aiguille… I am still on module 1. Lag won’t progress me yet !!!
I have seen module 2 and 3 and know what they are about and feel good about them being in a pretty good place for me, but only because of my module 1 work
If I hadn’t started with mod 1, I doubt mod 2 and mod 3 would be close to where I have them right now. that’s why the order and progression Lag has things in is ideal and the best way to design a swing
Sure…of course progressing means different things to different people, I was more wondering what aspects of the module you found new, innovative, illuminating or just unexpected given that I felt all of the aforementioned simply because it is stuff that is not contained in traditional golf instruction manuals.
aiguille
It is a little different for me in the sense that I actually did all the things Lag is trying to pass on. I will post a portion of an old swing of mine from '89.
This was my swing and most of it is what we are looking to achieve. I have spoken to Lag in depth about it all and we aren’t trying to re invent the wheel with my swing, we are just trying to jolt my memory into feeling the feelings I had in this old swing.
It is quite strange that this swing I had until I was 26 years old is self built and yet technically sound and what many of Lag’s modules are trying to achieve. Unfortunately like you said modern teaching bears no resemblance to this type of swing…because the gurus who have had success with the likes of Faldo and co never played to a high standard and didn’t know the feelings and workings of a swing like this. They all believe the lag and the fast pivot are momentum wreckers and we all have to use the big muscles to poke the ball. It isn’t true. I didn’t know enough about my swing because it was all based on feel. I never videoed it or broke it down because computers were still as big as factories and golf programs weren’t invented then. So I didn’t know what made my swing tick and I listened to someone who I thought did know what makes a swing tick and I was way off the mark, again because no-one stood in my shoes and hit a ball like I could with my swing. It might look like a late set and a big load and lag and hard to control, but it wasn’t. It was actually quite easy, but I didn’t know any better. I put my trust in someone when all I needed to do was trust myself.
And when i received tuition when I was 26 I was also pointed in this direction and all the dynamics of my swing disappeared. I had my moments but it was never the same. I had to work hard to keep my game, whereas when I was younger I worked hard to build that swing and then only had to maintain it by a bit of practice and playing golf. That was it. It took no work to keep that swing because it was based around physics and geometry and forces. Lag says that too. He doesn’t want to have to practice much. he just wants a swing he can rely on and this is it. Just warm the engine up and go play. As we have all learned by speaking with Lag, the best ballstrikers…Trevino, Hogan, Norman and such all adhered to what Lag is telling us here.
So I am just trying to find Waldo with my module work as it is lurking beneath the surface. If you went by modern tuition your whole golfing life and never felt the swing this way before then it will take longer to achieve. However from what I have read so far everyone feels the light bulbs have gone off and know they are onto something special, so keep at it.
Great insight Bradley… really appreciate it. I’m quite anxious to hear about your progress thru the modules.
Is that “Stevie” walking with you and Greg?
Robbo
Yeah, how do you like his acid wash jeans?
I have known Steve since I was about 13 years old. Unbelievably I used to caddie for Steve! He was the assistant pro at my golf course where I grew up and I used to go with him each monday to his assistant pro events and caddie for him.
He did that for approx a year in Aust and then the tour hit town and he got some good gigs caddying and off he went and he hasn’t looked back. Norman, Floyd and Tiger being the hits.
When I played with Tiger a couple of years ago we mentioned it and Tiger had a good laugh about it that I used to caddie for his caddie!!
DOUG SANDERS & MY 1ST WORLD VENTURE
I have been extremely lucky to come in contact with so many people who have given me insight and opportunity. One of those people has been Doug Sanders. Doug won 20 events on the PGA Tour and was well renowned for his fashion and bright colors and playboy style.
I won the Australasian section of his World Junior Under 18 Event in 1984 at Victoria GC in Melbourne. The field included Craig Perks who went on to win The Players a few years back. My prize? An expenses paid trip to Scotland a few months later to compete in the World Final against a competitor from the USA and one from Europe.
I was actually coming up towards the end of my final year at high school and missed 2 weeks of school to head to Scotland in August that year. So my schooling took a back seat to that opportunity. My goal was to be a golf professional anyhow and not a rocket scientist so golf took the lead with regards to that.
