Just wanted to write you with an update on my swing improvements. Have worked through MOD 3 with Neil and have had to move on to practicing my full swing over the passed month or so. I have an annual buddy’s tournament in a few weeks in Myrtle Beach and have to get some rounds under my belt.
Have to say after playing my 3rd round with my Dynas you bent that I can’t be any more pleased. Joined up as a single with 3 other players. You should have seen their faces when I pulled on my foot joy classics with metal spikes on the 2nd hole a ripped My persimmon pole shafted driver down the middle about 230 yards! One guy just couldn’t believe what gear I was playing with and couldn’t wrap his head around it. On one uphill par 4 him and I were in the fairway at 193 out- I cut a perfect 3 iron into the green. He said “great shot- what did you hit? I said 3 iron and asked him the same and said 6…
I hit more quality shots during that round then I ever have before. Average Drive was 228 yards and in play. Had no penalty shots because of my driver. Lost 2 balls as I overcut an iron off the tee to OB and one approach shot with a 5 iron that I tried to cut but ended up smashing it straight but into a hazard.
Still getting used to how far each club goes. The sound of the club is an intense Thwack!
Once again, I coached the Vacaville High School golf team and they ended up being League Champs.
My method was mostly ABS theory. So a big thanks to you for having a major influence on their success. You and ABS deserve a great deal of credit for the rate the kids improved this year. It was the fastest in my 20 years of coaching.
Just wanted you to know that your work is effecting more than just those you directly deal with.
I played yesterday at Tpc stonebrae in Hayward. First time playing there and personal best score. A 74. But this is kicker 7 birdies including 3 in a row on the back 9. I played it tipped out at 7000 yards and truly felt that if I got myself with an iron in hand I had a chance to make a birdie. I’ve been tracking my stats which is interesting to say the least.
Gir: 14/18
Strokes gained: the numbers came out as this in comparison to pga tour averages!
Driving -.04, approach +6.43, around the green, +0.79, putting -3.99
I guess I got work to do on the flat stick but +6.43
On approach is 100% everything you have taught me over the years.
It’s a pretty tight driving course and the green complexes are big and undulating which actually makes it really fun for ball striking because to get it close you have spin it into position. Reminds me a little bit of pasa tiempo but without as much bunkering!
Hey John and hope all is well. Had best ball striking round since starting ABS in January last week. Hit 12 fairways and 10 greens.
When I get the club on the 430 line on the downswing I feel like I can’t miss the shot.
Worked through mod 6 with Neil and when I get it the club shallow on p3 I hit a piercing shot with a 5 yard fade with a high trajectory truly unbelievable for me.
“The past couple months I ‘ve been practicing more than ever and doing the modules 4,5,6. I am now striking the ball better than ever before, my low point issue has been solved and my putting yips too. I’m a lot more comfortable around the greens because of your tips🙂. I now and then get into the forum and those Hogan modules are going to be good, I really believe you deconstructed perfectly Hogan’s action.”
Went back this week and reviewed Mod 5 and drilled on it. Took it to the course today and had a light bulb moment. Have never felt the club and shaft load like it did today. I was making the mod 5 move into the bag on my take away and as my forearms rotated and my right hand opened to the sky I felt the club slot and load. I have never felt so much pressure at transition and P3. Gained 20 yards on my driver and hit the long irons well.
Been using the chip roller for most of the year and a big break through for me today. I have struggled putting with it a finally figured out why. I realized lining up the center of the putting face to ball and when i stroked the putt the putter would close and contact the ball out on the toe.
Played today and lined the ball up on the heal of the putter and would make contact it was in the center of the putter.
My speed was really good and made 2 birdies outside 10 feet!
Good stuff.
Shot my personal best score since joining ABS. 78 …10 fairways and 11 greens.
Cohesive Body Tension and wide stance was the swing thought of the round.
Didn’t realize how tight your body needs to feel to make this pivot generated swing work. Can’t wait to go try again the next round I play.
Have not been playing for a couple of months. Pulled my groin at the end of November last year drilling with a 16 oz persimmon driver. So i decided to focus on Mod 8 and figure out what ball position and stance would work for me to have a consistent address position. I think a tried them all over the past 2 months. I settled on open stance and back ball postion. Felt like I engrained it pretty well and took it to the course today. Made sure I setup the same on every shot. All the work paid off and shot 77. Could not be happier. Thanks Neil for all the help on this.
Looking for some feedback on my practice regime. I’m about a year into ABS doing the mod 1-3 drills daily. From the start of the year, I also hit tons of balls at the range but wasn’t seeing any improvement in my on the golf course ball striking. Same flawed swings and poor results prevailed. The lightbulb moment for me is that I have realized that my pre-ABS swing was so flawed that I need to totally rid myself of it. Hitting balls (even with ABS intentions) just seemed to reinforce it and allow it to come back under the pressure of playing golf. Looking back, I think the non elite ball strikers doing ABS like me need to forget how to play golf with our old swing. For me, this means starving it of any activity so it atrophies out of existence. I think many months of only doing the drills is a necessary circuit breaker for someone like me who has a flawed “PGA pro” taught swing. I think it’s the only way to get rid of it. The only balls I hit when I’m not on the course playing golf once a week are the magic trick drill from Module 4 into a small net. I don’t need to see the ball flight with the magic trick anymore because I already hit enough of them on the range to know what it looks like based on impact feel. This new approach saves me a lot of time going to the range (60 minutes) and money . This is my intended practice plan for the rest of this year: mod 1,2,3 and 5,6 drills every day (60 reps with each arm individually and both arms for mod 1-3). For mod 5-6 it’s dozens of reps until my legs are tired. Whole routine with the module drills takes about 30-40 minutes. Then 20-30 minutes per day on the magic trick into the practice net. Has anyone else had success with a similar approach to starving the old swing to death by doing just the ABS drills and playing golf 4-6 times per month?
