The Arm Swing Illusion / Jim Waldron's Swing Philosophy

[Jim Waldron]

What you don't want is that contaminated, "am I doing it right or wrong" over-thinking mindset, during a golf shot. You dont want to be "directing" how a body part moves in either internal auditory or visual channel, which be definition are always from second or third person perspective. In the studies you mentioned, it seems pretty clear that the "internal focus group" were doing exactly that.

 

Which makes the body flinch to some degree. Which creates the bad shots.

 

With "external focus" your mind is free from "thinking about the body mechanics" which creates a stronger brain-mind/body connection, trust in your subconscious mind to be in charge of your body mechanics - as it should be! - and thus better golf shots.

 

To perform your best in any motor skill, you need to be acting from first person perspective, and NOT "trying" or "directing" the body in any way through conscious effort or thought.

 

The problem is, the way golf evolved as a sport, and was and still is taught, was all about conscious mind telling the body what to do or not do. It's a dysfunctional culture and set of basic beliefs about how to learn, train and perform.

 

One of my main points was that certain skills are by their very nature geared toward much more effective learning in primarily just one of those three main sensory channels: feel, visual and auditory.

 

Imagine if you showed up for the first day of math class, and the teacher told you and the rest of the class to "close your eyes, and do not talk to yourself in your head. Now I want you to feel this theorem."

 

Theorems by their very nature are visual. Music is auditory (with some strong secondary feel). Sports body motions are geared toward Feel by their very nature.

 

Most average golfers approach learning the golf swing mainly if not entirely through internal visual or auditory processing. Its a tool that simply does not fit with the job you are trying to do.

[ofortuna]

Thanks for the great questions rteach1 and the in depth answers Jim! I especially liked your comments about "fantasizing" about where the clubhead is in space during a golf swing instead of living in feel channel. Sometimes feel is real.

[Jim Waldron]

Thanks for the great questions rteach1 and the in depth answers Jim! I especially liked your comments about "fantasizing" about where the clubhead is in space during a golf swing instead of living in feel channel. Sometimes feel is real.

 

Yes - sometimes feel is real IF you have taken the time to train it to give you more accurate feedback. And in any case, if your mind is engaged in internal auditory (talking to your body parts) or internal visual (picturing what you want your body to do) there is ZERO chance of you knowing what your body is actually doing, because in both cases your mind is paying attention to symbols - the voice or the picture - and thus NOT paying attention to the reality that the symbol is pointing to - your real body.

 

The sad truth is that in golf, most average golfers struggle a lot with the learning process because they seldom or even never engage their mind with the actual reality of their body motion. They have an idealized fantasy in their head of what "should" be happening with their body and club, and just can't understand why the golf ball is going so short and crooked, in spite of that Ideal in their head. Creates a ton of frustration!

 

Over my years in coaching, I always take the opportunity to ask the two extreme types of my students how and where they are engaging their mind: the guys/gals who can very quickly make swing changes and the students who really struggle with those same changes. What I discovered - without a single exception - is that the students who "get it" quickly and easily all have a highly developed sense of Feel, specificially how their body is moving in space, and the students who struggle are picturing what I what their body to do or talking to that body part.

[kiwihacker]

I just stumbled upon this thread yesterday and I'm sure glad I did. I've been playing about 11 years and have been as low as an 11 handicap in the past but have been struggling the past two years and have blown out to about an 18 index. Anyway, long story short I haven't broken 90 in months and shot a messy 93 on Saturday. I was reading WRX (normally just read the Equipment forum) but I decided to have a look at the Instruction forum. After watching the introduction video I grabbed a club and started trying the push away technique. I have always had trouble with my arms folding across my chest and getting too far behind me resulting in a steep, over the top move that I get away with with my irons (huge divots) but lead to huge slices with the driver and just general inconsistency. After seeing the 45° push away technique I went out yesterday and shot 85! Would have been better but for a poor chip on one hole and a three putt (from handy position) on the final hole. It just made so much sense and felt natural immediately. I'm looking forward to heading out tonight to see if it works as well second time out. I certainly hope so. :)

[kiwihacker]

Ok second time out and equally successful if not moreso. Shot 86 tonight with 3 great birdie attempts. Only made one from three birdie attempts but I can often go weeks on end without so much as a sniff at birdie. Also missed several short par putts so if the putter had been on song might have shot low eighties tonight. The score is only part of the story though, I am hitting the ball so much better with my full swing that it is making golf fun again. The past six months have been nothing but inconsistency and frustration. Hacking it around the course hitting great shots from time to time but knowing that an awful, wild, errant shot leading to a double or triple bogie is just around the corner.

