Rocco Mediate's swing

[torbill]

The notion that readers should value an instructor on the basis of seeing his golf swing is bizarre. “I won’t believe your instruction until I see what your swing looks like.”… What?

 

We don’t want golf instruction where the teacher says “Watch how I do it”.  Good instruction is about the instructor having a keen eye for swing faults and finding ways to connect with the student with a solution, often to find a feel that gets the right things to happen.

 

What is the best way to find a competent physician?  Which medical school attended?  Board certification?  Years of experience?  And so forth?  No.  The best way is word of mouth - “where do people I know and trust go for a problem like mine?”

 

Ballard claims to have worked with over 300 tour pros in his time, including major champions such as Seve, Lyle, Strange, Sutton.  Either Ballard is a baldface liar or there have been a lot of tour pros who worked with him and were made better.  And I’ll guarantee that not a one of them worked with him so that they could watch him swing a golf club.

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by torbill

[Chazb]

15 hours ago, ggpro said:

Which writer ?

That was over twenty years ago and I knew the name at the time of him being a writer for some golf magazine but i can’t remember his name for the life of me now.

[orr444]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:34 AM, Chazb said:

That was over twenty years ago and I knew the name at the time of him being a writer for some golf magazine but i can’t remember his name for the life of me now.

Oh ok, doesnt matter anyway guy is a legend!

[Ayersjj]

On 11/3/2022 at 10:57 AM, torbill said:

The notion that readers should value an instructor on the basis of seeing his golf swing is bizarre. “I won’t believe your instruction until I see what your swing looks like.”… What?

 

We don’t want golf instruction where the teacher says “Watch how I do it”.  Good instruction is about the instructor having a keen eye for swing faults and finding ways to connect with the student with a solution, often to find a feel that gets the right things to happen.

 

What is the best way to find a competent physician?  Which medical school attended?  Board certification?  Years of experience?  And so forth?  No.  The best way is word of mouth - “where do people I know and trust go for a problem like mine?”

 

Ballard claims to have worked with over 300 tour pros in his time, including major champions such as Seve, Lyle, Strange, Sutton.  Either Ballard is a baldface liar or there have been a lot of tour pros who worked with him and were made better.  And I’ll guarantee that not a one of them worked with him so that they could watch him swing a golf club.

 

JT high right hip. Ballard likes 👍 then release the toe of club down the line. Alot of todays players are shut and rotating instead. Ask Zaltoris how that works with the lower back!

[torbill]

JJ, yes!

 

Can’t remember if I’ve posted this in thie past, so here goes:

I learned the golf swing mostly from reading Jack’s book, Golf My Way.  After many years I decided that Jack can golf that way, but I can’t.  I found a video by Watson that covered some of my frustrations with trying to do Jack.  Look at the first minute and a half and his over-the-top move.  No lower body action, just a huge over the top move.

I don’t follow Watson’s methods, but I do his “over-the-top” drill when my back hip is going low.  I take a few practice swings like he does, then go.

 

Look at his right hip with his Jack move.  Then look at it with over the top.  Right hip has to stay high in order to do the move.  Combine it with correct lower body action and you get a proper golf swing - no over the top move - and the right hip does not go low.  

 

I follow Ballard’s methods religiously, but if I can find a feel that is consistent with his methods and comes from somebody else I try it.  I see Watson’s over the top feel as totally consistent with Ballard’s teachings:

 

 

[Ayersjj]

On 1/14/2023 at 2:18 PM, torbill said:

JJ, yes!

 

Can’t remember if I’ve posted this in thie past, so here goes:

I learned the golf swing mostly from reading Jack’s book, Golf My Way.  After many years I decided that Jack can golf that way, but I can’t.  I found a video by Watson that covered some of my frustrations with trying to do Jack.  Look at the first minute and a half and his over-the-top move.  No lower body action, just a huge over the top move.

I don’t follow Watson’s methods, but I do his “over-the-top” drill when my back hip is going low.  I take a few practice swings like he does, then go.

 

Look at his right hip with his Jack move.  Then look at it with over the top.  Right hip has to stay high in order to do the move.  Combine it with correct lower body action and you get a proper golf swing - no over the top move - and the right hip does not go low.  

 

I follow Ballard’s methods religiously, but if I can find a feel that is consistent with his methods and comes from somebody else I try it.  I see Watson’s over the top feel as totally consistent with Ballard’s teachings:

 

 

Watson has a great article call the power move which is keeping that right shoulder high. 
 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.golfdigest.com/story/watson-powerkey/amp

[jrryan]

Hey fellas I could use some help here. I reincorporated the Jimmy Ballard Swing last summer and hit the ball great and felt consistent compression for the first time in a while.  Thats even with the ball up in my stance with my irons, in May I injured my Rotator Cuff which I had surgery on 9 years ago (my right shoulder,  I am a lefty).  I have found most of the summer that I have become a sweeper with my irons causing me to be 1 to 1 1/2 clubs shorter in distance. I got so wrapped up into Jimmys stuff that I feel like I am trying to do it to perfectly. When I did his method before  I used to hit the ball a long long way now I feel like I am trying to keep the club too much in front of me instead of loading it a little bit around me like I used to.  Has anyone else out there experienced the slightly thins and fat iron shots. My guess would be that I might be hanging back a little too much or using my lead arm by pulling it down to initiate my downswing or even coming up out of my posture by trying to be Up to Hit Down as Jimmy preaches. I am almost afraid to video my swing in fear of what I might see, lol. If any of you guys have experienced I would love to hear from ya.

