Lag, lightbulb moments and videotape

[jpd5184]

@rastaboym

4.30 Line Lighbulb

When hitting the bag I would notice the shift in perspective as I moved onto the 4.30 line, but that feeling would soon be gone - because I would keep myself bowed and rotated, and continue the bag beating from there. So I wouldn’t feel a change, as I kept myself in that position. BUT out on the course, I now realise that I’ve never hit a ball from a proper perspective of looking down that 4.30 line … until today. WOW. As I rotate back and start bowing, the perspective … shifts … it’s hard to describe. I still can’t really put my finger on it. But it opens things up, I feel I have more room to hit from, I can find the slot easier. It feels like a totally different swing. Initially, I found myself swaying left … almost like my brain was trying to get me back where it was comfortable … but by forcing myself to stay on the right hand side, I started hitting it beautifully. Even managed to get a couple of “cracks!” out of a persimmon wood, which is a first. … Need to try this some more …

It’s interesting that I’ve been beating the bag for months, rotate and bow, rotate and bow, but it’s taken this long for it to work its way sufficiently into my DNA that I’ve done it on the course with a ball in-front of me …

are you talking about a bowed left wrist at impact.

this was a lightbulb for me. Bowed left wrist with a feeling a pressuring my left arm into my left side and pressure in my abdominals.

[rastaboym]

Sorry, by bow I mean as in lowering the upper body. As in “bow to the 4.30 line”. I didn’t think I’d explained it very well! … probably because I wasn’t sure what was going on.

I’ve been out on the course again today and I’m still not quite sure what’s going on. Will have to report back on this particular light-bulb once I have more idea what it is …

[rastaboym]

I have been experimenting and investigating and I think I may be a little closer to working out what’s going on. OK…

This is a swing sequence of me with a wedge from a couple of years ago. I’ve drawn a red line to try to show the tilt of my head and give an idea of where I’m looking. Obviously in 2d you’ll never really know, and you can’t tell where the eyeballs are pointed. But I think it’s pretty obvious my general focus is at and maybe a little bit behind the ball. Top down.

That’s been my “golfers eye view” for years. Forever.

Now here’s a sequence hitting the impact bag (sidenote to those using a pillow to muffle sound: remove wife’s nice flowery pillow case before hitting).

True, it’s a longer club and the “ball” position is further forward but nevertheless, my “golfers eye view” has definitely changed. As I rotate back and lower my upper body (frame 4), my perspective changes even more. It feels like a shift. I’m no longer “top down” on the ball, I’m behind it and back from it. And from that position I can “drive” down the 4.30 line.

… it’s one thing doing it into an impact bag … but with a ball there, changing the view you’ve been playing from …forever … makes a huge difference. And when I first hit a ball from there, it was a big WOW. It’s a very tricky part of the “old software” to overwrite though. The brain keeps wanting to go “home”, where it’s safe

Still more experimentation needed. I’m not sure if that “drive” (a la cricket) feel is right…

[lagpressure]

From a dedicated Module 6 Student:

I’ve picked up almost a club in distance since I’ve started this drill. Instead of rotating hard from the top, it feels to me like I’m waiting until P3 before I turn back to the ball. It feels to me like I’ve lost clubhead speed, but I’m hitting the ball a lot farther. Also, I am feeling a lot more laid-off on the backswing with a more open face. Seems more natural now to really wack the ball at the bottom, which probably gives me a little extra pop. Completely different feeling than before.

[lagpressure]

Hi John
Ordinarily I would not write this type of email but I owe it to you and your ABS course and really would like to share. 2 weeks ago I had a huge break through on the course. I started hitting the ball really well and every shot went where I wanted and every swing seemed so easy. I hit 13 greens (fringes included) in regulation. It was so different a display that playing partners commented that they have never seen me hit the ball like that. The ball striking particularly long and mid irons has jumped to another level. I have had the odd good round before but this time it is very different. My swing feels different. It feels so effortless now that on that first day I was actually laughing on the course at the power generated from half the effort.

I have been an ABS student for 2 1/2 years and have been very diligent on the drills but I never went to the range to hit balls. As a result I compartmentalized the swing and I think I had a lot of difficulty finding the 4:30 line on the course resulting in my old OTT flip whenever I played. Mod 6 made me come to understand the transition a lot better

It becomes so much easier to come in shallow to the ball. The 430 line also becomes more accessible and OTT becomes much more difficult. Allowing my right arm the freedom to unbend (not straighten fully) just amplifies all of these good things. A bent right arm at impact seems more a consequence of maintaining spine angle and cohesiveness, rather than an end in itself and the less I try to force it the better my strikes. I do however focus on maintaining wrist cock. That for me is of huge importance. These changes resulted in an overnight transformation, literally from one round of pretty bad ball striking to my best ever a few days later. Obviously the rapidity of improvement was due to the modules and hard work over 3 years , and all that i needed was to integrate them into a full swing which is obviously my new focus.

