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.