Tour Striker

[dukeman]

I have found that trying to hit the ball with the top edge of my tour striker (or having that feeling) helps me.

Is that a common sensation or just something bizarre?

I'd appreciate hearing about other feelings/thoughts that people use to improve with the tour striker.

[bath4golf]

[quote name='nickrut' timestamp='1300368001' post='3063321']
Good stuff, I'll see if I can watch the video again as I missed that. Trying to just become more conscious of that lag feeling.

Hopefully Jeff is okay, I just know people are getting annoyed in that thread as they paid a month or two ago and haven't heard anythig.


[/quote]

I have an extra new PBS that I never used if you are interested - pm me . . . .

[boston blackie]

I got the TS last fall and have been hitting into a net all winter. Lately, for some reason, my hand and glove are turning black after a practice session. I am assuming the cause relates to the composition of the grip on the club. I'm wondering if anyone else is having a similar problem.

[Cwing]

What are the advanages of the TS SW? Is it used for full shots or around the green? Why owuld anyone need both the SW an one of the irons?

[bath4golf]

[quote name='dukeman' timestamp='1300479034' post='3067321']
I have found that trying to hit the ball with the top edge of my tour striker (or having that feeling) helps me.

Is that a common sensation or just something bizarre?

I'd appreciate hearing about other feelings/thoughts that people use to improve with the tour striker.
[/quote]

Do you mean imagining the feeling of having so much shaft lean/lag that you actually strike the ball off the top grooves of the face? hmmmm....sounds like a good idea - i'll try it.

[bath4golf]

[quote name='Cwing' timestamp='1300492356' post='3067798']
What are the advanages of the TS SW? Is it used for full shots or around the green? Why owuld anyone need both the SW an one of the irons?
[/quote]

I have both the wedge and the TS pro 7i . . . . . the wedge is a little easier and it also is great for practicing chips and pitch shots . . . . I can hit the TS SW from 100 yds down to 10 yd pitch shots because it helps in grain that lag feel. For some reason - possibly the weight of the TS wedge - I can lag it better and helps me really feel the difference of a lag swing versus a handsy/armsy swing. I really feel that my confidence with the TS wedge is not only going to improve my short game but also improve all my short iron shots - 8,9, and wedges.

Here's a great drill i use with the TS Wedge:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydJZ9bFQQ24&feature=related[/media]

[Cmartingolf]

[quote name='boston blackie' timestamp='1300483450' post='3067477']
I got the TS last fall and have been hitting into a net all winter. Lately, for some reason, my hand and glove are turning black after a practice session. I am assuming the cause relates to the composition of the grip on the club. I'm wondering if anyone else is having a similar problem.
[/quote]

I haven't heard that before? The grips are decent, but they do oxidize fairly quickly if you don't wipe them off with a warm wet cloth. I've regripped my practice 7x and 56 clubs.

[ekimox]

I'm sorry if this has been answered already but I'm going to order one of the Pro models. Do you reccomend the 7 or the 5 iron? I'm a pretty decent ball striker already but I really want to get HDCP down this year. What do you guys recommend? I'm leaning toward the 5 iron. Thoughts? Cheers.

[JohnnyNight]

Chuck,

I got the Tour Striker Pro 7 a number of months ago, beautiful club.

As much as anything else though, your swing videos are among the best I've ever seen.

One simple thought you mentioned which has helped me, is pivoting around the right leg on
the backswing and pivoting around the left leg on the downswing.

What I would like to ask if you could clarify is, what are the concious moves do you make throughout
the downswing with your body to pivot around the left leg and carry the club into the ball?

Are there several moves you make with your body to get the great contact that you have?

Thanks

[Cwing]

[quote name='bath4golf' timestamp='1300500119' post='3068074']
[quote name='Cwing' timestamp='1300492356' post='3067798']
What are the advanages of the TS SW? Is it used for full shots or around the green? Why owuld anyone need both the SW an one of the irons?
[/quote]

I have both the wedge and the TS pro 7i . . . . . the wedge is a little easier and it also is great for practicing chips and pitch shots . . . . I can hit the TS SW from 100 yds down to 10 yd pitch shots because it helps in grain that lag feel. For some reason - possibly the weight of the TS wedge - I can lag it better and helps me really feel the difference of a lag swing versus a handsy/armsy swing. I really feel that my confidence with the TS wedge is not only going to improve my short game but also improve all my short iron shots - 8,9, and wedges.

