Close Encounters Tape - A Lesson With Lynn
 

If you have been following the thread regarding Collin Neeman in the Hole-ies and Pole-ies forum section, you already know that we have a budding collegiate star on our hands. Collin came to Lynn from St. Louis last May with a winning swing but with no knowledge of The Golfing Machine®, its alignments or its terminology. They spent a full two days together with Collin's father, Cal, manning the video camera. The lesson you can now view was the wrap-up and summary on the final afternoon and is being provided to our members with Collin's permission.

We have broken the lesson into 12 natural segments in order to keep the study focused and the file sizes reasonable. So without further adieu, please visit our Gallery section and enjoy some of the best live lesson footage you will encounter...anywhere. A Lesson With Yoda

Bagger

P.S. For your first viewing, take each chapter in sequence. There are 12 chapters in all, each about 5 minutes on average.

Lynn - so very impressive !

Wonderful, excellent tape ...

I look forward to studying all you said and did on that tape. Apart from being a gifted communicator, it was wonderful to see how encouraging you were towards Colin.

Colin - very nice stroke you got there :). Thanks to you both for sharing your time together.

This is so great ! :) :) :)

Fantastic! I have experienced this same thing first hand. Unbelievable experience.

Man Collin is a BIG DUDE!!! I would not want to be on the striking end of that stroke!!!

Whoa mint. Thanks guys.

Downloadin as we speak.

Great stuff
 

What makes this series so useful for me is that fact that we see Lynn in action with a student - Collin - who can immediately translate what is being taught. This is great because it shows Lynn basically "going for the jugular" on these advanced topics. Collin translates it so quickly that Lynn is able to cover a ton of ground in a relatively short period of time.

Or Yoda maybe 4' 2"!

Again, another tribute to a fantastic job of putting together all the pieces that make up this website- well done Lynn! Great stuff!

Here's a perfect situation to apply golfing machine principles and take all the discussion in regards to the concepts in the book that are discussed on these forums and see it happen in action- with a good player. This is a textbook case of a good player who has pivot controlled hands- not a good thing - but a very common problem and fortunately not a death sentence but just another opportunity to get better.

In the full swing from the end of the backswing to halfway down- if you go frame by frame- you’ll see the hands come out more than down as Colin has maintained the lag in relation to the body and not the plane line (see 5-0).

Halfway down this “roundhousing” creates a situation where the hips didn’t need to slide out of the way to create the weight shift and prevent the elbow hip collision- therefore the right foot is flat and slightly less rolled-in as a result.

At halfway down (hands roughly hip /mid body height), he’s really in a tough position and his mind knows he’s in trouble, so being athletic- he works from that point in the downswing to impact to adjust the motion in order to hit the shot appropriately- usually a common way to correct from that position is to raise the shaft angle steeper than intended to “make it happen” i.e. since the hands have come to much out- the plane angle needs to be steeper from that point to impact. That raising effort shows up in his follow-through/finish. However from that point half-way down you just can’t consistently do it- that is - plane angle shifting through the release interval- so you get the slight pull shot, or the straight shot, or the slight push shot/ push fade shot- you never know for sure which one. You never get in that groove where you’re money!

It’s also a perfect example of a situation where when you have these pre-programmed issues- that although you could just think of directing the lag at the plane line, you might never really get better or accomplish it. You really need to understand the problem and de-program some of the ingrained faults while you’re trying to perform the procedure of directing the lag at the plane line.

Of course, when you make the change starting with start down waggles- the start down is a lot steeper- and a whole new set of joint sequencing and timing issues come into play that take time to work through- but it’s worth the effort.

Again, great presentation Lynn- neat to see the machine in motion!

Teaching Mozart to play piano
 

As I watched this sequence of "lessons", it occured to me to ask why they even happened! Clearly, Collin already knows how to execute a TGM Hand Controlled Pivot CF Swing. These aren't so much lessons as they are a showcase. It would be much more instructive to see Yoda take the student in Ben's lesson and make him look like Collin.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Not many people would see the hands coming out TOO much, and the resulting actions and compensations for that action("roundhousing" etc.)... good observations mikeo! His stroke LOOKS excellent in many ways, however, and I think you would agree.

I believe I have heard this called... "coming over the bottom."
He does an excellent job of compensating, if in fact this is the case.

It sounds like the "Downstroke Waggle" is how you would go about correcting something like this. You mentioned also "Hands Controlled Pivot" vs. "Pivot Controlled Hands".

Maybe a picture sequence can be posted(I don't have the ability to do so) that shows the hands coming down in relation to the Plane Line, as you describe, and the resulting Hip Action, weight shift ,and Foot Action that occurs from this change.

