After watching many various dvd's from TGM trained and influenced instructors i am starting to believe that Yoda and Chuck (Ted now too) are close to the only ones that fully recognise just how effective hitting can be for so many golfers. They also seem to understand how to effectively teach it above almost all others as well. Possibly never before has it been treated as such a potentially great asset. Most people they train seem to gravitate toward hitting, and with great success to boot. It seems to be a very simple art when effectively taught and it is most interesting following the many success stories associated with it.
I will try to use an analogy, hopefully it won't be a bad one. This is a serious question and I do not know the answer to it.
In the discussion of which procedure is longer, hitting or swinging, let's assume one thinks that swinging is longer than hitting:
Swinging is like a Porsche and Hitting is like a VW Bug. You take both cars out on a grand prix track and race. You can put the same expert driver in both cars and have him execute perfect driving skills around the track - but the Porsche will always be faster.
I'm wondering if both procedures are like Porsche's? And it's just a matter of applying them in an expert-like fashion?
If want to give endorsements.....ok, what Yoda is doing for hitting....
As a teacher, I have no bias toward Hitting or Swinging. I enthusiastically endorse both and will move the student toward the purest application of either based on what appears to be his natural inclination (unless his personal preference dictates otherwise).
In the past four days, I have taught two PGA TOUR players, the first a Swinger and the second a Hitter. While in some ways their lessons were quite similar, in others they could not have been more different.
When Yoda redone me... Since I was caught inbetween, Hitting we started at. Obviously the Student wasn't grasping a few concepts here so we switched to Swinging. Half way through the second session, the light bulb goes off and now Swinging is working, BUT a few adjustiments and Hitting was working.
In fact I actually was Hitting further than Swinging.....
From the best I can tell from observation and study is that Hitting or Swinging success (distance, etc.) really comes down in the end to the Student. If a student can't optimize the downstroke components to maintain rhythm, then more than likely Swinging will take a bigger hit as the club will out race the golfer. For a hitter it will be a weak shot result from what I have experienced. This assumes that there is a reasonable understanding of alignment and component mixture.
I have found the the TT tapes to be instructive, but I think the idea of this is something that everyone can adopt and apply in full is a bit over the top. That is of course if I understand the drive to achieve a 4 barrel swing which seems to be an underlying theme here. I don't think everyone can achieve this with any degree of success vs selecting a less complex arrangement of components and application to match the student.
But I approach the students golf game as what is practical and can measure success based on the student and goals along with effort to be applied.
I have Eversheds Knowledge video DG and like it a lot. What i was implying is that many TGM certifides and other teach swinging. Doyle, Tommy, Evershed, Schaeffer, Hebron, Johnson, Jacobs etc etc etc. Many have a set theory and teach along these lines. Yoda and Chuck have well and truly opened up the world of hitting as a bonfide pattern if suitable to THAT golfer. Teachers teaching swinging are a dime a dozen so to speak, tho yes, some teach it way better than others. Hitting has come along a LONG way since Yoda and Chuck to a lesser extent have included it in their teachings and given it great credibility of late. Kudo's to them are richly deserved. I have vastly enjoyed the TT DVD, it explains many TGM concepts in excellent ways. Surely tho it is a little rigid. TT dismisses hitting to a large extent and is set in his teachings. Yoda and co have shown that taught and executed properly it is anything but dismissable. I have no doubt TT's teachings will work for many a golfer, and don't mean to demean them. As you continually point out, he has success on the board. I'll also add while i'm going that Lynn is surely one of not many that teaches TGM as Homer wanted it taught. The RF takeaway, the hands controlled pivot, the onplane right forearm etc etc. Evershed makes interesting discussion too, he teaches hands controlled pivot vs Tommy's pivot controlled hands. There's a vast difference right there.
As for swinging vs hitting length, surely it depends on the person and the efficiency of application. That may be why Homer made the distinction of separating the two for different players. Even with perfect application i am sure some would be longer swinging and others hitting.
Chuck cleared some fog for me by pointing out that 10-18-C gives the Hitter three options:
1. Let the pivot bring Horizonal Hinging to a normal on plane top position.
2. Let the pivot bring Angled Hinging to a normal on plane top position
3. Hold the wrist Vertical throughout for a true single action wrist position.
Mr. Tomasello stresses #3 while Yoda seems to favor #2. Would that difference affect either trajectory or distance?
I also noticed that Mr. Tomasello seemed to be using Vertical Hinging when talking about the height of some of his Swinging shots. In one of the earlier chapters he mentioned that Horizontal Hinging produced the lowest trajectory of the three Hinging Motions. I wish he'd said more about how Hinging affects the two stroke patterns in this segment. It's certainly an interesting chapter, though.
Many thanks for the Tomasello series. His interpretation and demonstration of the golf swing made this really enjoyable and informative. Are there plans for anything similar in the future?
Many thanks for the Tomasello series. His interpretation and demonstration of the golf swing made this really enjoyable and informative. Are there plans for anything similar in the future?
Strav,
We are considering additional Tom Tomasello video supplied to us by our LBG friends. Also, at our request, Mr. Ben Doyle has furnished us with six hours of real-time lesson tee video. Stay tuned!
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