Here's a great drill i use with the TS Wedge:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydJZ9bFQQ24&feature=related[/media]
[/quote]


Bummer ----------- I was hoping for. "If you've got one, you don't need the other". Sounds like I may be picking up the SW. I don't practice nearly enough but I live on a quiet par 3. Sounds like you are telling me that aTS Sw around the greens in the evenings may reduce my handy by a bunch...............

[Cmartingolf]

[quote name='JohnnyNight ' timestamp='1300540159' post='3068818']
Chuck,

I got the Tour Striker Pro 7 a number of months ago, beautiful club.

As much as anything else though, your swing videos are among the best I've ever seen.

One simple thought you mentioned which has helped me, is pivoting around the right leg on
the backswing and pivoting around the left leg on the downswing.

What I would like to ask if you could clarify is, what are the concious moves do you make throughout
the downswing with your body to pivot around the left leg and carry the club into the ball?

Are there several moves you make with your body to get the great contact that you have?

Thanks
[/quote]

I'll try and make it clear. When you gain some mastery of something, often, actions fade away and you don't even know you do it. I remember asking George Knudson when I was just 9 or 10. He thought the game was SOOOO easy as he pured shot after shot. Clearly, he made an athletic action that had a lot going on, but to him it was a "simple" move:)

Here's my feelings of what to do in the downswing.

1. Don't move way off the ball. I'm a "coil around the center" guy. I don't think the weight stays left, while it certainly can, but I think the mass of your chest cavity rotating naturally puts some weight pressure into your right foot. You don't need to move around your head much to do this. If you have a neck mobility issue, move all you like. I didn't say keep your head still:)

2. I feel like I "step on my left foot," to quote my friend Brian Manzella. That "step" initiates the chain reaction of my body sequence. All that means nothing if you don't know what your hands are doing. What I mean by that: you have the opportunity to assemble the hinge (wrists/arms/club). You can do it half hazard and without much thought or, like George, you can think about it, train it in and then forget about it:)

Anyway, back to the step...

When you step, you have .25 - .4 seconds to do the next step right.

3. Aim and thrust: you can feel what is going on during the transition (or that should be a goal anyway). The club will resist changing direction. That is "LAG." I want you to AIM and THRUST that feeling to a point that smashes the ball. We are aiming the hands, not the club head. That mystical "point" is something you will have to feel on your own. It is not the "eye to ball line" for most. It is way left of that and everyone is different.

4. All the aiming and thrusting is for not if the clubface will not work or be squar-ish at impact. If you have a poor grip and I'm sorry to say, that statistically, it is highly likely that you do and don't even know it, the aiming and thrusting won't happen because you won't let yourself deliver a open or closed face any you'll find a way to fix it with your hands.

5. Assuming you have assembled the arms/hands/club relationship correctly, then you can "aim and thrust" away and let the club overtake the left arm after impact.

6. As far as how I use my arms and drop this and turn that:

a. my eyes are on the ball
b. my mind is in my hands (feeling the club)
c. I step on my left foot
d. I swing as left as I can
e. I enjoy the shot from the best seat in the house.

I know, that sounds like George a little over simplifiying...

Here's what I would do if I was you.

I alway tell my students to work through things in "slo-mo" to feel the moves and gain certainty of the action. Most don't do it at all. The best in the world do it a lot!

Understand your parallels. First one back when the club is parellel to the target line and the club is over your toes (give or take), maybe the top, maybe not, depending on your flexibility, parallel before impact, after impact and finish swivel.

You should "Miyagi" this until you know the shape of your swing.

Gotta go, kids are all over me.

[dukeman]

I guess it would have the same effect, but I think about hitting the ball with the top of the blade...not the grooved area but the actual top line of the club.

[quote name='bath4golf' timestamp='1300499218' post='3068041']
[quote name='dukeman' timestamp='1300479034' post='3067321']
I have found that trying to hit the ball with the top edge of my tour striker (or having that feeling) helps me.

Is that a common sensation or just something bizarre?

