Mike Malaska - Getting the club in front of you. Made easy...

[JDIL]

I agree partly. If you watch the original video, his move is to counteract one swing flaw. The golfer who gets too laid off on downswing, too shallow. If you already have an OTT swing, this looks so close to pulling the handle but I'm not an expert.

But this move is absolutely dangerous for someone who brings it in too far inside and behind, then has to go OTT to hit the ball. Notice his example that he's trying to correct is always someone who shallows out too much.

But to your point, here he is saying, in the first 30 seconds, if you actually get the clubhead out in front of you, you've overdone the move.

 

[tthomasgolfer605]

I have pictures of the greats from above and halfway down they all have the club 45 degrees to the target line with the club behind them. Here's Moe Norman.

[COACH9]

Viewed from the top they are all passing through 4:30 at some point. Kind of an irrelevant data point without the height and position of their hands factored in

[tthomasgolfer605]

Looks like this from DTL.

[tthomasgolfer605]

If you put that 45 degree line down instead of alignment sticks pointed at the target line, you'll realize what I'm talking about. From the top of the swing, trace that line with your hands until P6. Then the clubhead will kick around via the right forearm and square up with rotation. Some amazing things happen. The right wrist will bend back. The right elbow goes to the side of the hip. It's not about shallowing at all. It's about sequencing correctly. If it feels awful good. It means you're doing it right.

 

[Shilgy]

^^same position Malaska teaches. You just don’t like the feel he uses for some students to get there.

[tthomasgolfer605]

Tiger had 90 degrees of separation between his hips and shoulders as a junior and amateur. Not to mention insane clubhead speed. I'm referring to the average golfer who's way out of sequence and is very steep. They need to learn to get into the slot first. Lower handicap golfers fire too quickly with their hips and get stuck. We all feel different things therefore the feel of standing up the shaft won't work for the majority of golfers.

[Shilgy]

You don’t think Tiger’s feel for fixing his swing was to not fire the hips at all? You don’t think the idea was to get the club in front of him rather than trailing/stuck?

Many low handicap golfers have the same issue Tiger did. Not to the same extremes perhaps but the fix is the same.

[tthomasgolfer605]

The feel may work for .01% of golfers out there. I'm not arguing with that. Here's Ben Hogan demonstrating an opposite feel yet gets the same result.

[COACH9]

Everyone seems to want to talk about the "Malaska Move". But I think some of the best stuff he teaches is the hip movement to counterbalance forces. It resonates with me because it's something I've done for years. I initially started doing it when my mental image was that of a hammer-thrower. Probably why I gravitated to Gankas's stuff last season.

[Mono]

thanks for posting this, i really liked this video, i've watched probably half a dozen times, DD says something to the effect of 'it's impossible to play golf if you are too inside' and it's 'a feel'

DD actually has a lot of really interesting things to say in a very quick video

 

 

[Hilts1969]

Unfortunately old bean you posted a video from Bradley where he shows an alignment stick at 45 degrees goIng all the way up to the ball, he even said himself that it was a FEEL his words, you then post other stuff that doesn’t equate. Show me someone anyone that comes into the ball at this 45 degree angle it would be quite funny. Bradley says a feel that could help is coming from the inside and in other news the sky is sometimes blue.

[tthomasgolfer605]

I'm referring to where the butt of the club aims half way down. That's the slot. I'm not saying the clubhead enters from 45 degrees. Here's Tiger from his view.

[Hilts1969]

 

See how easy it is to get everyone thinking different things based on a video where the instructor himself says it’s a feel and an illusion. If there is only one thing i have learnt, in my search for a decent golf swing, is that people are great at dismissing feels for facts in some instructors as opposed to others based on bias. They may even make up unfounded numbers like .01% .

George Gankas is a top instructor for instance, if you wanted lessons from him you would need a second mortgage on your house and he often says leave your arms up, keep them passive etc etc. Can’t hit a golf ball actually doing this. Even in the videos where he shows it you can see it doesn’t happen.

I have seen a Bradley video where he says out is down, another exaggeration feel.

Malaska is teaching left arm rotation in the downswing which is needed, it’s not an option. If someone is steep trying it they are doing it wrong or at the wrong time, simple as that really.

By the way getting into the ‘slot’ has been discussed plenty of times on here and is more likely to get someone into trouble as any Malaska Video.

