Hinge Pin Location

[O.B.Left]

Excellent post O.B. Sure helps my understanding of the
Drills. Sure hope that you can get your video on the Website.
Yoda understands something special about the movements.
I suspect that the reason is, the more centered pivot, but
not sure. With the drills, I see the right hip going more
back than around, kind of like the right hip set out of the
way. With this, I can still see a delayed hip turn, rather
than Standard hip turn. Right forearm take away in a sense.
Like you, most likely, I am used to Golf Machine terms and
will need to adjust to added language. Maybe as time progresses
more Drill instruction will relate to Golfing Machine terms,
but then, I guess that terms will be a problem for the
general golfer. The drills sure work for me,and others that I see,
but I am not quite sure why. In time the fog will lift.
Thanks, Donn

The exercises are all about motion. Lynn teaches Homers Alignments of course , but in motion. Alignments and motion work together. The motion can produce nice dynamic alignments , for instance! You cant look like Hogan by merely copping his positions. You get there , to the extent possible , by emulating his motion IMO. The component variations with their alignments are made into a whole by motion. "A one piece total motion" . As opposed to a cobbled together collection of pieces, manipulations or positions.

The early guys (McDonald , Melhourne etc ) seemed to do a better job of teaching motion. With Lynn I found it , motion, to be very free flowing , unbridled and powerful. He'd whisper "give up control to gain control " (George Knudson) as I swung. Took me hours to get it right , to let go. Its adoption was accompanied by a better "swoosh" sound down near the ball. Did you ever notice how Phil has a nice "swoosh"? Not too many compliment him on his mechanics etc but he's got a great motion. You can hear it. You dont get that sound by hanging on to anything. Angles or positions.


You still have component options , Hip Action as you mention. I remember Lynn talking about how McDonald just got a lot of things right. Right forearm takeaway for instance, if memory serves. I personally think Lynn would say that McDonald's and Homer's books dove tail quite nicely. Better than most!

[dkerby]

O.B. Another excellent Post. At the Range, I felt it today.
Started from the feet, I felt the lag/drag on back stroke.
Before I had issues with back stroke, UP, Back, and In and
felt that a drag was more down (on the ground)was an oxymoron with the UP. Now I sense the UP with the lag/drag. A more tracing
motion than before (not with the clubhead on the ground). Please let me know if you feel that the new take away is correct.
Donn

[O.B.Left]

O.B. Another excellent Post. At the Range, I felt it today.
Started from the feet, I felt the lag/drag on back stroke.
Before I had issues with back stroke, UP, Back, and In and
felt that a drag was more down (on the ground)was an oxymoron with the UP. Now I sense the UP with the lag/drag. A more tracing
motion than before (not with the clubhead on the ground). Please let me know if you feel that the new take away is correct.
Donn

Sounds right to me.

You no doubt have done the continuous swinging drill with Lynn. The Wild Bill Mehlhourn drill where you brush the ground in BOTH directions and walk forward ..... first in tall grass then on turf then while stroking a line of golf balls.

The momentum provided to your backstroke when you reverse your direction from what would normally be finish is delightful, magical even. It settles into being Pivot motivated. As it would when scything grass. In contrast to the muscles and methods we normally use in startup which can be counter productive (dead pivot , arms outracing the body , off plane etc) The lagging takeaway Lynn teaches, from my experience , provides early swinging momentum from startup that approaches the same feel as the Mehlhourn drills free ride, if you will. So to answer your question , I'd say do McDonald Exercise #5 and then take to the rough for some Mehlhourne drills .... once acclimated compare that floating back feeling it enhances , highlights to your Lagging Takeaway procedure. The more the latter is like the former the better you're getting at it, IMO. You cant get all the way there ... but you can try. Lag and drag in both directions .... hence the brush in both directions. Lynn put an impact bag behind my club in Startup so Id whack it with a lagging clubhead ..... address hands, bent right/flat left . But I start from Adjusted , mid body hands for longer shots.

One thing about the Mehlhourn drill ... if you do one for a few minutes without a ball, the continuous motion seems to remove unwanted , extraneous motion . Your focus turns to the clubhead path. It seems to remove the non essential motion we cook up with our logic. You wont tend to over spin your pivot for instance . You wont tend to hang onto angles. You will tend to let your arms pass your body , you will tend to Finish Swivel. You're swinging , lagging and dragging in both directions with the PIvot anticipating , preparing and initiating the change in direction..... naturally. Like we do when chopping wood to use a Bob McDonald image.

