Hi to all at ABS.
I just wanted to let you all know how great this place is. Since I stumbled in here for a look around about a month ago, I feel like I’ve spent half my life here - my wife keeps asking me why I spend so much time on “that orange web site”.
I started playing golf in 1999 at the age of 31. In 2005 I got serious, put in a lot of work on my short game and got my handicap to 4. While it was nice to sometimes shoot a couple over par when hitting 5 or 6 greens in reg, I had a nagging feeling that there was something better out there - and now I feel like I’ve found it here - the concept of controlling what you’re doing tee to green. I’m not real long (a real good drive would be about 250m), but given how much better my short game was than my long game, I would invariably just try to get it as far as possible up the fairway, then somewhere near the green and see what I could do with my short game. When the chips went close and/or the putter was working, life was ok. When they weren’t, I would wonder if there was something else I should be doing. Pretty dumb golf really.
Over the years I got lessons from 4 or 5 different pros and pleny of advice from other players, but all I ever heard was “backswing too flat”, “takeaway too inside”, “off plane”, “not releasing (i.e. not rolling my wrists over)”, “Ben Hogan’s stuff will never work for you”, etc. One pro went into his library of tour players and selected Aaron Baddeley (pre stack and tilt when he was really spraying it everywhere) to use as a swing that would suit me and then drew lines all over the screen. I don’t want to knock Aaron as he’s made a little bit more money playing golf than I have, but I spent the rest of the lesson thinking the pro was trying to tell me something and maybe I should just practise my putting more!!
After seeing Brad’s video’s and reading on this site, I realised that everying thing I’d being doing had got me to having the kind of swing that is on-plane to the gurus, but over the top to the ABSers. Wow - it all started to make sense why I cound’t hit a fairway, why anything longer than a 7 iron had me worried and even why when I had a good score going my short iron approach to 18 would often end up (left) on the 10th tee.
Yesterday I had a lesson with Brad here in Sydney. The way he explained and the things he showed me were great, and for the first time since I took up the game I feel like I’ve got something that I believe in and can work on. Maybe Ben Hogan’s “stuff” can work for me. Back in 2005 I got a cheap set of MP33s because I wanted to try them out. I never thought I was good enough to hit them, but Brad and John’s views make me glad I got them - I’ve just got some bending and lead taping to do!! Given my home course is about 5,600m, I now want to get some persimmons and maybe even some older and heavier blades.
It feels like a lot has changed in the month since I found ABS and Brad’s website. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this can take me. Maybe even get back to 4, which would mean being able to enter some Vardon events i.e. being able to play on some really good private courses for a $20 entry fee.
And if anyone knows anyone in Sydney who can help with ABSing a set of irons, please let me know.
All the best,
Mark