I FINALLY get a lesson!

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curtisj76

curtisj76

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Hello everyone, I’ve finally taken my first golf lesson ever. My goal this summer was to get down to Louisville but with my schedule and Brian’s, I didn’t want to wait any longer. Yes I know, I lack patience. I have about 1 month of golf left and I didn’t want to wait 2 weeks so I had to settle for Jim Kobylinski. JK JK JK

So anyways, Jim right off the bat told me what I basically already knew. I swing so far right I make Rush look like Hilary in a skirt. Yikes! So we started working on path. He basically put a 2x4 down by my ball so I wouldn’t crash into it. Needless to say, side effects included: dizziness; flushing; headache; heartburn, and weak stream. :)

My first attempt at the ball I think I hit it 8 inches fat, NOT kidding. So we started working on little pitches. He showed me a few things and next thing you know I took a good divot after the ball. I looked up at him and was like, “Hey, a divot!” I’ve never taken much of a divot so it was a nice site to see. Shortly after, I hit a full swing PW and saw a divot fly far and to the LEFT so I knew we were making some progress. I was now starting to swing left, or not so far right.

The next problem was fixing my clubface. Jim, correct me if I’m wrong but I believe I had a very open clubface to “correct” my path to the right. He showed me some things that I’ve seen before in Brian’s dvds but I had NO idea they were for me. For the driver, Jim showed me a few adjustments to my setup and the push/push fades went away. I was almost doing the exact OPPOSITE of what I should have been doing. No wonder I could send the ball 60 yards to the right.

Bottom line, it’s going to take some time to get this new info into my coconut but I’m excited to start a REAL journey to better golf. The days of doing everything by myself are OVER. The best thing that I walked away with was KNOWLEDGE. I would have NEVER figured my swing out and next year I would be posting questions about fixing push fades, etc. If anyone else has been on the fence about taking a lesson, just do it. You will NEVER regret it.

Curtis


PS Thanks Jim, I enjoyed our time.
 
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vjsinger

vjsinger

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Thank GOD...you finally got a lesson. I'm glad you have decided to trust someone and go ahead and bite the bullet(spend the cash). It is really hard to figure things out on your own, no matter how great the site is, and this is a great one. To better golf and all the best.
 
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CorporateJD

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Curtis - congrats on the lesson. I've read in other threads where you've expressed an urge to get a lesson but never had.

How were you able to start swinging left? Was it your backswing path? Did you work on carrying the club before dropping it (like NHA)? Was it the "tumble"? I understand the concept of swinging left, but am trying to figure out how to do it consistently.

In my lesson with Brian (only one so far, but intend to go back for more), he noted that I swing too far right. After moving me to a neutral grip, Brian had me trying to "lay the club down" right at the start of my backswing. I've been trying to jam the right underarm (tricep) into my right side - as that seems to get the club to lay down. I've hit the ball better since my lesson, but instead of low hooks, my misses are now pushes and big slices. Brian told me that I'd curse him when I did this on the course, and that the cause of a big slice would be swinging too far right with an open clubface.

So how are you implementing the swing left idea?
 
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suns11111

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Nice post curtis, you now have to pass the torch to me for the most amount of posts without a lesson with the BMANs squad........

JeffS
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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CorporateJD said:
the cause of a big slice would be swinging too far right with an open clubface.

So how are you implementing the swing left idea?
Click to expand...

That's what my huge misses were, too far right with an open clubface. I was purposely leaving the face open so I wouldn't hook it. Well it "worked", 60 yards to the right is NOT a hook.

With the swinging left idea, I honestly don't know what exactly did it. Probably the 2x4, not sure. He probably knows more than me.
 
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suns11111

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Well once you feel you have a good base and feel, recommend video it with swings and commentary on solutions when things go bad,

Thanks for the update again'
JeffS
 
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Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
Curtis swung so far right that he learned how to open the face A LOT so he wouldn't hook the crap out of it. So as we moved his path more and more left he had to learn how to play with a bit more of a closed face and that was more in relation to how rotated his left arm was and not necessarily any left wrist condition.

As for how you get someone to stop swinging so far right? Honestly it varies, i had to pull out all kinds of drills and tricks to help Curtis, we spent almost an 1.5hr on his PW and 9 before he really "got it" and then we moved onto the 7 iron and eventually 5 iron. The difficult thing with people who swing too far right is that it's more difficult to get them to swing left with the longer club because they want to swing it so shallow.

With Curtis it was a 2 prong effect where i put the 2x4 outside his ball to get him to swing more left and get the feel of using his pivot more and then the other prong is to put the 2x4 on the inside of the ball (similar to the towel plane board drill) to get the downswing a bit more on plane so he could attack the ball without leaving the face too open.

No two students are the same

PS Curtis you'll get your email later this evening, i am just now leaving work lol
 
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dbl

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Congrats on the big step Curtis, and the newfound knowledge.

I'm also glad to see these kinds of reports. Thanks for sharing.
 
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niblick1

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This forum is great but nothing replaces getting a lesson from a really good teacher. Till then you are guessing at issues.

Glad you finally got going, curtis.
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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I wasn't planning on playing tonight (men's night) because I wanted to do some range work first. But, a buddy called me and twisted my arm so next thing you know I'm in a heated 3 person best shot between 12 of us guys. Considering all of the thoughts going through my mind I played pretty well. There were 2 teams that tied so we went to a playoff hole. First hole the other team hit the flag and dropped 3.5 ft from the hole, CRAP! My team was up next, first 2 guys were not very close. I grabbed my SW, opened up the face because I wanted to still hit a full shot due to the pressure, and dropped it dead 3 ft from the hole. We make the putt and the other team misses (had some slope to it). So I'm glad with the overall situation. I was VERY nervous at first since I've never played with this new swing and I had other guys money on the line. I also was thinking a ton, even at the end. Can't wait to practice so it can become automatic.

PS Sorry if this didn't make much sense, I'm under the influence a little right now. :)
 
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welshdentist

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Nice to hear things are going well Curtis....

I use the wimps way of doing things.....

Towel plane board to stop coming in to underplane and a towel rolled up outside the ball like to 2x4 to stop swinging too far right. Is the 2x4 lying on the ground on the thicker or thinner end? And is it more ahead of the ball or equal either side?
 
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multi

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grats Curtis! I'm planning schedule a lesson with Jim after I get back to North Chicago this weekend for my first lesson too!
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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welshdentist said:
Is the 2x4 lying on the ground on the thicker or thinner end? And is it more ahead of the ball or equal either side?
Click to expand...

It would be laying flat and it was long so it was equal in length from both sides. I'm going to the range today and I'm bringing wood that's for sure. I still hung a few shots to the right so I know I need to practice, practice, practice.
 
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wdking

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Now you really know the carry

curtisj76 said:
It would be laying flat and it was long so it was equal in length from both sides. I'm going to the range today and I'm bringing wood that's for sure. I still hung a few shots to the right so I know I need to practice, practice, practice.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you got with one of the great instructors!

If you don't carry, you'll drill that wood. I work with a 4x8, two feet long, standing on end, so I really have to swing left.

Go back and visit NHA now, it might make you golden.

Good luck.
 
curtisj76

curtisj76

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Holy cow did I hit it good tonight. Went to the range and I was bombing my driver and 3W. 1st time in a LONG time that I wasn't hook'n the crap out of my 3w. Driver was going at LEAST 270 and my 3W was going at least 240 or so. It was hard to tell because it goes range and then someone's backyard. Had to pick up several balls in their yard.

Also brought out the 2x4 and had good results taking a divot and swinging left. I hardly ever went to the range but now it's FUN.
 
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