[O.B.Left]

When Lynn first showed me the McDonald exercises I didnt like them very much or get what they were all about. I couldnt wait for the marching to stop frankly. I would have preferred to have been hitting balls and looking at film of my swing... I couldnt have more astounded when I finally got the message.

Lynn knew that words alone couldnt fix what I had ingrained over decades of golf . I needed motion retraining. It took hours as I recall to gain some ground that first day. Even then I was far from finished, the lessons continued for several years actually and it wasnt until a month or so after the last lesson that they clicked in full strength. Looking back on it he broke me like you would a wild horse. The biggest gains were made at the end of the day , after he'd exhausted me. My "head" got in the way of the retraining. He got me outa my head , like an acting coach would an "over thinking it" actor.

The darn swing just isnt what we tend to think it is. I was over turning , over lifting etc. All this extra stuff. Weirdest thing is my swing now looks way better than it used to . Without any thought to what I looked like during the motion training , I ended up with the look I wanted. Weird aint it?

[dkerby]

O.B. thanks for sharing your Journey with the Drills.
I felt the same way that you did starting out.
I know that it will take time, but I am willing to
make the effort. One concern, at the present, is
combining the drag with the Right Arm Pick up. Don't
want to create a swaying problem. I will keep you posted
and would certainly apprecated your insite.
Donn

[O.B.Left]

O.B. thanks for sharing your Journey with the Drills.
I felt the same way that you did starting out.
I know that it will take time, but I am willing to
make the effort. One concern, at the present, is
combining the drag with the Right Arm Pick up. Don't
want to create a swaying problem. I will keep you posted
and would certainly apprecated your insite.
Donn

Centred head is good. A right side pull of the pivot or a right forearm pickup doesnt preclude a centred head. Remember its not a sway to the right that loads your right side.....its more about pressure . You "load" your BRACED right side by pressuring your right side , you load it with the momentum of your swinging arms and club, your turning pivot. Hence the walking thing Lynn loves to demonstrate , the lifting heals thing. He always demonstrates it with a centred head. You dont move your head to the right when your weight is entirely over your right foot when walking (when the left foot is in the air). Moe talked about loading into his right side but not over his right side. Imagine a weight scale under your right foot. Make the needle jump but without swaying your head! With force along the inside edge of your right shoes sole. Like an inside edge when skiing or footing a door say.

You could if you want try that little Hogan kick in of the right knee which braced his right side ... pretty hard to sway your head without breaking that brace. You can kick the knee in and try to leave it there while turning your right hip out of the way. "Clear the right hip" , 12-3 #13.

Speaking of Hogan , he once described the initiation of his swing away , lagging takeaway as a "rebound " off of his full body forward press. Old skool I know but his early lag in startup was a product of this rebound. He swung the club back with lag and drag established early. The rebound being IMO a description of the early momentum provided by the pivot going to Fix if but for only a brief moment then "rebounding" in the other direction. The pivots mini change in direction causing a mini lagging clubhead as it does to a much more noticeable extent in the transition from backswing to downswing.

Its so hard to talk about this, describe this business ..... unless you're talking to someone who knows how it feels. Feels in the hands. How the sweetspot seems to seek out the ball magically as in the Melhourn drill when lag pressure is present.

Do the Melhourn drills until you see, believe in the link between lag pressure and sweet spot impact. Then conclude to seek it , lag pressure , out in all normal shots. (intentionally skulled wedge shots aside) . Feel the lag pressure on both sides of the swing , make no adjustment for impact (12-5 and the Three Stations). For compressions sake. Again even from Fix , even when putting you can feel this stuff.... even when the hands stay in impact condition and the clubhead doesnt actually lag.

You know Tiger's 3 continuous passes with the putter before he sets it behind the ball? Kinda Melhourn drill in a way is it? Only the Melhourn choir would agree to this song perhaps. It does sound outlandish.... at first. IMO there's lag pressure present for a nicely stroked putt. And probably none present for a yipped four footer.

[dkerby]

Thanks again O.B. I have worked with Hogan's Right
side brace for years. First at address and second on
the back stroke. Along came the Right Forearm Pickup
in TGM as the way to stop swaying. Now the focus is on
the feet. Going to the range and work on combining the
three above.
Also "Hogn's Power Secret" Right Foot to
drive the Right elbow deeper forward before release. Also
"Running at the ball" with right knees in book, Afternoons
with Mr.Hogan by Jody Valquez. These items to use foot action
for lag/drive on downswing.

Overall don/t want to forget independent arm swing and Motion.
Thank again, Donn