I first started playing golf around 12 my dad, an art teacher, was lent some clubs because the school he worked at was doing a day out at one of links courses around Edinburgh. I remember those days well, totally unaware on just how well the ball could be struck. We used to practice on a field with really bad grass (light fairway rough) with no real idea what we were doing hitting our 4 irons about 140 yards thinking we just hit a great shot.... but golf to me at that time did not mean a whole lot to me, I was more interested in other things.
Enter 1996 Masters on Television - the first time I truely watched a tournament. Tiger Woods overwhelmed and overpowered the entire field making the rest of the professionals look pretty substandard. This is actually one of the two favourite Woods victories. To see him come from being a Rookie to being the best player on tour almost overnight was inspiring.
The real pleasure I had though watching what was trying to work out what he does that makes him play so good. This inspired me to really try to understand what is happening in the golf stroke. My dad could see this and decided to purchase material - He bought "Faldo's swing for life" and leadbetters "The Golf Swing" as part of my Birthday present. At first I thought the books were great, and believed that this must be the way to better golf, afterall leadbetter re-constructed Faldo into a major winner right...
I spent about two years plodding through these books getting only mildly better, probably due to developing better but still unprecise co-ordination. I continually became to despair of the fact that I was not getting better at an acceptable rate. I was at this time also studying for my Grade 8 guitar - with the aid of my guitar teacher I had totally revolutionised my guitar playing due to the deep understanding of what is truely going on and how we focused breaking up every section of extremely difficult pieces of music we did something similar to the look look look of The Golfing Machine ours just included listen listen listen - breaking everything down and playing at different tempi getting the simpliest possible movements. I asked myself how come I can't do that with golf - learning the 'real barebone skills'.
I went to my first tournament and saw Nick Faldo play in his group of three. I saw the other two players tee up first - beautiful in my eyes - seeing the ball soar out of sight. Then comes Nick, the stroke I had read about and seen pictures of.... He addresses the ball and my eyes looked in amazement when I saw the one of the most contrived motions with a short weakish ball flight. Nick Faldos stroke progressively looked worse - from the pictures, to the TV screen, to the real person.
I then adopted the attitude that the best way to get better would be to study many different 'methods'. I spent years apon years reading a whole host of magazines, watching a whole lot of videos, streaming the golf academy off the golf channel, .... desperately trying to get better which I did but again not by precision... I eventually plateaued into a long but weak and erratically inaccurate ball flight with only 'feels' that seemed to help. I look back at this now and a couple of quotes immediately comes to mind - Homer Kelly "Science takes the "seems as if" out of things" and "A "Feel" system without an "Engineering system is a lop-sided lottery".
I also enjoyed contributing to forums - trying to help albeit with with my what I know now to be a mismash of information (although I wouldn't of said so at the time). Enter Brian Manzella - came to the FGI forum and I just really thought I would poke fun of just for a laugh at first especially when he got his own site. Just while I am on the subject FGI was DEAD wrong to ban Brian. But suddenly through the general quality of the posts, I began to realise he isn't just one of the regular crappy instructors and began to take notice of his posts. He started to allow more of his TGM influence show because the other forum members where getting more and more interested in his knowledge about it....
So one afternoon I decided to look up The Golfing Machine and started to look up on google and what did I find but The Golfing Machine website with its very own forum. I began to read the posts inorder to get a sence of the content of the book... Enter Yoda /Lynn and thought man there really is alot to this book I think ill order it....
So I did - At first I looked at the book at the pictures of the woman and found the book extremely hard going and had doubts... but I kept reading Yoda's posts and as I kept reading them things about the machine became clearer. I got a concept in the book and I suddenly started to strike alot cleaner... I was hooked....
I now have an understanding deeper than it was before, but I still feel I only know bits....and eventually have the ability to understand everything and am wanting to try and perfect both the hitting and swinging patterns per chapter 12. It is strange now because I know the golfing machine to be the truth about golf, and nothing could make me go to the darkside again. It really is the bible for Golf.... Infact the more I learn, the more I pity the chronically poor standard of teachers....