 

The Arm Swing Illusion is certainly working for me. :)

[Milkers]

This is a really interesting discussion about motor skill acquisition. Here's a question, if you took the top 100 golfers in the world what % of them learned their swing via a method similar to Jim's focus on correct body movements, slow motion mirror training etc. (internal) vs external focus on the club swinging or something along those lines. Would that answer change if we precluded the hyper-talented pros (freaks) and asked the same question about the average scratch golfer? I really believe in so much of what Jim says yet if I'm going to be honest I will admit to having a nagging doubt that it is how the majority of really good golfers learned how to play.

[Milkers]

I also want to add that I think there is quite a difference in learning a martial art where the precise movement of the body is everything vs a sport with a ball and target (nevermind a ball and a club/bat/stick) where precise control of the ball is the key. For example, I don't know of any soccer player who learned how to take a penalty kick via slow motion mirror work etc.

[Jim Waldron]

I also want to add that I think there is quite a difference in learning a martial art where the precise movement of the body is everything vs a sport with a ball and target (nevermind a ball and a club/bat/stick) where precise control of the ball is the key. For example, I don't know of any soccer player who learned how to take a penalty kick via slow motion mirror work etc.

 

No one - especially me - is saying that you can learn a great golf swing using ONLY slow motion mirror work. See my comment above to R. You need tons of full speed dynamic practice to get good at ballstriking.

 

The difference is that at full speed, you are not trying to "think your way" to better moving body part mechanics.

 

Simple fact is that your thinking mind does not have precision control over high speed moving parts - in ANY sport. That is not my opinion, it is a fact, and easily proven. Just watch any golf lesson where the teacher is trying to get a new student to implement a precise change in say how the left arm works in the backswing. Let's say the student is suffering from arm "run off", ie arms collapse at the Top and move into the body and around the body, ie "stuck". The teacher shows the student on video what is happening and why it is is a flaw. Student says he understands where his arms should be in a proper Top position. Student then pictures the proper Top position, or "tells" his arms to stop collapsing. He takes a swing at a ball while doing that - and what happens? No change....at all. Happens everyday on lesson tees all over the planet.

 

I have new students try to "reverse tie" their shoelaces as another way of showing them this concept. Most take a long time to finish tying the laces, since they simply do not have an established habit pattern for tying them in this new way.

 

And the Russian tennis academies do use slow motion training to ingrain proper body mechanics, and they do use a tool (racket) to control the ball and where it goes. And Asian martial arts also use "tools" (weapons).

Point being that the body motion - from an objective viewpoint - ALWAYS controls how the "tool" moves. A golf club, tennis racket or samurai sword is a passive object held in the hands. How your entire body moves creates energy/forces that move the club. Your conscious mind does not directly cause the golf club to move - although apparently there are some golfers who still tend to believe in this myth!

 

Think of slow motion training as a way to learn the basic Template for how moving body parts behave in the swing. You then refine that pattern later on with full speed training.

 

I never claimed that the worlds top golfers - or a majority of them - learned their swing using this slow mo method. Not sure where you got that idea. Most of today's younger PGA Tour pros took up the game as little kids, and also took a ton of formal lessons from an early age. No doubt some (likely many) used slow mo training, but no way to know what percentage. Does not matter in any case. We are talking about a method for learning motor skills, and even if not a single one of those pros never spent a single minute doing slow mo work, that would not in any way weaken the case for slow mo training. I do know that many tour pros I have spoken with about this - as well as others in the golf media - have told me that they do slow mo mirror work when doing a swing change. Hogan was one of the first to do so, Snead did, and of course Tiger is the most famous advocate of slow mo training.

 

Sounds like the skeptics want to know - but does it really work? Oh - I don't know, several thousand of my golf school graduates since 1995 who did formal slow motion training would say "Absolutely!". The South Korean golf program is taking beginners and turning them into tour pro level golf swings in "less than two years" is I think the qoute from Tiger from a few years ago. One of my assistant coaches started as a regular student in 2001, and his handicap went from a 32 to a 12 in less than one year, and he tells every school he works at that the main reason for his fast improvement was slow mo mirror work. He got down to a 6 index by the end of his second year.

