Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Praningka,

Mention the rest of the “fundamentals” you have forgotten or didn’t even know you learned at a very early age. I will bet my new driver you can’t even come close to what Guru and I know to be the real fundamentals.

I ask this, not to be an arse hole but to bring you with others up to speed on what a lot of people have taught us that you have no clue about despite your proud upbringing. We were the same till we had our worlds turned around, as painful as that was.

How do you think I feel having “taught” thousands of people and seen them fall on there face as the years went by because I did not indelibly infuse rock hard fundamentals. Real Fundamentals.

Come on, let’s hear them. The lot. What is absolutly necessary to guarantee that the ball can be hit well 80% of the time by some one willing to have a go and why. Or, let us tell you.

Seriously Praningka fill us in with the full story. The Fundamentals that we need By Praningka.

I have all week.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Makes sense to me for sure.

I could see you were using ‘pain’ as a metaphor to swap levels. By why would it be ‘a pain’ to people to change from swing platform ‘a’ to platform ‘b’. What makes it a ‘pain’.

I know you have great experiences to share as the majority in here love hearing stories of ‘how I got there’.

What did you practice. How did you change from a to b.

You had by the sounds a magic coach that many of us would have loved to have worked with. What did he do with you to change things….and what were those things that were ‘a pain’.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Hi Guru,

The pain barrier? I suppose you could say I am trying to give golfers here some advice on what it takes to get to another level or how they can do it from real life experiences . I am sure and as you have mentioned that the majority of people here are off high handicaps and that is fine mate. I used to be as well as we all were at some stage.
The pain barrier is not about having injuries like sore wrists, elbows, a bad lower back, it is more about understanding the need to practice at times and the tribulation one goes through with their game. A pain barrier becomes mental over time. Get on top of it and ones golf game will improve. Make sense?

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

“Getting over the pain barrier and getting used to it” to step up levels is well said.

Why do you think there is pain in the process?

Most of the readers here are higher handicappers than yourself, around 95% of them if not more.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Ken and Harry, both good players in their respective years. Perhaps I should of added a few other aspects of having solid fundamentals in place. Grip, stance, for sure and then also alignment, posture or body angles at address.
I am pretty sure the vast majority of golfers here can swing the club okay. Perhaps if people worked on the simple things in this game, it may not become “easier” at first, but it sure does go a long way to helping them reach what one may aspire to.
I learnt to swing or hit at the ball as a kid like we all did. Learning how to make contact with the balls comes from that first smack of it and then becoming hooked. There comes a time in ones golfing life that in order to improve, you have to get the basics in place. Aiming left or right, a bad grip, bad posture etc..go for it if you so choose but it just makes the game more difficult over time.
I do disagree with you Dart when you mentioned that the simple truth is they guarantee nothing meaning the funds. I must of had a coach who was insane many years ago and this same coach must be insane to have so many great players competing on various professional golf tours and high profile amt events to this current day. If I said too much more, it would be a dead giveaway who this coach was. The guy is a legend in golf coaching circles but is retired these days.
If a golfer feels lost with the correct stance/alignment…or a better or more sound grip, well then they have to get over the pain barrier and get used to these. I ask my mates how they are going with their swing who play to this day? Hmm, I just have to get back to a few basics, I am flushing it but my alignment is off. Now, these boys are good and not your average golfer but it is back to basics for them all the time. As for me, I always go back to the basics and as Guru mentioned in a post somewhere else on this forum, “it seems I am a frustrated golfer”. I am far from being a frustrated golfer just to make a note of it. I am lucky to play 2 times a week including going to the range to practice what more golfers should do and that is your short game. I can still knock it around and play to my 2 though.
Comments appreciated….......

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Praningka has the slant a lot of good players have. “If you just get the right stance and grip, a good shot is assured” ; Ken Venturi, Harry Vardon to name a few. Just because they can play, they think they know how they leared in the first place. They were lucky they fluked it.

The simple truth is they guarantee nothing. You need to know how to swing before you have a hope of setting a grip and stance correctly

The “correct” grip and stance make them feel lost because they don’t know what to do next.

The first trick is lag loading, a smooth steady pressure on the action like dragging you kid brother on the ground, with any grip and stance.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Praningka has the slant a lot of good players have. “If you just get the right stance and grip, a good shot is assured” ; Ken Venturi, Harry Vardon to name a few. Just because they can play, they think they know how they leared in the first place. They were lucky they fluked it.

The simple truth is they guarantee nothing. You need to know how to swing before you have a hope of setting a grip and stance correctly

The “correct” grip and stance make them feel lost because they don’t know what to do next.

The first trick is lag loading, a smooth steady pressure on the action like dragging you kid brother on the ground, with any grip and stance.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Tiger Woods tought me a good drill to help feel and impact through the ball (on one of those golf shows on Foxtel :)) which was to take a driver, setup as if you are going to hit the ball, turn it around so you are holding the head end, with the grip end pointing at the ground where the ball would be. Take a normal swing. 90% of golfers will hear a “swoosh” sound about half way through their downswing. Now what you do is try to make the “swoosh” sound start just past where you would normally hit the ball on your downswing, and make it continue through the follow through. This will get your power release smoother on your downswing, and help with impact / ball striking.

You could also read up about “drop and pop”, there are a few articles about it on the net.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Toolish and AB,

Thanks for the clear up. Forums are funny places and sarcasm is hard to portray in text format. I apologize for the misunderstanding.

