Instructing the Instructor

grapegoat · #1 11-23-2007, 06:11 PM

Today I went and played with a friend of mine and we sat on the range for a couple of hours afterwards. I will not name his name durring this but I will pass along the scenerio. This instructor (Friend) has been a Haney deciple for several years now and has taught for about 25 years total. He is a good guy with the most classic looking swing and finish I have ever seen.

So on the range after we played we were discussing his swing and why he is always hitting the thin shots and how his best club is always his driver while his worst are wedges. I have always noticed something he does and never really said anything to him about. He was commiting one of the cardinal sins, cocking the right wrist and arching the left wrist and loosing his wedges. So we went into the TGM mode and I related some things to him in a different way then Ben Doyle had done previously when he was experimenting with other options and methods. His main complaint was that he could not comprehend the terms that TGM uses and has a hard time relating the words to actions. So we went to the dowels and started getting the Flying Wedges in tact. Once we had the right arm wedge going i explained how the right wrist should not cock and the left should not bend or arch and showed him what this does to the relationship to his swing plane. This was what really started the incubator for him. After he got the right wrist in a bent level and verticle condition and i showed him how to maintain that he was starting to see compression again. He has rarely taken divots in the past and always had problems getting the ball airborn with wedge shots. After he got into a rythm and felt the wrists in a better condition he was taking divots and getting that sought after CLICK off of the clubface.

Now after all this is said and done with he is an excellent instructor with many great juniors and several good college players under his belt as well. One of his standouts is at ASU and is the captain. He has been involved with some of the moderators on this site in years past and now is starting to see that there is something good in TGM. Just because one cannot understand the terms without being explained what they mean does not mean its complicated, just needs to be understud better by the Laymen. All in all this was a day to remember because I was instructing the instructor

Is there any advice on how to bring him over to the BRIGHT SIDE? We chatted about him going down to Rob with me sometime and that way he could get a better understanding from someone that really knows what he is talking about

grapegoat · #2 11-26-2007, 12:15 AM

wow 75 views and no replys to this. Any advice is good even if its not positive

rwh · #3 11-26-2007, 01:05 AM

Originally Posted by grapegoat

Today I went and played with a friend of mine . . . Is there any advice on how to bring him over to the dark side?

You make this sound like an intervention. Respect the friendship and leave him alone. If he has any further interest, he'll let you know.

Amen Corner · #4 11-26-2007, 03:40 AM

Originally Posted by grapegoat

Is there any advice on how to bring him over to the dark side?

This has been in the incubator since the post

Are we not on the bright side and they on the dark?

efnef · #5 11-26-2007, 06:25 AM

Is there any advice on how to bring him over to the dark side? We chatted about him going down to Rob with me sometime and that way he could get a better understanding from someone that really knows what he is talking about

You want to convert him to MORAD???

**drewitgolf** · #6 11-26-2007, 10:26 AM

Did you tell him about lynnblakegolf.com ?

While TGM was designed for everyone

, not everyone wants TGM

. Lead this horse to water, if he is thirsty, he will drink. Otherwise, he will stick with the method that got him where he is today and the incomplete stumbling blocks inherent in his teaching. It is now and always will be a game of choices. We (or he) may just choose a different path

.

KAPLOWD · #7 11-26-2007, 11:22 AM

Wouldn't the sound of the ball compressing get him interested?

grapegoat · #8 11-26-2007, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by drewitgolf

Did you tell him about lynnblakegolf.com ?

While TGM was designed for everyone

, not everyone wants TGM

. Lead this horse to water, if he is thirsty, he will drink. Otherwise, he will stick with the method that got him where he is today and the incomplete stumbling blocks inherent in his teaching. It is now and always will be a game of choices. We (or he) may just choose a different path

.

I have mentioned to him this site but he doesnt work well with computers. I completely agree but from everyone i have talked to about TGM the general concenses (SP) is its too difficult to understand. I still have to sit back for a bit and process what i just read. Thats why i do not participate in alot of topics, i would rather sit back and learn from whats stated then after i have better understanding of things I will participate. Almost immediatly after he maintained the alighments he started with he was compressing the ball very well and the trajectory was more playable. I was a student of his for well over 3 years and durring that time i aquired several bad habits from his advice and some of which i still fight today. Thats not because he is a bad teacher as a matter of fact 100% of the problems were my fault either because of misunderstanding or stubborness. I really respect his teachings but i have come to understand there is a better way for me. I have never pushed TGM onto him and when he asked i gave him just some pieces of the puzzle. I see lots of negative comments above and i asked for them so i cannot complain, however I thought I was doing a good thing by giving him a small intro to TGM hoping it may intrigue him. Turns out he is interested in it and even called me today and thanked me for the advice. I completely agree there are more ways to kill a snake and not every way works for everyone. I have found a method that has structure to it and checkpoints throughout unlike general teaching where the instructor pulls up a swing and then tries to get you into the same positions they are in, or when you go in for a lesson and you end up working on that the instructor is having problems with in his swing. Generally in this area teaching goes by lessons of the week. The insturctor finds something they think is the best and all of the lessons they give are similar to the last. I think that soon there will be alot of students in the area with right forearms on plane.

I hope this post has not came across the wrong way to everyone. I thought i was doing the right thing by answering his problems and passing the info along to everyone so if i missed something or there were any suggestions on how to relate things to him better i could have done my homework the next time he asks me for a look.

grapegoat · #9 11-26-2007, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by rwh

You make this sound like an intervention. Respect the friendship and leave him alone. If he has any further interest, he'll let you know.

obviously you must have not read the whole thread. I stated there that he asked for the input and when i gave it to him he was very intrigued by the immediate results. I have the upmost respect for him and have never pushed this onto him. I have been away from his teachings for over 2 years now but still good friends throughout. He knows im into TGM now and kinda downtalks it because its supposidly so hard to understand, and if a person is just reading the book then i could completely agree with that statement; however if relayed to the pupil from someone that knows the book inside and out and completely understands all the variations then its very easy to understand

***Bagger Lance*** · #10 11-26-2007, 08:11 PM

Grapegoat,

Are you sure you want this thread taken down?
I think most members are trying to give good advice, but some may not understand your original intent. I think its coming along with your latest edits.

Just confirming.

Thanks,

Instructing the Instructor

Yoda's Corner