 

Guys, guess what? It has already been proven to work! I know it's fun to hang out in golf forums and theorize and speculate about this swing concept or that swing concept....but IF you really want to learn an effective golf swing, why are you not standing in front of a mirror right now? Try it for a month working on just one swing segment - lets say Takeaway, since that is the first of the six segments.

[rteach1]

I'm not sure where this fits into the discussion, but here are two examples of what I am thinking:

 

1. I recently watched a lengthy video done by an obviously very knowledgeable instructor. In discussing the backswing and transition, he talked about pronating this and supinating that. He talked about internally rotating this and externally rotating that. He talked about angles and inches of various body parts. Then, in a brief aside, he said that "Or you can simply point the handle of the club outside of the ball." That's exactly my point!! When you know what to do with the *club,* you will *automatically* produce the correct body movements. The brain will self-organize in order to accomplish the task. Viewed from a body part angle,however, the player/learner is required to layer consecutive movements in the *hope* of achieving the correct movement of the club. I just don't buy into the viewpoint, which I've heard from body part advocates, that the body controls the club, so we must focus on the body. My response, and that of an increasing number of researchers, is that the *brain* controls the movements and the club. Therefore the brain will produce efficient movements as long as there is a clear task in mind (external focus).

 

2. Jim, in Module 3, you demonstrate a way to move the upper arm to help flatten the shaft. That was very clear and helpful. However, I noticed something yesterday when I was swinging a bat. Without any conscious thought whatsoever, I noticed that whenever I swung the bat, I *automatically* made the same correct motion to bring the bat "on plane." This leads me to believe that many, if not most, of the difficult aspects of the golf swing could be simplified greatly by finding analogies from other sports or even common activities . I have a feeling that all great golfers automatically or naturally move themselves and the club correctly. Could it be that the standard analogies used in golf instruction are not really analogous to what we need to do? Do we simply need better analogies?

[Jim Waldron]

I'm not sure where this fits into the discussion, but here are two examples of what I am thinking:

 

1. I recently watched a lengthy video done by an obviously very knowledgeable instructor. In discussing the backswing and transition, he talked about pronating this and supinating that. He talked about internally rotating this and externally rotating that. He talked about angles and inches of various body parts. Then, in a brief aside, he said that "Or you can simply point the handle of the club outside of the ball." That's exactly my point!! When you know what to do with the *club,* you will *automatically* produce the correct body movements. The brain will self-organize in order to accomplish the task. Viewed from a body part angle,however, the player/learner is required to layer consecutive movements in the *hope* of achieving the correct movement of the club. I just don't buy into the viewpoint, which I've heard from body part advocates, that the body controls the club, so we must focus on the body. My response, and that of an increasing number of researchers, is that the *brain* controls the movements and the club. Therefore the brain will produce efficient movements as long as there is a clear task in mind (external focus).

 

2. Jim, in Module 3, you demonstrate a way to move the upper arm to help flatten the shaft. That was very clear and helpful. However, I noticed something yesterday when I was swinging a bat. Without any conscious thought whatsoever, I noticed that whenever I swung the bat, I *automatically* made the same correct motion to bring the bat "on plane." This leads me to believe that many, if not most, of the difficult aspects of the golf swing could be simplified greatly by finding analogies from other sports or even common activities . I have a feeling that all great golfers automatically or naturally move themselves and the club correctly. Could it be that the standard analogies used in golf instruction are not really analogous to what we need to do? Do we simply need better analogies?

 

Yes, the brain controls the body, but again - by definition, when performing an athletic skill, the body knows how to do that skill to a high level of function unconsciously (without conscious mind contribution) precisely because it has learned/trained to do so. I agree that a lot of traditional golf teaching is conscious mind control of the body as an end goal, including at normal tempos, which is a huge fatal mistake. Creates flinching, and bad shots.

 

The golf shot control equation is: subconscious mind control = body motion control, body control = club motion control, club control = impact control, impact control = ball flight control, ball flight control = target control, target control = score control.

 

I think that "knowing how to use the club" is a legitimate way of teaching, especially for beginner and high handicaps. It is manifested in my Great Shot ballstriking program, which starts with exactly that premise. That there are Six Laws of Club Motion, and a lot of mis-conceptions about club motion. Once those Laws are understood, it makes starting the journey to a better golf swing much easier. The mind requires context including some insight into how the tool is designed to be used.

