Lesson With Mike Austin
 

Here is a short video of a lesson I had with Mike Austin back in 1994. If you have not seen a video of Mike teaching you will want to check this out. The student is a younger version of John W Rohan-Weaver of Rover Golf.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWX-QHHzvUc

I have seen this before....can you share with us the experience...what were the swing keys that he was showing you in this lesson:)

I had my first lesson from Mike Austin in 1981 and would take many lessons for the next 14 years.

In 1994 I was teaching for Jimmy Ballard in L.A.

I was teaching not too far from the Studio City Golf Course so I would stop by often and see Mike or take a lesson.

I stopped by Mike’s house one day and he always like to show videos of his swing so we were watching videos of his swing and I asked him if he really had a secret power move.

I must have caught him in the right mood because I have asked this before many times and he never would talk about it.

This time Mike said meet at the range tomorrow at 10:00 am and I will show you the Mike Austin Secret.

Driving home I thought there can’t be any more to his swing.

What did he not show me in the 14 years of lessons?

I figured I had nothing to lose so I meet Mike at the range.

He demonstrated it as well as he could but I was just not quite getting what he wanted me to do so I said Mike, I will work on it and let you know how I am doing.

The most important thing he told me was you cannot see what he was doing in the videos of his swing but you had to learn the feel for it.

I worked on it and came up with a key trigger and feel for this power move.

In the next lesson I showed Mike I could do the power throw and I had a key trigger move I discovered you could teach.

Mike did not know what it was at the time and asked me if it would be easy to teach.

I said yes it would but it should be shown in a slow motion sequence of his swing for golfers to see it.

I then demonstrated it in slow motion and told him the feel I had for the key move of the power throw.

After the lesson Mike wanted to know if I would shoot a video in his skeleton costume showing this move.

I turned him down as I felt Mike should be the only one ever seen in it and also I did not want Jimmy to find out I was working with Mike. I had bills to pay and the pay was good with Jimmy.

I learned later Mike wanted to use this video for slow motion swing sequences in the Mike Dunaway videos.

He wanted to show this key move in the skeleton costume in slow motion like he did in the B&W TV video.

In the second edition of the Hammer Swing book which I am working on now I will explain more about to this key trigger move and feel I discovered back in 1994.

I use it with the Hammer Swing but you can use it in any swing.

When you do it the club head whips extremely fast through impact.

If only I did the skeleton costume video.

Power, Secrets, Legends, etc. - ooh exciting! Maybe someone else could jump in and tell us what Hogan really knew. I met Mr. Hogan's aunt and she told me something that she had me promise never to tell anyone- it was something Ben had told her that increased her distance by 75 yards and had every iron shot flying right at the flag............. better yet I'll just wait for your book to be published.

Ha Ha well funny she told me the same thing when she showed me how to twirl the baton so i am upset she told other people:crybaby:

Cooking with Uncle Ben's
 

AKA Finish Swivel.

Can't Touch This.
 

Quit thread Jacking "Big O". It's "Hammer Time"!

Oh well there goes that secret but anyhow i have another one that adds extra speed to the baton twirl so there:)

I am use to this kind of reaction the minute you mentioned a secret in golf.

You don’t need to wait for the book.

Here is a clue.

The secret is in this perfect golf swing formula.

See if you can figure it out what the secret ingredient is.

A Perfect Golf Swing Formula

There are only two things you need for a perfect golf swing.

#1 accuracy (Control) and #2 distance (Power).

If you build your perfect golf swing on accuracy alone it will have some distance built into it.

If you build your perfect golf swing on distance alone it will have little accuracy in it.

Now to build the perfect golf swing we must understand how the muscles, bones and joints in the body work.

Here is the sequence. The muscles move the bones and the bones move at the joints.

Now select the muscles, bones and joints that work the best for #1 accuracy (Control).

Then select the muscles, bones and joints that work the best for #2 distance (Power) without reducing accuracy.

Enjoy

I do want to thank Lynn Blake for allowing this post.

I posted this on Brian Manzella’s forum and it was removed.

It seems that if you do not agree with Brian or kiss his you know what your post is removed.

I won’t be on his site anymore.

I will have a stab
Optimally a human body will work at its most effecient manner in spiral motions

yeah i saw that . Another one who can't play to save himself yet knows everything about the golfswing

Shortened radius through the impact.
 

Mike said, "I have a six inch left arm", what he is referring to is the shortening of the swing radius through the impact interval which causes the rapid acceleration of the clubhead. A similar move can be seen in baseball, referred to as the "jut", when the bicept of the lead arm juts against the rib cage and the top hand passes the bottom hand.

I'd give you a clue but that's not my normal mode of operation - so I'll just give you an answer: There is no "secret"- when you realize that - you'll be closer to understanding the golf swing.

