Dear Supinator,

Thanks for your worthy contribution here. Greg Norman used a version of the “double overlap” grip to great effect.
When you assemble the grip as directed in the Step 1 video the interlocking grip works equally well to that of the overlap and baseball grips. You do need to be aware of “pushing” from the wrist area of Pressure Point #1 against the left thumb knuckle joint #2 to avoid left wrist breakdown through impact and to maintain the “lagging clubhead” deep into the “impact zone.”
The double overlap you employ certainly makes you aware of the right wrist pushing against the side of the left hand and you do not run out of right arm in the impact zone as easily. It is a most acceptible grip to use, especially on the full swing.

Let us see how the grip works when added the steps that follow to build an orthodox golf swing with a “fee wheeling, non compensating” motion.

Dear Shanks4ever,

Thanks for giving the “right forearm low” a test drive out in the real world of the Golf Course and good scoring.
You are right in that one round doesn’t mean too much but it certainly points to more positive results ahead.
Keep “PUSHING!”

Kind Regards,

Peter C

Dear HeadPro and All,

Step 1 has certainly given us much food for thought on how to start out on our journey to become the best golfer and/or Instructor that we can be.

To sumarize:
1. Step One has received 2179 views and 76 posts to this date.
2. 21 different Members posted their thoughts and I would like to thank them all for their valued contributions.
3. One of those Members posting is Aussie, Stephen Bowdich, who is playing the US Tour as we write. This shows that even the best players are interested in going back to basics.

4. It show that there are many ways to approach learning golf and the first step is to establish how serious you are about the process.
The interview by the Instructor is a most valuable first step and this establishes a plan of action for the future between Coach and Student.
“If we fail to plan, we plan to fail!”

For the social golfer who plays only on the odd occassion, then the “Quick Fix” approach is the way to go.
Here the Instructor is best to clear Concepts first and remove the barriers that so often stop a golfer from gaining the most from their “Hand – Eye Coordination” and natural talent. The basics of grip and stance are next and then working with short game shots while mixing some full swing “trial and error” to keep the interest up.

For the semi-serious golfer with time limitations it is good to do what the social golfer does plus invest in an Internet Lesson Program that they can follow in their own time or an Instructional DVD that defines thoroughly the basics of the game. This way with the occasional lesson some results can be achieved.

Talking about time limitations I will post this part of the Summary and continue tonight when I return from the golf course.

Kind Regards,

Peter Croker

Hey Peter, congrats on a solid thread. Great to check my basics, only 3 months before I can start competing against you as a senior. You better not give me all your secrets or I’m going to beat you mate.

Dear HeadPro and All,

Glad to help in any way possible!

Now let us look at “How to start the building of your own best swing” for the Serious Golfer
1. Establish “How serious is the desire to change for the better?”
2. Do a thorough analysis of the state of the present game of the player from putt to drive to on course playing ability.
3.Many say that golf is mostly a mental game. When they are referring to the ability of the golfer to focus on the shot at hand and to do so in a relaxed and rhythmic way and be able to be clear and with little to no thought going on as they hit the ball, then this is a desirable state of mind and to that degree golf is a (lack of) mental game.
Mental techniques that reduce anxiety and conscious overthinking are a valuable first step to introducing more technical parts of the swing such as grip, stance, etc. I have been most priviledged to be introduced to the “FocusBand” This tool helps me become more in tune with where the student is at on their journey. Then I can introduce the technical parts at a rate that the student can absorb and apply.
Time is against me again and let me continue with the summary of the “First Step” later on today.

Good Golfing,

Peter C

Peter

You are so correct about reducing the conscious overthinking so you can introduce more “technical parts” eg grip, stance.

Just to expand on this, when you are In this calm state your brain can execute approx 11million instructions per second, so you are able to process the instructions you are receiving. eg grip, stance

Conversely, when you are concentrating too much, you are thinking too much and your brain is only able to execute 40 instructions per sec.
So the instructions you are receiving may as well be in a foreign language that you dont understand !!

So I am glad to hear the Focusband assists you to quantify your student’s state of mind when they turn up for a lesson .. as a starting point.

The difficulty with golf is that we can’t eliminate the conscious swing thoughts until our swing becomes mechanical. It takes hundreds of hours of practice to get to that stage. Then if we decide to change a few things , we have to go through the conscious thoughts stage all over again. Bloody tough game:)

I can sure relate to this as a coach. We often get our students hitting the ball great during a lesson and inherently want to show them more but often put them on overload. It would be great to be able to monitor. With the Focus Band, can you prevent your student from going into this state?