 

thanks fellas

[torbill]

Sounds to me as though you have a good diagnosis, not getting to your right side quickly enough (I’m left-handed too) - loss of distance, thin/fat shots, sweeping when you’ve not done so in the past.  Ballard always says “you have to go to your left in order to go to your right” (lefty talk, love it, tired of all this right-handed commentary, lol).  I might start by looking there, were I you, making sure I get a good coil into my left side.  

 

Not sure that I’d worry about sweeping short irons if it still happens once you have solid contact.  There are some days when I do that and play good golf and the ball spins fine - I chalk it up to amateur inconsistency.  Tiny variations in my spine angle setup seem to dictate that…?  I’ve never been one to consciously try to hit down.  I try to set up with my spine just like Ballard wants for all normal shots, and keep it in that orientation through the swing.  Sometimes when I’m playing bad golf I feel as though I’m moving off the ball too much.  When I feel that I try to set up by dropping my right shoulder a bit (love this lefty talk), which make it feel as though I’m tilted forward.  In reality I bet that I’m not tilted toward the target or I’d be hitting pull hooks.  

 

Is your shoulder pain resolved?  If not, that’s going to cause a change in swing mechanics, at least subconsciously.  

[jrryan]

Thanks Torbill for getting back to me Bro. I have also taught this Ballard Theory since 1981 and have had 7 of my students get U S Scholarships.  I taught them my version of the Ballard Connection Method, load the Right Shoulder over the left knee and the Fire Your Left Side or Slam the Door Shut (Lefty Talk).  Your lead leg is the door jam and the left side of your body is the door.  I find this time around that I have been trying to much to keep my arms in front of me both going back and through the ball, that leads to not much energy or power here in this swing.  So I think I am going to go back to doing it my way in th near future and swinging my arms around me a little deeper and slightly flatter.  Then when I unwind my body my arms and club will come whipping through the impact zone with tremendous speed.  All while focusing on keeping both elbows pointing down.  Let me know what you think Torbs

[torbill]

The thing that Ballard likes to talk about is keeping the club shaft centered on the body waist high to waist high - one piece takeaway, which prevents an arm swing.  That makes sense.  He also hates stiff right arm (lefty here) and tension, let it fold at the elbow if you want.  This of course is against what everybody has been taught forever - width/radius/whatever - which I think is an idea that is unsupportable on the basis of mechanical principles. Get your body coiled to the max and there is only one radius that counts and that’s the distance from your chest to the ball at impact.  If that radius is wrong, you fan on it.  Otherwise centrifugal force handles the situation.  And this isn’t much different from what you have written - get a good coil and swing with elbows down and Physics 101 will take care of the rest.  Go for it.       

[jrryan]

Thanks Torbill for getting back to me Bro. I have also taught this Ballard Theory since 1981 and have had 7 of my students get U S Scholarships.  I taught them my version of the Ballard Connection Method, load the Right Shoulder over the left knee and the Fire Your Left Side or Slam the Door Shut (Lefty Talk).  Your lead leg is the door jam and the left side of your body is the door.  I find this time around that I have been trying to much to keep my arms in front of me both going back and through the ball, that leads to not much energy or power here in this swing.  So I think I am going to go back to doing it my way in th near future and swinging my arms around me a little deeper and slightly flatter.  Then when I unwind my body my arms and club will come whipping through the impact zone with tremendous speed.  All while focusing on keeping both elbows pointing down.  Let me know what you think Torbs

[jrryan]

Oh for sure the butt of the club pointing to Center is definitely a must, pointing there up to the half way back on the backswing and back again at Impact and thru to the half way point of the follow through.  You asked about my shoulder that I injured, some of my Golfing Buddies thought that I was kind of Compensating to protect it.  Going to the Range and then playing tomorrow, I am going to try loading deeper in my backswing like I used to and see what happens Torbs. I look at Hogan, Snead and even Rocco they are coiled deeper than the blueprint for Ballards backswing. I do bend my right arm slightly at the elbow in my backswing as I dont have the flexibility that I used to have. Lol  And if I find that I am getting to flat I will go home and set up with my butt against a wall and avoid hitting the wall with my club in the backswing.  

[mocokid]

On 9/3/2023 at 5:12 PM, jrryan said:

Thanks Torbill for getting back to me Bro. I have also taught this Ballard Theory since 1981 and have had 7 of my students get U S Scholarships.  I taught them my version of the Ballard Connection Method, load the Right Shoulder over the left knee and the Fire Your Left Side or Slam the Door Shut (Lefty Talk).  Your lead leg is the door jam and the left side of your body is the door.  I find this time around that I have been trying to much to keep my arms in front of me both going back and through the ball, that leads to not much energy or power here in this swing.  So I think I am going to go back to doing it my way in th near future and swinging my arms around me a little deeper and slightly flatter.  Then when I unwind my body my arms and club will come whipping through the impact zone with tremendous speed.  All while focusing on keeping both elbows pointing down.  Let me know what you think Torbs

Where do you teach? Interested,  thanks.