Here is an example how viewing things in two dimensions can skew our perception.
When I see that photo I see the ball about to be struck and the club blurred because he has started his 3 right hand acceleration process and is going hard into the ball.
The ball fuzzies IMO are just for outlining the ball as an object we can see better and I see his head reasonably well behindā¦certainly not covering the ball.
Funny how there are different interpretations by different people.
See, this scares me about golf - this guy has been around for 40 years, he has spent time with great ball strikers, and he thinks about things just as this community does, he is not the average Joe Driving Range PGA professional you find in most of the clubs - otherwise i would have never posted his thought. And then he comes up with an opinion that Hogan ācoversā the ball with his head, which seems to go against most common belive. He actually has some more interpretations about Hogan that dont seem to fit common thinking. If we look at somebodys swing (e.g. Hogans) there is just not one common denominator we can settle for. So much interpretation, speculation and ideas flowing around, that trying to learn whats excellent or mediocre (otherwise we wouldnt look at Hogans swing if we dont look for excellence?) just makes it so difficult.
Maybe itās a case of him wanting to see hoganās head covering the ball (because thatās what he teaches) and it creates some sort of tunnel vision for him. I watched some of this guys vids and he clearly is a good teacher but saying that Hoganās head is covering the ball is just plain wrongā¦
Itās based upon one picture whereas I can show you a dozen where his head is behind the ball.
When the camera angle is off you can often make out the target line by looking at Hoganās right foot (itās always perpendicular to the target line).
Re: Chi Chi/Playerā¦
Yeah I noticed that with Player too. I wonder if it enables them to really pull off the line physically while maintaining a visual/emotional relationship to the target. Trevino also gets his eye line on target for a long time but he keeps it there most of the way through and probably speaks to his intentions of keeping the face on line for as long as he could. It kind of makes sense since itās clearly used to route the club correctly into impact so maybe what theyāre seeing post impact with their eye line is what they feel theyāre doing, but what they do physically to enable that is what they actually ādoā. Maybe? Itās like a safe place or something like that. It would be interesting to look at the patterns that show up with eye line vs. shoulder line. Off the top of my head Iām thinking that the modern theory of being tall/keeping levels/not dipping/head off the chest etc. etc. has produced a lot of steep shoulder actions. Maybe the loss of involvement with the ball/target has subconsciously made people latch onto it more than they should, like insecurity. The swing has become the focus as opposed to the ball/target/resultā¦ this is just brainstorming nowā¦
Hereās Trevino
Hogan on Yardages 1987:
Itās an interesting debate. Do yardages really help? Maybe on a calm day with greens that nearly will plug your ball.
I played The Metropolitan in Oakland with Barkow today, and of the two greens I missed, one was a over cooked tee shot into a left hazard, the other was a poor club selection. I really enjoy not using yardages now, but today on the 8th, my drive was about 3 yards from some kind of 150 post in the fairway that said 146 on it. The shot into the green was downwind, and my gut told me it was just a 3/4 wedge shot to a front pin placementā¦ but seeing the 146, because it was literally right in my face, I went with a 9 ironā¦ took a 3/4 swing, and just had it all over the flagā¦ but unfortunately it was also all over the green 
. I did save the par, but I really think had I not seen the yardage, I would have made a better decisionā¦ and hit the more appropriate shot.
I think not using yardages takes longer to learn the golf courseā¦ but you do develop an innate feel for things over time. The Metro is not my favorite course, because of the conditions. Ironically enough, it is simply over watered. The course is marketed as a āLinksā style courseā¦ no trees, big rolling greensā¦
but I simply canāt play the kind of shots I want to because it is watered all the way up to the front of the green making the ground game not practical,
but the greens themselves are quite firmā¦ so I am forced to play into the front part of the green with a higher trajectory shot than I would prefer to do soā¦especially into the wind. Because of thisā¦ I end up hitting a lot of greens, but not a lot of good birdie puts. The greens are big, and very undulatingā¦ and to me this requires that the ball is āfedā into the pin placementā¦ Itās hard to do this with the modern balls that donāt shape well. The way the course is set up currently, itās an air ball gameā¦ asking you to fly in a high shotā¦which under windless conditions might be fineā¦ but this course is very flat visually, and void of treesā¦ making eye balling the yardages difficultā¦ and really should have drier conditions short of the greens for a linkish style course. I donāt care for big greensā¦ and even less for big undulating greens. My feeling is that greens are better small, and if I am on the green, and below the hole I should be staring down a birdie. I donāt mind big undulations in a greenā¦ if the green is small, and it is clear where you need to position the golf ball with your approach shot. I donāt feel I have hit the green if I am 80 feet from the hole, and having to putt across two elephant humps and a valley of sin. It seems silly to me.
