I’ve been a student of ABS for 17 months now (currently in module 7 and super slotting), and I couldn’t be any happier I found the program. I just got back from my trip to the deck and mare island earlier this week, and I am closer than ever to playing golf at the level I feel I should be able to play. I took some video today working on concepts lag showed me at his house a few days ago, and the swings looked so much better I felt inspired to put this together. The final picture is from today with an 8 iron. All of these are still shots from videos of full swings hitting a ball, not frozen positions. It can feel like you aren’t progressing if you only watch the day to day improvement, but it all adds up over time.
Haha NO! I played awful. Something about getting out of bed at 3:00 AM on very little sleep, catching a plane, going to the deck and torturing my back and forearms, and then going to the course didn’t work too well.
Lag hadn’t played in a month, and I had to leave after he birdied the 12th to go 4 under (might have been 3 under). I also got to meet Zack, who joined us on the course.
Thanks. Lag has me working hard on the Super Slotting module to try and get some forearm rotation in transition to open the face. I can get it to show up on camera if I force it, but it’s not ingrained yet. I have a lot more strengthening to do.
I’m sure this will be taken as an attack, but it’s not. As ever, I’m concerned about getting too flat and open on the way back- the reaction, if Newton is to be believed, is steep and shut…
Bom, I appreciate your insight and that’s a good comparison to look at. It’s obvious there that Hogan is substantially more open and laid off. However, I think that what I am really lacking is the forearm rotation in transition (SS move), which I have been working on, but I need to strengthen my forearms a lot more. I don’t think that there’s reason to believe I necessarily have to take it back steep to come in flat. I have worked toward a less inside and laid off backswing, but it hasn’t been a major focus because there are too many guys that fanned it on the takeaway and still came in shallow and open.
I am still encouraged by that Hogan comparison though, because I have made a lot of progress since I started ABS. I know that I’ll be much closer in 17 more months, but I have fixed a lot of the major issues I had before. I can get the laid off/open look when my shoulders turn steep, but when the shoulders are flat it’s difficult for me to still slot it. This is exactly what we worked on at the deck. My ability to turn level dissapeared when I slotted it well, and my ability to slot it well dissapeared when I turned level . I expect to see a lot of progress in that respect in the next few months.
The first thing we worked on was exactly this situation of being shut coming down, and jrich99 is correct in feeling a lack of forearm rotational strength to execute it properly.
With a bit of hard work on the deck and some indoor work, we were able to push the intentions by the end of the session into what eventually will become his golf swing.
These things take time for the muscles to learn the correct firing order, strength and spacial awareness. But I think we were both happy to see that his body is not limited in any way. It’s certainly possible for him to do this as shown in this capture.
I love how the left forearm and shaft are in line at impact with hardly any toe droop… Great stuff!! I’ve done wrist curls for years to strengthen the hands and forearms… Maybe something to think about…
The key here is the flatter shoulder rotation which allows for a much quicker and accelerating shoulder rotation post impact.
The impact frame followed by the next couple frames you can see how the torso rotation is now picking up speed rather than turning vertical underneath and stalling. Working the shaft low left (for right handers) and around post impact keeps the shaft on plane and not lifting or rising up as most do with steeper shoulders. Once mastered, this wins on both the power and accuracy fronts.
Doesn’t really look like you were coming from all that bad an impact position pre ABS, but looks like you certainly have improved upon what you already had. The level shoulders does look like the biggest difference. You can really see the difference in the pic above. The swing into the net looks great on a number of different levels, especially the slotting into the 430 line.
Honestly though, when I see the swings of students here they all have a similar look and intentions about them. Everyone is moving in the same directions with their swings, towards a similar destination. Encouraging to see that with a little time and work the modules are effective in building a good golf swing.
That above pic is a comparison from this July to this August. The major difference between the pre-ABS and the more recent stuff is really the lower body work, I think. I used to have my back foot up and fully rotated targetward at impact, which makes a level turn all but impossible. Once the lower body looked good, I was okay to try to work the shoulders more level.
I appreciate the reasoned reply, J, I was concerned it would have been taken the wrong way. I’m not saying that you need to be steep in the backswing necessarily, but I’d say that the forearm rotation you’re talking about would be a lot easier to perform if the right arm worked a bit more above the left going back. It’s quite a natural action for the right arm to perform, given the chance. Getting the right elbow(sorry, you’re a lefty, I switched your pic to fit, bear with me with R?L) below the left going back makes it very challenging to slot it, never mind super slot it, as you guys say.
There are very few top strikers who get the ‘rear’ arm low going back, and if they do, they wing it out at the top and cup it in order to get it into a more dominant position- Floyd, Senior, John Daly, etc… Only from a place of dominance will the rear elbow feel comfortable slotting, and the more dominant, the more comfortable it will be. Slotting into the backswing is a recipe for an OTT throw, in my opinion. I call it ‘building a downswing out of a backswing’, it’s a seductive path, but it tends to fail. There are very few weaknesses I’ve found in the ABS system, but this is one of them. Lag knows way more than most, but not everything. I bring it up because, in my opinion, it may help. Take it for what it’s worth…
I’ve got a fair bit to say on this subject, but I know from experience how alternative perspectives can be received around here, so I don’t really want to put it out there/waste my time…
Cheers, man…
BOM
If you pull it inside quickly and work that up to the top, then you have to actively slot the club at transition like Floyd and Knudson did. If you pull inside and try to slot it passively… I agree, it is much more difficult. Slotting with a bit of momentum from an “out to in loop” is a better way to do it if you don’t want to actively engage the forearm muscles through transition.
Floyd and Littler are good examples. While Floyd was a bit more upright and took longer to get the shaft back perpendicular to his spine… Littler does a fantastic job taking the inside route, then actively slotting it even more to get the shaft working at right angles to his torso early. I really like Littler’s action here. It’s textbook for the inside takeaway into the slot.
Knudson of course was very similar.
I’ve studied that Littler swing, and I reckon he flips it pretty badly through impact. I reckon it’s due to the forced effort in his way of going back and down into the slot.
But I reckon it’s actually not active when you get to the top in a strong position a la Floyd, etc. It’s got to be active and conscious if you get into a spot where you want to go out, ie., with a weak ‘slotted’ right elbow in the backswing. I’d say that the Floyd, Senior, Daly, Knudson action, is much more natural. That elbow position going back and to the top REQUIRES a slotting, much like a pitcher or a hitter in baseball, not to mention tons of other sports.
Here’s the backswing photo of Jrich and Hogan, they tell a tale, in my opinion, when compared with the downswing frames. Hogan is more closed going back, with a higher right elbow. J is in a great downswing position going back, more open and a better right elbow position. Again, this is my opinion, you guys may not agree…
. I expect to see a lot of progress in that respect in the next few months.
