One Year Later: Following The Yellow Book Road

[rwh]

If you can't keep your left wrist flat or keep a straight plane line or sustain lag you won't progress very quickly.

[rchang72]

Amen to that brother!!! While it takes time, what's most amazing is what you can do without hitting balls. Know the book and having a dowel will let you progress your game!

[Thom]

It's amazing when you start getting the stuff in that yellow book, how easily you can analyze other players swingfaults. So when they're hookin' it in the woods or slicing it OB, you know what happened and they're just one big


.....and rwh I think you're undergrading yourself, I'll give you a B+ for your theoretical knowledge of TGM (I don't know how you swing).

[Trig]

I began seriously studying TGM one year ago by attending the Secrets of the Golfing Machine Workshop in St. Augustine put on by Lynn, Chuck Evans and Randy Sparks. Since then I have had lessons from Brian Manzella, Chuck Evans, Lynn Blake and Ted Fort.

I'm giving myself a grade of "B minus", actually a pretty good grade considering that one year ago I couldn't execute a single Imperative and held the record for the most plane shifts.

My progress has been directly tied to my ability to execute the Three Imperatives. I wish I could offer a "super secret the pros use to shoot under par that you can learn in your car in four minutes without ever swinging a club", but it just doesn't work that way. If you can't keep your left wrist flat (clubface control) or keep a straight plane line (clubshaft control) or establish and sustain lag (clubhead control) -- I don't think you'll progress very quickly. I couldn't.

I have only recently started to progress because it has taken me almost a year to both understand and learn to execute the Three Imperatives. I was still looking for the "four minute" cure -- wanting to "jump ahead" and get into the good stuff, but falling back because of a failure to understand that the ability to execute the three Imperatives IS the "good stuff".

A big thanks to Lynn, Ted, Chuck and Brian for your dedication to helping those of us who would follow the Yellow Book Road. You guys are awesome.

For me it has been about 8 months of Yellow Book study. I look forward to being able to convert all the mechanical thoughts into feel. I think only then will I be playing up to my true ability.

[metallion]

My experience is in line with rwh's and I hope it continues. Have been playing for 12 years, even outdriving most of my friends although with a pretty soggy swing but feltt pretty good.

Until that day (last autumn):

It was all visual. A pro shot a video of my swing and saw the most embarrassingly ugly wrist flip at impact. Combining that experience with some TGM stuff I read I decided to go flat left.

So off I went. Seeing a bunch of videos, reading & trying to figure out just "how the h**l" the pros managed to keep that left wrist flat through impact.

This Saturday I felt my mind was saturated from reading and I had entered a bunch of drills as notes in my mobile phone. It was the first day of the season that I stepped up on the launchpad excited to see if I could produce some results.

Started tinkering. Stepped through the various notes in my phone. Halfshots at first. After some time I could feel it. I could FINALLY feel it!!!! The pressure point got some serious load and the smack as I hit the ball was like never before. THIS IS COMPRESSION!

I'd say I hit 10 buckets. Of those I guess I managed to hit some 30 half shots and 3-4 full swings with the left wrist dead flat. Still those few really good shots gave me a completely different feeling & I just loved it. A lot of positives came out. I managed to hit really long half shots, I managed to hit it a lot straighter than before and most important: I know what the pros do.

Went back home & looked at the Shell Houston. Noticed I now had a completely different view on the lag action when the pros hit it. I felt I could see and feel what they were doing.

I still have some serious work left to do, but I think it will pay off big time. Can't wait to get to the range again and see how this season evolves.