Anyone interested in the Focus Band that Peter uses, see the thread below.

Focus Band Thread

Razaar
Yes it takes a lot of conscious swings to be able to transfer it into the subconscious.

What if we were able to communicate directly with the subconscious?

Aha ! Then we could make those few changes without going through the lengthy conscious thought stage all over again

We recently patented a system and method that reduces this vintage learning process and this will be released to certified Focusband practioners in coming weeks

Obviously the coach is still required to teach the skill – the FocusBand System just gives the athlete control and trust over their newly learned skill.

We envisage the Focusband System will further enhance the current high level of teaching Pros we have in this country

Hi all
As being relatively new to Iseek this is very informative reading. In adding to what Mushin, HeadPro, Razaar, Peter Croker and others have contributed. From my experience as a Golf Professional
1.the Concepts and the reason ‘Why’ someone plays the game are the things to get in place first.

2.the Grip is the second thing as it is your only connection with the club and clubface.

3.the address routine (including the stance) is the third thing to get in place.

Ideally to get the same result everytime we should be training a great technically sound routine to get us in the state of ‘Mushin’ each time. What I have found is when my routine is really in I play my best golf.
Regards

Expertgolfer

Dear Expertgolfer, Mushin, Razaar, and HeadPro,

I totally concur with “The Concepts” (example 1) and the reason “Why” someone plays and wants to play better as the first steps to establish before any “in depth” mechanics are entered into.

At the next part of “Step One” I would like to educate the student on the “How to Learn” process and how to best build accuracy in the shots as we go.This will help them develop a long term approach to building their own best swing and game.

Sasha Novak wrote a book “The Laws of Accuracy” that delivers the best “Training Method” I have ever tested, with “out of this world” results for the student.

As an example I had a Professional Golfer from Europe come to learn and train with me in 2008. He had played golf only 6 years to that time and came with a case of the yips with his putting and not much better with his pitching.

8 weeks later he flew home having holed 168 putts in a row from 3 metres on a straight away putt and his pitching out to 20 metres was at a very high level also.

Sasha informed me that this was a “Basic Level” of training and for the serious golfer there are many more wonderful skill levels to build before consistent lower scores can become regular.

“Mushin” has seen the value of the combination of Sasha Novak’s “Laws of Accuracy” to training while using the FocusBand.

Combined with the “Croker Golf System” mechanics we have a way to learn “The Grip” and build an effective “Chip Shot” technique that builds solid impact a great ball control.

END OF STEP ONE

Kind regards,

Peter

Razaar
Yes it takes a lot of conscious swings to be able to transfer it into the subconscious.

What if we were able to communicate directly with the subconscious?

Aha ! Then we could make those few changes without going through the lengthy conscious thought stage all over again

We recently patented a system and method that reduces this vintage learning process and this will be released to certified Focusband practioners in coming weeks

Obviously the coach is still required to teach the skill – the FocusBand System just gives the athlete control and trust over their newly learned skill.

We envisage the Focusband System will further enhance the current high level of teaching Pros we have in this country

“… step into the ZONE with the FocusBand mental preshot routine”

Mushin,
It is really not easy to retrain the subconscious as you are saying, it’s very hard to achieve and not that simple at all. It’s actually harder to retrain or change subconscious movement. If some one has had a break down in movement subconsciously for 20 years it can be quite a lengthy process to retrain these patterns, it can take from any where up to over 12 months to 4 years. Every one has different learning abilities particularly when it comes to training some thing as complex as retraining movement or movement patterns subconsciously. I see this day in day out. Some people are slow learners subconsciously and others are much faster. But you can not fast track their subconscious learning.

The hard part is you have absolute no control over subconscious movement. It’s exactly that, you perform something with out any thoughts, you just act or do the motion. It’s hard to train and very complex. You would need more than a focus band to train the subconscious. Your dealing with subconscious movement so you have to be able to measure this subconscious movement to makes sure there is no break downs as well.

Motor Skill is very easy to change you think about it, you can ingrain a motor skill and change it by consciously and physically applying, but to ingrain the new motor skill you still have to do the repetitions required.

What Peter Croker offers with Sasha Novak’s law of accuracy is on the money for ingraining a motor skill activities. Keep up the great work Peter I like your approach to learning a skill. We can all learn alot from you in the learning process to learning swing mechanics.

Zenstb

Just to clarify what I said …..

“What if we were able to COMMUNICATE directly with the subconscious.”

I did not say … “retrain the subconscious” . two completely different things. The rest of your article is based on the wrong premises

Zenstb

Just to clarify what I said …..

“What if we were able to COMMUNICATE directly with the subconscious.”