I'd appreciate hearing about other feelings/thoughts that people use to improve with the tour striker.
[/quote]

Do you mean imagining the feeling of having so much shaft lean/lag that you actually strike the ball off the top grooves of the face? hmmmm....sounds like a good idea - i'll try it.
[/quote]

[golfdu]

Martin, as I was trying to buy the left handed Pro version of Tour Striker (not the X version btw), the Tour Striker website says they're out of stock (the steel shaft stiff flex). Is that true? If so, when will they be back in stock again? I'm not buying it from In The Hole Golf website, as they charge an extra $15 than the Tour Striker website.

[Cmartingolf]

[quote name='golfdu' timestamp='1300568046' post='3069697']
Martin, as I was trying to buy the left handed Pro version of Tour Striker (not the X version btw), the Tour Striker website says they're out of stock (the steel shaft stiff flex). Is that true? If so, when will they be back in stock again? I'm not buying it from In The Hole Golf website, as they charge an extra $15 than the Tour Striker website.
[/quote]

Sorry Frankie, we've ran out of a few models. We will have them ready to ship in a week. Thanks for your patience. I don't mind if you buy it from a retailer, but I'll give you better service if you need something.

Thanks,

MC

[Cmartingolf]

[quote name='dukeman' timestamp='1300566265' post='3069641']
I guess it would have the same effect, but I think about hitting the ball with the top of the blade...not the grooved area but the actual top line of the club.

[quote name='bath4golf' timestamp='1300499218' post='3068041']
[quote name='dukeman' timestamp='1300479034' post='3067321']
I have found that trying to hit the ball with the top edge of my tour striker (or having that feeling) helps me.

Is that a common sensation or just something bizarre?

I'd appreciate hearing about other feelings/thoughts that people use to improve with the tour striker.
[/quote]

Do you mean imagining the feeling of having so much shaft lean/lag that you actually strike the ball off the top grooves of the face? hmmmm....sounds like a good idea - i'll try it.
[/quote]
[/quote]


Whatever gets it done! I like that thought. That will provide lean and a downward strike! Shhhh...don't tell anyone, they won't buy a Tour Striker:)

[golfdu]

[quote name='Cmartingolf' timestamp='1300572356' post='3069822']
[quote name='golfdu' timestamp='1300568046' post='3069697']
Martin, as I was trying to buy the left handed Pro version of Tour Striker (not the X version btw), the Tour Striker website says they're out of stock (the steel shaft stiff flex). Is that true? If so, when will they be back in stock again? I'm not buying it from In The Hole Golf website, as they charge an extra $15 than the Tour Striker website.
[/quote]

Sorry Frankie, we've ran out of a few models. We will have them ready to ship in a week. Thanks for your patience. I don't mind if you buy it from a retailer, but I'll give you better service if you need something.

Thanks,

MC
[/quote]

It's okay Martin (I think I'll call you Mr. Chuck because I like to be a mature golfer), I can wait, thank you for informing me.

[bath4golf]

[quote name='dukeman' timestamp='1300566265' post='3069641']
I guess it would have the same effect, but I think about hitting the ball with the top of the blade...not the grooved area but the actual top line of the club.

[quote name='bath4golf' timestamp='1300499218' post='3068041']
[quote name='dukeman' timestamp='1300479034' post='3067321']
I have found that trying to hit the ball with the top edge of my tour striker (or having that feeling) helps me.

Is that a common sensation or just something bizarre?

I'd appreciate hearing about other feelings/thoughts that people use to improve with the tour striker.
[/quote]

Do you mean imagining the feeling of having so much shaft lean/lag that you actually strike the ball off the top grooves of the face? hmmmm....sounds like a good idea - i'll try it.
[/quote]
[/quote]


I like the image duke - i tried it and it works . . . . the drill videa i posted above works great too.

[ekimox]

So should I go with the 7i Pro or the 5i Pro?

[JohnnyNight]

[quote name='Cmartingolf' timestamp='1300556300' post='3069342']
[quote name='JohnnyNight ' timestamp='1300540159' post='3068818']
Chuck,

I got the Tour Striker Pro 7 a number of months ago, beautiful club.

As much as anything else though, your swing videos are among the best I've ever seen.

One simple thought you mentioned which has helped me, is pivoting around the right leg on
the backswing and pivoting around the left leg on the downswing.

What I would like to ask if you could clarify is, what are the concious moves do you make throughout
the downswing with your body to pivot around the left leg and carry the club into the ball?

Are there several moves you make with your body to get the great contact that you have?