 

But in my experience you need much more than that information to be good at ballstriking. They are not mutually exclusive - club focus v body focus - but in my view are reciprocal. Direct training of the body as I have outlined here is taking the learning to a much higher level than one can achieve with club focus alone - not even close in my experience. But in my method, you learn/train until you form a habit, and then you choose to let it go, you forget about it, let it be unconscious.

 

I agree with you, I think coaching has gotten way too technical and way too wordy, and a lot of that is just marketing. Good teachers strive to make their teaching as simple as possible, without crossing the line into "dumbing it down" territory.

 

Yes, other sports analogies are useful, especially slap shot in hockey and baseball swing. And good teachers do indeed use those analogies. The problem is they only work - to some degree - when the student has had some actual experience of skill in those motions. A lot of folks have not.

 

The default premise of a lot the discussions on this forum is that there can and should be ONLY "one way" that is superior to all other ways of teaching, which is never the case in the real world of golf coaching. Good teachers will use many, many different kinds of learning protocols - whatever works to get the job done.

 

The issue with "or just flatten the shaft" is that there is more than one way to do that move, and some are a lot more difficult than others. I work with students all the time where, after explaining what shaft flattening is and demoing the move for them, they will still be unable to flatten at normal swing speeds. They are trying to "shaft flatten" without me providing ANY instructions on "how to do it" and they wont do it at normal swing speeds, especially if they have a long habit of shaft steepening.

 

Which is exactly why golfers need some very precise, formal instructions on the mechanics of "how to do it" with the body.

[Jim Waldron]

A member asked me for more details on my "Deep Insight" concept and how it is achieved.

 

I think the first thing is to understand that this form of insight is NOT a "commodity" that you can purchase on the open market.

 

It is the end product of a dialogue between teacher and student. The teacher has an end goal in sight, but the student is using his old, pre-existing basic beliefs about how to get to that goal, and those beliefs basically create an obstacle that prevents the student from reaching his goal. The challenge of the learning process is being able to see through the limitations of your old way of doing things, and embracing the new way. This really is the heart of it. How do you accept change?

 

After you are open to the change, and willing to question your old ways, then the next step is increasing your level of Awareness for what is actually happening with your body and club motion.

[Millbrook]

Most people want instruction, direction and certainty.

 

Far better exploration, confusion then discovery.

[Jim Waldron]

Most people want instruction, direction and certainty.

 

Far better exploration, confusion then discovery.

 

Yes - the need for "certainty" is at a far higher level in golf than in any other sport - and for many, maybe even in life too.

 

Problem is that need for certainty can often stop the real learning process dead in it's tracks. Or maybe worse, golfers think mere intellectual "certainty" about some aspect of the swing will immediately and permanently result in actually achieving that swing change in reality.

 

It's why I bring this issue up a lot in my posts here on wrx, to try to provide some balance in the discussions here. Golfers desperately cling to swing theory as if that alone will somehow help you to hit the ball better. It doesn't. In fact, for the last ten or fifteen years or so, swing theory has actually replaced the real learning process for a large portion of the golfing population. With a lot of my new students, the discussion starts out with a long list of questions about swing theory. Often not a single question about "how do actually translate this theory I acquired on the Internet in the past ten years to making a better body and club motion?"

 

And that is truly one of the most important questions.

[Jim Waldron]

This topic brings up a couple of interesting stories. I recently had a student who came to see me, pretty good golfer, but with a very basic "grammar school" flaw of too much head motion. He had spent several years of searching the Internet looking for a solution. He could not keep his head still - no matter how hard he tried, or at least that is what he believed. (more on this below).

 

He was convinced that there was a hidden, very technical "connect the dots through ten steps" kind of root cause for this head issue - he just had not yet found out what that hidden cause was. And he had gone to a few traditional teachers who fed that belief. Still - no improvement.

 

His whole orientation was toward intellectual discovery of the "answer" with the belief that if he figured it out - the flaw would instantly vanish.

 

The first 20 minutes was him explaining to me what his "latest" theory was - that his head was moving because of some move in his right arm. I finally interrupted and said to him " I assume you already tried - likely as the very first step - sensing in Feel whether your head was moving, and if so, if you could use that real time awareness to keep your head steady?".

