Last week on my spring break, I had the opportunity to travel to Marietta, Georgia, for some much needed golf. After asking Lynn about the courses there, he graciously offered to see what he could do for me. The original plan was for practice Monday and golf on Tuesday and Wednesday. When it came down to recommending a hotel in the area, Lynn said that the Blake residence was open if I was interested. Needless to say, I certainly was. I got in Sunday night after a marathon drive and was greeted by Lynn and Mrs. Blake.
Unable to get away from the office Monday, Lynn set me up on the Atlanta National Golf Club, which is a Pete and P.B. Dye design that features a great layout and practice area. I spent the whole day there, attempting to tune up the game. The round didn't go too well, but that's to be expected for the first round of the year. That evening, Lynn worked late but told me to 'have at' with his video/DVD library. All sorts of things are in that collection - workshop DVDs, Tomasello footage, Moe Norman tapes, Ben Doyle lessons. And perhaps the best tapes were a few from the early '80s featuring a mid-30s Yoda giving a workshop at Sawgrass. And you know what? Exact same info as today. Go figure.
Tuesday was golf at the Atlanta Country Club with Ted Fort, Hitter Extraordinaire. Site of the PGA TOUR's Atlanta Golf Classic for thirty years and one of the top-ranked courses in the country, Atlanta CC has quite the variety of holes. Each has its own identity, and you feel like you're the only one out there as you play because none of the holes run near each other. The greens were in great shape for this time of year. Lynn saw us off and before the round worked the practice tee with Ted and me sharply dressed in a business suit. A few recommendations from him gave me a few things to think about during the day:
"Move that ball back in your stance;"
"Stand a little farther from the ball;"
"Set your lower body more towards the target at address;" and
"For Swinging, focus on Drag Loading and left wrist throw-out."
Ted offered some more suggestions on the course, mostly relating to my lack of Extensor Action and my underplane downstroke.
After the round, Ted and I headed to the Marietta Golf Center for a bit of swing work. Some video work showed my classic tendency - underplane coming down due to a tucked right elbow. Ted brought out a stretch band that I donned while I hit some balls, and it really made me get 'stretched' out with my right arm. Crazy as it felt, the camera didn't lie...right down the plane after that! Tuesday night found me once again in Lynn's lower level entertainment room, poring over videos.
The tapes from the Rob Noel class in New Orleans had made their way to Lynn, and after I had watched the beginning of the first tape, he joined me for the second. Needless to say, heaps of good information are in those tapes. The class reviews on the forum are spot-on. The second tape features a Q&A segment followed by range work. Lynn personally worked with each class participant and "put this here" and "put that there." What a marked difference in their strokes after only a few minutes of tinkering! Seriously, there needs to be a teach-off between Lynn and some of the so-called "big name" teachers, side-by-side on a range working with regular people. I have no doubt who would produce better results with only 10 minutes of work with each student.
Tuesday night's weather left something to be desired, as rain soaked the Atlanta area. The temperature dropped from the low 60s to the mid-40s. Lynn had arranged for me to play East Lake - site of the TOUR Championship - but the conditions weren't favorable for that. Instead, I spent the day at the Marietta Golf Center working with Ted on a few things. I'm still up in the air as to whether I should be Hitting or Swinging -- I try to Swing -- but after some video analysis it appears that I have a plethora of Hitting components. Why it didn't dawn on me earlier to play around with Hitting, I don't know. The "hit impulse" still creeps in every now and then, but I was getting more comfortable with this supposed Hitting motion with each practice ball. We took some video in Ted's teaching bay, and although my shots were somewhat erratic I was starting to really understand what I should be doing.
Last year, I had struggled mightily with hooking the ball. On the course Monday and Tuesday, it was weak push-fades. After spending most of Wednesday with a private student, Lynn put in some good time with me, opening my stance and having me work on maintaining my Right Forearm Flying Wedge deep into my followthrough. He had it traced the problem to my startdown - "stop trying to load with your hands. That's the pivot's job." From a SLOW startdown and with gradual acceleration, the "effortless power" soon showed itself. I never realized how slow I needed to be at startdown, as I've always had the tendency to try to kill it and start down very quickly from the top. We closed the afternoon with Ted and another PGA professional, shooting and reviewing new video and hitting shots.
