Maybe this question has been asked before....but I'll ask it again...Where did the use of dowels come from?
I got the idea of using dowels from Homer Kelley. In his work, he used dowels as a proxy for the Golf Club until very late in the training. I use them for this purpose as well, but I also use them in my own way to demonstrate the various Principles, Procedures and Alignments of The Golfing Machine®.
Homer provided Authorized Instructors with two Curriculums of study. The first was a six-session Short Course Curriculum for use with students. The second was a twelve session Normal Course to be used in the training of Authorized Instructors. Actually, the Normal Course involved 24 sessions: the 12 sessions were done first using the Hitting Basic Stroke Pattern (12-1-0) as Section A and then repeated using the Swinging Basic Stroke Pattern (12-2-0) as Section B.
The Short Course Curriculum featured the use of a Clubshaft only for demonstration purposes for the first four sessions. Session Five introduced the Putter and Ball and finally short Strokes with a Club. Only in the final Session Six was the student required to demonstrate accuracy, consistency and alignment execution with the longer Strokes.
The Normal Course featured both short and long doweling. Short dowels were used for the first six sessions and then long dowels through Session Nine. An actual Club was introduced in Session Ten and a Ball in Session Eleven. The final Session Twelve involved demonstrating long shots on the range.
Beyond these two Curriculums provided separately, Homer also offered two Curriculums in the book itself. First, the original Stroke Pattern concept of Chapter 12, including an abbreviated version using Components 2, 3, 6, 10, 11, 18 and 19 from either the Hitting or Swinging Basic Patterns (12-0). Second, he introduced the Three-Stage Basic Motion Curriculum that could be used as a stand alone course but that was mandated for use in all other G.O.L.F. Curriculums. As with the Stroke Patterns, he asterisked items for use in a short course (12-5-1/2/3). No doubt Homer would have endorsed the idea of Clubshafts and Dowels in this training as well. The reason is quite simple...
Without a Clubhead to flip past the Hands or a Ball to hit 'at,' alignments and motions can be quickly learned and integrated into the student's Basic Pattern.
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