Hitting 16 greens did little to show on my scorecard, as I only made one birdie, two putting on a five par after a nice 4 wood approach over water. The rest of the day was just a lot of 30 to 50 foot putts. I might have only had 3 good tries from 15 to 20 feet. But my distance control was very good, and only the one time did I feel I pulled the wrong club. I donāt consider pulling the wrong club if the pin is in the front of the green, and I have to carry it to the green and the ball hits near the pin and rolls 50 feet past because the greens wonāt hold the shot downwind. The greens are fast alsoā¦ and this of course contributes to excessive roll out, that is not really indicative of the shot I played.
My point here is not to detail my round, but to consider the pros and cons of using yardages. The first time I played there, I could not pull the right club ever.
I was two and three clubs off at timesā¦ mainly because it was such a flat course with no treesā¦ nothing to aid in distance perception on a first lookā¦ but now after playing there maybe 5 timesā¦ I donāt feel distance control is a problem at allā¦ I am learning the course each time I play it.
I have always found that the best golf courses are the ones that play āfairlyā either wet or dryā¦ but that those conditions should exist throughout both the fairway and the greenā¦ with less manipulation from the sprinkler system, or someone out there soaking down the greens when the fairways are parched.
Canada produced some āuniqueā swings over the past - i just found another:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90sVvOt7hUk[/youtube]
Thats Canadas Women Longdrive champ Lisa āLongballā Vlooswyk. What i would like to understand, how does this ājumping motionā help her generate speed. She probably wouldnt get airborne before/during impact without having a positiv impact on her clubhead speed, since this has to be a loss of control over the ball (which obv. isnt the primary objective when trying to hit it long) and since the ājumping motionā is only down into a squat and then up, i just canĀ“t see how this helps - iĀ“m a bit confused to be honestā¦
Having the exact distances all the time is only half the work that needs to be done - judging the external factors that influence your final distance like uphill/downhill // wind // slope and so on, i would say it makes it more difficult for these guys, since they are not used to judge distances in the first place. Judging distances imo takes quite some practice and experience, and if you take away the inital judging process, half of your practice will never happen (i hope this makes sense what iĀ“m trying to say).
But on the other hand i would say, this is a concept that only applies to the best players like many others. Like i said before, judging distances takes practice and the majority of players wont play enough to get this figured out in their lifetime, so they need help. Of course, even we āhacksā dont need distances on a course anymore that we play frequently since there is some kind of learning curve. I wont be able to tell you if this shot is 150 or 140m if you point to a pin, but if i hit my 7i over the green last time, i just take an 8i and when i had a proper shot and saw where it came down the last time i might just adjust to that the next time i play and incorporate external influences or pin positions.
You can practice all your life judging distances. You will never get close to a range finder anyway. Perhaps on your home golf course you can develop precise feel without knowing how far you hit the ball or how far you need to hit it. If you want to be able to play āawayā courses well you need to know the yardages. That is, how far you hit the ball and how far you need to hit it. Then you have some info to base your feel and creativity on.
Pretty different action. All she is really doing to create distance is releasing the stored angles created going back by STANDING UP coming back the other way. Itās like an old way of checking for alignment integrity which statedā¦stand up to square upā¦and the release of those angles will create a lot of flash speed. Kinda like pushing down on a spring and then letting it go. 
RR
Itās simply a swing thatās beautifully matched to that big fat square-headed driver sheās hitting. 
I canāt speak to her leaping ability and resultant yardages, RR probably has it right, but this is a classic example of the sorts of swings golfers will attempt to make with 460cc headsā¦ and get away with it in many cases! Iād pay to see her try and hit a persimmon.
robbo
Well,
She is pushing down on the ground to create ground pressures that will act as an anchor for her post impact pivot work. This is a pretty extreme case. She runs out of room because her backswing arm travel is very long. The principals behind what she is doing are fineā¦ but I agree with Robbo, that she would have a more challenging time with a real golf club.
As long as she may beā¦ I see several ways she could add a lot more yardage.
