Let me first state that I am at best an average golfer. Over the last five years my handicap has ranged from an 8 up to an 18, and currently sits at a 13. I have owned a copy of The Golfing Machine for at least ten years and have read it off and on during that time with partial comprehension of parts, but not of the whole. I have played golf for 40 years and had lessons from three Club Pros, been to Jimmy Ballard’s school, and had two series of lessons from a local G.S.E.M. taught by Tommy Tomasello. My last series of lessons with my G.S.E.M. were a year ago and since then I have been working on becoming a Hitter.
So, why did I decide to make the trip to Atlanta?
First, I really wanted to get a solid understanding of TGM basics, particularly as they apply to Hitting. I figure with a firm understanding of the TGM concepts I’ll have a much better chance of improving my game. My local G.S.E.M. is very knowledgeable in TGM and I enjoyed my lessons with him, but we never quite got TGM working for me. Last summer I began reading the Chuck Evans Forum and quickly recognized from Yoda's posts that here was a guy who not only understands and believes in TGM, but who is able to communicate TGM concepts in a way that golfers can understand. What a gift! So, my first goal in trekking to Atlanta was to gain a good basic technical understanding of TGM concepts. With this scientific framework I would be better prepared to improve my golf game practicing on my own. I thought Yoda could fill this gap and he did.
Second, hey I’d like to be a better golfer and I’m burning daylight. My drives average less than 200 yards. I’d like to see a single digit handicap again. I crave more distance. So, my second goal is to apply TGM concepts to my game and become a much more consistent ballstriker and get that handicap down.
Third, my wife and I currently live in Jacksonville, Florida, but will be moving to Plano, Texas in early April. So, logic said if you’re going to do it, do it now when you’re close to Atlanta, or you may not do it at all. (And, if you don’t do it, you’ll probably regret it the rest of your life.) Plus, my wife said I could go!
I had a two-day session scheduled with Yoda for Wednesday and Thursday in mid-March. So, I drove up to Atlanta on a Tuesday and checked in to the hotel. The temperature was around 60, so I drove over to the Marietta Golf Center and hit a bucket of balls to tune up, had dinner, and hit the sack.
The plan Wednesday was to meet Yoda at the Crackerbarrel for breakfast and his tutorial on the Geometry of the Circle. The weather forecast was lousy and it was misty and about 43 degrees Wednesday morning. Donned long underway and additional clothing and headed for the Crackerbarrel. Yoda covered a number of introductory TGM concepts. These included The Geometry of the Circle, Three Dimensional Impact (Downward, Outward, and Forward), Plane Line, Target Line, Impact Point, Low Point, Angle of Approach, Arc of Approach, the Plane of the Turned Right Shoulder, The Stationary Head, Anchored Knees, Stationary Feet, the Straight Line Delivery Path of the Hands, the Top and End points of the stroke, and the position of the #3 Pressure Point and it’s role with the right forearm in tracing the Plane Line during the stroke and hitting down the Straight Line Delivery path through the Aiming Point to Low Point. Head spinning we headed for the Marietta Golf Center, which opens at 10:00 AM.
Upon arrival, we set up in Ted’s teaching bay. I set up my camera and Ted noticed that my standard lens would not capture a full image due to the space in his room. He graciously let me use his wide angled lens, which captured my struggles as well as Yoda’s invaluable instructions. Thank You Ted. Without your help my video wouldn’t be worth much.
True to the Homer Kelley’s Curriculum in 12-5-0, Yoda’s lesson begins with the student hitting small chip shots using the Basic Motion of 12-5-1. So, I began chipping away with my pitching wedge. The first change Yoda made was to have me move the ball back in my stance from my original position off my left shoulder to at least the middle of my stance. Then followed a discussion describing how all the clubs with the possible exception of the driver should have the shaft leaning forward at Impact Fix with the driving right fore-arm returning the Right and Left Forearm Flying Wedges back to this same clubshaft position at impact. The shorter the club, the more the shaft leans forward, hands appear to be over the left leg. With the ball too far forward, my Impact Point was the same as or very close to my Low Point, causing loss of compression and power.
Next, Yoda changed the relationship between my clubface and the ball and address. I had been setting up with the clubface directly behind the ball and the ball more or less centered on the clubface. This is an incorrect alignment. Yoda moved the ball out toward the toe of the club at address. This is because as the clubshaft and clubhead descend the Inclined Plane they must be inside the position of the ball until impact. My old setup encouraged coming over the top or making a subconscious adjustment during the down stroke like raising up or chicken winging to pull the club back into a square alignment at impact and to avoid hitting the ball with the heel of the club.
