Hitting at the ball.
 

When I first heard of TGM and hitters, I thought that it was terrific that it was allowed to hit at the ball, because I've always done it even though most golfers say that's wrong.

But I think I have misunderstood this. It's still not right to hit at the ball, regardless of being a swinger or a hitter. The right way to do it is to swing /drive thru the ball into the follow-thru to the point where both arms are straight. Right?

Should this be just as natural for a hitter as for a swinger - or does a hitter after all have this tendency to want to hit at the ball, even if that is a bad thing to do? Does a hitter have a harder time than a swinger to get rid of this bad habit?

You are correct.
Hit THROUGH the ball not AT the ball.
You will notice that a properly struck ball will have the divot in front of the ball, this is a consequence of hitting through the ball.
When one is hitting at the ball the divot starts at the ball or behind the ball resulting in thin shots.
You will have this notice this feeling immediately.

Hitting at the ball
Sometimes it can lead to problems like flipping.
Most golfer feel that it is natural to aim at the back of the ball then hit it thin
Want that pure flush feeling so next time flip their wrist.

If you use the hitting protocol then I would suggest using aiming point technique.
choose a spot in front of the ball to HIT AT. This insures you hit through the ball and still have a target to HIT AT.

If you use a swinging protocol the pivot will rotate the clubface and produce square clubface at contact, normally in a pure swinging technique one doesn't
feel the need to hit at the ball. You feel that you are naturally swinging and ball is in the path of the swing.
The problem with swinging is that ball placement has to vary with different clubs.So with swinging protocol I tend move ball positions relative to different clubs.

In hitting I use standard ball position and vary my aiming point.

interesting. thx


I quess that my problems are related: OTT, steep out-to-in the downstroke, hitting at the ball with the breakdown of the left wrist (flipping). It's hard to make the body stop doing this after 21 years. How best to break the vicious circle?

I take it most of your shots go at the target - relatively speaking - in other words - you're not far left on most of your shots - right?

I have a variety of shots.

Most of them start left and go right (or start straight and go right) (slices and fades) or start left and continue straight left (pulls). Hardly a draw or hook ever.

The very, very high ones (with a driver) often go straight, but very short - and in addition all the heavy shots - they of course are shorter than I was wishing for.

For good measurement I top some as well - they are often straightish.
And then the occasional dreaded sh..k.

Air, please consider the following possibilities.
 

I go to a driving range with rubberized grass and hit lots of balls. (Daryl is really impresed by this, I can assure you (kidding)). However, when I go, I take my MacBook loaded with all my earthly LBG videos and notes. I turn on my machine and then train my machine with the videos. I know almost everyone at the range including a couple of guys that had played in US Amateur qualifiers. I show them the videos and we all try to mimic the positions. ( I have never allowed anyone to copy vids on their thumb drives!) The range has some windows where we can watch our reflections as we practice our strokes. We critique each other, talk about Moe Norman, Hogan, Lynn Blake, Extensor Action etc.

I used to give out hall passes with LBG.com written out. This is more fun! You said you have an indoor range or two. Bring a computer notebook and your alignment DVD's and other LBG tapes/vids. You might inspire a teaching pro or two in your 'hood to get some of this fine training and they would, perhaps, return the favor by helping you work on things like staying on plane etc.

Maybe you have already started a little LBG KLUBB, but that's what I would do in my little corner of the universe, given my shy, quiet, low key approach to life!

:golfcart: :golfcart:


YBGF

If you are shy - I am much shyer.

That looks like a wonderful thing happening for you, City.
I had a great day on the golf course today and my A partner asked what I was doing. I told him I was trying to drive the Primary Lever with pp#3 and trace the plane line. He looked a bit befuddled and just said, "Are you still doing that TGM stuff?" He did not want to discuss it further. His loss in the long run, but I earned him and the other two partners 5 bucks apiece. I beat the A player in our group by 10 strokes and the A in the other group by 4.
I can hardly wait until winter when KevCarter can come out and play.

It sounds like you have a good thing going on. (Is that correct English?)