This would be my first trip anywhere outside of Australia, so I was excited and nervous at the same time. I went over a week early and stayed with some great folks who were friends of a member of my club. They lived near Edinburgh and I had the time of my life. Not only playing their local course but viewing the sights of Edinburgh and getting to play at St. Andrews (where I shot a 70 2 under!), which was awesome to play at the Home of Golf, and also at Gleneagles Kings course. I had seen that course hundreds of times when watching pro celebrity golf with Trevino and Miller and Seve and the celebrities of the day. I couldn’t actually believe I was there seeing it in person and to top it all off I made a hole in one on the 16th. I still have a plaque from the club for that somewhere in my stash.
The final of The Sanders World Junior was at The Kings Links In Aberdeen. So I hopped a train from Edinburgh up to Aberdeen and got some practice in. I played the neighboring Royal Aberdeen. What a course that was. Humps and hollows. It looked like the course designer got drunk one night and just walked around and threw some flagsticks out into the wide open and said “OK the 1st hole goes there, the 2nd goes there and so on…” I had never seen a course like it in my life.
I didn’t play well in the final but I did finish 3rd in the Doug Sanders World Junior Championship of 1984…alas there was only 3 of us in the final ! But it was a good achievement and the friendship I struck up with Doug was tremendous. He was such a likable man. Always had a story on the tip of his tongue to tell and would do anything for you.
Doug was even so gracious to recommend me to The University of Houston (where Elkington played) and The Houston Baptist University (where Monty played for a year) and they would call in the middle of the night because they could never get the time zone correct and pester me to come play on their team the following year with a full scholarship. The thought of heading overseas for 4 years frightened me to death at that point only being 17 years old so I never took them up on the offer. That is one of my big regrets. I wish I had at least gone for a year to see how it was. Maybe it would have led me to the US PGA Tour earlier.
Doug came out to Australia a few years later to play and I caddied for him which was great to see up close and personal one of the greats of the game. He could still make the ball talk even though he was in his early 50’s at that stage. If anyone sees any of his old Shell Wonderful World of Golf matches you can see the control he had of the ball and the ability to play all types of shots, plus his fun loving spirit and enjoyment for playing. He doesn’t get a tonne of recognition because he never won a Major but there aren’t too many players who have won over 20 events so he has to rank up highly because of that.
I still used to catch up with him every year when I was playing The Shell Houston Open. We would have lunch and just talk. He was still dressed in his yellow pants, yellow shirt, yellow shoes!! At that time though he had a real bad neck problem and couldn’t turn it whatsoever so golf was out of the question, but I am happy to have crossed paths with Doug and call him my friend. His Junior event helped me learn about travel and opportunities and was a huge stepping stone in my decision to pursue golf as a career.
I’ve come to really appreciate the short backswing of a player like Sanders. That didn’t seem to be the “normal” swing of that era, but I suspect Doug had his pressure points fully loaded into and past impact.
I’ve always been a “shoe guy”… wonder if Doug didn’t get me started on that.
Robbo
I am pretty sure Lag has spoken about the short backswing and how it is probably easier to achieve those pressure points and lag and extension from that shorter backswing. Maybe he can add to that
I visited with Doug Sanders a week or two ago in Houston. He is a regular at Memorial Park driving range and always has time for a conversation between wedge shots on the range. He always is dressed in a trademark colorful outfit and works a large bucket or two to the 75 and 100 yard flags. He generously signs balls and photos and spends time with the high school golfers who practice there.
Each year when The Open comes around, ESPN and TGC show the 1970 30-inch putt time and time again. During Open week, Doug actually spends more time at the range and tells stories of tour life – and quite a life he lived. I have discussed the Hall of Fame with him. He certainly meets the qualifications with 20 PGA Tour wins and four 2nds in majors. He also made a major contribution to the tour popularity with his color and personality somewhat similar to Jimmy Demaret. Unfortunately, his lifestyle has probably kept him out of the Hall of Fame. If it was MLB, NFL or NBA, he’d be in long ago.
3eagles- if you see him down there again soon, say hey from me.
I would love to get in touch with him again. My old numbers I have for him don’t work any more. He should know how to find me through PGA office
He certainly has a tale or two. I think some of his off course swagger was somewhat exaggerated, because he talked about all that stuff right in front of his wife Scotty when I was around him. So maybe some of it was for show, in the Walter Hagen mold, but definitely a fun guy.