Yoda made several other adjustments to my basic setup and alignment. He had me put more weight on my left side, moved my weight more toward my heels (so I could lift my toes off the ground without falling over), moved my head so it was more centered over my body (I had too much axis tilt before), had me align my hips and lower body more toward the target, set the club face square to the ball (I tend to set up with the club face open, wrong for a Hitter), and moved me back from the ball.
Not everything was changed. I was doing a decent job of establishing my Right and Left Arm Flying Wedges and I was aligning squarely to the Target Line. Somewhere in this process the ball started sounding different as it was struck by the clubface. Yoda said I was beginning to experience compression.
We moved on to 12-5-2, Acquired Motion and eventually to 12-5-3, Total Motion. Time was spent on the Flying Wedges, Extensor Action (and it’s below plane nature), and the Turned Shoulder Plane with “No Shift”. For some time I had been trying to use a Double Shift per 10-7-C versus the “No Shift” of 10-7-A. I think this was really throwing my downstroke out of wack and was a major cause of Clubhead Throwaway. We worked with the dowels, where, in particular Yoda demonstrated the Straight Line Delivery Path from the Top and the Right Fore-Arm Angle of approach. We then worked on getting me to introduce a very slight roll of the left arm through impact and worked on letting the stroke pull my right heel off the ground. I wasn’t rolling the left arm previously and my lower body was in a semi-frozen state (all arms) until the force of the stroke pulled me off balance. I think these two additional motions are directed at helping to maintain the Flying Wedges to the Follow Through position of both arms straight and avoiding breakdown of the wedges and Clubhead Throwaway.
We also spent a time working with the Impact Bag to train the right forearm and to maintain the Flying Wedges into impact and Follow Through. Use of the Impact Bag will be an important part of my ability to improve my stroke in the future.
After lunch we began to work with the Driver. A new wrinkle here was that Yoda had me use a closed stance. I think this is intended to allow the Right Fore-Arm and Clubshaft to stay on-plane during the stroke by facilitating the clearing of the right hip. It also sets the Hitter up for a Cross Line Plane Line. Yoda demonstrated how willingly the hands will alter their desired path during the backstroke by sticking his dowels in the path of my stroke. Sure enough, without even thinking my hands would reroute the clubshaft to avoid the obstruction. The same thing happens when the right hip is in the way. Your hands move off-plane to avoid the hip. We also worked on setting the Driver face closed to the target line at set-up as is necessary with the Hitters Angled Hinging. When I had reached a level of performance with the driver that Yoda thought was worthy of videotaping, Ted videotaped my stroke. The tape showed I was staying pretty much on-plane during my Hitting motion, with a slight over-the-top, loss of Flying Wedges occurring at impact. Yoda thought I had improved my Driver distance by 20% to 25% and Ted estimated my drives were going about 240 yards. PLEASE LET IT BE SO! Ted thought my right leg might be straightening too much on the downstroke and suggested trying to maintain a bent right knee throughout the stroke as he does. It sure works for him, so I’ll be working on this point as well. I was also taking the club back close to the End position in my backstroke versus the Top, more of a Swingers position than a Hitters, so I’ll be working to shorten my backswing to be more compatible with my Hitting Stroke.
Another item we worked on during the day was Pressure Point #3. I had trouble sensing PP3# correctly, and Yoda finally said he had figured out why. I didn’t have a PP#3. My right hand was wrapped around the club like a fist with PP#3 more under the clubshaft than Aft where it belonged with my left thumb and PP#1. We spent some time on this issue, but more work is required.
Weatherwise, Day Two was similar to Day One except colder with the temperature around 40 all day and rain off and on. Nonetheless, beginning at 10:00 AM the next morning Yoda began to teach me Hinging concepts. Using the Pitching wedge, I was eventually able to make a reasonable demonstration of Horizontal, Vertical, and Angled Hinging. Whereas, I understood the concept of hinges before going to Atlanta, I really didn’t understand how you implemented the three hinge types in your golf stroke. I now think I understand how to do this and can actually do it! As follow-on to the Hinging action lesson, we worked with the sand and pitching wedges to develop some short game shots for use around the greens. Really interesting to see how Vertical Hinging applied with a sand wedge to a ball placed back in your stance produces a higher trajectory ball path to the flag. Fun to practice.
We then worked through my bag, hitting shots with an 8 iron, 5–wood, 3-wood, and more drivers. Also tried some shots using a Swinging motion, but due to time constraints and the rate of progression of the student, I’ll need to work on that more on my own.
