Kevin Shields
Super Moderator
I haven't had a golf lesson in, I'll bet almost 3 years. Ive obviously kept up with the information but in reality, with my workload, my swing has had more than its share of patchwork. I went into the season really not having any expectations regarding ballstriking. My off season was a total commitment to putting and wedgeplay as I had some specific tournament goals.
I ran into Manzella at the Masters and he gave me a 2 minute lesson on certain arm tourques and how things were being measured thru the ball. That tip alone allowed me to quiet some of my worst tendencies, upgrade some others, and keep my head above water. I went on a great run for the nest 2 months and played great.
Recently, a resurgence in putting and decent ballstriking allowed me to go on another mini run that included a runner up in the PA Open and I qualified for next year's PNC (Pebble Beach, anyone? ekennedy?) But my swing bandaids were clearly wearing off as I had to go back to what my friend Lindsey Newman would call a "slappy cut". I couldnt challenge the right side of any hole in fear of an over cut and I lost a little distance. Ekennedy and I were hitting balls at the State Open and its not classy to be in contention in the tournament and tell a fellow competitior how shitty your swing feels. Its like "Im so good I can play well even with my C game". I hate that but like I said my wedges, chipping, putting and golf smarts were keeping me in the game.
Anyhow, I was entering the final leg of my season (starting with a Nationwide Tour event) really having no idea what was in store with my ballstriking. A pathetic phone call to Brian resulted in the greatest one day turnaround in my entire life. Ive never had a "magic bullet" because my tendencies are so ingrained. Most fixes for me have a band aid type feel because its only a matter of time before my faults over run the fix.
But he gave me some stuff he learned recently that TOTALLY eliminated any feel of anything bad. The Magic Bullet!! It takes alot to get me excited. But this is something I know i can do and repeat. Havent been this excited in years to hit it.
Point is, Brian is the hardest working man in golf and is as good as advertised. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has every answer to every golfers problems. But if this guy keeps working and learning at this rate, he'll have the highest batting average out there.
Thanks to BManz, I'll be buying him a dish of his favorite food when he's in Pittsburgh in September.
I ran into Manzella at the Masters and he gave me a 2 minute lesson on certain arm tourques and how things were being measured thru the ball. That tip alone allowed me to quiet some of my worst tendencies, upgrade some others, and keep my head above water. I went on a great run for the nest 2 months and played great.
Recently, a resurgence in putting and decent ballstriking allowed me to go on another mini run that included a runner up in the PA Open and I qualified for next year's PNC (Pebble Beach, anyone? ekennedy?) But my swing bandaids were clearly wearing off as I had to go back to what my friend Lindsey Newman would call a "slappy cut". I couldnt challenge the right side of any hole in fear of an over cut and I lost a little distance. Ekennedy and I were hitting balls at the State Open and its not classy to be in contention in the tournament and tell a fellow competitior how shitty your swing feels. Its like "Im so good I can play well even with my C game". I hate that but like I said my wedges, chipping, putting and golf smarts were keeping me in the game.
Anyhow, I was entering the final leg of my season (starting with a Nationwide Tour event) really having no idea what was in store with my ballstriking. A pathetic phone call to Brian resulted in the greatest one day turnaround in my entire life. Ive never had a "magic bullet" because my tendencies are so ingrained. Most fixes for me have a band aid type feel because its only a matter of time before my faults over run the fix.
But he gave me some stuff he learned recently that TOTALLY eliminated any feel of anything bad. The Magic Bullet!! It takes alot to get me excited. But this is something I know i can do and repeat. Havent been this excited in years to hit it.
Point is, Brian is the hardest working man in golf and is as good as advertised. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has every answer to every golfers problems. But if this guy keeps working and learning at this rate, he'll have the highest batting average out there.
Thanks to BManz, I'll be buying him a dish of his favorite food when he's in Pittsburgh in September.