I was even thinking of changing my ID to a star wars related character but have been unable to think of one tha is appropriate..... - Don't say Wookie...lol... I'll kill ya...lol
I have hit more pure shots using TGM than I have done in my life... I never really got full compression with the ball in any shape or form before The Golfing Machine. At present I am really working on the things I understand why they are important... and I still have lots to learn.... and I am still working constantly on my stroke....
Enter 1996 Masters on Television - the first time I truely watched a tournament. Tiger Woods overwhelmed and overpowered the entire field making the rest of the professionals look pretty substandard. This is actually one of the two favourite Woods victories. To see him come from being a Rookie to being the best player on tour almost overnight was inspiring.
The real pleasure I had though watching what was trying to work out what he does that makes him play so good. This inspired me to really try to understand what is happening in the golf stroke. My dad could see this and decided to purchase material - He bought "Faldo's swing for life" and leadbetters "The Golf Swing" as part of my Birthday present. At first I thought the books were great, and believed that this must be the way to better golf, afterall leadbetter re-constructed Faldo into a major winner right...
I spent about two years plodding through these books getting only mildly better, probably due to developing better but still unprecise co-ordination. I continually became to despair of the fact that I was not getting better at an acceptable rate. I was at this time also studying for my Grade 8 guitar - with the aid of my guitar teacher I had totally revolutionised my guitar playing due to the deep understanding of what is truely going on and how we focused breaking up every section of extremely difficult pieces of music we did something similar to the look look look of The Golfing Machine ours just included listen listen listen - breaking everything down and playing at different tempi getting the simpliest possible movements. I asked myself how come I can't do that with golf - learning the 'real barebone skills'.
I went to my first tournament and saw Nick Faldo play in his group of three. I saw the other two players tee up first - beautiful in my eyes - seeing the ball soar out of sight. Then comes Nick, the stroke I had read about and seen pictures of.... He addresses the ball and my eyes looked in amazement when I saw the one of the most contrived motions with a short weakish ball flight. Nick Faldos stroke progressively looked worse - from the pictures, to the TV screen, to the real person.
I then adopted the attitude that the best way to get better would be to study many different 'methods'. I spent years apon years reading a whole host of magazines, watching a whole lot of videos, streaming the golf academy off the golf channel, .... desperately trying to get better which I did but again not by precision... I eventually plateaued into a long but weak and erratically inaccurate ball flight with only 'feels' that seemed to help. I look back at this now and a couple of quotes immediately comes to mind - Homer Kelly "Science takes the "seems as if" out of things" and "A "Feel" system without an "Engineering system is a lop-sided lottery".
I also enjoyed contributing to forums - trying to help albeit with with my what I know now to be a mismash of information (although I wouldn't of said so at the time). Enter Brian Manzella - came to the FGI forum and I just really thought I would poke fun of just for a laugh at first especially when he got his own site. Just while I am on the subject FGI was DEAD wrong to ban Brian. But suddenly through the general quality of the posts, I began to realise he isn't just one of the regular crappy instructors and began to take notice of his posts. He started to allow more of his TGM influence show because the other forum members where getting more and more interested in his knowledge about it....
So one afternoon I decided to look up The Golfing Machine and started to look up on google and what did I find but The Golfing Machine website with its very own forum. I began to read the posts inorder to get a sence of the content of the book... Enter Yoda /Lynn and thought man there really is alot to this book I think ill order it....
So I did - At first I looked at the book at the pictures of the woman and found the book extremely hard going and had doubts... but I kept reading Yoda's posts and as I kept reading them things about the machine became clearer. I got a concept in the book and I suddenly started to strike alot cleaner... I was hooked....
I now have an understanding deeper than it was before, but I still feel I only know bits....and eventually have the ability to understand everything and am wanting to try and perfect both the hitting and swinging patterns per chapter 12. It is strange now because I know the golfing machine to be the truth about golf, and nothing could make me go to the darkside again. It really is the bible for Golf.... Infact the more I learn, the more I pity the chronically poor standard of teachers....
I was even thinking of changing my ID to a star wars related character but have been unable to think of one tha is appropriate..... - Don't say Wookie...lol... I'll kill ya...lol
I have hit more pure shots using TGM than I have done in my life... I never really got full compression with the ball in any shape or form before The Golfing Machine. At present I am really working on the things I understand why they are important... and I still have lots to learn.... and I am still working constantly on my stroke....
