Hello @Tom Saguto This is the verbous Bob C. who has been posting tons of comments on your YouTube videos recently. I promised to renew my membership and here I am bigger and badder than ever.
I had a golf lesson yesterday here is St. Louis with a stack and tilt golf instructor. I asked him if he was familiar with you and he said he does not really follow online instructors. I guess there is nothing wrong with that, but for him to not to be aware of the King of Crispy Contact made me just a little sad.
Anyway, he liked my setup and backswing for the most part, but after hitting a few balls (and because of my stupid nerves I duffed a couple) he said that I was way too tight and also very jerky starting the downswing. I agree that I tense up when hitting a ball and rush the transition more than I should. So I think he was spot on there.
But the rest of the time he spent changing my grip and talking about how I need to swing the club and not the arms, and focus on hinging an unhinging the wrist during the swing.
As far as the grip goes, he wanted the club more in the fingers of my lead hand, with the grip running across the second pad of the fingers. This is a stronger grip than you recommend and I know you teach that with a strong grip, you need to become a Functional Flipper.
We spent the rest of the session working on the L to L drill to get the feeling the club hinge and rehinge. Several times he said my swing had me pushing my hands too far forward after impact. When he showed me what he meant it looked like many of your videos where the arms are straight, hands are ahead after impact with the club pointing down to the ground.
So while he is a S&T guy, he appears to have a different approach than you regarding the release. The L to L drill seems to be based on using a Functional Flipper swing.
While I know his advice on removing tension from my grip, arms, etc. is spot on, I am concerned that his approach with the grip and the active releasing of the club are at odds with your legendary teachings.
Do you have any advice for me? Am I wrong? Are his methods inline with your teaching and I should go back to him next week?
Signed,
A Confused Golfer
@rcissell56 - I choose to "stay in my lane" when it comes to other instruction, and every golfer is certainly free to do what serves you and your swing best. I prefer a more neutral grip, but as long as one knows the tendencies of a strong grip they can make it work within the boundaries of this system. As for the wrist hinge/unhinge/rehinge, many golfers must actively train this action in order to properly ingrain it. If the post-impact "L" occurs too soon, then that would be indicative of a flip through the zone as opposed to the forearms naturally "trading places". If the rehinging takes place further into the finish, then I would say that is more closely aligned with "stock" S&T instruction.
Beyond that, here are some excerpts from the S&T book that may help lead you to your answers.
When I made the decision to move to a golf Mecca, I based a few things on my stay in Hawaii. where I first started watching Tom Saguto. I was going to get good at golf and I was going to do it with Tom Saguto. I have played golf all my life and never, I say never hit the ball as I do now. Not all the time but when I am doing everything well and 80% of 100 balls are crispy, it becomes an emotional moment.
It also verifies the fact that I can hit them great. Im 66. I would not even consider taking a lesson from anyone other than Saguto. The only other golfers I watch are the ones reviewing products. Right now it's Swing Caddy. I have decided yes to that. The next thing to buy is another wedge but this forum is where I will receive help on that. I watch no one else for instruction.
The only other golf I see on youtube are golfettes like Hailey Ostrom. I can't learn anything from these girls but I am willing.😯
As far as some Stack and tilt guy that most likely charged you 80 bucks an hour, not knowing Saguto,
Tom has close to 40 million views on Youtube. Almost 200,00 subscribers and this is the slow season This next season will be hoping. It is just beginning and it will be in full swing starting next month.
I think Tom is a little more genuine than many of these others guys out there. It's not about the money it's about results. Just look at the comments in his videos.
For whatever reason Youtube plays favorites to British accent golf instructors in their search rhythms. I spent a small fortune and lots of time watching everything David Leadbetter put out in VCR and not once did this world-renowned, teacher of the pros ever tell me. "you will not be successful if you don't take a divot" But Tom did. I got nothing out of Leadbetter
I'll take my chances and put my time and effort into Some Italian kid in South Carolina Tom has a way of teaching and tells you things the others don't and those are the "real" secrets. And it costs bubkis to do it. If you haven't seen the video with Carl Spackler helping Tom Out, you missed a good one and I bet you will never find another online golf guy that makes it a little less stressful like that to learn a hard game.
I hit the ball better than I ever have after Instruction from Tom. I am determined to get better, and I have. I am also determined to tell others about Saguto.golf. The weekly rant is now over, please put your seats back in an upright position.
Whoa