Ball Striking Consistency

[earlymann]

Here's my situation and I'll preface this by saying some things about my background: I'm 29. I've played baseball since 7 years old...all the way until my 2nd year of junior college. I started golf at 19, quit for about 10 years due to its expensive nature and I just started golf again about a year ago with some success. I can break 90. I shoot about an 85 everytime I play.

I'm obsessive over swing mechanics. Any sport I play, I try to perfect technique: swimming, baseball, basketball, football, you name it. Golf is no different.

I consider myself pretty athletic. My swing is rhymical. I don't sway. I understand technique and mechanics. I understand pressure. I understand practice.

But whenever I play golf, the consistency isn't there, especially the ball striking consistency. Sometimes I would pure a shot, and the next would be a thin or a slight fat. (My course is hilly and fast.)

The reason why I'm rambling is: I have all the potential in the world to be a
+1 or +2 handy or even scratch, but I'm not!!!

I'm confident when playing baseball, swimming, playing basketball. And with golf, I'm also confident but the consistency isn't there and that's when I always question my mechanics and such.

I need tips. Someone please offer some.

 

[earlymann]

Another thing:

In baseball, you're never casting. You're never just swinging your arms. You're never swinging outside in. You're never hitting off your back foot. You're never holding on your swing.

You're releasing. Body arms and hands are in harmony. You're hitting off the front foot. You're swinging inside out. If I wanted to hit it up the middle, I can. Down the left field line, I can. Right field I can. Grounder, fly ball, I can. But with golf........

 

[Brian Manzella]

Ah....

... But with golf........

...There is the little thing called the clubface.

Ben Hogan—who knew a little about controlling the flight of a golf ball—said that a straight shot was an accident.

I have taught golf for 25 years, all the time trying to become the best teacher that ever was. Long ago, I realized that Hogan knew what he was talking about.

You either are trying to hit a fade or a draw. Period.

Lee Trevino—another fair-to-middlin' ball striker, who once watched Hogan practice to get the ideas for what became one of the best swings and careers in golf—said that after watching Hogan, he was CONVINCED that Hogan controlled the flight of the ball with his body!

In a way—a BIG WAY actually, Lee was right!

Now before you book literalist burn up the phone lines asking for me to be censored, give me a chance to state my case.

The is a BASIC "right-to-left" swing, and a BASIC "left-to-right" swing. Think Lee Trevino and Tony Lema. Whether or not at the end of the day—or last hole of the tunamint—they are USING THEIR HANDS TO CONTROLL THEIR PIVOTS and the clubface, long before that, they built a PATTERN that included elements of PIVOT POSITIONING that made controlling the clubface with hands EASIER to do!

That is the BASIC THESIS of my system—The Manzella Matrix—positioning and powering the body and the arms, to allow the hands to "work the controls."

If you don't own them already, my Never Slice Again, and my 1-4 "The Movie" that contains 4 super easy to understand lessons in some of the above concepts and the Never Hook Again pattern, would be a great place to start.

Somewhere in there is a pattern that works for you. One that makes it easy for you to control the clubshaft lean, the clubhead track, and the clubface, and power them in such a way that creates speed without disruption.

We hope they will help, and we are here to assist you in your journey.