Follow Up - Two Weeks After Working with Brian Manzella in Person

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d0n

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Two AND THREE Weeks After Working with Brian Manzella in Person

I'm back with my next installment. For past installments see this thread.

Two weeks after my visit to Brian, here’s where things stand…

This week saw some equipment changes - I have a taste for the "custom" clubs - and I can never leave well enough alone. I have Scratch wedges (52, 57, 60) and all of them had different shafts. I had them reshafted with aero-tech wedge shafts. Not sure if I like these shafts in my clubs, they felt good in the clubs I swung but maybe not a great choice in mine. Also, I tried a different driver this week – Taylormade r7 Limited w/ Diamana Kia’li shaft. More on this equipment later.

I didn’t get to go to the range as much this week. We had a couple days of afternoon rain and I had to spend a little extra time at work this week. Though I didn’t make it to the range as much as I wanted, I was able to go twice during the week. Thursday’s practice was mostly with the driver. After 20-30 balls I started getting the feel and the swing going. I got to where I was point and shot with the driver. I was picking out targets on the range and I was putting the balls in +/- 10 yards left or right of them. I left the range feeling great about the driver and thinking all was well…

Friday I picked my wedges up from the shop and played a round at the course I’ve been playing at the last couple of weeks. The driver was killing me. Duffed 4 drives. The good thing, the hybrids and woods got me back into the running to save par or bogey also this is NOT the longest course in the city. The wedges weren’t great (I didn’t have very good feel with the new shafts,) I was finding greens but NOT they were not leaving me the 3-6’ kick ins. Putting was okay. Ended the day with a couple of doubles and an 84, all things considered it was a good round.

Saturday morning found me at the range with the 60 and 52 degree wedges. Two hours later I was feeling pretty good with the wedges. Had a lot going on Saturday and didn’t get to make it to the course.

Today I made it to the course (same course from Friday.) I played 9 and quit. It was HOT and my game went south. I started out with a birdie (stuck a wedge from 80yds to 2’ from the pin.) Got a big smile on my face. 2nd hole is a short 290yd par 4. I swing the driver, hit it great, watch my ball, it’s straight, and I’m on the green! I walk up to the green with a giant smile – ear to ear… I miss my 30’ eagle putt and leave the ball 3’ past the hole. I miss the 3footer… UGGGH on the green in 1 and 3-putt. It went down hill form there. Started coming over the top with the driver, bladed a wedge, duffed a 4w, missed a couple putts, just lost confidence in everything I did. Worse, I had sweat pouring down my face and going into my eyes (a nice mixture of sunscreen and sweat) and I was just miserable. I ended up with a 44 for the front 9. Not a great front 9 BUT, I’m taking the good from it. I totally melted down and I still managed to grind and keep it under 50 strokes. Before I would have quit keeping score or had a two or three 8’s on the scorecard. Even my bad shots now are pretty good (compared to before) and my wedge game and putting are able to help me salvage a par or bogey or even a double.

I’m not going on tour anytime soon but I’m comfortable that after two weeks, I can go play a round of golf and walk away with a mid or upper 80 which in my book is respectable.

I’m throwing the taylormade in the closet and going back to my Cobra driver. It was doing better for me so I need to learn to live with the equipment I have. I’m not changing drivers anymore. This is a classic example of the archer and the arrow… No more equipment changes for atleast the next month... :)

Also this week I received and assembled my new putting green for the back yard. I think that had something to do with my less than stellar putting today. I putted on the backyard green lastnight and this morning and all was well but I think that’s why I didn’t get the speed down in today’s round. The backyard green rolls a 10 (maybe faster because it’s new?) but the course is a 7 at best. Oh well, this is all stuff I need to learn to figure out course to course… I will say on the practice green I’m putting lights out from 10’ and in. Adding break is a bigger challenge but I’m still putting well. Before I saw Brian I was taking the club outside of the backstroke and I was aiming way right and basically couldn’t hit a straight putt very consistently. Now I can put ball on top of ball in the cups which was NOT the case 3 weeks ago. I did 23 putts in a row last night from 6’. Maybe not impressive to all but it is MAJOR progress over where I was in the past.