Basic motion
 

Just curious. In the basic motion, what distinguishes the swinger from the hitter? It looked like he was starting from impact fix and then picking the right forearm up and bringing it back down.

Getting It Done
 

So what are you saying, Joe? If you've got a good swing, you really can't get any better, so why try? Or, that watching a good player learn to differentiate the fine points of the Game is of little value to our members?

Collin and I had already been working together a full day and a half. Doing 'nothing' I suppose, according to your own sensibility ("why did these lessons even happen?"). Collin would say otherwise. And so would I.

Could you not see that this was a fine tuning...a summary session...the end result of many hours of a successful student-teacher relationship? Do you really think that the disciplined verbal and physical responses Collin immediately made to my instruction were 'all of sudden' just kind of 'happening'? Do you think his Right Forearm was anywhere close to where you see it in the video when we started or that his Left Wrist could produce the precision alignments he demonstrates -- alignments he could now identify by name?

The work we did is indeed a "showcase," and I am proud of it. In fact, it is how a 'good player' becomes a Champion. At my own crossroads in Golf, I didn't have the benefit of this instructional bridge, and I didn't have the talent to overcome the limitations of conventional instruction. Collin arrived at my doorstep with the talent and left with the guidance he needed. He learned how precise it could be -- indeed, how precise it must be - and has since taken his Game to the next level.

basic motion
 

In the basic motion (12-5-1) or in any motion- the acceleration method is what differentiates the swinger from the hitter- that's it. A close 2nd would be the hinge action/rhythm- as that's normally a result of the acceleration method- but the hinge action does not differentiate hitting from swinging. Otherwise, the basic motion for both is identical.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong, but a swinger has a startup swivel somewhere in the backswing correct? Where as the hitter doesn't? I thought that was one of more the "visual cues" to a swinger/hitter. Obviously the power source is the main key, but i thought this was a close second.

Basic Motion
 

Jim,
You'd see that in the acquired motion (12-5-2) but not in the Basic motion (12-5-1).

Of course, 6-H-0 covers the overall general differences between the two, again with the same issue that the only one that fundamentally differentiates the two is the acceleration method i.e. you can have a backswing swivel for hitting and add any necessary compensations for it.

Didn't think about that...boy that'd be dangerous though. Don't close it enough and here comes shank city!

Extremely well put, Yoda.

Collin came with a good swing but left with an incubator full of eggs after Lynn programmed his computer. He sought to recognize the minute differences in Precision.
Do I need Lynn to transform a weekend player into a single digit player to prove what TGM can do? Not at all.

And we got to watch- how cool is that?!

Lagster,
Not sure how I can help further. However, absolutely looks like Collin can really play! As far as sequences, I would just say go frame by frame in the first swing of Chapter 10 for Collin and then go frame by frame with Els or Hogan in the Gallery. One of the points I was making in my post was that the body shows through amplification- what the hands and club have done- therefore it's part of the information that you use to determine what the clubshaft, face and head have done throughout the movement- that detective work combined with TGM knowledge can help you figure out what's going on with the club and hands and therefore what the club and hands need to do differently and likewise what the body needs to do differently to support that movement.

The lesson sequence started with Lesson #1 and there was no indication that there was anything preceding that. From the first lesson to the last, he kept the hands above the clubhead and executed chip, pitch, punch, basic, acquired, and full motion for the most part, flawlessly. There was no adjustment of anything - physics or geometry - just a very occasional, "try again".

Indeed, there WAS a lot of very interesting and useful commentary about the Swing - such as your personal alternation between "tracing the plane line" and "direction of PP #3". And, the difference between "throwing the club" versus "driving it". Very entertaining and informational for the viewer, and I fully appreciate that aspect.

But how about taking a life-long hack "flipper" and showing us, step by step, how you turn him into the "flattest left wrist" in golf?

I can only speak from my first hand experience with Yoda. On day one...Ugly was as Ugly is. The number of issues, okay problems with my golf stroke numbered in the high 20s. After 4 or 5 hours on the range, another 3 to 4 hours of drills and book work, the difference was night and day. On the second day after 4 hours on the range plus there was about 2 hours or more of review of video and drills that morning, the golf stroke was totally different and it really looked liked a golf stroke. We did some taping and a quick review of hinging, basic, acquired motion, along with Hitting and Swinging which really looked like I had been doing this for much longer than 48 hours. I still go over the tape. After 72 hours it was a complete transformation, not in the same class as Collin but the list of issues you could count on one hand and have fingers left over.