If there is one thing I have come to realize doing the ABS course is that what you feel and what you are actually doing are often very different. Nevertheless I cant argue with the improvements. I could possibly have hit this point sooner if I had been more of a range nut but I always viewed this course as a long term quest. I have a long way to go to become consistent but for the first time ever I can honestly pick a spot at which to aim and have a reasonable chance that the ball will go there give or take. Feels good and for that I thank you. You have made a very big difference.

[flatlies]

Great what the module 6 student posted about increasing distance. Module 1 and 2 of ABS I lost about a club of distance and everybody told me to stop if it was causing me to lose distance, maybe they thought it was dumb. Like you said about hitting at the bottom, it was when I went to module 3 that everything went back to distance but there was an extra gear. The feeling was that I was swinging easier while hitting the ball the distance I was before ABS, but when I want to add extra I feel my transition is slower and my module 3 is faster. The flight looks the same but carries further. All the while the ball goes much straighter, even now it is funny to think I slow the part that use to be fast and speed up the part that use to be slow when I am striking my best.

[lagpressure]

Student feedback from his new ABS spec irons:

A few observations on the Daiwas. I was initially apprehensive due to the weight. I mean those things are sledge hammers. But after a few rounds with them they have almost immediately supercharged my post impact pivot and they require the arms to be nothing but spokes in the swing. Especially maintaining a bent right arm as long as possible. If you let the arms flail at the ball with these clubs, you are dead. And I’ve never seen a ball fly so straight with a good strike. Dead straight. Thanks again for the advice

Give these things a few months and you’ll chuckle at the lightweight stuff everyone is trying to swat at the ball with. The body does adjust and get stronger over time… then you will actually be striking it with the same RPM as before with the lighter stuff, but now with the additional mass in the head and firmer shafts which what many of the great strikers figured out a long time ago.

[lagpressure]

Mod 2 is awesome! It really casts a different light for me about Module1. Without having developed the necessary hand speed I have zero chance to get consistent with Mod 2. I just added another gear for sure. Not to look too far ahead but I can imagine post impact my pivot had better get busy to keep this added speed and pressures moving! I really feel like I could solely hit with my legs and be fine. Thanks again-John

[daleheck]

Hello All!..
A few weeks into MOD3 and Lag is still fine tuning my form. Really feeling the core muscles working big time,
never felt it this intense even when working on those muscles on purpose, let alone in a golf swing!
Anyways, I had a experience that I just had to share today… Yesterday played 18 and waddled in at an 86 on a pretty tough track, and that was double bogeying all but one par 5… Trying to think about only 1 or 2 MOD keys when playing but you know how that goes! Been hitting persimmon off the tee all but maybe 1- 2 tee shots a round, but my ball striking just was not there Saturday.
So I head out to sneak in a few holes today and I remember reading a Hogan article somewhere in The Vault
where he stated " I start the backswing with my left arm and bring it across my chest and rotate the club open as fast as I can…" something to that effect… “and you’d be surprised even some pros dont’ do this and start with the right, which spells trouble…”
Well I know I am not supposed to get to involved with my backswing at this stage of my ABS training, but I tried this today really feeling my left bicep against my chest and rotated the the club wide open to the sky… was amazed on how much better my shoulder turn was… I was able to drop my weight and squeeze , generating a cohesiveness with my upper arms against my torso I had never felt before. The club handle felt like a baseball bat coming into the ball with a force and sound that was like POW.!!! It literally felt like I could not miss a shot… ZERO FAT SHOTS… and hit the Persimmon in places on this course I have never been (in the correct fairway to boot!)… Hit the green in 2 on a 540 yd par 5 with Persimmon now that is a 1st.!! I ran out of daylight I was hitting so many damn balls per hole I just could not believe it!
Apologies for the long post and not even sure if this the right place to put it , but so excited I doubt that I’ll be able to concentrate at work this week !!

Cheers !!
Dale

[VeeDub]

@daleheck

I was able to drop my weight and squeeze , generating a cohesiveness with my upper arms against my torso I had never felt before. The club handle felt like a baseball bat coming into the ball with a force and sound that was like POW.!!!

Really inspiring post Dale! Thanks! I look forward to chasing whitey with you!

Here is my mod 1 final exam video; still not perfect but much better after 3 months of mod 1 and lots of conditioning. I felt like John took mercy on me because I committed to not playing until graduating from module 1 in order to change my ingrained impact pattern.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRd2j77M1b0[/youtube]

Here is my swing just before starting ABS
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta-_dcOwUhI[/youtube]

Here is my swing with ABS gear and 3 months of module 1.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UhbLFtOQo4[/youtube]

My current lightbulb is that my gluteus medius muscle have never really been engaged in my golf swing nor in my posture. I have/had a military posture that contributed to my butt sticking out slightly in my golf setup. I found this to be an issue by not being able to immitate John’s posture all that well. The silly part is that I already practice yoga; however ABS clued me in to my posture problems. Specifically Mr Miagi asking for another 3k reps made me question what I was doing wrong and trying his posture. I could feel my butt in my golf swing for the first time. Now I’m working diligently to further condition and fire dormant muscles; thank you Mr Miagi

[daleheck]

Good Work Vance!
These 1st 3 MOD’s are building a foundation of strength that will serve us well as we progress into the later MOD work and old age!
I am 52 this week and honestly feel stronger and certainly more purpose directed in my golf swing than ever…
MOD3 is for me the most challenging and physically taxing thus far !

keep after it. the best is
yet to come!

