BrettSmith

hey there! Here are 3 Things you can take to the bank: 1. Initial direction is all about path 2. Ball curvature is face angle 3. "Over the Top" is fiction in the modern move. You must however: a. Be Connected. Force the issue with a glove and attach to your under left arm and chest. b. At half-way back your right shoulder works UP the plane.... like starting a lawnmower. My feeling is that your shoulder plane is too horizontal. Thumbs-UP to Idrive for the upright possibility as well. If you are too upright mechanics don't matter, that heel snag will KILL YOU. It's also very possible that you are too effectively upright because of your iron length.... your equipment relative to biomechanic needs to be checked. What is your hand-to-floor measure? B

So many people say they are "going to practice", but this isn't what I see. If you are serious about your game, I think it's really important to decide up-front if it's practice or recreation. Recreation: I am not implying that every shot "needs to have a purpose" in the recreational set. I love to just blindly smack some pills as much as the next guy, but it's important that you make a couple deals with yourself. First, you really should be throwing all expectations out the window. This is fun time to "do the stupid"- not work time. Second, I think it's really important to ride your mindset or current emotion in the moment. Let your moves just be expressions of the right-sided thinking. Envision shot shapes and make moves with no conscious thought that you feel may bring them to life. have fun with it, but by no means should you be judgemental or critical on any level. Sometimes you may stumble across something that feels good or maybe a new shot you find by accident that you can add to the repetoire. When and if this happens, I would encourage you to make a couple notes about what it might be- but don't shift gears into any one on-going specific mode or operation. THIS IS KEY. The beauty of this is that free yourself and kind of "trip out". Let stuff find you- don't look for anything or look to ingrain anything. Even if you are a serious or competitive player, you NEED some of this time. It's basically mindless research and development. Practice: So many people have good intentions to practice something- but lose control of the management aspect. Practice is a focus and a discipline- not a random shifiting like above. Remember, it's about: -what you are really doing? what is the mission? -managing yourself and your motions in the best possible way in the moment to build upon The medical school definition of a <goal> from a clinical standpoint is: "behavoir that is reflective of one's highest level of wellness and independence." So ask yourself this- Is my BEHAVOIR truly reflective of where you want to be with your game? This really breaks into a discipline of how well you manage yourself and your rationed practice time. What I consistently see, even with people that have good information- is that they have in effect "let the inmates run the asylum"! Poor results from a new application or something not meeting somebody's "standard" triggers an emotional reaction(s) tied to the result and of course subsequent antics and/or disenchantment. Remember you are not only the quarterback here people, but also the head coach. Practice far and away should be about making motions and training the body- not machine-gunning balls. The practice ball is merely a reference or temperature for the moment when you are training. If you are working something specifically new into your movement or training with a focal point motion- GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK. It's not a right or wrong thing in the moment with the result. <However, it is important that you have been coached or know how to read and react to the result> Think of an NBA team. If the other team reels off 10-15 quick points and our team isn't responding well- you gotta call the Time Out baby. Here is how you can or should do this: 6-6-6 Routine: "6-6-6" doesn't have to be the devils sign, but moreof the fact that this is a game-art-discipline where the devil is in the details! Make at least 6 practice moves before you strike 6 balls. And truly make the moves "to feel" whatever it is you are working on... not the faux wave of the club I see most of you do. Strike 6 shots with the thought and feel of what you are working on. Don't be result oriented, be process oriented! Next, make 6 motions again independent of the ball. Now, Strike 6 shots with no conscious thoughts. Remember to not be result orientated, but detached. How were the shots on the 6 with no thought? If they were poor, than increase the number of practice motions by 6 and repeat the sequence. If 1/2 were somewhat positive, than repeat the same previous routine. If the results were really positive, then work the same sequence, but replace the 2nd 6 with conscious thought and feel to "thoughtless"- so that you have 6 practice motions, preceeding 12 strikes. This is why you will see most good players take about 6x as long to go through a bucket! By rationing yourself and staggering your motions, practice can be a whole lot more productive and progressive. Obviously you must have absolute trust in the material otherwise you are wasting time and effort. Remember the body and mind harmonizing "to get it" happens in it's own time. You can't force growth, you can only nurture it- so stay out of your own way. Remember the results in the moment are not your working reality, but the growth curve. Cheers! Brett

