And now, fellow Members, a real treat: A real-time lesson from Ben Doyle, the First Authorized Instructor of The Golfing Machine.
There is so much to be written about Ben and the 'early days' and how he and Homer Kelley and The Golfing Machine became known to the Golf World. In future posts, Ben and I will present that story. Until then, click on www.bendoylegolf.com to learn more about him and the products he has to help you build a better golf game.
For now...
Sit back and enjoy Part I of a 'real time' lesson: Tire Trouble: Learning To Keep Your Left Wrist Flat. Listen to the sound as Ben demonstrates and compresses his Chip and Pitch Shots. Magnificent!
This segment will soon be followed by Part II: Ben Of Arabia: Into the Sand Trap (but with no Sand Shots!).
It is really amazing how much better the pupils impact alignments got when hitting that tire as apposed to when hitting a real ball. He tried to run too much before he could walk I think.....which limited his ability to learn....
Ben does compress the ball well.... theres a distinctive sound
I have read on these forums that hitting a tire was not recommended because of the risk of damage to the wrists. Even the instructions for the impact bag warn not to strike the bag too hard, or fill it material that isn't fluffy and light.
Otherwise, this was a fantastic video. Unfortunately, this is the first time I have seen a real lesson caught on tape. I mostly enjoyed that this was a real hacker who Ben constantly corrected and received feedback from. Often on the Golf Channel, a teaching pro will use a Tour pro to demonstrate whatever principle he is teaching. Too polished and perfect. Watching a hacker going through a lengthy trial and error is much more enlightening, because after personally watching a video or reading a forum thread, I will often have the same type of questions this hacker did.
Miller talks about this, should have known it came from Ben
Is this a new edition of How To Build a G.O.L.F. Game?
Thanks for sharing this Lynn, and of course a big THANKS to Ben. If I had to pick one single clip to share re: how to compress a ball, this is a good choice. Not many ranges have divots (craters) like that!
DOWNplane FORCE to both arms straight
Wonderful stuff Gentlemen!
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Simplicity buffs, see 5-0, 1-L, 2-0 A and B 10-2-B, 4-D, 6B-1D, 6-B-3-0-1, 6-C-1, 6-E-2
Is this a new edition of How To Build a G.O.L.F. Game?
Thanks for sharing this Lynn, and of course a big THANKS to Ben. If I had to pick one single clip to share re: how to compress a ball, this is a good choice. Not many ranges have divots (craters) like that!
DOWNplane FORCE to both arms straight
Wonderful stuff Gentlemen!
Thanks for the kind words everybody. You want to play better golf, and it's good to know we're helping along the way.
Ed, this is not a new edition of Ben's commercially-available video. Recently, I called him and asked if we could put something up that would allow our members to experience what it is like to work with him personally. He responded with a six-hour video of his real-time daily lesson tee activity from which we are extracting these clips.
And the fun is just beginning...
As you've seen in the conclusion of Part I, Ben and his student are off to the sand trap. Stay tuned for Part II, because Ben is on a mission: He is determined to help the student achieve a better Impact Hand Location and thus stop him from hitting behind the ball. He has a special drill born of long experience that he knows will do the trick.
He also makes the student pass a fun 'test' before he'll let him step out of the bunker. It's a test he demands from each student, and it's a great way to learn 'Impact Hands.' Everybody passes, of course -- Ben's never left anyone in the bunker -- but it takes some longer than others!
The tyre drills/tests were good. He had one light tyre - as on the above clip - and one heavier tyre filled with some metal garbage to make it heavier. As well as a number of impact bags containing a few towels and such. At night he had me bring the impact bag to the hotel room. Each drill had a purpose.
He had me do the sandtrap workout that Yoda is probably announcing. No ball. No grass. Just a club and sand.
I liked them so much I've found myself several times rejecting ball practice & going straight to the sand trap to repeat the drills. So look out. I beleive it is difficult to do some them by yourself. You should consider bringing a mirror or a camcorder to evaluate what you do..
I also liked the drills since they eliminate any concern about impact and ball flight even thought the sand will tell a lot about you how you did. I believe Hogan said: "The secret is in the dirt".
My estimate is that we spent 1.5 hours in the sandtrap without balls before he'd let me hit even a single ball. I guess that would be frustrating to some students, but luckily I was prepared.
After some 6-7 hours of various instruction and drills I whacked a driver swing in the sand that felt "special". He was pleased. Rushed over to the video deck. That was the only time he let me out of the bunker without the bunker exit test, so I guess he'd seen something he liked.