Dale

[twomasters]

Golfers for the most part are an impatient lot. They measure their success on what they score. They want it now. They want instant magic which is why they buy clubs that are meant to instantly make them better. This is marketing. Nothing makes you better than dedication to a task until it becomes permanent in the body and subconscious in the mind.
A doctor goes to Med School for 7 years. He cant just say “well screw this I want to be a doctor now so give me some fancy tools and let me cut open a few people and I will diagnoze and fix them quicker”.
It is never too late to learn. I have had a 70 year old do the modules here in Australia and his handicap has come from 16 to 7 in the past year.
Best advice- It is a marathon and not a sprint.
If you are wanting a quick fix that is all it will become- quick- and you will be running off in a few weeks time looking for the next ‘magic/lightning in a bottle’ . We pursue long term pleasure from the game. Once you have it you will have it forever. Instant is fleeting. Permanent is forever

[daleheck]

[b]Amen Two!!
Or as a friend of mine used to say: " instant gratification = future pain! "…
too true…

Dale[/b]

[lagpressure]

ABS Student reflection on Personal Best…

I played a very challenging course that I had played at least 50 times over the past 25 years…never breaking 80. The course isn’t necessarily long, but it is loaded with wind, water, forced carries, numerous bunkers, double out of bounds on virtually every hole, and difficult green complexes. The pressure and penal nature on every shot tends too tie all of us up in knots. It is not unusual to card several doubles and triples in a row, and then just give up.

Anyway, I shot 78 the last day to break 80 for the first time in 25 years on that course. No out of bounds, only one water ball, 32 putts. Lowest round of the day.

I will be 60 in June, so as far as age goes I am swimming upstream, and I was on the verge of giving up on the dream.

While one can argue that statistically I was bound to break 80 eventually, my feeling is that ABS was a big ingredient that day. I am still wondering “what I did right”…lately the concept of connection/ cohesive tension has taken hold of me in a more forceful way.

Congrats… more to come!

[lagpressure]

Lots of module work lately without hitting any balls but went out and flight tested a few. Hitting my 3 and 4 irons as easily as a short iron! Good stuff for sure. Thanks again

[lagpressure]

ABS Module 6 graduate…

I had 200+ to an elevated green (traps right and left, ob left and back), so I grabbed the spoon and cracked one dead center to the front ledge - a check, bounce and a roll left it in the back middle of the green.

Since I had the course to myself, I dropped a second ball and crack! me and Toney Penna lasered the second one on the exact same path and trajectory as the first. I swear it hit the first shot’s ballmark, because it checked up and stopped next to the flag in the middle of the green instead of rolling thru like the first.

It was one of those moments - I looked around to see if anyone had seen what I had done - then I just started laughing out loud. If only in spirit, you were on my bag for those two shots, so know I tipped my cap, John. I’ve been playing golf for 20 years, but only now am I hitting my first real golf shots.

[lagpressure]

Module 8 Student…

Made a great start to the season.

First competition 2 weeks ago shot 75 (par 72) , was 1 under at the turn, … Last week 74 with 36 putts. Hit my irons great all day.

Both weeks I was 3rd in a field of about 120 players.

Yesterday I shot 2 under 70 and today a 75 in high winds.

Great stuff for me considering my stroke average before ABS was 81. And, in all hosnesty, I haven’t really got it all together yet in a round.

Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season brings, many thanks again for you help.

More good news from the ABS front lines… Module 1 student:

Tried out a new driver with an X flex shaft something which I’ve never been able to consistently get on with previously and wow I think you’re on to something with this golf stuff

I hit some quality shots which just flew off the clubface and felt that slingshot motion you mentioned in the module one videos for the very first time. I was never close to hitting a high blocked slice something which was very common for me when playing X flex shafts but not with this new swing.

Can’t wait for the next module because I’m loving the improved ball striking so far.

Thanks,

[flatlies]

Module 8 student above, great play. I think thats the difference with ABS, it does not break down under pressure. I would say it gets better because of the tension involved with hitting. The module 1 student has this to look forward to.

[twomasters]

I find it cool the amount of musicians and martial art people that are attracted to ABS.
I have recently started with a black belt in Aikido who sent me this video that he thought was pertinent to the association of learning. Thought it was great how the training allows the subconscious to overtake and we learn things along the way that advance our golf swings without needing to fully know the why or how we are doing them until things blend in later in the process as the pieces are put together.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zamE9cvC6u0[/youtube]

[eagle]

I am unable too view …anyone else getting these “blocked plug in” notices or know what that means?