This sounds like a great plan. I love it. I hit the ground running at the beginning of the season with zero balls hit but tons of drilling. I’m playing more golf with less drilling and seeing less consistent golf. Although i’m trying to integrate Hogan mods as well. I just have to keep at the drills and ignore golf scores etc. My handicap actually just went up to highest ever 13. I just haven’t put together a solid round yet and been playing in hurricanes it seems. I’ve had rounds where i’ve hit the ball better than ever though. It’s still early in the season for me as we had snow here last weekend :). Hope springs eternal. I have a big tournament coming up this weekend and will hopefully post a great score.
I know the blueprint is in place though. I’ve hit some of the longest straightest drives of my golf career with the toaster. For example, Last wednesday i hit one on par 4 of 400 yards. I saw some balls at 150 and 140 and thought man i hit that better than (usually have 100 in when i catch one) that then there was a ball which was so far ahead of anything i had ever hit there?? Pretty tight to where i hit it. Looking at the landing area at 350 not much room there. I only had 50 yards left, couldn’t believe it. Still made bogey :). It was a front pin and i tried to get cute. Smart play to front pins is to take 5 extra yards. Trying to make birdie and make bogey. Two other holes hit bombs and bogeys with horrible shots from 50 and 3 putts :). Anyways frustrating game. Earlier though in round i hit two darts to 3 feet from 70 and 120 and had two birds in a row. This course is tight shorter 6600 tips course though. So yes keep doing the drills for a circuit breaker and magic trick drill which i will do as well. Changes are hard but they keep coming. I used to be at the golf course everyday to get to where i could play to my single digit handicap. Yet I knew my swing would not hold up under pressure for all 18 or i would hit a couple of HUGE foul balls a round. Handicap actually means nothing when you know a couple of foul balls are in play. Those two holes i would have to take max handicap double bogey score but in reality it could be an 8-11.
I had one question though. You mentioned your legs hurt from mod 5 and 6? I thought 5 was hand protocol and 6 is transition? My legs hurt from mod 2 and 3 plus left obliques. Keep drilling and forget the bad shots. Easier said than done.
Thanks! For Mod 5-6, I’m referring to the quick squat to flatten the shaft at transition into the 4:30 line at P3. This squat requires leg strength so I’m referring to my quads and hamstrings getting tired by the reps.
Suggestion. I always used an intermediate step between drilling and hitting balls… that is to just take divots without a ball. Try to focus on your divots all looking the same. Think longer and shallow, or as Moe would say “Bacon Strips not Pork Chops”.
When I could take ten divots that all looked the same, then I knew my swing was consistent and lowpoint was under control. Then when I put a ball down, it was just “in the way” and the results were always excellent. The swing creates the shot… feel a consistency in the swing.. produce consistent divots, and the ball will just be a result of that…reflect that consistency… for the better.
I would agree wholeheartedly with your comments. While I am nowhere near an accomplished player, I have played golf at a reasonable level for 50+ years since teenager. Your comments mirror my experience… it’s taken me about 2.5 years since I started ABS in January 2023, to really learn and start to fully execute/rely upon on the golf course, “a new way to strike the golf ball (i.e. ABS)”.
What’s worked for me is similar to what you refer to, i.e.:
Practice and drill all week long.
Once a week play a practice round to see how it is progressing
Majority of practice is on drilling, especially Magic Trick (as described in supplemental material of Modules 4 and 8). Magic Trick drilling in backyard (especially with long irons - I am wearing out my 1 iron and 2 iron), IMHO more than anything else, has gotten my body to learn to apply ABS drilled-in principles, to actually striking a golf ball. Range balls are certinaly necessary from time to time, but clearly ABS drilling and ABS Magic Trick is a better value for me in learning-a-new-ABS-swing-and-forgetting-the-old.
Bottom line is that your comments / success mirror what’s been successful for me. I documented my similar-to-you practice routine in detail in my recent ABS “Post Your Swing” post: Post Your Swing! - #355 by John_Sing and you’re welcome to go there an compare notes. Your experience mirrors mine.
At age 66, this old dog is thrilled to be learning new tricks every day with ABS. What’s thrilling is even though my swing speed is showing the inevitable slowing effects due to Father Time, my ball striking has never been better. It’s just plain thrilling and fulfilling to hit a flushed 1 or 2 iron (which I could never do prior to ABS) even though it doesn’t go anywhere near as far as it would have in younger years.
Thx for sharing your experience, jleber, I hope my thoughts supporting your thoughts, are useful.
. This is my intended practice plan for the rest of this year: mod 1,2,3 and 5,6 drills every day (60 reps with each arm individually and both arms for mod 1-3). For mod 5-6 it’s dozens of reps until my legs are tired. Whole routine with the module drills takes about 30-40 minutes. Then 20-30 minutes per day on the magic trick into the practice net. Has anyone else had success with a similar approach to starving the old swing to death by doing just the ABS drills and playing golf 4-6 times per month?