START HERE: Manifesto.

[Brian Manzella]

Zero Path.

Zero Clubface.

With a Pivot—and arm and hand motion—that contributes to the zeros, and produces efficient power.

Done in a way that is athletic, and fits the golfer's physicality, and mentality.

Taught to the student in a way that changes as little as possible, and creates immediate improvement on the way to the long term goal.

 

[DOCW3]

Arm and Hand Motion

Zero Path.

Zero Clubface.

With a Pivot—and arm and hand motion—that contributes to the zeros, and produces efficient power.

Done in a way that is athletic, and fits the golfer's physicality, and mentality.

Taught to the student in a way that changes as little as possible, and creates immediate improvement on the way to the long term goal.

Are elbow pockets at Address a factor to be considered or ignored?

 

[spktho]

Zero Path.

Zero Clubface.

With a Pivot—and arm and hand motion—that contributes to the zeros, and produces efficient power.

Done in a way that is athletic, and fits the golfer's physicality, and mentality.

Taught to the student in a way that changes as little as possible, and creates immediate improvement on the way to the long term goal.

I like it. Simply teaching a person to hit a golf ball to the best of their ability--without a "trademarked" only way to do it right.

 

[westy]

Now there is a method....

 

[Brian Manzella]

Are elbow pockets at Address a factor to be considered or ignored?

How you tie your shoelaces is a factor.

Whether I'd have to teach you to tie them properly to zero you out with power, is doubtful.

 

[jonnygrouville]

Very interesting. Particularly the bit about ‘immediate improvement’.

How ‘immediate’ are we talking? What happened to the ‘it’s going to get worse before it gets better’ and ‘you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs’ that conventional wisdom would have us believe in making a change in our golf swings? (More precisely, ‘you’ve just paid for and had a lesson, but don’t expect to be able to shoot better scores yet. In fact, you’re probably going to shoot 90.’)

Surely any change is going to feel odd for a while. I know from my experience where I have had a fault and a compensation, it has taken a while to shift the compensation once the fault has been corrected. How does your strategy address this to demonstrate immediate improvement to your students?

I might be missing the point as I have assumed you mean immediate improvement in consistency, ball flight, etc. where you might have a different indicator of ‘success’ (especially if you have objective data available to show a student). What improves in a student from the start of a lesson to the end? Are they always hitting it better?

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

Very interesting. Particularly the bit about ‘immediate improvement’.

How ‘immediate’ are we talking?

Same lesson or i don't charge you. Anyone who came to the GTE saw Brian do the same thing, if someone can't get you better in the same lesson they just aren't good enough to fix you fast enough period. BTW, when i was working 2 jobs and teaching it happened to me once. I just couldn't get the student to hit it better. I was burnt out and probably shouldn't have taken the lesson. I didn't charge him, not even for the balls.

What happened to the ‘it’s going to get worse before it gets better’ and ‘you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs’ that conventional wisdom would have us believe in making a change in our golf swings? (More precisely, ‘you’ve just paid for and had a lesson, but don’t expect to be able to shoot better scores yet. In fact, you’re probably going to shoot 90.’)

Again it's a scapegoat for the teacher who either has an agenda with a method (that might not work for you) or again just a scapegoat so that its your fault and not his. God forbid the teacher is to blame. I'll caveat that taking everything in a lesson right to the golf course may not happen; there may be some transition but a lot of that is mental and trusting which isn't part of a ballstriking lesson. However it shouldn't take long as a lot of my lessons the students see how much better they are hitting the ball and may shoot a higher score cuz they are flying greens, have different yardages not used to slicing/hooking it off the planet etc.

Surely any change is going to feel odd for a while. I know from my experience where I have had a fault and a compensation, it has taken a while to shift the compensation once the fault has been corrected. How does your strategy address this to demonstrate immediate improvement to your students?

Hitting the ball better and seeing the results has an effect on people. I see it when i give lessons, they are so enthralled with the ballflight i could sell them anything i want. However as far as the "odd" part yes it will take some practice to get comfortable but the ball will still be doing what you want.

I might be missing the point as I have assumed you mean immediate improvement in consistency, ball flight, etc. where you might have a different indicator of ‘success’ (especially if you have objective data available to show a student). What improves in a student from the start of a lesson to the end? Are they always hitting it better?

ALWAYS, look at my response above. However sometimes students can't handle the change away from what they are doing. I had one student who came to me who was very flat, swung too in/out and wasn't very consistent. Getting him so "up" and so much less "in/out" was just too radical for him. The ball wasn't saying so but he just couldn't believe that all this "work" he was doing with someone else was so wrong for so long. Unfortunately he never came back for another lesson. You can't convince everyone.

 

[jonnygrouville]

Fascinating stuff. Pretty clear that knowing the theory is one thing, but being able to apply that to coaching and having your pupil believe in what you are saying is another.

You always see a difference! That sounds crazy, but thinking about it now, there is no reason why it shouldn't be achievable. And I like the idea of putting your money where your mouth is too. Especially with the Charles Barkley thread going on!

How do you balance short-term fixes with longer term goals within the matrix? If you are promising same lesson results, isn't there a risk of over-compensating to make sure the student sees the difference? (Apologies - I've been a consultant too long.)

Going back to Brian's mission statement, would be interesting to know how the 'mentality' fit works in the teaching process. I'm assuming just as there isn't one swing model for everyone, there isn't a teaching model either.

Being on the other side of the planet, I am highly unlikely to ever have a lesson from any of you guys, but would be interesting to know how you work through the process. Do you always try and explain why you are making a particular change? Is it important for every student to understand the change being made? Do you always show the student the fault and what the should be looking for in an improved method? Do you give the student anything to take away with them?

Sorry for all the questions, but would love to hear more some time!

 

[Kevin Shields]

Alot of this really depends on the student, the time of year, and the type of lesson (corrective or developmental). If its in the middle of the season and a guy is struggling, you have to be able to help him and the best way is improving ballflight. Cuz he aint comin back if it gets worse.

However, if its winter and the student has signed up for ten lessons and understands what the goal is and doesnt have a round or tournament in several months, you can gauge success in a lesson totally different. I have no problem seeing some squirly shots in an effort to make a change just so long as I know why he did it.

Like I said, the student and goals and situation plays a big part. Average club player in the summer, fix em now. Aspiring tournament player, off season, different story.

 

[birdie_man]

Brian Manzella: weapon of mass instruction.

manifesto: Definition, Synonyms from Answers.com

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