More to come in later editions…
-don
 
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d0n

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Since my series is getting read but no responses, I thought I'd quit taking up threads and post to this one for week 3... :D

Well 3 weeks after my lesson with Brian, my "old" game is back... It was a horrible Friday and Saturday on the course. Both days only saw 9 hole rounds due to lightning and the threat of rain. I shot a 44 and a 46 and I'm still amazed I didn't get a 50+. Those scores were with a birdie and 3 pars per round.

The driver swing completely left me. I even put the 11.5* Sumo back in the bag. The longer clubs were not working very well nor were any of my other clubs. Putting was HORRIBLE. Even swinging bad, I could have salvaged a 40 for each round if my putting would have been better. I literally had 5 3-putts per half round.

Yesterday on the course I finally took a minute to stop and figure out what was going on. The biggest thing I found was that I was raising my right shoulder on the backswing, I wasn't turning my hips, and I was laying off on the club face again. I can't even type those words without laughing because all of these things were what Brian and I worked on correcting... It was to many things to focus on while on the course so I made sure to focus on getting my hips/core turned on the backswing. In doing this I hit every drive (last 3 holes) straight as an arrow. Literally I stripped the fairway. On one hole (a short 287yd par4) I came up 5yds short of driving the green - which ended with a par because of duffed chipped and HORRIBLE putting. I hit a full 9i 140yds to within 3" of the hole. Things seemed to turn around after I started turning my core. Then the lighting came and my round ended.

This morning I went to the range to work on getting back on track. I think I found it. I got the core turning and tried to focus on keeping my hands lower. It feels like when I start to take my hands up, thats when my right shoulder/body start rising up. Working on these things started giving me some nice crisp shots with very small to no divot. After this I started working on my hands. When we were working on the range at English Turn, Brian said point the shaft toward Master P's house and the butt toward the "white building". Well today I focused on getting the butt pointing at the white building. What a difference. A little core with the right clubshaft direction and things just started happening.... At the practice green I started hitting chips and pitches from 20-60yds and almost every one of them were withing 6' of the hole. I even hopped a couple in the hole. The thing about it was, once I got the feel ingrained (after 10 or so) the club just felt like it swung itself - like my swing was on autopilot. Even chipping with the 60* from 2' off the green, the ball was just going straight at the hole and it was stopping within kickin distance. After hitting balls on the range and then over at the practice green, I returned to the range to hit the remaining balls. I was quite pleased.

I've acquired 5' more of putting green (now 6x15') for my extreme green and some slower (7-8 STIP) turf that should be here Tuesday or Wed. I think part of my putting problem is from practice putting on a 10stip and going to play on a 7/8 at the course. I think this is really messing with me. I'm not good enough to adjust mentally. I believe it's also counterproductive for me to practice on something so fast and play on something much slower. The ball doesn't role the same nor does it break the same between the two surfaces. I'm going to also setup a couple of chipping stations in my back yard this week. I refuse to have a putting chipping problem ever again.

What a frustrating week!!! It was good learning experience though. While I'm disappointed in my outings, I'm glad I could leave this week knowing what I was doing wrong and knowing how to fix it. Even better I left the range feeling pretty good about recovering my swing.
 
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Wolfman

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Updates

I'm reading them and interested in your progress. It takes awhile for the mellon to process the information.

Keep plugging.
 
vjsinger

vjsinger

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I like the posts, keep 'em coming..I think the reason for your inconsistency and frustration is because you simply have not spent enough time practicing the things Brian gave you to work on...it literally takes thousands of repetitions to understand and ingrain a particular movement pattern. It's tough and I would encourage you to focus on very, very specific things in your practice to work on. You really need to get high quality practice in to see changes and it will take time...much longer than a couple of weeks. All the best and best of luck.
 
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d0n

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I do agree with you VJ. Part of the problem is that I have NOT been very committed to swing practice at the range. It's been so hot and I just haven't got to the range to work as much as I wanted too. Another issue is that I got a little cocky thinking that the swing changes were completely ingrained without putting in the time to make sure they were. I now know where I am and what I need to do. It's been a humbling last two weeks but I do believe I'm back on track.

