as the precision of the movement improves.
The first step is to establish your mechanical priorities. Ask yourself, “What is it about my swing that I am trying to change?”
The best way to do this is with the help of a professional that knows your game and knows something about your past history in golf.
This way, it can become the guided struggle, versus the blind struggle.
The second step is to look at what you are trying to change with your own eyes as often as possible.
It is best if you can use a video camera or you can look at your reflection in a sliding glass door, a window, or a mirror.
It is critical that you see yourself making the change to create the “feel” of the different motion.
Then take the new “feel” out to the practice tee and repeat the movement at slow speed, gradually increasing the speed until the old habits come back. (And trust me, they will!).
Then go back to slow speed, gradually increasing speed until the precision vanishes.
The term for this technique is “dolphining,” down (slow), then up (faster), then back down (slow), kind of like a dolphin in open water.
When a player is dealing with trying to change habits, the best of all perspectives would be:
“Let mechanics produce the feel, then let feel reproduce the mechanics.”

Thanks for the great post, Rick. Will take it all to heart. How do you account for the documented cases here of Yoda and Ted taking golfers of varied ability and in a very short period of instruction, the student is compressing the ball like never before? EdZ says their students can compresses it better than 99% of the golf population ever will. What a challenge....
Thanks again, pshr