He single-stepped the video. Drawing lines with a whyteboard marker on the screen. And said:
- Good. I can see 24 components now. Now lets see how we can improve them..
One interesting thing about Ben is he never lets you get away doing anything with the ball or club that might promote a bad habit.
Always the address procedure
Always the waggle
Always the forward press
Always shoot, hooooold and rest - rest.
Always a flat left wrist
Always a bent right wrist
Never jerky motions
He even corrected me when i knocked a ball 3 feet to get to where I should hit it from to get a good camera angle. That little knock was a "jerky" little flip-knock.
I can still hear the man. - "Noo. Never do it. Never. Always a bent right wrist. Always a flat left wrist. No leakage. Isn't that right?"
Or look at this photo. Guess he would never grab a club without him setting his flying wedges.
When I left he gave me a set of casettes. All sessions on tape and complete. Very good. Reviewing them I see things I did not notice when I was there. Sometimes I was too focused on applying & did not manage to listen up. Instead, I can do that now by looking at the tapes.
Another example is that he stood behind me to the side & told me to hit a punch shot. As I executed it he executed it himself. Standing behind my back and to the side. He never mentioned he did while there, but it is very interesting to be able to compare his motion through the ball to mine once I am back home. Sort of what split screen video analysis does, but different and more "live". He did a lot of things that in retrospect sort of ensured he'd provide "bonus information" that could make the experience richer as I got home.
The time spent with him was indeed well spent and to that day I had never met an instructor as intense as Ben. Some of his drills and instruction practice is pretty unique and I think some of them should be more common practice. The other instructors on the range at Quail Lodge were only doing the camera, video and ball hitting work. Never saw them or their students with and impact bag, in the sand or hitting chip shots.
My estimate would be that all-in-all over the ten hours of lessons I took he probably used 15-20 different practice gadgets and had many more in spare. Of those I'd say close to half of them where home-made things such as different tyres, 2x4's, seat canes, plane boards, beer crates, towels, floor mops etc etc. The commercial ones he used were Tac-Tics, Medicus, several different weighted clubs, clubs with crooked shafts, impact bags, his own mat and a few more.
Regarding some of the commercial ones he said they were good but not marketed correctly.
I've made the trip to Quail Lodge a half-dozen times or so now. Watching that guy struggle brought back painful memories of me struggling not to flip the impact bag over! Ben never did pull the tire out with me (I'm not sure that he even had a tire when I was there), but one of the drills he had me doing was to try to hit the impact bag without flipping it over, since, adding with the hands and arms is what flips the bag over. If you notice, when the person in the video appears to hit the tire well (the club doesn't "double-dribble", as Ben puts it), the tire still goes flipping down the range. When Ben hits it, it doesn't flip or hop around at all. One of the drills he had me doing in the sand was to try to hit the lip of the bunker and just trap the clubhead there under the lip. If you add with the arms and hands, the clubhead will bounce back out from under the lip.
Ben has certainly made TGM, and teaching, his life. During one of my visits to Carmel Valley, my wife (fiancee at that time) came out to the range with me to say hi to Ben, then she was about to go into town and go shopping. Ben made the comment that he had never seen that town in the day time. He said, "I've been 'right here' for 30 years." Then it dawned on me .. he meant "RIGHT HERE" on the driving range!
It was making me feel awkward even watching that student try and try but struggle with the flat left/bent right/forward aiming point. He looked kind of flustered but he knew it was the real deal...seemed to keep a good attitude.
It just reminded me how hard it actually is for someone to train that into their swing when the leakage has always been there.
Looks easy...and it's not so hard when you get it...but it can be tough when that right wrist is not used to staying bent.
hope it's up to it, let you how we went in a few weeks 
Ben never did pull the tire out with me (I'm not sure that he even had a tire when I was there), but one of the drills he had me doing was to try to hit the impact bag without flipping it over, since, adding with the hands and arms is what flips the bag over. If you notice, when the person in the video appears to hit the tire well (the club doesn't "double-dribble", as Ben puts it), the tire still goes flipping down the range. When Ben hits it, it doesn't flip or hop around at all. One of the drills he had me doing in the sand was to try to hit the lip of the bunker and just trap the clubhead there under the lip. If you add with the arms and hands, the clubhead will bounce back out from under the lip.
Hybrid Mode
