LynnBlakeGolf Forums - On-course testing with Billy McDonald

Mr. McDonald and I visited for about 30 minutes yesterday just shooting the bull about the latest. Out of the blue he says let's go play a few holes. 5 minutes later I picked him up, and we were at the course. We started at the chipping green. Ask him, my flying wedges and motion there were pretty darn good - thanks to Todd Edwards.

We went and played a few holes on the course. Mostly, we talked about equipment and Campbell. As we played on, he had an interesting theory that I have swinger's irons that I hit too high regardless and hitter's woods. I played well with my swing - again, thanks to Todd. We got to a par 5 (you can only imagine how many balls 2 ADD guys can hit in a couple holes). Time to test the new fairway woods. He handed me one that worked like a champ with my swinger motion. He then handed me one set up for a hitter (without telling me) - horrible results - but a blast. I hit that sucker again with my hitter motion - wow!!! I actually kept my ball flight down - yahoo. We played a few holes with my hitter motion and the results improved with precision. Equipment affects motion.

Toward the end, he pulled out the sweetspot plane club I made for him. Bang, Bang, Bang - 3 of the purest wedge shots I've ever hit (by the way Billy Mc, I much prefer that wedge head to the T and S in the RDH III head (I think)). What a blast. Now I have to decide - swing or hit - and then get clubs that allow for success.

More important than any of the golf stuff - which was a blast. We talked for a while about some career stuff that's been on my mind. He really gave some great counsel. Now, I'm incubating something that really matters.

I also posted this at Annikan's site - hope that is OK. Thoughts that might relate to other prople on the board:
1. We all know it - hitting motion and swinging motion require different sticks in the same golfer to maximize performance.

2. We all believe in playing lessons - for me it's humbling and exciting to play along with Todd Edwards. Maybe we should start believing in an on-course fitting session????? I can tell you that at ClubTest each year, we all come off the course amazed at how differetly some clubs play between the range and the course.

3. The pro's on the board should spend some time with Billy McDonald next time he is in their area. This codifying which clubs are for which swing type is fairly revolutionary. There will be those who are outside the curve, but it's great to know where to start.

Wish you all could have enjoyed the experience.