Good morning all,
I'm absolutely loving @Tom Saguto's program, but I'm feeling a little lost on how best to work my way through it.
Little background on me: I started playing golf close to 20 years ago, but played VERY rarely(3-6 times a year) up until last year when I decided to dive in! I now play at least 4-5 times a month, but I'm still pretty bad.. currently sitting on a 24.0 handicap. I have improved "some"(was probably close to a 30 handicap when I got serious back in early 2021) but I still feel I have so far to go to be what I consider a decent player. My initial goal is to make it to a single digit handicap, with no real time frame, but I'd rather it not take the rest of my life, haha. I'm about to turn 40, married with kids.. busy, but I have some extra time to dedicate to my golf improvement.
I enrolled in Tom's program a couple months ago, and have "tinkered" with it since then, but now I'm ready to get serious. I'm curious how you guys work your way through it? For example, I've completely finished watching chapter's 1 and 2 of GSS, should I continue watching until I finish the entire program, or focus on a certain chapter for a while?? I feel like I could spend the rest of my life just trying to get my foundation "perfect" but then I'd never move on to actually moving the golf club, haha. In other words, what does a week in the life of a typical beginner, intermediate and expert Saguto Golfer look like? Are you always progressing through videos.. or do you go back over the same stuff over and over to ingrain the lessons better? TEACH ME YOUR WAYS
Also, Tom talks about about watching yourself on video.. so I'm curious what your software of choice is? I can video myself with my phone easily, but I'd like something that allows me to draw lines, measure angles, etc.. I've used the V1 software before, and it seems decent, maybe even better if I took the time to learn it better. I'd love to make the free version work... unless you think it's a real benefit to use the $$ version.. or is there another platform you prefer? Bonus points if you know of one that I can use on a PC..
Whew, that's a lot.. thanks in advance.
OH, one more thing. At the beginning of the video series, there is mentions of a "Tom's Golf Survival Guide." Where might I access this?
I just started the program. I have been following the videos and doing the drills for hours a day (for 5 days). I usually shoot between 88-94.
It’s only been 5 days but I can’t hit the ball. Not even the little chip drill with the stick. This swing is very frustrating for me because it’s completely different from what I am used to. Has anyone else had to go through these growing pains and how long did it take for things to click? Any advice would be appreciated.
I’m still new to the school but this post and the replies are probably the first things I should have read after joining, so I’m happy to have stumbled upon it. Yet another post telling me to park on 2.8, after the replies to my own posts say similar. I’m now convinced most of my issues since the initial boost I saw from 2.8 are a result of moving on from it too quickly.
This is my second year with S&T and Saguto golf though I am fairly new to the forum. I played most of my first season playing with a 1/2 to 3/4 shots and dropped the handicap, went from a 14 down to a 9 handicap. Moving more toward a full swing I am back up to an 11 but changes sometimes you take a step back.
Also a crazy side effect practicing these shorter swings my short game improved immensely. A big thing you will see you may swing slower at first but the crispness of oontact you will get similar distances.
For instance my relaxed driver swing gets me about 230 to 240 of carry. But if I go after one I would fly it the 250 to 260 range but it may get a little offline. So it becomes a risk reward right now but I am looking to get my baseline in that range. Though I found i can play courses in the 6500 to the 6700 range easily with less then full shots. I may take 5 and entire round.
Julian well, well. Looks like someone got bit by the golf bug.
Working through the swing fundamentals, top priority is low point control. That is, you have to be able to hit the ground in the same place every time. When you use the SnT curriculum it’s the top priority and it translates nicely into the first focus to lower scores.
Gain low point control (every other part of game, face control, speed, touch, mental approach all require low point control)
Spend 85% of your time practicing short game. Inside 100 yards. Chip, pitch, putt. If you aren’t able to hit the ball crispy with those swings, there is nearly zero value in practicing other stuff.
As far as video, I have several tools. V1 is the easiest to just do things on the phone. I have high end cameras too and haven’t even set them up, opting for phone and v1 instead.
Word of warning, however, it’s critically important if you use video to make sure camera positions are precise. Otherwise you can spend a lot of time chasing ghosts (not real problems), caused by bad angles.
Hi Julian,
Welcome, plenty of great nuggets and info here. I use the V! only to send lesson to Tom. Otherwise phone suits me fine. Knowing me if I started drawing lines, I wouldn't have enough time during the week to do anything else, I'd be in one rabbit hole after another, but that's me.
Thanks so much for the responses! I will camp out around drill 2.8 for a while and keep everyone posed on my progress.
Sorry, while I’m at the World Am.
Hi Julian,
Last things first, here's a link to the "Survival Guide". For future reference you will find it in the Appendix section of GSS.
I have pinned your post to draw some attention to it. From my perspective I'd prefer that you camp out in Chapter 2 - and particularly on Drill 2.8 - for the foreseeable future. You can play very good golf with the swing from that drill, since it's really only missing some power accumulators. @burkholder.ronald may be able to chime in on this. Between that and arranging for a V1 Analysis Lesson on at least a quarterly basis we can get (and keep) you on track towards your goal.
@Russell Hogue, PhD may be traveling and unavailable, but if he sees this he may be able to offer some suggestions on video options. Also, @GolfLivesMatter can speak well to the value of using a mirror.
There are many other regular contributors who will likely have something to offer as well, but I just thought I'd tag a few here for starters.
Time to get crispy!!
@Julian work your way through to lesson 2.8 drill. You have to understand the stacked posture, the grip, the S&T grid and various ball positions. Park yourself on the 2.8 drill and put in the range time to nail your control of ground contact to where you can hit ball then ground at least 8 out of 10 times.
Once you have that down solid you can keep going through the other lessons in the basic course where power and speed is discussed. But, remember that you can actually play a decent round of golf using the 2.8 Drill swing.
@Tom Sagutowill respond to your post and give you some ideas on how to use his school.