[tthomasgolfer605]

Does 1% of the golfing population sound more accurate who are scratch or better golfers? The 'average' golfer who comes over it does an excellent job of keeping the club in front of them which is what this thread is about anyway. I disagree with any 'feel' that doesn't work for me but I'm not disagreeing that it will work for some. The hands out stuff Bradley Hughes teaches I disagree with . George Gankas's method leaving the arms up and just rotating would turn me from a 25 year plus handicap golfer to a hacker in no time. Doing what Tiger does in the Go Pro pic is something that makes sense because it's from a golfer's perspective, not down the line or face on. Look how far right his head is turned and the butt of the shaft points at the inside of the ball on a 45 degree angle. That's the true slot and people have a hard time because they view it from a camera rather than their own eyes . I do agree with MM talking about the body reacts to what the hands and arms are doing but not the standing the shaft up. If I purposely try that I get very steep. Like I said, the feel may work for some but to say it's universal is incorrect.

[Hilts1969]

You would be amazed nowadays how many average golfers actually dump it under and have problems with a too inside out path.

I think the days of banana slices being the vast majority of problems are on the wane.

The malaska move was his usp and the problem was without the other parts it would definitely get people steep with the wrong transition both pivot and wrist angles. AMG did a good video where they show you can get shallow by pulling the hands down or steep with them out.

[hurley999s]

Just a couple thoughts here as an objective observer:

1) as has been discussed, with Malaska it is a feel - look at his swing or a students. He doesn’t actually do it. He’s in “the slot” as you mention

2) I would bet if you went for a lesson with Malaska and didn’t have an issue coming in too inside he wouldn’t recommend that feel for you.

3) Gankas doesn’t have a “method” and it certainly isn’t to leave the hands up *for all*. Like Malaska, it’s a feel designed for certain players who have a very specific issue. The problem with all of these is people ascribing various clips of certain elements and ascribing them as universal methods of a particular teacher. Gankas himself (if you ever took a legitimate lesson) says there’s many ways to do things, it’s all about how you match them up. There is no one method. I mean all you have to do is look at Wolf. Did Gankas change him? Do his other students all swing like him?

[mudge]

Yes, it's a "feel" with Malaska but he's on the record as saying it's a feel for everybody, which is just flat out wrong and a major source of my issues with how he teaches his concepts. He tends to leave a lot of his assumptions out. I agree with tthomasgolfer605 on this.

I'd beg to differ on Gankas. He doesn't have a cookie cutter method that he teaches all students, but he has his preferences just like any instructor. After all, he has an online video academy. Many of them are fairly well-known which is how or why he's known as having a "method". Look no further than the YouTube video he and Johnny Ruiz (his "model" golfer) did with Me and My Golf.

[tthomasgolfer605]

This is the best lesson you'll get right here.

[Golfjack]

Every instructor on YouTube has a signature feel. That's how they stand out. Difference is Malaska is a top teacher, and Jack Nicklaus would not hire somebody who doesn't know the swing. It's a feel, and it works. I wonder if the people dissing him have even tried it. It's just like Monte's no cast throw move. It doesn't make sense but when you do it it just works. What Malaskas teaches emphasizes on the positioning of your hands relative to you body (better connection), and Gankas goes for the rotation. You do get the really cool looking glutes showing at impact. I've tried both and do think the Malaskas way is easier on the body and more achievable for the masses.

Look at the video Cogorno did with Malaskas. Cogorno almost has to force Malaskas to acknowledge that what he's doing is basically the same as everyone else. It just doesn't sound as sexy when you are just all getting to the same place. He wants to make it sound like you are getting to a better place and the other ways are wrong, and that's what annoys people IMO. If you don't do what Malaskas says to bring the club forward, and just do the Gankas rotation, you're going to hit a push slice. IMO you also can't combine the two either though, since I think you'll be hitting snap hooks.

[mudge]

I have a hard time believing you think that every "feel" a golf teacher advocates is supposed to work for every golfer, no matter what. Not to mention you're arbitrarily comparing Malaska v Gankas, when there's millions of ways to swing a golf club.

[Hilts1969]

It's not a lesson so no it isn't.

[tthomasgolfer605]

You seem to have a problem with everything I post.

[tthomasgolfer605]

Any teacher that has several alignment sticks pointing down the target line doesn't know the golf swing.

[COACH9]

Many use them to train people's alignment. Visually many will feel aimed left or right when they are aligned square to the target. They absolutely have a use. To make that statement is rather ignorant in my opinion.

[mukster]

Well, this thread has been taken down the toilet.

Fin.

 

 

[tthomasgolfer605]

I've helped quite a few people get aimed correctly by developing a preshot routine and using it on every swing on the range instead of going through a large bucket with rapid fire. It makes them better golfers as well because it sets the actual rhythm they'll be using on the course.

[jdubba]

Feel vs real...

[kooch1221]

Not sure this video has been linked in this thread but see link below about Duval talked about a very similar concept to the Malaska move...

 

[COACH9]

Watched some stuff on Duval, dude had some serious rotation. He was practically facing target at impact. Like his swing from 99-01 era. Curious how body friendly it is with that rotation. Was trying my version of it at the range today. Produced just a tight little cut. Very little variance in the amount of fade. Definitely a playable shot.