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Originally Posted by Martee
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For some time I have argued with myself regarding this statement, TGM is a catalog, not a method or style. It has been said many times in defense of the book, etc.
Granted the book first 11 chapters are in fact a catalog, a description, etc. but none really meat the definition of a style or method.
Now Chapter 12 provides two stroke patterns (Hitting/12-1 and Swinging/12-2) which define a golf stroke style. Take 12-5-3, the method defined, how to teach either of those patterns.
In addition, throughout chapters 2 - 10 there are a number of drills and exercises to support Chapter 12.
TGM would in fact meet the standard definition of method and style regarding the golf stroke.
The application of the method and style is the bare bones, it does need the flesh and approach added to make it a polished product as well as personalized to both the instructor and student learning style and method of instruction.
A lot of golfers often have trouble understanding the difference between 'position' and 'alignment'. Explain the bent right wrist or flat left wrist, they see that as a position. The understanding of alignments often lack relationships and appear to be positions.
How it is actually taught and learned, Tom Stickney wrote an article a while back regarding the kinds of teachers and to more less the extent how golfers learn.
http://web.archive.org/web/200303121...r/stik0302.htm
IMO TGM has more than some give it credit for....
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Two excellent posts, one by Martee and one by 6BMike's that followed- Two posters that over the last couple of years have earned my respect. Just to throw my perspective and/or "my nitpicking"- not to take away from the overall post.
For Martee's post- Regardless of the number of drills/excercises real or implied- I'm pretty sure that Homer felt that the closest thing to a drill or excercise would be in 6-B-3- where he suggests that you use a flat surface and see that the release motions happen on plane- he really saw himself laying out the principles/groundwork and letting the AI's with their imagination come up with drills/excercises-"you guys are alot better at coming up with that kind of stuff than I am". He was anti drill in that regard in relation to how the book was written- certainly not anti drill in regards to learning the concepts. Just a little refinement to your post- in regards to how I would think Homer would interpret it.
6BMike- The "classic" patterns 12-1/12-2- touches on another pet peave of mine- that those sample patterns are somehow ideal, or hold a higher value than the other trillion patterns available. Much like the section of Martee's post that I commented on - your comment isn't wrong- you could easily call them classic- but just given the history of people's perception of the stroke patterns- and my perspective of how Homer would view them- just touches a nerve ending - and for those people that are "into" getting it right- I think it's an important clarification to make. It wasn't really until 1969 just before the book was published that he thought of putting stroke patterns in the book- Ben Doyle brought over a number (6 or so) PGA members for a week long class- Ben: "I'll have a group here next week!", that included Don Shaw. Only Ben and Don lasted the week- but as Homer told them all that there was millions or trillions of workable patterns- all the pros kept on wanting to just know "one"- you can imagine that many didn't want to understand all the theory- "Just tell us what to do"- or "Just tell us which one is better- i.e. horizontal hinging or angled hinging?"-out of that class came the concept of the stroke pattern- not the best one, nor the most classic, but just a stroke pattern- one of many possible ones. In fact in that regard- most if not all of Chapter 12 was the result of feedback from people Homer was working with- to put something in the book that isolated and pinpointed what he was trying to say- something specific. It wasn't his approach or wouldn't be his method of operation- for he was always looking at the principle and thought that the reader could apply it- in any number of situations- and certainly his fear of listing anything specific- or anything as an example that may too narrowly define or lead the reader into a implied specific location was warranted because that's what alot of people think when they look at the stroke patterns.
Thanks guys for letting me input the seemingly trivial stuff- You've allowed me to sleep peacefully now- off to bed!
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