How’s he hitting them? I know he had his neck worked on a few years back and he was happier than a pig in poo to be able to swing again
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The important thing to remember about Sanders is that is wasn’t just short, it was very flat… and in doing so, he was able to
minimize plane shifting, and really load up the pivot and power package angles. Sanders didn’t like to wait, he liked to hit!
So by setting himself up like that at the top, he could just fire his pivot as quick and hard at transition, and he had great hand speed so it allowed him to just tighten up his power train, and keep over acceleration out of the picture much more than most…
Great stuff…
Here’s a swing sequence of Doug with his own words explaining
And another view
EARLY SWINGS
I was flicking through some old albums and thought it would be cool to post some old photos of myself. I actually forgot all about them, so they were a sight to see for me.
10 years old… This is the earliest photo I have of myself swinging a golf club. You will have to forgive my attire!! I was away on a family holiday where lakes and pools were involved so i have a swimsuit bottom on and obviously didn’t care too much about what else i combined with them. I guess I must have been working on keeping my head down for the camera. Funny to look back on that
14 years old. This was in the newspaper. I was playing a pitch shot to the final green of the qualifying event for the under 18 Boys Championship of Victoria. I lead the qualifiers but was beaten out in the matchplay section. Nice lead of the hands, obviously some sort of punch wedge
18 years old. Playing for Victoria in an interstate match against Brett Ogle who was from New South Wales. I am glad I found this photo. I like the ball flying off in the corner of the shot.
A few more old swings I dug out.
I really never used to see my swing because I never used video . So these photos that were taken a long time ago by friends have really enlightened me now that I am working through Lag’s modules.
I feel like such an idiot changing my swing on bad advice without knowing what actually made my old swing tick. I hope I can get it back closer to these fundamentals soon with Lags and everyone else’s input
1988 Victorian Open practice round at Kingston Heath- iron into 6th hole
1989 working on my game at the range at my home course where I grew up
1989 practicing in Banff Canada for an upcoming event
youtube.com/watch?v=c6-jE9SxobA
here’s a video above. You have probably seen it but if you haven’t, it is really cool.
I have been fortunate enough to win 4 PGA recognized events with a PING putter. They make 2 gold plated putters, one goes in their vault and one is sent to you for a keepsake. they are valued around US$3000
Major winners receive a pure gold putter that is worth approx US$10,000
These putters are exact replicas of the putter used to win the event. They are inscribed on the face with the players name and the event won.
they are actually quite light to hold and wouldn’t be any good to putt with, but they make a great wall hanger in the office!
Thought that would be of interest to some… as far as I know PING is the only company who does something like this to mark a tournament win for a player
Well that is a good indication as to your fine putting abilities… four wins with 4 different putters… make me think it’s the Indian not the Arrow!
Do you think it is a good idea to switch putters every now and then just to keep thing fresh? That’s a fantastic showcase! It would be fun to see pictures
of those great trophies too when you get a chance so we can all drool!
The P4 photo of you at 14 is fantastic… it really shows that you had mastered a pivot driven golf swing at an early age. I love the one with the right knee
bent so much just past impact in 88, and that really shows a great use of vertical ground forces… just what we are working on in module #2.
The P3 4:30 shot holding all that lag pressure into impact and out into a full CF release is the envy of all those TGMer’s absolutely textbook stuff…
just like…Nicklaus, Thomson, Moe, O’ Meara, Couples, just to name a few…
We’ll be covering the different release types and options later in the modules… I think ideally it is best to be able to perform both, so that you have
the whole spectrum in your arsenal which would cover just about all the possible release sensations as we seem to always bring different feels to the golf
course each day.
Great posts!
I think putting is a strange animal. You would think putting would be basic because it is a short swing that you would have seemingly much more control over than a full swing, and yet it has driven people nuts for all these years.
In all my years playing-
*I have seen great strikers that were average putters but could have their moments and when they did putt well they would win or be right there at the finish
*I have seen average strikers that were great putters but could have their moments striking well and they would be there at the finish (but rarely win)
Then you have your great strikers that were great putters also- just look up the PGA Tour all time win column to find those guys
You would think if you could hit a ball 300 yards down the fairway with a club moving 110 mph you could hit a ball 3 feet ahead of you into a hole in the ground. But…that’s why golf is a 4 letter word.