I do have a few questions for forum members that have expertise in a couple of different fields- What's the secret to building a commercial office building? What's the secret to driving a car? Or if it's just perfection that you are striving for then "What's the secret to driving a car perfectly?" Don't give me any long detailed answer or some wide principle- let me define clearly - what I mean by secret. It needs to be one specific isolated thing that I could implement immediately and get immediate results! (For example in golf- regardless of what else I was doing or had going on in my movement- although those things would be there and would influence the results - we are going to wipe those things out of reality and say that they have no affect on the result. We're going to take the real and make it unreal- that's "your secret".)

At this point I'm sure that greasy chicken fingers are making furious keyboard strokes or drewit is going to tell me to bend over more:happy3: Or since Mike O. is going off on "the secret" - that DG's ready and willing to post on the right arm swing- yet he can't because that would too close to thread jacking- something he has the conscience not to do.:eyes:

At the end of the day- "the secret" is nothing more than a "tip" dressed in king's clothing or with a better marketing department behind it.

Mike would say things even if you were not doing them.

This is why it was hard for most golfers to learn from him.

I had worked with Mike over 14 years and knew his way of teaching.

We were working on the right shoulder working more down than around.

He figured if I was pulling it was causing the around he did not want.

You have to understand that I was teaching a Jimmy Ballard swing and learning a Mike Austin swing. They do not mix well.

The real cause was the Jimmy Ballard right side pivot drive that I had mastered.

If I fired the right side a little early with the hand action of Mike’s swing I would come out a little.

That is it.

I made the change in the pivot and it was right on after that.

let me define clearly that what I mean by secret. It needs to be one specific isolated thing that I could implement immediately and get immediate results!

You hit the nail on the head it does just that.

Digging for secrets?
 

Greasy fingers? Bend over more? You have been bent over long enough. Check back with us in another three years for a follow up appointment.

I'll take secrets for $2000 Alex...
 

Mental or Physical?

Long Left Arm
 

Purehitter,

What kind of teacher would in clear conscience teach an individual (presumably with money changing hands) over a span of 14 years and NOT share the key ingredient that his entire career was built on ... POWER! It seems like built-in obscelescence to me. Keep the lemmings coming back for more! I am not sure if it was mentioned already (I think Pistol) mentioned it but I agree that a key to Mike Austin's length off the tee was an extended left arm, thus as wide of a radius as possible, a radius with a normal force in support (Extensor Action.) It has been around for a long time. Joe Norwood was probably the first teacher to emphasize it, but Homer Kelley coined it and explained it best. Joe Norwood has a drill where he asks you to stand facing a wall, then to raise you left arm to the horizontal plane so that your middle finger tip is 2-3 inches away from the wall, then take your right arm and pull the left arm without moving the left shoulder forward. It will magically touch the wall. For the math buffs out there what does 3 inches more radius give me if I can maintain it? Apprently Hogan worked on his left arm for several years. Some say he was "the long right arm through the ball" but Hogan thought it best to be the long left arm!

Hummm - where have I heard this before?
 

An active left wrist uncocking. :sleepy:

There are soooo many secrets and not enough time...
I'll just take the yellow book for $175 Alex. :)

Purehitter,

One can argue, The big muscle controls the movement better than the small muscle.

Then another say, the small muscle is a more precise and fast muscle..

Which one should I listen to?

Should we build our power based on Acceleration or Mass. 2 factors for power?


I appreciate the great points in your posts!

The perfect golf swing needs a formula.

Take you TGM book and put together your formula for your perfect swing.

It has many to choose from.

I have always said that the pivot controlled hand golfer has his head up his you know what so his shoulders are closer to his hips for better control of the hands.

From your posts I get the idea you might be one of these golfers.

Am I right?

A bit below the belt so to speak
The hands control the upper body and the feet/knees control the pivot and you move them in circular motions?

Ass-u-me
 

Be careful making assumptions like that. My head has been many places, but not where you suggest. One would think your secret was indeed "mental" if you are able to decipher from my response (three simple words) and make a correlation that leads you to Pivot control Hands. That is quite a parlor trick.

However, you are wrong. As a fellow A.I., PGA Member and one that uses Rover Golf Products in his lesson program, I know the value of Educated Hands and so do my students. So again, since you brought it up without an answer: mental or physical?

I hope your insights provide better information than Dan Shauger. His book on Mike Austin was a dissapointment.

On second thought, is it a new training aid like "The Flamer" that Austin use to promote?

When I replied to your post it was to the fingers in you know what reference.

That is why I came back with my reference.

It was a joke and I did not mean to offend you.

It is funny you mention Dan Shauger as I have asked him to post video lessons he had with Mike. I have yet to see one and he says he knows Mike’s secret which I think he calls counter rotation and spin the meatball.

What I learned can be found in TGM book as well.

I explain it and show it differently and in a way the golf can understand and do.

I can assure you the Hammer Swing book will not be like Kill the Ball book from Dan.

The new trainer is not like the Flammer but I still have one of the original Flammers Mike gave me.

This new swing trainer is the Ultimate for teaching TGM. It will be ready to go in about a week.