The click of the ball...a sound that is beautiful...ball go good too.

So though Collin in the clips may looked as if he is just doing a 'showcase', I saw this more like the wrap up Yoda did with me to cover the basics and do some fine tuning so that after you leave you have a reference to fall back on. A side benefit,you are right makes for a great showcase of the golf stroke. There is a heck of alot of information buried in those clips, you need to get past just the repeated words and look look look at what all is being accomplished.

Great Vids......

Anyway, I don't know Collin's level prior to arrival, but I can believe that Collin with this experience took his stoke to at least the next level if not higher. And I am sure I heard that he had a limited shot selection and left with alot more.

Great Stuff......

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Thanks MikeO!

The student obviously has talent. The information presentet in the videos is an excellent opportunity for people to learn. The old "picture is worth a thousand words" is evident here.

I just think that even with a stroke of this quality, one can learn. That is why I was(AM) curious about the obsverations you(MikeO) made.

Tiger Woods, for example, has a great technique, but is constantly IMPROVING it. He could have very easily assumed that he must have nearly perfect technique... since he is the best player, at least for now. But he does not do that. He and his teachers are looking for subtle little things... to make his stroke even better.

Thanks to Yoda and his crew for the video!

In lesson #1 Lynn demonstrates and summarizes the basic motion stages they worked through. It gave me the impression that he was summarizing what he had been working on with Collin.

One of the other clues this wasn't Collin's first meeting with Lynn was Lynn's comments on Collin's improvement of the swivel in one of the proceeding video clips. He points out what Collin used to do, and how the wrist was now flat through the swivel and points it out to Collin's father.

I think the information shown in this video series is invaluable to members of this forum.

Remember The Name...
 

Right on all counts, Martee.

In the six months since Collin and I began our work together, I have had the privilege of taking his phone call from time to time. Sometimes we clear swing fog and other times he updates me on his increasing success.

Last week, he called with some special news. I was excited for him and asked him to put it up on the site. That post (and my response) is in the Holies and Polies Forum in the thread And On The Younger Front.

At an age and in a sport where brash and cocky 'it's all about me' attitudes abound, Collin's modesty and manner is refreshing. He is a credit to himself, his family and the game. So, I will now say what he didn't: His final round 71 -- on a very tough golf course and against a full qualifier field for the national junior college championships next May -- was the low round of the three-day tournament. He finished fourth overall, and the good news is...

He is only a freshman!

Collin
 

For me, a lesson between student and teacher is a very personal thing- and because a video of that lesson only shows the present and not the entire context (past and future)- I find it surprising that any teacher AND their student would feel comfortable enough to show it to ANY audience. After all, what is there for the teacher or the student to gain by such a showing? Certainly, the primary potential for gain is largely on the side of the people that get to view it and possibly learn from it.

It won’t take too many negative posts to reduce the possibility of future videos like this one. Instead of "It would be much more instructive to see Yoda take the student in Ben's lesson and make him look like Collin." Which while that statement might be true, it might sound better presented as "It was great to see you work with a good player - could we see a similar length lesson clip from a player who is a 20 handicap?" Afterall, you already saw the good player. It's just better decorum.

To Lynn: I’ve got to give you credit for being open in regards to what you put up, what you let go up on the forum and what you let go on in the forum-that approach certainly has its associated problems but it’s a refreshing attribute and overall a real plus for you and the site.

To Collin: Thanks for letting us be a part of your lesson with Yoda and keep "ripping it"- sounds like you've got a great game and a promising future in this game. Also, thanks for letting TGM be a part of it- people like yourself - will and can be a major influence on golf and TGM (you've got alot more influence than you could ever imagine).

upset with questioning a lesson tape.
 

I am 70 yrs old and have been a low single digit player for over 50 yrs. I have played and socialized with the very best professionals and amateurs in the world. I have had instructions from U.S. open winners to teaching only pro's.

I took lessons from Luke at "the swamp". I paid for the 5 lesson plan, took 2 and have not returned in 6 months. I learned so much in those 2 lessons that one morning, plus what I learn on LynnBlakeGolf.com that I don't feel the need to go back.

Last week I viewed the "close encounters-a lesson with Lynn. It is without a doubt the finest piece of golf instruction i have ever benefited from. I have no special allegience to Lynn B. or Ted Fort, as I hardly know them. But, I feel indebted to them for what I have learned from LynnBlakeGolf.com. They could make a lot more money for themselves without out these free lessons on tape. They are a proven quality now and worth paying for!

