Golf Instruction's endless contradictions.
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- "Two men say they're Jesus… One of 'ems gotta be wrong!"
- Mark Knopfler Dire Straits "Industrial Disease"
Whose right?
"The important thing in the golf swing is getting the body to control the motion of the arms, the hands, and the club… As I term it, it is the dog wagging the tail, rather than the tail wagging the dog."
- David Leadbetter Famous coach to legendary tour pros like Nick Faldo and Nick Price.
"Am I saying that the golf swing is exclusively the work of your hands and arms? Absolutely not. What I am saying is that the turning elements -- the shoulders, hips, and legs -- should respond to the swinging elements -- the hands, wrists, arms, and the instrument [the golf club].
Simply put, the swing turns the body both ways, backward and forward. The body does not turn the swing.
- Jim Flick Jack Nicklaus' instructor after Jack's life long coach Jack Grout passed away.
Where does the power come from?
Whose right?
"If you think in terms of your body being the engine, and all the power generating from this engine through your arms and hands into the golf club, you're going… [to be able to create] a lot more power in your golf swing."
- David Leadbetter
When I started playing golf I made the fatal mistake of buying a golf book. I wish this simple concept was around back then.
Ron your philosophy is a breath of fresh air and makes a lot of sense. Once golfers have watched others and the the Pro's especially, they will know instinctively I feel, that there are numerous quite different swings yet they all seem to work. Why is that? I have come to believe as it appears do yourself that it's the intent that guides us, not muscle memory, or technical information although they can help. For example I've played for many years, have broken 80 a few times and have many times been described by Pro's and Amateurs as being 'a much better player than my handicap suggests' (15). This has been affirmed on those rounds which have been effortless, and pretty much all shots have been good to great with 250+ yd drives, irons into greens, pitch shots that are crisp and clean, and putting that is excellent. Yet other rounds I've been close to tears in sheer frustration due to such poor shots, e.g skied shots off the tee that go 50yds, 3w literally buried into the ground 2" in front of the tee, shanked, fatted, thinned irons and pitches and chip shots that would make you want to walk off the course. When I hit a pure shot it felt great for sure, but it was a 'surprise', mainly because I didn't know why. Then recently having read the Inner Game of Golf' and then seen your videos, I thought about what you said, Swing Freely, Fluidly, Fast, and Strike ball with swinging clubbed' (within 1/16" of centre) So I practiced 'being aware of the clubbed' and 'trying to hit the ball with the sweet spot'. When I did (which happened more and more) I realised something, "I WASN"T SURPRISED'.....Why? Because that's exactly what I was trying to do. This seemed so obvious that it seemed 'almost ridiculously so' or as one of your students said 'it seems so simple it's almost stupid'. I think your way of teaching has the potential to revolutionise golf teaching and bring many many more to play and enjoy this wonderful game. God Bless you Ron, and Good Luck.
I have finally come out of the rabbit hole......all you need to play good golf no tension, A clear mind, rhythm and tempo
Chances are that most golfers playing ability will not rise to the level of professionals or very low handicap golfers. I went and graduated from a golf academy in central Florida with an Associate's degree. I learned all the traditional ways (and some non-traditional) of teaching golf. I must give credit where credit is due. Ron is absolutely correct in his approach to teaching. Golf is ONLY a game and should be fun. Why must people struggle when there is no need to? The object of golf is to strike that dimply little spherical object we call a golf ball - That's it (believe it or not). So, the focus should be placed on that and not on what your body is doing. I believe Bobby Jones said it best when he said, "You swing your best when you have the fewest things to think about."
Man I love George Knudson and Moe Norman too!!
I like your videos a lot! And i hope more people will find your page - because what you say is gold
Where the hell are you man, come back and do more videos! Do something on putting if you can I believe you’ve never done a video on putting. Btw I purchased your instructional video... pure gold
Awesome video. Love the DIre Straits reference as well.
I get what your saying. It’s a mine field lol but tbf ppl are teaching there way how to use a club like your are teaching your way no right or wrong way the problem is when ppl look for help they don’t stick with one person. They take bits from each instructor swing and it messes everything up. My advice would be find someone to relate to and stick with it.
Don’t change it unless your topping every shot lol
I couldnt agree more about the contradictions in golf.. Leadbetter says your grip must be in the fingers of your left hand. Jack Nicklaus says in the palm of your left hand. Hank Haney in the big miss says he had tiger woods grip the club more in his palm in order to make him more consistent with his driver. Who is right and does this really matter? Also reading John Jacobs book and he says more in the palm!!
