Brad, I’m 10 years older than you so my early golf training was by Gary Churcher at Long Reef and it was pretty basic by today’s standards. Gary would bang on about swing plain and shoulder turn and what I should be feeling and he’d be pushing and pulling my body. But he got me into single figures. I couldn’t miss a green within 150 yards.
Hurtle ahead 20 years to recent times (kids, work - where did balatas go?) and back on the horse and a new, much younger coach. Not bad - plenty of stuff out of the Bob Rotella books, lots of short game stuff. A much shorter backswing and some consistency. Reasonably happy but when I played bad, it was awful - particularly my long game. This coach leaves and I take a lesson from his replacement. He works on the first 2’ of my takeaway and I quickly add 3 shots to my handicap! What a mess I was in.
Finally, my friend of the past 10 years, Col Nagle (can be found at Willows GC Nth Qld or at dinners in Sydney to honor his father) steps in and insists he give me a lesson. To this point I had not worked with Col because he is a mate and I didn’t want to get this involved. But I was desperate. Within 5 minutes he had me working on using the power of my legs, pushing and pulling my body just like Gary Churcher did all those years ago, and within 10 minutes I had clearly discovered a secret you guys are so aware of - where was all this power coming from?
Col is from the old school. He tells many stories about how his father sharpened his game and what he felt through the swing and why he did what he did. And importantly, what I have to do and feel to get somewhere down the same path to a repeatable swing with good ball striking. I have a long way to go as we haven’t touched on my long game but nonetheless it has improved dramatically.
Sorry to bore you (if you have read this far) but the moral for me is as a committed amateur we spend too much time and money chasing the latest and greatest when the answer has been there all along. Thanks for your input into a very good golf forum.
Sorry about the mix up…
I moved this over to the top 2000 thread, but then realized it had already had it’s own main page posting…
sorry for the confusion
Hey, Two–I suspect you’re off soon to Australia to play the Masters. All the best and good luck, we’ll be following and look forward to a debrief from you when you get back.
Brad, what sort of form are you taking into the Oz Masters? Are you confident of making the cut (to answer your return question: the piece of string is 6’4" long)? What sort of work have you been doing on your game to sharpen it? Will you beat those old blokes Parry and Senior?
I haven’t played competitive golf for a while but my game is in good shape. Have been hitting the ball well.
I have a week in Sydney now playing and working some more.
the greens at home have been slow because of winter approaching so will work hard on my short game this week and should be ready to go next week
The odds are good and worth a few $$ anyhow…I whacked some on yesterday at 501 to 1 !!!
Backed myself 3 times…for 2 wins and a near miss…so I am in again and we will see what happens
Bradley, It would be great to hear what will be in your bag this week & what the track & conditions are like. If you aren’t too busy of course - appreciate you might just have more on your mind than posting on here
Parry played really well in NZ but he showed us hackers all is not lost by impersonating me on the 18th (although his 4th shot was a gem)! So his game is pretty sharp. But he sure needs to trim a few kgs or he’ll go the way of Big Artie before too long.
So when you go down the stretch on day 4 needing to birdie the 18th to get into a playoff - don’t think about how little practice time you’ve had! Think about how happy Lag will be counting his 501-1!
Thanks Brad for a great clinic yesterday. I look forward to practicing those drills. Hopefully that will mean improved ball striking and more consistent golf Good luck in the Masters - you might need another of those ugly yellow jackets
Good luck in the Masters - you might need another of those ugly yellow jackets 