One other point. You can learn a lot more by viewing and LISTENING to a lesson with a good player than you will ever learn by viewing a player that refuses to be taught, e.g., the guy in the Ben Doyle l hr. lesson.

Frank

" Sharper than a serpents tooth, to have an ungrateful child."
-- Wm. Shakespeare

The Way It Was
 

MJ,

I see the problem and can understand your impression that this was Collin's first session.

I was out of town and unable to write the introductory post for Collin's lesson. Rather than wait for me, I asked Bagger to go ahead and put the video up so that members would have it available over the weekend. His brief post was simply to introduce the video and the format and rationale of its presentation. It did not include the circumstances surrounding the lesson. In fact, I don't think he even knew those details.

To address the current confusion, I have edited Bagger's post to explicitly state Collin's prior TGM experience (none), the actual amount of time we spent together (two days) and the fact that this lesson was the final segment of that training.

By the way, just to let every body know the 'labor of love' going on behind the scenes...

Each five minutes of the video took a full two hours to render the quality you see. And that doesn't begin to address the time spent in converting the tape for the site or its title page graphics. The job could have been done a whole lot faster and with a lot less effort on Bagger's part, but he wanted to do it right. The results speak for themselves.

Thanks, Bagger!

video's dirty little secret- rendering time- ouch.

Nothing could be further from the truth! Watching a good player getting instruction gives you absolutely NO CLUE what that player is really DOING, because the proper physics is already there.

And, that student of Ben's wasn't refusing to be taught - he was trying hard to perform the solution he was given, that of aiming point, but it only made him flip worse - he wasn't being given the correct actionable drills/images which would have produced the desired result.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. Sounds like there is no video of the initial encounters, but could you briefly summarize what he was doing wrong and how you fixed it? Was he a successful timed-flipper, who needed a complete conversion?

Thanks.

You go ahead and watch poor players, I'll watch good players.
Play with dogs, good chance of getting fleas.

I'm with you Frank. I think MJ is challenging Yoda into something we both know is bogus.

Lynn's job is to unlock the yellow book, something he has done marvelously close to two years now. Having been to two workshops with Lynn I still marvel at how he teaches the hands through the brain as he explains The Golfing Machine concepts before heading to the practice range.

I got to watch Ben, Lynn, Brian and Ted teach in Canton- each are different in approach (a wonderful thing btw) but each are at the top of my short list of talent.

Maybe Lynn is not the instructional guru via video that MJ needs. I suggest then, buying a video from Brian or renting a tape from Ben and asking him for a beginner.

Requiem For A Flipper
 

You want it, MJ? Okay, you got it! :D

I had just such an encounter Saturday a week ago with Vickie Lake. LBG Members know Vickie as moderator on our Fit For G.O.L.F. Forum. She is also a trainer and physical therapist with many golf clients. Nevertheless, she herself is an absolute beginner at the game.

At my request, she did attend (as a Special Invitee) the Pine Needles Workshop last summer. The goal was to help her understand the alignments of our system so that she would be better able to custom a fitness regimen for our students. She told me then she wanted to learn how to play golf -- mainly to enable her to better serve her clients through a personal experience of the movement -- but we both knew that my attention had to be on our students. Thus, I was not able to work with her there.

Well, fast forward about a year, and she is now my personal fitness guru. For months now, I've been pressing her to get together with me and learn how to swing a Golf Club. Finally, our stars lined up, and we agreed to meet for an hour before a scheduled Private Workshop. She had no shoes -- you'll like her red boots in the video! -- and no clubs (so I loaned her my Sand Wedge). Most of all, she had no Flat Left Wrist. As her first few Strokes reveal, she had absolutely no control of this mandatory alignment. With all due respect to Vickie, her beginning efforts were as un-golflike as any you will ever see.

The good news is that I filmed the entire lesson. I wanted her to have a record of her beginning and a visual standard against which to measure her progress in the coming weeks. There was, however, a slight technical problem...

I have just purchased a new microphone for my camera -- you've heard the static from my old one on Collin's tape -- and, uh, I forgot to turn it on. Which was unfortunate, because the attached external mike disabled the internal one. Hence there is no sound on the video. But not to worry, because there is plenty of 'hands on' help and demonstration, and members will see the magic unfold over the hour.

And, indeed, it was magic!

Get ready to que it up, Bagger. It's comin' your way today.

lb

Joe,

I'm truly interested in what you would prescribe for the guy in Ben's video. I ask because I truly would like to know. I know that you have issue with "hands controlling" the pivot. I respect your knowledge of the golf swing and of the Yellow Book. Many of your posts have been very helpful to me.