One thing I just want to say, even now when I hit a bad shot it's nowhere in the neighborhood of my "old" bad shots. The ball is still playable and I usually recover. A meltdown now is double and in the worse case a triple. Before, a metldown was a snowman that was picked up before I even got to the green. I guess bad shots are relative to your skill. What's crazy is I can now see how easy it is to shot a a round at par. While it looks easy, I know it requires a lot of work and skill. I just need to quit making these silly mistakes. I do believe that once I get these swing and putting basics down I can easily play a single digit handicap. A 9 is all I'm looking for... :D
 
vjsinger

vjsinger

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d0n said:
I do agree with you VJ. Part of the problem is that I have NOT been very committed to swing practice at the range. It's been so hot and I just haven't got to the range to work as much as I wanted too. Another issue is that I got a little cocky thinking that the swing changes were completely ingrained without putting in the time to make sure they were. I now know where I am and what I need to do. It's been a humbling last two weeks but I do believe I'm back on track.

One thing I just want to say, even now when I hit a bad shot it's nowhere in the neighborhood of my "old" bad shots. The ball is still playable and I usually recover. A meltdown now is double and in the worse case a triple. Before, a metldown was a snowman that was picked up before I even got to the green. I guess bad shots are relative to your skill. What's crazy is I can now see how easy it is to shot a a round at par. While it looks easy, I know it requires a lot of work and skill. I just need to quit making these silly mistakes. I do believe that once I get these swing and putting basics down I can easily play a single digit handicap. A 9 is all I'm looking for... :D
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You will definetly get there buddy. Just as long as you understand that it will take time,patience, and really hard and focused work. Quality practice is the most important thing all of us need to learn about, especially when you don't PLAY golf for a living, you must make the most of your time. Trust the process and information.....work hard. Cheers.
 
Burner

Burner

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d0n said:
I do agree with you VJ. Part of the problem is that I have NOT been very committed to swing practice at the range. It's been so hot and I just haven't got to the range to work as much as I wanted too. Another issue is that I got a little cocky thinking that the swing changes were completely ingrained without putting in the time to make sure they were. I now know where I am and what I need to do. It's been a humbling last two weeks but I do believe I'm back on track.

One thing I just want to say, even now when I hit a bad shot it's nowhere in the neighborhood of my "old" bad shots. The ball is still playable and I usually recover. A meltdown now is double and in the worse case a triple. Before, a metldown was a snowman that was picked up before I even got to the green. I guess bad shots are relative to your skill. What's crazy is I can now see how easy it is to shot a a round at par. While it looks easy, I know it requires a lot of work and skill. I just need to quit making these silly mistakes. I do believe that once I get these swing and putting basics down I can easily play a single digit handicap. A 9 is all I'm looking for... :D
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d0n,

Nice reading about your lessons with BM and the progress you are making (occasional regressions notwithstanding). How infuriating it is when you know, immediately after a poor shot, that the old d0n had crept back up on you. Here speaks the voice of experience (-ing the same thing).

As an adjunct to what you are trying to achieve could I suggest you name the various poor moves you make and the ones you are trying to correct them with.

e.g, if your bad shot is to raise your right shoulder on the back swing call it "bad dog", or something. Then if your correction of that poor motion is to take a flatter shoulder turn call that "good dog", say.

The beauty of this procedure is that you have a mental trigger before you actually pull the trigger, so to speak.

Address the ball think "good dog" and fire away.

These little "associations" just might help you to make the ingraining of your swing changes a bit easier.
 
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d0n

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curtisj76 said:
So where were these houses? I assume MP lived by the course or was that just a metaphor?
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Yes, one of the big house along the course. This day that house just happened to be at the opposite end of the range from where we were. It was far enough from the range that even Jamie Sadlowski couldn't reach it with the wind to his back...
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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I'm trying to figure out where the houses were to figure this out:

"Brian said point the shaft toward Master P's house and the butt toward the "white building". Well today I focused on getting the butt pointing at the white building."
 
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d0n

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Curtis, you'll go crazy trying to figure it out, I know I did and I was there... Na, the white building was behind us, Master P's house was down range. We were standing in the middle of them though it was probably a 1/2 mile or more between both buildings. We were simply using the buildings as a reference only.

Just got back to the range and I must say it was a GREAT outing. I only took a 6i and 9i. The balls were just jumping off the face of the clubs today. It was silly how well I was hitting the ball. Almost as silly is how high I was hitting the ball. It was wierd how high the ball was going but I was still getting the same distances as normal - maybe a little more distance - it's hard to tell on the range with range balls. Even with the 6i I could see the balls dropping out of the sky and taking a big bounce and then just stop. It was weird but I think it has to do with the solid striking I was putting on the ball. The sound of the ball bouncing off the clubface was so nice. Never have I been able to make those forged clubs (or any other club) make that sweet sound so many times in a row.