Great post. Contradictions abound
jajajaja excellent Ron!!! You're putting your finger on the "real golf disease"!!!!!
Glad you've posted again! i enjoy your style...
Well...Jack said keep a steady head not a still head. To me there's a big difference there. George also kept his head steady perhaps a little less steady than Jack but just as steady as most good players. Contradiction? Maybe but at the end of the day, what you're saying is the key. Get in tune with the golf club and learn how to swing it so that it hits the shot where you want it to go. If you can do that, can the body be wrong?
I don't agree with much that you teach BUT I DO AGREE THAT THE SMALL MUSCLES ARE MOST IMPORTANT... I'M A FEEL PLAYER WITH ROBOTIC TRAINING...i want my angles to be correct but I always rely on my feel
Manuel de la Torre, please look him up. The best golf teacher ever. Swing your arms, your body will follow as long as you truly swing and approach the club naturally.
To be more precise, de la Torre said swing the entire club using your (upper) arms. He was a disciple of Ernest Jones, whose mantra was swing the clubhead centrifugally using the hands and more specific, using the principal fingers. Ron's stuff is very similar to that approach. The issue I had with Jones' teachings is that he could not explain HOW to swing centrifugally... where Ron does explain it in very simple terms.
Ernest Jones disciple:)
Great video.
i,m a senior golfer question about lifting left heel in backswing doesn,t keeping it down stop you from making full turn also putting strain on your back.advice please.S/J.
Hi Jardine,
Keeping your target side heel down absolutely makes it harder to make a full turn and puts a lot of strain on your back because of the resistance created when the hips are prevented from turning in concert with the shoulder turn by keeping the target side foot on the ground. Both Bubba Watson and Jack Nicklaus hit the ball a long, long way with a substantial amount of hip turn because they allow their foot to come off the ground.
Especially as we get older, we need to allow our target side foot to come off the ground because we won't have the flexibility to keep the heel down and still make a full turn. So go ahead and let that left heel come off the ground. Jack and Bubba do... and that's not bad company to keep...
You must have an intuitive sense of where the clubhead is in relationship to your hands in order to accurately strike the golf ball. This is the fundamental aspect of your golf swing. If you know exactly where the club head is throughout the swing, then you’re going to accurately pass it through the strike zone. All else is just window dressing
Can anyone point me to the full seminar from which the Moe Norman bit was pulled?
acon120 just search moe norman and scroll the videos...
Great stuff here if you understand!
How can you give the client intuitive clubhead awareness and clubface as the club swings around them
The truth is I can't. I can only guide them in their skill development. It would be like trying to tell a toddler how to use a spoon. Even if a toddler could communicate with verbal instructions, we don't give step by step instructions on using a spoon, nor corrections when they make mistakes. We know that they will eventually develop the skill. If a golfer is swinging correctly, that is, swinging freely, fluidly, and fast through impact, and doing so consistently, then the skill of striking the ball solidly with a relatively square clubface at impact will naturally and gradually develop over time. But most golfers don't want to have to put in the time and practice necessary to develop the skill. That's why ideas like, "Just keep your head really, really still and you'll hit it solidly every time!" are appealing to people, even though they aren't even remotely true. It promises instant skill without effort. To people who think that is possible, I say, "Yeah, good luck with that!"
Thank you for your reply.
I find your videos engaging and a breath of fresh air.
I myself coach golf mostly to people starting the game for the first time.
I definitely operate closer to how you see things than getting too bogged down with classic bio mechanical structure lectures.
I love your phrase freely fluidly and fast.
Great teaching !
Manual de la torre? ??? Setup
When you can actually hit a golf ball it gives you a lot of clout to what you're saying, having said that, modern tour players move their heads vertically because they're squatting like TW. Thanks for the video
Flick vs Leadbetter....could their thoughts on the swing be merely an interpretation of what they see in a swing. Feel isn’t real after all...
Turn your wedge upside down and swing it from the head, then turn it back into your hands and swing it back and forth. Now tell me if you think feel is not real? The best players in the world have this feel that is what we are all after in our golf swings. But it takes time to train it and for the brain to program how to really swing, just like walking.
The hands arms and wrists are how the swing is created. The body is the culprit to pulling the swing off line. Thumbs down!!