The other day I was passing by a man trying to help his wife on the range. I was obligated to stop when he was telling "her to stay behind it"- "try keeping your head still". Man let me tell you- I absolutely cringed. These are 2 prime examples of things you should NEVER try to do. Making any kind of a forced attempt to stay behind the ball is diastrous. This leads to disconnection, the old reverse C finish and also a upward motion on the ball instead of down and through. All the great ball strikers are on top of it and slightly behind as a result of the downshift and the complete firing of the right side. If you loaded the right side in the first place, it all takes care of itself. It's like Butch's dad Claude.... (Mr. Harmon to me...lol) said- "it's kind of hard to get behind something you never got behind in the first place"..... touche. As far as "keeping the head still".... > I'll defer all inquiries there to the gospel of Mr. Ballard. More postcards from the edge coming soon- Brett

Blade, Psyched!! I personally tested this on myself first and since have seen amazing results- so I KNEW it worked. Of course the trick is, like you said- there has to be a good supportive base in place. (sound overall mechanics and good range of motion) If you have something good in place, this will make it more powerful.... but if there are cracks in the foundation, the extra pressure will create a meltdown. All the more special though that you are validating my mad science!

Hey Jack, What you are actually seeing with TW of newer is an adusted 3dimensional axis which encourages more of a folding action of the right arm which has the appearance of earlier hinge action. The big key for you Jack is what allows you to most effectively get inline consistently in the impact zone. I encourage connected extension on the loading as well as the release. You have to be really careful that extension doesn't come at the expense of disconnecting the left arm from the torso- that's reaching. As Mr. Ballard says- the left elbow always points down. If you're getting too flat, it's because you are doing something funky with the left elbow and/or disconnecting. Many people characterize it as compact, but the modern move is CONNECTED... which is an important function vs an empty characteristic. If you start with the connection concept, it should help you stay more effectively harnessed and inline throughout your movements. I don't encourage independent hand action because it doesn't hold up under pressure. Hope this helps..... let me know. Bret

There of course will be diminishing returns and complications from this set if you are limited with range of motion and flexibilty. If this is the case, you could always stagger the right with a slightly closed set of the hips and work the same concept. Torque and coil are both ground-up operations, so the working more resistance makes the legs more explosive- not less. Mr. Hogan is actually not a good biomechanic example for you to emulate with the 45deg hip action because he created more than double that in separtation factor with shoulder differential. If you stagger the right post behind you slightly, you could more effectively create more powerful differential. So in closing, you should be 10-15deg closed with the hips and seek to stop the hips at 25deg or so with the resistance levers I mentioned. This will give you more coil with previously mentioned restricted range of motion. Brett