I had a horribly weak swing before and always faded or sliced the ball from coming outside – in. Now I’ve started to rebuild, I am getting a 5-10m draw and much more distance. The one thing holding me back is hitting the ball cleanly. Hence why I asked the question about ball striking. I understand it is a result of the set-up and swing itself, but I have never been a good striker anyway.

Seeing a solidly struck ball draw 5-10m is exciting to me, because I’ve never been able to get the ball going that way. I just want to see it more often. :)

Man, I’ve got sooooo much to work on. I think it’s time for a couple lessons to fine tune the thoughts running through my head. It’s hard to get feedback when I don’t know what a good swing feels like anyways.

Thanks for the clear up fellas :)

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Bundy:

I think you are being a bit oversensitive (I am guilty of this too). I am so happy that you are on the road to improvement and are hitting the ball more consistantly.

Saying “I have already rebuilt my swing over the last week” is a statement that will naturally raise some eyebrows from those of us that are a little further down the track (like 10+ years). Understand building a swing that is repeatable and dependable especially in the heat of battle is a long term proposition.

I am competiting in high level competition and am desiring to take an international jump so I am still refining technical issues. I have no doubt that over the next few weeks when I meet with members of “the brains trust” a further rebuild is going to be in order. Even those at the top of the sport are still rebuilding swings, this is the only way to get that little bit extra from your golf game. Experts will always spot something that can be enhanced.

Please don’t take offence, it was a tongue in cheek statement. I hold nothing but admiration that you have had the courage to undergo a total swing transformation and I wish you nothing but the best in future improvements. As the weeks turn into months you will understand where we were coming from as you reach new levels of profiency. Good luck

AB

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

BB, it was a throwaway semi-sarcastic line, don’t take it as glass half empty.

The problem I have is I started with A, went to B, then to C, occasionally a B still pops through, then onto D. Continuing the search to find a way to nail the fuindamentals…I am getting there for sure, but practice time is getting limited lately so progression has slowed.

Good to hear you are rebuilding following the articles…they are a great starting point.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Tool and AB,

If you start with swing A and completely start over, and now have swing B. Does that not mean it was rebuilt if I started from scratch again? I don’t remember saying that I was finished working on my swing! Hence the questions. Great place to learn Guru. It’s ashame forums still have people that like the glass half empty….....

Bundy

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Guru,

I have already rebuilt my swing over the last week using the principles learnt in the golf school and it is much more consistent.

How did you manage that…have been working on rebuilding for years and it still seems to be a work in progress!

down and out…did ya get that?

It’s all relative… if BB’s like me i’m aiming for 100 as you going for scratch if you not there yet, I rebuilt my swing after reading golf school 4-5 months ago and haven’t had one air swing and shanked once… still slice though it’s getting straighter :-)

Really try to relax I as a beginner always seem to tense up before I hit it in an effort to belt the crapper out of it… read big slice. Now after a trip to the range I really focus on keeping a relaxed grip and smooth swing, not tensing every muscle in my arms, and I seem to strike it better and get a much better ball flight.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

I must admit I, only tonight got my swing back to a level I am very happy with and it was naught but 2 weeks ago I was having all sorts of trouble. I think I am in the same boat as bundy, but think it was more a recondition then a full rebuild! For me it was more a matter of identifying, remedying and practicing as opposed to looking at “the fundamentals” and starting afresh :-P

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

hehe. I am sure Bundy has made some progress away from his old swing type which may well have been a total rebuild! Its just the start there Bundy:)

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Guru,

I have already rebuilt my swing over the last week using the principles learnt in the golf school and it is much more consistent.

How did you manage that…have been working on rebuilding for years and it still seems to be a work in progress!

down and out…did ya get that?

I must admit I had a similar thought Toolish

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Guru,

I have already rebuilt my swing over the last week using the principles learnt in the golf school and it is much more consistent.

How did you manage that…have been working on rebuilding for years and it still seems to be a work in progress!

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

In the golf school section under golf instruction. Find the articles with the word plane in them, there are four. Sorry I can’t remeber the name offhand.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

what is the flash light drill? seen people post about it, where do i read about it?

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

After a decent set-up, is lag (late release) the key to consistent ball striking?

Reverse every natural instinct you have and do just the opposite of what you are inclined to do and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing. – BEN HOGAN, POWER GOLF

First things first, lag and a late release are 2 different things.

Lag is very helpful in good ballstriking, but prefer the more general educated hands.

A late release is definately a requirement for good ball striking…Tom Watson had a sweep release and struck it pretty well!

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Twas not aimed at you Mr C:)

Prang mentioned ‘them’ and a ‘good set up’ without saying what either were.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Thats a good point Guru, it kind of becomes a bit of a throw away statement at times. I’ll think on it a bit before embarrassing myself :-)

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

What are “solid fundamentals?” This sort of statement is kinda obvious but people read here searching for ‘what a fundamental is’.

Ask many low handicap players to define them and they will not have a clue.

So the floor is open to shed your light.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Bundy, read Thommos’ Hitting it Fat article.

Topic: Drill for ball striking?

Yea I found when watching videos on youtube about golf instruction when I first started, the best advice I got was to let the club go to gravity. By that I mean don’t fight the club on the way down, just let it go down and strike the ball as it should. Worked well at the time, but now that I know more, I find it better to know what is going on (to a certain degree).