Thanks
[/quote]

I'll try and make it clear. When you gain some mastery of something, often, actions fade away and you don't even know you do it. I remember asking George Knudson when I was just 9 or 10. He thought the game was SOOOO easy as he pured shot after shot. Clearly, he made an athletic action that had a lot going on, but to him it was a "simple" move:)

Here's my feelings of what to do in the downswing.

1. Don't move way off the ball. I'm a "coil around the center" guy. I don't think the weight stays left, while it certainly can, but I think the mass of your chest cavity rotating naturally puts some weight pressure into your right foot. You don't need to move around your head much to do this. If you have a neck mobility issue, move all you like. I didn't say keep your head still:)

2. I feel like I "step on my left foot," to quote my friend Brian Manzella. That "step" initiates the chain reaction of my body sequence. All that means nothing if you don't know what your hands are doing. What I mean by that: you have the opportunity to assemble the hinge (wrists/arms/club). You can do it half hazard and without much thought or, like George, you can think about it, train it in and then forget about it:)

Anyway, back to the step...

When you step, you have .25 - .4 seconds to do the next step right.

3. Aim and thrust: you can feel what is going on during the transition (or that should be a goal anyway). The club will resist changing direction. That is "LAG." I want you to AIM and THRUST that feeling to a point that smashes the ball. We are aiming the hands, not the club head. That mystical "point" is something you will have to feel on your own. It is not the "eye to ball line" for most. It is way left of that and everyone is different.

4. All the aiming and thrusting is for not if the clubface will not work or be squar-ish at impact. If you have a poor grip and I'm sorry to say, that statistically, it is highly likely that you do and don't even know it, the aiming and thrusting won't happen because you won't let yourself deliver a open or closed face any you'll find a way to fix it with your hands.

5. Assuming you have assembled the arms/hands/club relationship correctly, then you can "aim and thrust" away and let the club overtake the left arm after impact.

6. As far as how I use my arms and drop this and turn that:

a. my eyes are on the ball
b. my mind is in my hands (feeling the club)
c. I step on my left foot
d. I swing as left as I can
e. I enjoy the shot from the best seat in the house.

I know, that sounds like George a little over simplifiying...

Here's what I would do if I was you.

I alway tell my students to work through things in "slo-mo" to feel the moves and gain certainty of the action. Most don't do it at all. The best in the world do it a lot!

Understand your parallels. First one back when the club is parellel to the target line and the club is over your toes (give or take), maybe the top, maybe not, depending on your flexibility, parallel before impact, after impact and finish swivel.

You should "Miyagi" this until you know the shape of your swing.

Gotta go, kids are all over me.






[/quote]

Chuck,

I didn't know till just recently when I went back to the tourstriker.com web site and saw you had the dvd about George Knudson that you were a student of his. That is pretty wild.

When I starting playing again about 4 years ago after not playing since high school, which is a few years back, the George Knudson book on the Natural Golf swing was the first one I bought. I have to say, what you have mentioned about staying centered which along with what George said was to feel the centrifugal force of the club moving around your body produced for me the best iron shots I have hit, even now 4 years later.

So started getting back into that today at the range even before I have now read your answer, and really had the best contact with my iron shots I've had in a while.

The one problem I had with George's swing was his bringing the left foot off the ground. In his book he says that's how he initiated the down swing. I just couldn't get a consistent way of doing that.

You say though you press down on the left foot, but you don't bring it off the ground the way George did in the back swing. So that is interesting that you still use the left foot thought as a key to start the downswing, just not as exaggerated as George did.

[Cmartingolf]

I'd say it was the late 80's with Leadbetter was doing wonders with Faldo and David Frost, to name a couple of guys. He was the guy, imo, that got people planting their left foot on the ground.

George died when I was a freshman in College. I knew him from the time I was nine years old and got to work for him for three summers, until he passed. We were pretty close as far as mentor and student go.

He said in his book and I heard if from his lips many times that the only thing that doesn't move in the golf swing is the big toe on the left foot. While that is pretty close, I still think that moves:)

George was awesome and he sure could get sheer rookies moving the club and enjoying the game in a short period of time. He kept if very simple and did not utter any serious mechanic. I can remember a couple of times, during my years with him where he would do something out of the "natural" and get me to strengthen my grip or swing more left or right, but it was always kept simple.