I will post a video so you can see how it works.

No Harm, No Foul
 

No problem John. I didn't take offense. My quote within your post #23 was what you referenced. I just responded in my off-beat way :eyes: , never with malice. My writing is either meant to be informative or humorous :laughing9 (I hope anyway). I look forward to your video.

What if I find it to be both?

Likewise informative or humorous.

Really? Was anyone in the history of mankind ever moved his bones differently? Anyone by pass the muscles and moved his joints with just his bones?

The reason A Hammer thrower moves his hands up and behind his head before his pivot starts ( a little different then the Power Rover Hammer drill) is to get momentum. With your Hammer swing, do you gather momentum of the clubhead before the back swing?

I really think the knowledge of Geometry and physics- Motion and action are more important in building a golf stroke.

The magic of the right forearm is easy to learn when you know the correct muscles, bones and joints used to perform it.

It is not just bending the right elbow as some might think.

Look up the example of Momentum Transfer in the glossary of TGM book and you will find the connection for The Hammer Swing. I teach from the yellow book. The Hammer Swing is in it.

Its all in the timing.
 

Even a broken watch has the right time twice a day.

the elbow joint is connected to the...?
 

Bending + fanning = right forearm takeaway, right? So, what are the correct muscles, bones and joints used to perform it?

In addition to that question I would like to ask another to all. How many distinct ways are there to take the club back with? It seems to me that there are TWO. Shoulder turn takeaway (pivot controlled) and right forearm takeway (hand controlled.) The first needing more compensations than the latter? As I have posted before, I could not keep my head stationary and centered (i.e. stay in balance) with a shoulder turn takeway. I learned to do that by focusing on right forearm takeaway. When I was able to stay down and steady to the ball without "trying" to do so courtesy of the magic of the right forearm I was close to tears:crybaby: My desire to beat balls has diminished and proportionately my desire to play has increased. The essence of that grand little yellow book is that it makes you love playing the game all over again! See a straight line...trace that line with your bent and level right index finger and forearm...put a little something on it with a flat left wrist...go find it and do it again! Bad shots do not burrow into my brain like they used to...sure I get irritated if I cannot execute...but the good news that sustains me is that I know enough to realistically hit the reset button and make another sincere attempt...one shot at a time! I know it has nothing to do with the thead but who cares! :laughing9

The Magic of the Right Forearm is a concept. The right Forearm take away is a motion.

Law of the Flail with Maximum Trigger delay? How is your Hammer throw procedure different?
I just thought the Hammer throw reference with the power Driver with that drill just seemed out of place since a golfer does build momentum to the clubhead the same way.

Just trying to learn from everyone.

Is this what you think the magic of the right forearm is.

Bending + fanning = right forearm takeaway

So, what are the correct muscles, bones and joints used to perform it?

The right shoulder joint and the muscles involved to move the upper arm have a key role in the magic of the right forearm.

The fanning motion you are talking about is from the rotator cuff muscles in the right shoulder rotating the upper arm

When you learn how the body moves you will understand.

The Magic of the Right Forearm action is in the right shoulder joint. The right elbow bending and straightening is a motion.

Sounds like you are talking about the "trombone take-away", where you contract the deltoid while releasing the infraspinatus allowing the right arm to float away from the torso. This trombone action takes place immediately after the torso starts turning, thus transferring moment from the more massive torso into the distal less massive lever (right arm). The right arm then likewise will transfer momentum to the less massive distal segment (secondary lever assembly) via the magic right forearm.

The TAKE-AWAY is the action by the right shoulder, but that is not the magic. I have a friend, David Orr who studies Kinesiology with a leading professor in a University in NC. He knows his stuff and can explain how the body moves and bends during a golf stroke. The information is fascinating but NONE of his students needs to know any of it to swing a golf club. Nobody is ever told that they move a certain bone with the wrong muscle. Kinesiology is crap to a golf stroke. Gobblygook. Homer stayed away from that stuff because tracing the plane Line (geometry) and loading and releasing power (physics) was what is real. Ever move your forearm with your thigh muscle? If I tell a 1 yr old kid to move his hand above his head, he ain’t thinking about what shoulder muscle he needs to move. He SIMPLY raises his hand. AND as Yoda taught us, the RFT is a simple clapping motion. Take a solemn oath. btw- Manzella hates the rft. Lynn Blake is the instructor that teaches it, re-introduced it to TGMdom. I'll stickk him him.

The magic of the Right Forearm is a tracing motion- a staying on the incline plane. It is the simultaneous and immediate movement of the Hands and clubhead- up and back (and In). Even though the incline plane is Flat, it controls the three dimensions of IMPACT when you are on it. Tracing its plane line achieves this. The Fanning (clap) of the forearm and folding of the elbow which raises the left arm and cocks the left wrist is the RFTake up. The lowering and straightening of the left arm and the left wrist uncocking is the down stroke. Together it is the Magic of the Right forearm. (7-3).