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P. 1-3,221-222

Chapter 1
« Thread Started on Feb 13, 2010, 12:34pm »

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The first part of the sequence that Homer Kelley prescribes reading is all of Chapter 1, then read section 12-0 and 14-0.

CHAPTER ONE

Homer Kelley has put Chapter One 'Introduction to the Game' into 9 different parts.

1-0 General
1-A Law
1-B Simplicity
1-C Geometry
1-D Structure
1-E Pattern Development
1-F Right Arm or Left
1-G Approaching the Game
1-H Miscellaneous Notes

1-0 GENERAL

Homer asks the question 'is Golf an easy game or a difficult game?' He states that it is both. It's easy in the sense that no amount of ignorance about the game or the golf swing will prevent a golfer from finishing a hole or a round of golf. Comparing this to say, completing a jigsaw puzzle, somebody who is ignorant about jigsaw puzzles may struggle to complete the puzzle. With golf, even if a golfer takes a 17 on a par-3 and shoot 150 for 18 holes of golf, they have still completed the hole and the round of golf.

Homer states there are shortcuts to golf improvement, but typical of short-cuts, they can easily turn out to be the longest route to golf improvement. Much like the golfer who opens his clubface wide open at address to prevent his hook may get that to work for a short time, but in the end it may just make the golfer worse and take even more correction to fix.

Homer then stats that it's a difficult game in the sense that total perfectiion is virtually unattainable because the Golf Stroke is fantastically complex and implacably demanding of mechanical precision and ruthlessly deviats with every slightest stretching of tolerances during application.

That's why I think it's important for the golfer who takes a mediocre swing and gets a decent result to NOT dwell on the mediocre swing because in one of the few things I like about Dr. Bob Rotella's books...golf is not about being perfect because being perfect does not exist in the game of golf because of the minute margin of error in the swing, the chip, the putt, etc. Just take note that the swing needs to improve and be happy that the result was decent enough to reward a possibly good score on the hole.

1-A LAW

The laws operating the golf stroke are the laws of Force and Motion, Geometry, Trigonometry, Materials and Structure, etc. Every golfer must comply with these laws.

1-B SIMPLICITY

I'll just quote the entire paragraph here since it's easy to understand, yet so important to note:

Treating a complex subject or action as though it were simple, multiplies its complexity because of the difficulty in systemizing missing and unknown factors or elements. Demanding that golf instruction be kept simple does not make it simple - only incomplete and ineffective. Unless this is recognized, golf remains a vague, frustrating, infuriating form of exertion. - Homer Kelley

1-C GEOMETRY

When it comes to Geometry in the golf swing, geometric theory is not utilized. Instead, it's a practice and study of shapes and lines of Plane Geometry.

1-D STRUCTURE

"Besides being geometrically correct, a structure must not be loaded beyond the strength of its materials" - Homer Kelley

Homer goes on to use the analogy of a vertical wall and a leaning wall. But what he's getting at here is that the length of a golfer's swing should vary from player to player depending on there speed, strength and thrust demands of their particular swing.

Somebody like Bubba Watson has a very long backswing, but a 'smoother motion.'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDR1E...layer_embedded

Nick Price has a much shorter and quicker swing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djK0g...layer_embedded

Both swings are geometrically correct, but their stroke length is different because they have different speed, strength and thrust demands.

1-E PATTERN DEVELOPMENT

Deals with golf instruction and practice. The instructors job is to adjust, compensate, interchange and correct every component and to detect imprecisions. The student only needs to know the components of THEIR particular golf swing which has been recommended and/or put together by the instructor. One of the reasons why I wanted to learn TGM is so I could learn all of the variations of the golf swing so I would better understand the components of MY golf swing. Instead of focusing upon say Ben Hogan's pitch elbow on the downswing, I need to understand that I use punch elbow and what punch elbow looks like.

Homer states that the student should approach instruction as a step-by-step process. If building a good golf swing is like building a house, every board and panel of the house must be cut to fit its place and fit in with the overall design of the house. Just like every component must fit within the overall design of the swing.

1-F RIGHT ARM OR LEFT

This is talking about whether a golfer is being a 'swinger' or a 'hitter.'

The Right Arm is always 'driving.'

The Left Arm is always 'swinging.'

However, this does not seperate hitters from swingers. Swingers can actually 'swing' the club with either arm. However, the right arm can only operate a 'hitting' function.

The right hand should be used for sensing and controlling the acceleration of the clubhead. The left hand is used for sensing and controlling the alignments of the clubface. Only the right arm and the right shoulder can 'push' the club. Everything else will 'pull' the club.

