Mike(stloc) Finney, 2005 Driver swing, front view
 

Teachers need models.

Haney has O'Meara. Leadbetter had Faldo. Harmon has Adam Scott.

Yoda has himself and Ted Fort.

This is my (Brian Manzella) Swinging Model:

Michael Finney.....known around here as Mikestloc.

Taken a couple of weeks ago, using a perfectly aligned box to show exact 90 degree camera angle, as well as up vs. down contact.

I have worked with PGA Tour Major winners (still do), and people like Nakia Davis, who's swing was so pretty, they put it in a video game.

But, the BEST LOOKING, MOST DYNAMIC, golf motion, maybe of all time is this one.

WHAT??? you may say?

Here is my arguement: Snead was as pretty, but not as dynamic. Hogan as dynamic, but not as pretty.

Els? He is 4 inches taller and outweighs Mike by 50lbs. Tiger is 2 inches taller, can bench 300, Mike can bench 160, maybe, and Mike has TWO TOTAL KNEE reconstructions and back (disc) surgery. He is only 37, but his pickup football and basketball days are behind him. Etc.

What I am saying is this, without all the size and strength of Vijay, or falling-over dramatics of Tiger, Mike would not lag behind their tee shots by much in a threesome, with even just a week of practice getting a bit sharper.

Technique, boys and girls. ;)

He learned to play as a real little guy (as a 15 year old he was 5'2" 105 and could hit it 275). I have taught him since his late teens, along with much help from Ben Doyle.

Ben still RAVES about one of HIS all-time favorite moves and really, REALLY thinks Mike should have tried to play for a living (he may be one of the best players in the last 20 years who didn't play in ONE tour school of any kind).

The #9 ranked Junior in the US as a high-school senior, he was a member of one of golf's all-time best college teams---a team that Horton could have probably coached to a couple of National titles.

Future PGA tour players David Toms, Greg Lesher and Perry Moss, future European Tour player Fredrik Lindgren and our own Mikestoc. A real tough 1-5. Mike got disinterested under his second college coach and worked harder on his basketball [playing hard-fought pickup games against future NBAers like Shaq, Avery Johnson and Chris Jackson (Abdul-Rauf) and holding his own] then his golf his last couple of years at LSU.

He entered the golf business, has been a sought after teacher everywhere he has been, and is now a great head pro and only sometime golfer. He'd love to start playing a lot again (me too) and show off some of that great physical and mechanical skill.

In the meantime, this swing was taken in a year that he had not hit a large basket of balls or played 18 straight holes in maybe 6 months.

In a perfect world where he would play 18 a day and hit 200 balls and putt and chip for an hour, and play in even just all of his PGA Section events, there is no doubt he would be a very dangerous player.

There is a lot to learn in this swing, especially HOW he was taught to do some of the things LOTS of gofers would love to do.

Enjoy:
http://homepage.mac.com/brianmanzell...ver05front.mov

thats because his pivot center is the base of the neck and not through the center of the head

The Swingmiester
 

I've always enjoyed viewing Mike's swing.

Thanks for sharing.

Bagger

Delaware...

The swing is not perfect.

But it is Pretty and it is VERY VERY dynamic.

And it produces good alignmnets and great shots.

You want him to keep his head dead still?

Cool.

Make sure you pick on a the other 'models' floating around. :wink:

Very nice both arms straight position and a very strong swivel. Love that tempo too!

How many pics of Tiger's head moving around a whole lot more than this, when he won the Grand Slam?



:shock:

Golfing Perfection
 

I think we all understand there is no such thing as a consistent perfect, textbook swing but it's certainly something we all strive for. And even the best swings differ from one to the next for everyone.
That is one fine swing and I'm sure if you shot multiple samples, you would find one with a fairly still head. We all have things to work on and some more than others (speaking for myself).
Looking forward to the down the line shot. I think swingers can pick up a lot of good visual info from Mike's motion.

Thanks again!

Bagger

I know this isn't the Basic section, and you can shuffle me off, but I have a question.......

Everything about Michael's swing says Swing. Except for this one frame. In it he has stepped his weight up on top of the shaft (and with the right arm straightening) appears to be Driving the daylights out of it with PP#1.



Is this a normal Action for the advanced Swinger, a 4th barrel?

Or is this a perceptual illusion and I should up my meds? :)

Thanks in advance for any help.
and Thanks Brian for that swing vid.

Charlie

Guys, it all boils down to this: you see poor players with poor looking swings (1), good players with good looking swings (2),
poor players with good looking swings (3), and good players with poor looking swings (4).
Most people fit into the first two catergories.
Some questions to ponder on: should you model a very good player with suboptimal mechanics? That's not even taking into account physical differences.

Learn the best bits and disregard the rest (why should you try and learn something that is lest than optimal?). So if you think "xyz" has perfect impact alignments, then copy it! But if you think there's an issue with a certain component, and it doesn't really fit into your game, then trash that part!

More food for thought:
How good a swing looks is based on personal opinion. There's no right or wrong. The mechanical superiority of a golf swing is not based on personal opinion, but on the laws and principles of geometry and physics.

Here's one dor you Delaware.....

The Ball has NO IDEA if the head moves during the swing....

ONLY if it moves during the impact interval.

Sub-optimum that.

Theodan....

Great eye.

GREAT eye!

Question...
 

I love his motion. Looks like effortless power to me!

He has something that a lot of the great players have. During his initial downstroke he gets his hips back to square while the clubhead barely moves downward at all. Such lag!

How does one go about adding that to his swing? :)

The swing is beautiful and who would not want it. Now let's see if I can express my question:

Couple of swings come to mind as what I'd immediately identify as very "TGM-ish": Greg McHatton, Ben Doyle and probably EdZ. They seem to have similar extensor action and that classic accentuated flat left wrist. I do not see that in Mikes swing, even though I see a very good tour-style swing.

