So I was talking to a guy who bought the S&T book, followed Tom's videos, as such he was (or what I thought was) a real student. But now he's defected to TopS****golf. Apparently there's some drill on that site that purports to "increase" swing speed, thus he enthusiastically told me how great the drill is, a "game changer". If you saw this guy's swing, the last thing he needs is to try to increase swing speed. His fundamentals leave much to be desired. He moves off the ball, shifts his weight to the right, his club is almost laying on his back at the top, his left shoulder travels to the right (flat) vs. down on the backswing, he swings off his right side, etc. Thus, he isn't even close to performing S&T fundamentals. But he's off to the races with "more speed". LOL.
So I played with him after he practiced those "drills". His swing has all of the issues noted above, same distances, same misses, and I outdrove him by some 50-70 yards with S&T. He still shoots in the higher 80's, low 90's, or right where he was a year ago.
My point is I know far too many folks who say they want to learn S&T, but in reality they're looking for a quick fix, meaning they pick and chose what suits them for a quick fix. They think S&T is a series of "tips" vs. a swing methodology. Stick with the program! He's a great guy, but WAY off the mark and will only get worse. But hey, that's why golf handicaps have not improved despite all the new tech in the last 20 years.
How about Rick Shiels? He shot +41 after 3 rounds in a Pro-Am Tourney in Spain. Maybe Rick should book a lesson with Tom? LOL. In reality, everyone, no matter how much they try, are going to have bad rounds, bad shots, etc. Plus, not all coaches are the best players, and often times the best players make lousy coaches.