Here's Lee Trevino explaining how the left controls the alignments of the clubface, just like Homer Kelley wrote about in 'The Golfing Machine.'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNPcb...layer_embedded

1-G APPROACHING THE GAME

Pretty explainable stuff, but another classic quote from Homer here:

Hitting the Ball is the easiest part of the game -- hitting it effectively is the most difficult. Why trust instinct when there is a science?

Read more: http://richie3jack.proboards.com/ind...x zz15SHSZfOf

12-0 (Stroke Patterns)

A 'stroke pattern' is another way of describing an individual's golf swing. For instance, Jack Nicklaus had a swing whose components included an interlocking grip that was a bit weak. He utilized pitch elbow and was a triple barrel 'swinger' who has a single shift plane angle variation. All of these will be described in future posts. But these components and other components of Nicklaus' swing formed his 'stroke pattern.'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH366...layer_embedded

Somebody like Brian Gay utilizes an overlapping strong single action grip. He is a 3-barrel 'hitter' with a double shift plane angle variation who utilizes a circular hand delivery path. These components and the other components of Gay's swing make up his very own individual 'stroke pattern.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnaKL...layer_embedded

It's not to say that Gay's stroke pattern is necessarily better or worse than Nicklaus', it's to say that Gay's stroke pattern probably is the best for him (and the same with Nicklaus). If Gay were to try and emulate the components of Nicklaus' swing, he would probably struggle. The same would be said if Nicklaus had tried to emulate a swing like Gay's back in his prime.

Like I quoted in my translation of Chapter 1 'There is no effort to classify any Stroke Pattern as best or worst, except on the basis of Mechanical Advantage.' So really Nicklaus' swing was not so much 'better' than Gay's swing is now, but it did have some obvious mechanical advantages which allowed Nicklaus to hit the ball so powerfully. However, there are some mechanical advantages to Gay's swing which allow him to hit the ball so accurately.

The reader who can understand the concept of a 'stroke pattern' can use this to their advantage by eventually understanding all of the components of their stroke pattern. Then they will need to make sure that they are not mixing up 'hitter' based components with 'swinger' based components and when that is done they can then learn to master each of those components to form an effective and repeatable golf swing. It's much like an antique car collector finding a neglected car from the 50's and the first step is usually getting all of the parts to that car and then making sure that each individual part operates as best as it possibly can.

Homer states that chips and putts basically have the same alignments and paths as a full swing and that chips and putts are 'merely miniaturized -- not altered.' Furthermore he states that when it comes to shorter strokes, like the chip and the putt, the following facets of the stroke are shortened in comparison to the full swing:

1. Power Accumulators
2. Lag Pressure
3. Release Interval
4. Pivot
5. Arm Motion
6. Release Motions

Essentially, there's a range in each of the facets of the stroke listed above. A full swing uses these with maximum range. A 3/4 swing uses these at 3/4 range. A 1/4 swing uses these at 1/4 range. And so on and so forth.

The rest of it is pretty self-explanatory, but Homer does talk about how beginners should start out with what he coined 'basic motion.' This is a stroke much like a chip shot where the clubhead goes about 2 feet back and then 2 feet thru. Learn how to master the execution of basic motion, then you can start building a better stroke. Here's a video by Lynn Blake in regards to 'Basic Motion'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHBfy...layer_embedded

Read more: http://richie3jack.proboards.com/ind...x zz15ULT0oNh
..

Lag

Today I'm going to talk about lag. Not that I know so much about it or have much experience, but that hasn't stopped me before. In case anybody else reads this, they are more than welcome to shed more light on the subject.

The clubhead is trailing the hands on the downstroke. It's the drag the wet mop concept. It has to be a feeling of something heavy that stays behind and feels heavy as long as possible in the downstroke. That's sustaining the lag. The opposite, which I am more familiar with , is throwing the clubhead from the top and losing this stretch/counter balance feeling or stored power behind instead of keeping its "heavines" and stored power like a rubber band that's kept back on one side and pulled on the other. If you let go of it (too early) all the power is lost and wasted. (A throw away). A better image perhaps if you sit in a roller coaster that accelerates like mad and leaving you pushed back in your seat. You really feel that you'r staying behind (in) the vehicle that is driving forward.

In the downstroke that probably has to do with keeping the left arm straight at impact and swinging the hands (with a FLW and BRW) and not swinging the club(head), but the hands and always keeping the clubhead behind the hands down to impact and maintaining the "stored, loaded power pressure" ="sustaining the lag"? in the clubhead in relation to the hands that are in the driving seat so to speak? I guess it also has to do with the flying wedges, but now I'm way over my head...

Well, this was not a subject I could elaborate with much expertise.

The important question is : How do you get and sustain lag and how is it best released?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGAaO...eature=related