My eye is not trained, but it'd be interesting to better understand what makes Mikes swing so visually different from what Ben, Greg et al are producing and still a "TGM" swing.

Well. I understand that there is really no such thing as a TGM swing since TGM is not a swing method but a collection of (24) components that can be mixed in different ways - producing swings that are visually very different.

Is my idea of a very TGM-ish swing screwed up? It might just be that Ben, Greg and Ed swings it in a way that you very seldom see on "any" range or on the tour. I find their way of swinging very appealing. What is so particular about their swings? What main components makes them visually so different to mikestloc and still according to the book.

I'm not Brian, and I may be off, but I think that Mike uses standard hip action. From the clip I saw of EdZ, he uses a delayed hip action. As a result, Mike's swing is a bit longer.

Lots of looks
 

There is a guy at my club who knows nothing about TGM. Everyone thinks his swing looks terrible. He has a short backstroke, then just drives with his right arm. Can you say "hitter"? He's a 5 handicap and hits it a ton with that screwed up swing. And he's 58years old to boot!

There are lots of TGM-correct ways, as you said.

This is silly. At the end of the day, what SHOULD be done is 1-L #2 as stated by DG. I wouldn't teach anyone to bob (3-F-7-C). To say bobbing is a good procedure is just...well...

However, IMO, Mike has a beautiful swing, well coordinated and dynamic, executed smoothly and deliberately. I wouldn't mind having a swing like that! :D

The crown of the head may move slightly in the sequence, but his levels never change. base of neck, shoulders etc.. calling that a bob is silly. Of course You could post a tour pros swing who was averaging 58 over 10 rounds and you'd still find several who would criticize it for not being "book" perfect. Those who can, do. Those who can't, complain about those who can. Just keep mashing it mikestloc, just keep mashing it. :D :D

Developing A Game
 

Great Swing, Mike. Thanks for allowing us to take a look. In his introductory post, Brian said:

"There is a lot to learn in this swing, especially HOW he was taught to do some of the things LOTS of gofers would love to do."

Could you give us an idea of how you developed your Game, and what techniques, if any, you found particularly helpful? Thanks!

Mike,
I'll take yor swing ANYTIME! Thanks for allowing us a look. Two things really stood out in your last post. "Squeeze the water out of the ground with your feet during the swing" and "Overacceleration is a killer." I may have those embroidered on my golf bag! Thanks for sharing all of those thoughts. Dr Dave

Building A Sound Golf Stroke
 

Folks, there is no theory here. These are thoughts and ideas that work. They enabled a talented player, Michael Finney, to build his own great Golf Stroke. They were translated from The Golfing Machine, the world's most complete system of learning Golf, by two of its finest Instructors, Ben Doyle and Brian Manzella. Learn from them.

Mike - do you feel the startup swivel from the left shoulder? Your motion looks very much like that 'feel' I get in my move at about halfway back. Hitting the ball with the back of the left shoulder. Also, are you a fan of Ernest Jones? That wonderful tempo certainly looks like you've got his penknife drill mastered. Pure swinging on plane force!

Swing
 

That is a great swing period

Re: brian and ben always kept it very simple......
 

Mikestloc, have you got any old habits that keeps reoccuring (e.g. for Tiger, this would be "getting stuck" on the downswing), and how do you fix them?
What do you work on when things aren't quite right?

Mikestloc...... at the risk of being a pest, I'm going to try again. Your backstroke goes to End, and initiation down looks like a Swinger. With the exception of your right foot rising off of the ground which puts your weight on top of the shaft, driving down with the Hitter's PP#1 then Impact. Is this what you meant by "wallop the ball with your pivot....catch the dog by his tail (with your upper legs at the finish"? Then the next frame looks like the Dual Horizontal Hinge through and swivel up to finish. Swing, Hit, Swing.

The move is completely transparent in your great swing at full speed. It is such a nanosecond transition. Are you adding Drive to the CF of Drag, without interfering with the CF speed?



Thanks to Mike or anyone willing to take the time to explain this. :)

Charlie

Mike is swinging and this picture is just caught in the middle of the no.3 accumulator roll.....

He uses a sequenced release of the accumulators 4 2 3 .....

Here's what I meant by "Great Eye."

It LOOKS like he is ADDING right arm, but the right arm is BEING "added" by the release of his accumulators as Mathew says.

Trust me, Mike feels ALL PULLLLLLLLLLLL.....BAM!!

Welcome, Mike Finney, Professional Contributor!
 

I am pleased to announce that Mike Finney will be added soon to our Professional Contributors page. Members located anywhere near him would do well to contact him for his personal instruction.

Tremendous. Thank you Mathew and Brian for taking the time with a neophyte.

Charlie

And thanks to Yoda for giving me and others knowledge so that we may answer your questions :).....

(Beautiful) Form Follows Function
 

Mike/Brian,

Great stuff! If this doesn't look like a motion (form) that has the sole purpose of mashing a golf ball (function), then I don't know what does! :D As a swinger I can see a lot of things in Mikes action that I'd love to improve upon in my own.

Thanks for sharing this and a great "punch list" of swing thoughts and concepts to keep in mind as we work on our own motions.

Comet

I like Mike's swing, it IMO is great.

Like your list Mike, it seems to be a good blueprint to diagnose your swing if it should go off a bit.

All that said, even though I may want Mike's swing, I would need to grow a few inches and lose quite a bit of weight to look like Mike. I would have a better chance of duplicating Brian's swing if I could wear funny hats :wink:

Thanks for sharing Mike. A down the line would be nice as well.