If she is the bestā¦ it just means the competition isnāt getting it either.
I am quite impressed with long driversā¦ but rarely with them posing as golfers.
Lagājust wanted to thank you for an incredible site and let you know a few observations I have found working with your hitting protocol.
If I keep a much firmer gripā7 out of 10āand especially feel the pressure in my two middle fingers of my right hand throughout the swing, I have much better control of the clubface and the ball. This has been really counter to what Iāve been taught about having light grip pressure. With hitting, light pressure means no control. Iāve also stopped wearing a glove and can now really feel the club in my hands.
I seem to be able to access the 4:30 line if my right knee breaks in toward the target on the DS. It seems to help my pivot engage correctly and I can turn as hard, fast and left as I want. If my right knee juts out and not in on the DS, Iām OTT with a pivot stall, and dead.
Anyway, just a couple thoughts. I think what youāre teaching is revolutionary, no one is taking this approach and Iām glad I found you and everyone on this site. This forum has some of the most intelligent and insightful posters, back up by real-world golfing experience.
Btw, my Hogan Apex irons came through finally from ebay. Let the education begin!
Paul
(Beware the guy on the first tee with a deep tan,
a faraway squint in his eyes,
and a 1-iron in his hands)
I have an in depth interview with Doug Ferreri, who was Paul Bertholyās long time assistant.
We will be looking at Paulās life in depth.
http://www.gothamgolfblog.com/2010/09/paul-bertholy-in-depth-part-1.html
Ralph
Hereās a great video of someone swinging left. Lotās of good ABS stuff here. Iāve been practicing hitting off a high tee and it really has helped me understand a flat swing plane, impact position, a swinging left. You canāt swing out to the right and hit a ball consistently off a high tee.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tph0BpmoDiI[/youtube]
This is good, and can give you the feel of holding wristcock through impact.
When you then go back down to the ballā¦ a big key then is to lower your center of gravity downā¦ and you can do this
easily by simply increasing knee flex rather than bending at the waist. Study Knudson in the 60āsā¦ not his DVD.
Itās not natural, and actually very difficult to swing level if the torso is bent over at the waist a lot. Better to lower the knees and keep the torso more erect. This can then make flattening your lie angles much more comfortable.
Holding a lot of knee flex through impact is excellent applicationā¦ and I miss seeing all the great strikers of the past who did that.
The modern swings on tour look like a bunch of stickmen with stiff straight legs and their ball striking suffers greatly from not understanding the value of level pivot rotation and proper use of ground pressures used by so many of the greats from the past.
If I were the taller player, I would be bending my knees more than the shorter playerā¦ not lessā¦ if I were interested in
turning level, moving the left shoulder much quicker away from the ball for acceleration, and keeping the shaft moving on plane through the impact arena for accuracy.
I have a quick question - how is the golf ball spin behaving during flight (in regards of traction), is it a continous in- or decrease or does it change at some point (e.g. during his apex)? Thanks guys!
This was an interesting interview. Part 2 has a good bit about Ferreriās interaction with Moe. I think many will see some similarities in Bertholyās Method and ABS, in that they both utilize drills and training that can be done away from the golf course. Patience and tenacity seem to be key ingredients. Lag can comment, but from what I know of Bertholyās method, he taught what Lag would call a āswingāā¦his #5 position ( rifle barrel) trained it.
Ferreri mentions the deltoid lifts that Moe did 1000ās of per day, and the āhorizontal tugā post impact that it promoted and enhanced. This action has been discussed here alsoā¦as one we should aspire to.
Thanks Ralph.
Yes Eagle,
There are a lot of similarities between Lagās techniques and the Bertholy method. Iām becoming a firm believer in swing improvement without hitting balls. One similarity is that you have to put in the work, Bertholy had multiple aphorisms such as āOnly the lazy will failā or āPoor ineffective swings can be erased. It can be done but only the tenacious will succeed. Anywhere from 1000 to 10,000 repetitions are neededā another one was āWhen missing a shot never scold yourself, but punish yourself with a conditioning program pertinent to the correction of the faultā
Perhaps where the programs are most similar is that Lag wonāt let you advance to the next module until youāve mastered the one your working on. Hereās what Paul had to say about that:
āPlease try to utilize your utmost patience. Do not move from one program to the next until you are totally proficient in the one being learned, a little well done is better than much done improperly.ā
Best regards,
Ralph