Which video(s) to start with?

[Mark E. Wallace]

Hello, all -

(New to the forum and to golf in general, so please be patient with me on both counts.)

I have been playing golf for about three months, starting my learning through books (e.g. Hogan's Five Lessons, Nicklaus's Golf My Way, Armour's How To Play Your Best Golf All The Time, and several others) and videos (Haney's 3-Club Tour, McLean's 8-Step Swing, lots of YouTube vids), and now I have started taking lessons at the Harvey Penick Golf Academy at the Golfsmith here in Austin. I just had the first one last Saturday. I came across Brian's videos during my searches on YouTube and have enjoyed and found them to be very informative. I'm now considering purchasing some of his videos but am not sure where to start. So...a little about me and my game.

I'm a 42-year old guy, out of shape but with an athletic background (baseball, tennis, table tennis, swimming, & others). My strengths as an athlete have always been my hand-eye coordination, my legs, and my shoulders, and so far those strengths have helped me get into the game pretty quickly.

I've been at the game since October 2008. I haven't been keeping score just yet, but I probably average just over 100. That average, while poor, is also a little misleading in terms of my swing. I probably average 40-ish putts per round, but I'm not worried about that right now. I'm not playing for score just yet. I play for enjoyment, and right now any lack of enjoyment comes from poor iron & wood results.

As with many beginners, I have had my challenges with a slice, fat & thin shots, and a general lack of power. My lesson on Saturday helped me a bunch with the slice and a little bit with the power (my wrist cock & release is pretty poor). When I took my learnings to the range this weekend, I still had some remnants of the slice but was actually experiencing more pulls/hooks as a result of my changes. Not often, and not drastic, but they were there. I still had several fat or thin shots, but not as many as before the lesson.

Based on all of this (if any of it helped at all), where might I consider starting with Brian's vids? I have that slice thing, but it's kinda disappearing and possibly yielding a hook. My fat/thin is probably (I guess) from flipping. In theory, that means I could consider NSA, NHA, COAFF, or BB, but I'd rather not shell out for four vids. Are there one or two that would best encompass the issues that I have described?

Incidentally, I'm continuing on with the lessons. I'm planning on eight over the next couple of months. I'm a learning sponge though, so I'm always open to other sources.

Sorry for being long-winded, but thanks in advance!

- Mark

 

[curtisj76]

I'm going to give you the best advice one man can give to another man:

Buy NEVER SLICE AGAIN!

Seriously, you will NEVER SLICE it AGAIN. I haven't sliced in 5 years (unless I'm really trying to play a big cut and I end up over doing it). Start there, see what happens.

 

[pecky987]

i'd say COAFF first. learn how to strike it properly. then, when the slice returns, buy NSA. not only will it eliminate any remnants of a slice you may have, but will also give you a great pattern and something very upgradable and customisable and will give you something very orthodox. after you have that all down properly and sorted, get SD and branch off from NSA to get something very VERY orthodox.

 

[Richie3Jack]

I've only purchased CoFF, NSA 2.0 and NHA 2.0. All excellent videos.

I would say to purchase them in order (although I would like some feedback on 'Building Blocks' since I've never purchased it). The main reason is that I believe you need to understand how proper golf shots with irons are struck. Lots of misconception there for golfers. CoFF gives you that and much more. It's a must watch for beginners in my opinion. If I was say a high school golf coach I would put the video on at the beginning of each year for the team and then discuss it.

Inevitably, most golfers start off hitting a slice. Then when they get that corrected they usually start hooking the ball (and hopefully down the road they'll get it all straightened out). So getting NSA 2.0 and then NHA 2.0 is pretty logical. Although they are about teaching different types of swings that you may or may not use as you advance, they give a good idea of what is happening when a golfer slices or hooks the ball.



3JACK

 

[Mark E. Wallace]

Thanks, y'all. I appreciate the feedback. Keep it coming!

- Mark

 

[Mark E. Wallace]

Alright, well, I'm starting with CoFF, since that's probably the part of my game that is bugging me the most. I just placed my order for that one, and then maybe (probably) I'll move on to NSA after that.

- Mark

 

[birdie_man]

If your face is still too open that is one thing that will bite you in the butt trying COFF stuff. Because basically, slicers flip because of a need to square a too open clubface.

(the face being the root cause, for a slicer)

Just a heads-up though. By all means see how it works.

 

[birdie_man]

BTW...

You say you were a slicer and after a golf lesson are now seeing the left side of the course more often.

What did your instructor do with you?

 

[jbrunk]

Alright, well, I'm starting with CoFF, since that's probably the part of my game that is bugging me the most. I just placed my order for that one, and then maybe (probably) I'll move on to NSA after that.

- Mark

I think Brian says that with slicers, he fixes the face first. So that would mean start with Never Slice Again.

 

[Steve Greffen]

Combine the two as much as possible because the COAFF addresses major issues with ball contact that NSA doesn't and NSA stresses clubface which is also crucial. Watch both of them back to back and take notes on how they would relate to each other.

 

[Mark E. Wallace]

If your face is still too open that is one thing that will bite you in the butt trying COFF stuff. Because basically, slicers flip because of a need to square a too open clubface.

Only more time on the range will tell, but right now I'm reasonably comfortable saying that my clubface isn't open too often anymore. Again though, I still have lots of work to do to really ingrain my recent changes, which were (1) strengthening my grip, (2) squaring up my shoulders (even though I do a nice job squaring my feet and hips, my left shoulder is open), and (3) starting the downswing more with my hips instead of arms/shoulders.

I'll probably end up getting NSA as well. I mostly just ordered CoFF first because it certainly applies to me, it's cheaper than NSA, and I wanted to be satisfied my investment in one video first before committing to others. Granted, another $20 for NSA isn't much, but I just didn't want to have spent money on two vids and like neither one of them.

- Mark