Back to the left foot. I think you can do whatever you want to with your left foot. I generally keep mine on the ground. Actually, I don't really think about my left food:)

I do feel my weight fall onto my left foot and that allows me to have some "Pivot Burst" a phrase I like to use (you heard it here first, at least I think it is an original phrase, but I've studied and read so much about others teachings, that it may have sunk in w/out me knowing it).

Anyway, thanks for the the note. The NGS is a great book. I wish George was still alive. I know we'd have some healthy debates. He'd throw down some balls and flush it and say, "see!"

[mcmski]

[quote name='Cmartingolf' timestamp='1300556300' post='3069342']

d. I swing as left as I can

[/quote]
Is that down the target line or in a circular motion?

[golfdu]

Mr. Chuck, can I be an affiliate for your Tour Striker? I think I just discovered how to put your products on Google Adwords for free, but I'm not telling (secret: one of your relatives might work high up in the Google industry ). So can you accept my request for promoting your Tour Striker?

[SPY ZINGER]

Just placed an order this AM!

[Jacob Mac]

I was working with my TS SW yesterday and I have a question. My right leg is all over the place, it sways quite a bit. Is it advisable to slightly flex my right leg and make it fairly firm during my swing? Is that what is meant by a "braced right leg"? I know I am turning over my right leg, confirmed by video, so what is the proper way to fix it?

[Angleiron]

Hi,

I am going to guess that the 7 Pro is the way to go for someone to learn the proper way to strike the ball? I was just fitted, and found that I need a +.5 on the shaft length, but I am pretty bummed to see such a large upshot on the price for a shaft that is 1/2" longer ($25 is a lot for an extra 1/2" of steel shaft) . Can an insert be used to lengthen the shaft the extra 1/2"? I need to change the grip anyway as I need a 1/8" oversize.

[Flying Dutchman]

Hi Martin and GolfWRX members,

Ordered the 7 Pro and it got delivered within 3 days, great job. Standard everything and stiff steel shaft (same as my normal irons). Practiced a few times in the basement with some duct tape on the face and after some practice was able to hit the bal on the second groove....

This morning took it to the range and found some tight lies.... A little bit more difficult then on the mat at home but was still able to get the ball airborne... But I was hooking everything!

Now my normal ball flight is a nice right to left draw. My misses (especially with the driver if I try and crush it) is a violent hook... But with the TS is was hooking every shot! Alternating with my normal irons to check if it was me or the club. Normal irons: slight draw, TS; hook.

Any explanation? Is it because I am trying to hit the TS too much as opposed to swinging the club? Any other folks have the same experience>

Thanks!

Flying Dutchman (15 hcp)

[Cwing]

Is the dvd and drills different with the SW compared to the others?

[Cmartingolf]

[quote name='mcmski' timestamp='1300601853' post='3070893']
[quote name='Cmartingolf' timestamp='1300556300' post='3069342']
d. I swing as left as I can

[/quote]
Is that down the target line or in a circular motion?
[/quote]

That is the feel I need so I don't get too inside out. It is in relation to the target line. I don't feel like I swing down the line at all and I certainly don't feel like I swing out to the right.

Again, feels.

Most professional golfers go at the ball pretty hard even if it looks balanced. It is pretty easy for the mass of the club to "get stuck." Thus, the feeling of swinging left helps sequence the total motion so things are more on a successful target/path relationship.

[Cmartingolf]

[quote name='golfdu' timestamp='1300606011' post='3070955']
Mr. Chuck, can I be an affiliate for your Tour Striker? I think I just discovered how to put your products on Google Adwords for free, but I'm not telling (secret: one of your relatives might work high up in the Google industry ). So can you accept my request for promoting your Tour Striker?
[/quote]

Frankie, you need a website in order to be an affiliate. I appreciate your entrepreneurial spirit though!

[Cmartingolf]

[quote name='Jacob Mac' timestamp='1300637127' post='3071451']
I was working with my TS SW yesterday and I have a question. My right leg is all over the place, it sways quite a bit. Is it advisable to slightly flex my right leg and make it fairly firm during my swing? Is that what is meant by a "braced right leg"? I know I am turning over my right leg, confirmed by video, so what is the proper way to fix it?
[/quote]

Depends what camp you come from.

Personally, I don't mind if the right leg straightens a bit during the backswing.

Now, "moving all over the place?" That concerns me as it usually means that your aren't rotating around the right post, but rather swaying onto the outside of the right foot. A shaft or dowel stuck in the ground outside the right leg (matching slant) will help you.