Would you mind expanding little more about how you would have handled the student in Ben's clips? What type of drills or images would you prescribe to a flipper/hacker?

There certainly are many ways to skin a cat.

Thanks and regards,

Bucket

Thanks Great Footage
 

I personally gained much insight into how key, the shorter strokes are to building your swing. I have found it easy to discern a problem by going back to Acquired or Basic from Total swing.

The part I had a question about was Yoda's reference tgo 12-3-0 and the Mechanical Checklist and how to use it to check critical alignments (wrists vertical, etc).

Could someone elaborate on how to use TGM to determine critical alignments for each part of the total swing. One example should suffice (don't do the entire swing).

To be sure, I am no expert on TGM but I have been through the book many times (and before you ask, Yes, I followed the reading structure outline on page x). I tend to carry it around with me and find time to go back and reread many parts over and over but I do find this forum and Chuck's with videos do help clear up the fog.

Kevin

Thomas Edison knew 1800 ways not to build a light bulb

The Tip Of The Iceberg
 

To the contrary, Collin's dad, Cal, taped the entire two days. In fact, the only reason I've got this tape is because his battery ran out, and we used my camera for the last segment. I forgot to give the tape to him before they left and have just now re-located it.

I thought LBG members might enjoy the experience (and perhaps learn from it). So, before sending it along to Team Neeman, I asked Collin if we could put it up on the site. He gave his permission, Bagger worked his magic and -- voila'! -- members have a front row seat to our very special time together.

MJ

When I visited Yoda, you and he did identify a large number of faults. HOWEVER rather than focusing on each fault, Yoda explain to me that in getting myself into the proper alignment that a number of these faults should and would probably disappear.

Working the basic motion then the acquired and achieving correct results eliminated improper techniques.

The drills for the basic and acquired which most are in the book in one form or another.

When we go to full motion, Yoda noted that most of the faults noted were no longer an issue, yet we didn't focus on the faults, we focus on the alignments for the most part.

During each step of the way we discussed the book by reference and the whys and what fors.

What I discovered that in my case I could start a stroke and stop it, cause I knew it was wrong. Yoda got me to get the correct mechanics to produce the feel.

Once and awhile an old habit would show up and usually I could identify it and know why, even though we didn't tag each fault to a step in the teaching Yoda did. What I learned was that my old habit prevented me from achieving what I needed to be correct.

I saw alot of this in the vid clips in this series, when the student was either going to perform a particular stroke or had failed to perform the particular stroke, Yoda would ask questions, pointed questions and the student would respond.

To put it simple Yoda with me and I assume he does this with most students is to build. Start with what the golf stroke is and go step by step forward while the student begins to master it.

Not sure what you are looking for, the wrap up provided in these clips I will bet all are just that, a wrap up, whereas in the hours and day before there was more balls being hit, more drills, etc. There is a lot of information contained within these clips that can be drawn back to the book, chapter, section and paragraph IMO.

I would have him grip down on the shaft of a mid-iron and secure the grip to the inside of the left forearm with a velcro strap. Have him hit pitch shots with the pivot only, making sure he doesn't push with the right tricep. After he gets the hang of it, have him hit little pitch shots off the ground with a driver, gripping it normally.

The Real Deal
 

Like everything else in our Gallery except the Tomasello series, this is reality TV folks. Unstaged and not filmed up front as a marketing piece. I spend most of my working life creating concepts for high tech products, and then spending half a year or more to launch them. I understand the product marketing process. What you have on this site is everyday stuff, what I like to call Reality TV. In my personal calls with Lynn, he regularly tells me stories about 20 and 30 HC folks who have come to him after years of struggle and leave fixed...for good...some in tears...and that is what really motivates Lynn.

I look forward to this - thanks very much.

I think the video was instructive to show the basic motion to acquired motion and some different hinge actions....etc.The swivels were nice too...... I would like to also see swing faults and soloutions to those faults.
So I see Joe's point about having a 20 HCP on video and watching what it takes to get the three imperatives. What was joe saying about that velcro strap on.........LOL=;
only kidding Mizuno..........[-o<

When You Wish Upon A Star
 

Sorry for any additional confusion, Joe. I merely answered your post and said that, though we only posted the one tape left in my camera, we did tape the entire two days. There is no plan at this time to put up the entire two days.

Thinking about it, though...

Maybe such a video -- and others like it -- would be interesting to Members as Subscription-based Premium Content? Hmmm...

The good news is that your Flipper Wish has been granted and will be up in the next week or so.

I didn't see this post til just now - this video will be what it's all about! Thanks to Yoda, Bagger, and Vicki.