Wednesday night meant another session at Blakebuster Video. This time it was a Ben Doyle lesson and a little Tomasello. Lynn joined me later and put on some video of Lee Trevino. Only when you watch golf videos with Lynn do you realize the admiration he has for Trevino! We were watching little instruction segments from years ago - "What he says isn't that important, just watch what he does." With Lynn working the slow-motion remote, numerous "perfect" Right Forearm Flying Wedges were pointed out. Hinge Action, anyone? Extensor Action and Plane Line tracing with the Right Forearm? Check. Trevino had it all if you knew where to look!
Thursday morning came and sadly it was time for me to head back north. Lynn had a student at the golf center, and the weather wasn't the best, so we parted after the obligatory book signing. The whole trip was unreal, from the golf courses to the range work to the evening video sessions. Nothing like spending a few days with Yoda himself. And if you think he's busy, trust me - he is! I don't know how he does it.
Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Blake, for the warm welcome and hospitality. You went out of your way to help me create a trip unlike any other and you thoroughly succeeded. Golfwise, I came away from this trip with a new outlook on what is applicable to my game. Thanks for the unbelievable opportunity.
Good for you man! Sounds like you had a fantastic experience! I know there are many who are envious me among them. It must have been cool to dig through the stuff in Dr. Collard's Mad Scientist Laboratory.
I would love to have heard the education session based on Trevino's Stroke. Lee Buck is in my opinion the absolute best. I've got some of his old instructional videos (don't pay much attention to his comments). I also picked up a Shell DVD with Lee Buck vs. Fat Jack in Mexico. Pretty cool to soak up his Alignments and compare them with the GB's.
Would you be so kind as to give us a taste of what you took from the Trevino analysis?
I can say without hesitation any of you guys that have not had a chance to spend time with Yoda or Ted you will not be disappointed. Obviously their G.O.L.F. knowledge and ability to teach is amazing. But you couldn't meet two better or more generous guys. Quality Quality Quality human beings.
Keep us up to date with your progress Matt. I have really enjoyed reading your posts and you have helped me lift some fog. I'm sure your game and G.O.L.F. understanding just got kicked up many notches from a level that was already up there.
Thanks for sharing and good luck this season! I'm sure you'll be raising the bar!
Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Blake, for the warm welcome and hospitality. You went out of your way to help me create a trip unlike any other and you thoroughly succeeded. Golfwise, I came away from this trip with a new outlook on what is applicable to my game. Thanks for the unbelievable opportunity.
I've had a few incubator revelations the past week or so since returning from school. Having finally been able to practice on a regular basis, I see my game and ballstriking moving back into form by leaps and bounds. At the foundation of all this is my 'new' iron stroke pattern. Last year at this point, I was working towards 12-2. Now, I don't know if I dare say it, but I feel as though I have some legitimate control over a very good 12-1 pattern.
For the first time in my G.O.L.F.ing career, I feel as though I thoroughly understand and can competently demonstrate both Swinging and Hitting. In the past, Hitting was always a procedure I'd use for knockdown shots and the like. It used to be a secondary, less preferable option - now it's my standard iron and wedge shot. I am still Swinging my driver, 3-wood, and 2-iron, but everything else is more or less a Hit.
It's taken some work and some 'getting used to', but I'm now acheiving some unbelievable compression with my irons. It was never bad to begin with, but with say a 7-iron now it's the best it's ever been. A key thought for me, though, is...
Make sure you have a SLOW startdown, like a spring expanding.
I struggle with overaccerelation. I've been told it who knows how many times, but it's just so hard to control on the course when you're trying to bomb a driver. Now, though, I've really disciplined myself to have a very slow feeling startdown regardless of the length of shot at hand it's extremely comforting to know that if I do it correct from startdown I was only very, very rarely mishit the shot. Thanks again Lynn and Ted, as I'm sure I wouldn't be in this confident position with my Hitting pattern had it not been for our work in March.
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