Hello TSG'ers! Put a lot of time in the trenches with clients looking to stack more distance in the last 6 weeks. Previously I shared that launch monitor feedback and significant on range/on course time has shown that most people are working shafts that are too stiff. I still can't emphasize enough the importance of the right shaft fit for the individual biomechanic. Precisely the ahmm... REPEATING "potential" movements- or that one in 10 swing vs. a repeating, less-stressed and balanced set of moves that the shaft should be fit for. The move that can actually be repeated again and again. I strongly encourage you to harness the amazing benefits of higher grade shaft functions that were not available to this extent 10 years ago- use the technology! Here is something additional I'd like to share to for you to consider. I already know it works because I have client referrals to back me up- it's up to you to train it, train right with discipline and focus and reap the distance increase payoff. Here goes the story- PGA TOUR player Kenny Perry long has been one of the longer hitters on tour despite his age- much like Freddy Couples. I've known HOW Freddy gets his power for a long time, but from the teaching end- it's more about the WHAT... that is what can somebody (the normal joe) do to get more of those power functions: coil and resistance. About 2 months ago, I saw Kenny working this move with his left side so that he could: a) get his right side coiling faster b) eliminate the slide off the ball What he was doing was stacking his right brace at address square to the target but leaving the left side hinged open (like a door hinge) to the left. Kenny was staging his left hip socket more open so that he could start instantly coiling with the right side. I saw this right away and personally started experimenting with it right away. I realized that this was also something I had seen David Duval do when he was in top form and from spending time with him In Florida. Here is how you can easily get this feeling in it's most simple way> First with no club but your arms staged with hold and stance, square-off both feet completely to your taget line. Now here are the levers- Lever 1: Right Foot. Turn it inward torwards your target 25-40 degrees.... depending on your level of flexibility. Lever 2: Left Foot. Do the same. We should prob call this "walking like and Egyptian", but here's the beauty of it- work some very fluid backswing and rotary moves against all this extra resistance. The left hip is help in place and this restricts the amount of hip rotation- creating more resistance and greater torque. You have to go at your own pace here, but take the next month as I did and train this religiously. You will see greater separation in your shoulder rotation vs hip rotation. The idea of this resistance is nothing new as Jim McLean talked Xfactor many years ago. The problem was he couldn't get anybody to do it! Just kidding partly... I'm not taking a shot at JimmyMac, I'm putting myself out there that mechanics are great but none of it matters if you can't show people how to realize the concept. Here is a way for you to AT YOUR OWN PACE take some of the genius of McLean and put it to work. I recommend starting with driver and fairway metals. Most importantly keep your moves fluid and get more at peace with meeting the earlier resistance and harnessing it. The usual tendency here is to spin out and get across. You have to strive to stay in the hitter's squat longer because you will be unloading more energy. Very interested to hear any test pilot yardage feedback- as long as you give it some time. I really think you will be pleased with more rotary rip potential! Brett

Hi Larry, Consult with the next rung up the ladder here at TSG up in the fitting threads. My initial thought is to check out the Roddio. Another thing to consider is to really make a high quality shaft- such as all these here, work harder for you. Just because you CAN swing a stiff or tighter wind doesn't mean you should. You really want the whip to work harder for you. Consider dropping down in flex and letting gocchin work some magic for you with fitting your profile. Brett

:tsg_smiley_wiz:Hey there no worries- LeaderBoard black magic coming up: For starters, your ball flight pattern vs contact patterns suggest steep approach angles. This makes tons of sense considering what you mentioned about the hands working too inside. what you need to consider senor is this- the hands should stay IN FRONT OF THE TORSO. Everything you ever heard about "inside-out" needs to be purged.... that's part of the old school acid trip courtesey of Mr. Flick. That whole movement still has people stranded talking to Mr. Rourke and Tattoo on FANTASY ISLAND: "THE PLANE!..... THE PLANE!..... My man think of it like this- your left shoulder needs to work down and your right works up in your backswing with the hand orbit staying in front. Here's the feeling: Turn your club upside down and lodge the butt-end of the grip in your belt buckle. As you work your move- you should have the sense that the core cylinder is twisting and the orbit of the hands is inline with that twist. If the hands just yank inside, INDEPENDENT of the torso cylinder twist and orbit- you are in for more Fantasy Island re-runs. New LeaderBoard vid coming- any other fault and fix to choreograph- let me know! Brett

slide is a killer....lower body slide gives the upper body too much tilt... and the thing is everything is tilted from face on- the knee levels, the hip level and so forth. Check this out for yourself as a reference- slide the knees aggressively laterally. you will notice that the right knee and hip get caught underneath.... tilting- where the left knee and hip are higher than the right... this is what you want to avoid. As Jimmy B says- maintain the levels. when you shoot some more vids, be sure to include some face-on stuff too. looking forward to my site launch where we can break this down more efficiently. Bret

the way to feel and see what you want is look down at your knees like under a straight edge of a table. The right knee works inwards torwards the ball- it should disappear under the table. The left knee movement Greg will simutaneously work away from the table... and actually left of target. So when I said inward left- did not mean back torwards right knee, but left of target on it's natural orbital. If you watch this dynamic of the knees relative to being under the straight edge of a table, you'll really see what I mean. If both knees were to aggressively work directly torwards the target as most people direct, you end up "tilting the levels" and sliding. does this help senor?