Another thing I did today was work on hitting 100yd shots with the 9i. It took a little work but I got to where I could take a full swing and just control how hard I hit the ball. I started hitting the 100yd hill/pin area shot after shot. I don't want jinx anything but I think I'm staring to learn how to control my swing and the clubs. :D

Going back tomorrow to work on this swing again with these clubs. Maybe Thursday I'll add the driver but for now, I want to make this swing work with the irons.
 
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d0n

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I guess this is going to turn into a blog tonight... I was mentally recapping the range session and thought about a couple of things...

I think the best and most helpful thing I did tonight was controlling the club and hands as it/they came down and through the ball. All during my short 3yr golf career I always though the club came back to the ball on the same plane it was on at address. It's harder for me to explain but I could show anyone basically from the top of the backswing through the ball the club stayed at a 45* angle from the body. Maybe this is why I had a tendency to lay off the club so much in the backswing? Anyhow - water under the bridge now... Brian showed me how the club and hands were supposed to come down and toward the ball and then how the clubface swings out. I never understood that or how it worked. Today I really focused on that and I think it's what really made me have a great session.

What I noticed in swinging in this manner is that if I brought the hands in too close to the body I would pushed it and if I left them out I pulled it. Pretty cool stuff.

Another thing I noticed, if I brought the club back to the ball properly but didn't turn flat (right side raised) I'd take a divot. I'd still hit the ball well but I'd take a HUGE divot. If I turned my shoulders and body flat I'd take a very small to no divot. The great thing - big, small, or no divot I could still hit the ball very well. The biggest difference in the three divots was the no divot seemed to have a slight draw to it every now and then. For the record I'm working on no divot. :D

To much golf thinking, need to go do something else now... Man when things are going well this is THE most rewarding game!
 
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alexlimco

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d0n said:
I guess this is going to turn into a blog tonight... I was mentally recapping the range session and thought about a couple of things...

I think the best and most helpful thing I did tonight was controlling the club and hands as it/they came down and through the ball. All during my short 3yr golf career I always though the club came back to the ball on the same plane it was on at address. It's harder for me to explain but I could show anyone basically from the top of the backswing through the ball the club stayed at a 45* angle from the body. Maybe this is why I had a tendency to lay off the club so much in the backswing? Anyhow - water under the bridge now... Brian showed me how the club and hands were supposed to come down and toward the ball and then how the clubface swings out. I never understood that or how it worked. Today I really focused on that and I think it's what really made me have a great session.

What I noticed in swinging in this manner is that if I brought the hands in too close to the body I would pushed it and if I left them out I pulled it. Pretty cool stuff.

Another thing I noticed, if I brought the club back to the ball properly but didn't turn flat (right side raised) I'd take a divot. I'd still hit the ball well but I'd take a HUGE divot. If I turned my shoulders and body flat I'd take a very small to no divot. The great thing - big, small, or no divot I could still hit the ball very well. The biggest difference in the three divots was the no divot seemed to have a slight draw to it every now and then. For the record I'm working on no divot. :D

To much golf thinking, need to go do something else now... Man when things are going well this is THE most rewarding game!
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Man... I envy you guys who have the opportunity to have someone like BM in your country. The nearest guy to me is in either China or Australia who is a TGM instructror and I am not even sure that they are good.

Keep up the good work and I am sure you will enjoy the game for many years to come.
 
Z

zarro

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alexlimco said:
Man... I envy you guys who have the opportunity to have someone like BM in your country. The nearest guy to me is in either China or Australia who is a TGM instructror and I am not even sure that they are good.

Keep up the good work and I am sure you will enjoy the game for many years to come.
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Steve Khatib (sp?) is in Australia and is a manzella academy instructor.
 
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rayw1

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zarro said:
Steve Khatib (sp?) is in Australia and is a manzella academy instructor.
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Australia is quite a big place ;) Queensland (way to far) New south Wales (way too far) Victoria (Mmm..too far) South Australia (I would think about it) WESTERN AUSTRALIA now your talking, I would even go south of the river if Steve was there :D

Ray in Perth,
 
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