After lunch we went inside the Golf shop and Yoda answered several questions I had remaining and demonstrated various TGM concepts for my camera. We ended the day with Steve Ferguson fitting me for clubs. Of course, my current clubs aren’t quite right for me. I need clubs that are 3-4 degrees upright and my shafts were too stiff. I am hitting an 8.5 degree driver which I had purchased in the hopes of lowering my over the top high ball trajectory and getting more distance. Steve said the future trend on the pro tour will be to go to higher driver lofts for higher trajectories and more distance. So, someday there needs to be some different clubs in my future.
So, how would I summarize my experience?
From my standpoint I got what I wanted. First, I acquired a good technical foundation in TGM concepts. One I can build on and refer to in the future. Second I learned a good set of basic drills to perform to enhance my game. And with a better understanding of Basic Motion, Acquired Motion, and Total Motion I can structure my practice sessions more effectively. For the brief time I was in Atlanta, I got a glimpse of what my game could be like in the future. Lynn gave me a kind of Top 10 list of the things I need to pay particular attention to and those will guide my practice sessions once we get to Texas.
It’s no surprise to members of the Forum, but Lynn has outstanding knowledge of TGM. He is also a gifted instructor and communicator. His instruction stays True to TGM. By that I mean he doesn’t teach his “interpretation” of TGM or bend it’s rules. To do so would create fog. So, the student has a consistent TGM framework or system to work within. Golf is no longer a trial and error exercise, but compliance to the TGM concepts. As Lynn says, “You either do it or you don’t”. Lynn also does an excellent job of demonstrating techniques to the camera so you take a home a living copy of your lesson. He’s not shy about laying on the hands and assisting the student to feel the proper motions of the stroke either. His structured lesson approach of first giving a shop talk, then moving to Basic Motion, then Acquired Motion, and on to Total Motion give the student an incremental progressive framework to use in his own practice back home. He is also great at assessing each student’s skill level and sequencing changes so the student can assimilate them rapidly, thus maximizing the “take home” benefits of your lessons. Lynn is also a great chearleader and you certainly sense he wants each student to succeed.
If you get the chance to go see him or attend a clinic, do it!
Thanks to Lynn, Ted, and Steve for making my Marietta visit a memorable event.
Thank you for the privilege of working with you those two cold and rainy days in mid-March. You brought your entire being to our project and did everything I asked...immediately, continually and without fanfare. The results spoke for themselves.
You are one remarkable guy, and I am proud to call you my student.
John, thanks for posting this...I always enjoy when people write about their experience with Yoda & YodasLuke. Sounds like you got everything you expected & more from your time in Marietta.
What is cool is how Yoda supplied the same basic TGM info about the wedges, hinges, etc. to you as he did to everyone, but used different training devices & methods for you then he did with others, which shows you that his instruction is customized for what TGM components you need to work on for "your" swing. Like you said, he didn't change everything, but focused on the componenets that would make the most difference in compressing the little white ball.
I think this is unique...I have had several lessons before and saw first hand how the instructors don't tailor their lessons towards what the student really needs, but teach the same methods and use the same devices with all their students.
Anyway, glad to hear you are that much closer to where you want to be in your golfing journey after some "Yodafication".
Jabinjax,
Great post---I was there the weekend before you and had a very similar experience. Like you, I decided to pull the trigger and DO IT! I'm now able to get outside and hit balls as the weather lets up (YEAH) and it's amazing how well I remember what Yoda taught me and how great I'm hitting chips as well as full shots. The dowels and the impact bag REALLY help---trust me. Have been doing them daily and now the flying wedges are almost 2nd nature. One interesting thing you mentioned that I had problems with also. In spite of numerous instructors in the past I was placing the ball right in the middle of the clubface at address---my first few chips were hosel rockets. Yoda showed me where the ball should be at address---voila! Crisp contact. Once again demonstrating the failure of conventional instruction in my past. OK folks, as the testimonials mount up , isn't it time for you to pull the trigger??? DO IT! If anyone wants to PM or email me I'll be happy to discuss my experience in detail. Let's all have a great season. Best wishes---Dr. Dave
I already posted it John Thomas1--see my thread "I made the journey-Yodafication Phase I " on this Clubhouse Lounge section about a week ago! Agree with you--I really enjoy reading these too! Can't wait until Yoda opens up the Testimonial section on the site---I'll be first in line. Happy G.O.L.F.ing John. Dr Dave
Enjoyed reading about your experience with Yoda and noticed that you're moving to Plano, Texas. I live in a burb just south of Plano and wanted to give you an advance welcome. If you're ever looking for a game just let me know. When not playing in tournaments, there are several of us, with a wide range of handicaps, who play regularly on the weekends at various muni's in the area (and there are some good ones in this neck of the woods). A fellow TGM'er is more than welcome to join us. You have no idea how much I enjoy spreading the TGM gospel to my buddies though most of them give me that look.
Shoot me a PM and I'll give you some more info if you like.
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