I did not say … “retrain the subconscious” . two completely different things. The rest of your article is based on the wrong premises

“… step into the ZONE with the FocusBand mental preshot routine”

Mushin,
This is part of your post

Aha ! Then we could make those few changes without going through the lengthy conscious thought stage all over again

We recently patented a system and method that reduces this vintage learning process and this will be released to certified Focusband practioners in coming weeks

Mushin, Start up your own thread so Pete’s doesn’t get Hi jacked.

Pete just click on quote and save on your last post to skip past our posts mate this your thread.

You missed one line !

Mushin, Start up your own thread so Pete’s doesn’t get Hi jacked.

An official iseekgolf.com teaching panelist

scott@zenolink.com">scott@zenolink.com

http://www.facebook.com/zen…

That is the pot calling the kettle black!

Gentlemen,

All this communication is good stuff!

Originally I ask all who are interested in learning golf in the best process possible to contribute to this Thread.

I appreciate that there are many ways to approach learning the game of golf.

Tom Tomasello was one of the greatest coaches/teachers that I ever had. He was with Homer Kelley when he died on stage communicating to 160 + Georgia PGA Members in Makin, Georgia in 1983. Tom told me that in the hours before Homer’s unfortunate passing, he was saying to Tom – “If we only have enough time to develop a way to teach the golf swing effectively …”

Well we need to feel free to communicate what we see, feel, and know works for us here.
I see great value in ZenoLink, FocusBand, and other products and programs that help measure and build better aligned movements within the golf swing.
I personally use both to good effect with my own swing improvements and that of my students – especially the serious one.

I think it is time to move on to Step Two on our “Step by Step” journey.

To recap – Step One includes:

0) Student needs to be in the “Now” – relaxed and with a calm mind.

1. Student Interview.

2. Introduction to the Concepts of: a) Hitting down on the ball for better IMPACT.b) The swing is made up a “swing back (backswing) and a Hit down (dowswing – throw the clubhead at the ball) c) The clubhead swings around as if on the rim of an inclined wheel. d) The clubface opens in the backswing and closes in the down and through swing like a “door opens and closes.”

3.The GRIP is the next part of Step One to learn thoroughly.

Who is ready to fly the flag and add their ideas to help us on our “Path to Better Golf?”

Good Golfing and Keep PUSHING,

Peter C
PS: It would be great to hear from some of the quality Teachers/ Tour Players who visit this section of the Forum from time to time.

Peter

This is a great thread. Thanks for your time

Alan

Dear Chinaalan,

Where in China do you live and do you teach golf for a living?

Thanks for your validation here.

I can only hope that we have more contributing special Instructors as we continue this Thread.

Good Golfing and Best Wishes,

Peter C

PS: NOW IT IS TIME TO OPEN UP DISCUSSION ON WHAT IS STEP TWO?

Hey Peter – I suspect its time to hit some shots. That reminds me, I used to have an instructor that would never say the word hit, he would say ‘why don’t you just send a few out there for me’ I thought it was brilliant as it seemed to keep his students relaxed. He also never said the word ‘stroke’ as the average age of the membership was over 60, very thoughtful : )

Dear HeadPro,

Being 62 myself, I certainly only want to cut strokes off my score. That way I avoid any serious pains anywhere else.

Interesting fact is along with taking up Crossfit to avoid the wrong kind of “stroke” – The more I practise using Sasha Novak’s “Laws of Accuracy” training program I find that I am striking the ball better the older I get.

There is no need for an excuse for playing worse while getting older.

Let us see what comes out of doing Step Two in the learning process.

For all who posted before and for all other who are following this Thread, please post your thoughts on “What Step Two should include”
We can then move forward with learning / improving our golf game in a thorough and organised way.

Good Golfing,

Peter C

Step 2 – setting the body up to the ball with the correct grip

Probably incorporating posture, alignment and balance or words to that effect would be my guess

Peter, do u undertake a coaching clininc in Perth ?

Dear Tubec,

When there are 6 or more requesting a 2 day school/workshop I am available.
WA has some great golf courses and I look forward to my next visit.

I owe a lot to Richard Brain for his introducing me to Paul Runyan’s Short Game techniques and the lead in to my career in teaching golf. WA always has special memories for me.

See you soon.

Peter

PS: What would you like to see as Step Two on “Your path to better golf?”

Professionally speaking – I would say set up position and teach Aim, Stance, Posture, and ball position, it’s what I would naturally teach after we get the grip right. However, you have me second guessing where you are taking us. Are we placing too much in a students conscious mind when we give them this much information.

What if they instinctively do this naturally?