hey that's a great sign actually- the pulls. that tells me you are really working the connection! Jeff here is what's happening- the right side is releasing out of sync from too far behind. I'm going to have you work something here that will tighten it up: (sneak preview to this week's clip) Want you to bring both feet together at address (don't sweat the ball right now- not important). Make your normal backswing and then slightly before finishing the backswing- I want you to step forward with your left leg. As you do this now, let yourself flow into that left instep with smooth poise-- ie the the homerun hitter eyeing the first leg to the pitch coming his way.... feelin' me? Once you flow into the left AND THEN slam the door with the right into the firmed-up left and then around you will be golden! If you guys hit Margaritaville in Vegas, don't forget your boy!... fire one down for me. If you don't break 80 fire 2 down and blame it on the damn putter! Brett

Hi Greg. You will read and hear many things regarding this topic. In fact, I have seen many featured teaches from the periodicals get this wrong. The fact is that both knees actually have their own orbits or arcs. The right knee dowshifts and presses inward and outward torwards the golf ball. Check this move out senor!... what happens here is that simutaneously as you perform this operation the left knee actually works inwards left of the target on it's natural arc.... it's a hand-in-hand relationship as you will see. If the left knee fires torwards the target, it actually ends up firing up and the right knee gets to working under which destroys the levels.... the knees, hips and everything else. Flaring the knees outwards as preached by the old school establishment leads to a slide and tilt-BAD NEWS. This is precisely part of the reason why Jimmy Ballard cooked everybody in sight as a video pioneer. Nobody could dispute the "levels". He showed me pictures of Johnny Miller and Nicklaus when they were winning- they were working the levels. When their games were off both had slide and tilt- loss of the levels. In the case of Mr. Nicklaus, he got injured from this move. The deal ist hat sliding left knee doesn't slide. It works in it's arc'd orbit and creates the left leg pillar (as my friend Mr. Nick Bradley calls it) The left side firms up without tilting (check belt being level- that's HUGE) and the right side slams into and around that left leg pillar. Awesome book btw- prob best in 20 years.... the 7 Laws of the Golf Swing by the previously mentioned Mr. Bradley. In fact, I'll do you one better... I will shoot this vid next week! stay tuned- Brett

as you integrate the connection, it should stimulate the big torso and lower-body muscles to really activate and play a much stronger role in your release. keep in mind that you don't want to lose the left arm connection AT ALL during the release down the line- the upper left arm needs to stay welded to the torso. look forward to hearing- bSmith

Hey.. Landshark! Watched your vid....you got some good things happenin! Here's the deal- Even though I can't see the Face-On angle, I can tell that your left elbow orbit is disengaged. Sans golf club, use your right hand to pull the left elbow inwards. Now don't wrench yourself, but you need to "feel" like the left elbow actually almost points to your belt buckle. YOUR LEFT ELBOW MUST POINT DOWN. You will definitely notice that as you reign in the left elbow- you will be prompted to connect the upper left arm to the torso cylinder.... DO IT MON! Hear the sounds of the church bells?... it's the gospel of Mr. Ballard. You have some good orientations working,... work with this first and you might need to change <Landshark> to <Sharky's Machine> The connection will get your left arm working with the left hip socket on your release and create more supination and lower your trajectory! Be patient with it. I recommend working chips and pitches exclusively for at least a couple weeks. What's going to happen is that your equilibrium will drastically shift across the board- swing center, hand orbits, loading and unloading profiles, etc. If everything goes to hell in a handbag, shorten the club down to the bottom of the grip so that in can re-engage faster (get in front of you)... and then SLOWLY inch-worm your way back up to normal if the result warrant it. Keep me posted! brett