I believe the whole concept is the same as hitting a ball. It has to be natural. It has to deliver the clubface with some amount of speed and purpose and direction. You have to hold the loft of the face into and through
There have been some weird and wonderful putting strokes over the years. How is it that so many different styles of putting can still reap the rewards? Is putting all about confidence?
Why is it that there are one hundred books about the swing per every one book about putting?
I have never been one to settle on a single putter. I have no love affair with them. In fact in the Houston Open one year I used a different putter each of the 4 rounds and still managed a 10th place !!
I just didn’t feel like I was starting the ball where I wanted, so I kept alternating each day to try and get a better feel for my alignment.
I think I putted my best my first few years as a pro. I mainly used a 8802 blade style putter. It made me get my hands slightly forward and swing on a mini arc like my full swing. A la Crenshaw or Norman in the 1980’s…It allowed me to keep my hands still slightly ahead at impact for a solid hit with the same loft time and time again. I wouldn’t even really line them up! I would just shuffle my feet around into any stance that felt in the correct position or line to make the putt and I would then just go pick the ball out of the cup. One week I putted poorly and switched away from that putter and lost my feel for it and never putted as consistently well again.
I have also putted well in spurts with the Anser style putter. That made my stroke a little more less arc style. A bit more straight back and through feeling. I could putt well this way but I had to work harder on my alignment and tended to not keep my hands leading the face into the ball as well, so some weeks were good and others were average.
The one thing I notice about all the best putters of my era- is this- they all lead the hands slightly ahead into the ball and none of them really hit up on the ball like you read in all magazines talking about topspin. None of them did that- Crenshaw-Aoki-Nicklaus-Seve-Watson(prime)-Mickelson-Woods… they all keep the putter low through the ball with a descending type blow
Watch the putters that are good at times but not so good at other times- Couples-Lehman-Garcia…and on and on - they don’t control the face as well. They are prone to stopping and slowing near impact and letting the wrists break down a hair and the right hand takes over… and that seems to spell disaster on the putting green at times
Furyk-Harrington…2 of the best putters out there…cross handed- so they can’t break the wrists down at or near impact. They keep that wrist intact into and through the hit
There are lots of ways to do it- I really think though it is this holding the loft and leading the hands through impact that is the key-- the more lead of the hands the more loft needed on the putter to keep the ball from bouncing around etc
youtube.com/watch?v=sev-FOV3fwY
There are some really good views of Crenshaw putting in this youtube video.
I haven’t listened to what is being said. I just looked at his hands leading the face and the right hand releasing and staying low through the stroke to keep the face low and provide a hit to the ball.
there is NO upswing on his stroke, and that’s why he rolls it so well day in and day out
Tiger also always talks about releasing that right hand when he putts…releasing the hands into the ball with impact. It keeps the hands leading the face, with no flip and no upward motion. There is no pushing or manouvering of the face whatsoever… 2 of the greatest putters ever
Hi Bradley,
Interesting that you mentioned that putting has to have a “natural” element to it. It might have been Lag but I remember hearing someone say that players whose putting stroke reflected the rest of their game did well. I guess examples would be Trevino who seem to have a push/cut stroke or Bobby Locke who hooked everything into the hole on the greens to mimic the pronounced draw in his long game. I think Lags ideas on accelerating with a heavyish putter and enough loft to enable a downward blow to compress the ball without driving it too much into the turf also fit into this category as it mimics the rest of his game. Do you remember Nick Price, who I think would be in your category as a sporadic good putter, in his book saying he putted best with his weight more on his left side and a downward stroke that kept the putter low to the ground after impact?
Cheers, Arnie
P.S Certainly putting has an individual element to it. I think it was in one of the Bob Rotella books he talked about a player or a coach making a putting video and Crenshaw was on the practice green and so the player/coach making the video stops to ask him what he’s working on. Ben answers that he’s trying to feel his head move a couple of inches towards the target during his stroke, thus completely undermining the no.1 piece of putting advice always trotted out (i.e.) keep your head still! 