 

He said "What are you talking about? I know my head is moving cuz I see it on the video".

 

I said - "Yeah - I get that. But do you actually feel your head moving during the swing?"

 

He said "I never even considered trying to do that!"

 

....I am not making this up.

 

I was floored. I asked him if he knew the clear distinction between thinking and feeling, and he still did not understand what I was talking about it.

 

His whole career as a golfer was all about "thinking" - which by definition means "not being aware" of what the body and club are actually doing.

 

We did the Three Sensory Channels and a related exercise on body awareness. Suddenly for the first time in his life his mind is awake inside his swing and he can sense his head moving. Once he could feel the head/neck, I asked him to keep it steady...flaw fixed! All it took was real awareness.

 

He said to me "none of the other teachers explained any of this stuff to me about feel and awareness, or about just trying to feel my steady head. It was all launch monitor data, video analysis and theory."

 

Which is a real shame, but not uncommon right now in the teaching industry. Which does not mean tech is not a great tool - it certainly can be, but it should never be a substitute for real awareness and a focused mind, which are the foundations of real learning.

 

The other is a story that Lee Trevino tells about playing in a pro-am with a guy who kept looking up and standing up out of his spine angle on ever shot. Lee tried to offer him a few tips that might help him stay down. Nothing worked and Lee realized it was cuz the guy was "thinking" about the tip instead of actually engaging his body.

 

Toward the end of the round, on a short par 3 over water, the guy dumps three in the water, topping it due to standing up, looks at Lee and says "Now what?"

 

Lee looks at him and grabs him by the head, pushes down on his head and upper back and yells at the top of his lungs "Stay the f....down!"

 

Guy gets it, stays down, pures his 8 iron 3 feet from the hole.....

[rteach1]

Jim,

 

Will one of the modules deal with the Three Sensory Channels and the body awareness exercises?

[Jim Waldron]

Jim,

 

Will one of the modules deal with the Three Sensory Channels and the body awareness exercises?

 

Hi R - we did finish taping back in August a long section devoted to the three channels and body feel awareness exercises, part of our mental game video.

 

We also covered the basics of both in the audio file that we recommend to our Great Shot! video program students, a two part in depth exploration of some of my basic concepts regarding golf skills learning and practice strategies.

 

And there is some stuff on both in Module One too if I recall, including the introduction which covers some of the basic concepts on how to learn to the level of the subconscious mind (check out first 5 minutes or so of Module One Part A).

[rteach1]

Thanks. Do you have an estimate as to when the mental game video will be available? Meanwhile, I'll look back at Module One. Not that enamored of audio learning, so I'll probably pass on that, at least for now. I'm more of a video learner, although I totally agree with your point on the necessity of being able to feel what we are actually doing.

[Jim Waldron]

Thanks. Do you have an estimate as to when the mental game video will be available? Meanwhile, I'll look back at Module One. Not that enamored of audio learning, so I'll probably pass on that, at least for now. I'm more of a video learner, although I totally agree with your point on the necessity of being able to feel what we are actually doing.

 

No precise estimate on the mental game video, which will likely be actually three separate videos released when each is completed. Maybe mid-January on the first one.

 

The audio file description is more than sufficient on the simple steps of the exercise. Not really any significant video input for those two exercises. They are "where do you focus your mind" exercises: visual, auditory and feel. The body awareness one is about passively noticing your feel sensations for a specific body part while swinging.

 

The point of the 3 channels exercise is to understand that your conscious mind is always mainly focused (foreground awareness) in one of three sensory "channels" at any given moment in time, and to learn how to develop both choice and awareness so that you can actually switch from one channel to another on command.

 

Two types of golfers in this world: golfers who play the game mostly or even entirely from conscious mind effort and thinking, and golfers who play from feeling their body and instinct (subconscious mind trained habits or skills). Only one is both fun and effective.

 

Audio file is available here: http://www.balancepointgolf.com/index.php/pro-shop/golf-audios

[Jim Waldron]

More on Deep Insight. How do you actually achieve that big "light bulb moment?" The whole point in working with a teacher is that the teacher provides a learning environment that increases the likelihood of you achieving that breakthrough. It really all boils down to the dialogue between student and teacher. Mainly the student asking a lot of questions, and seeking to understand what the teacher is trying to communicate. At some point, things start to "click" and the student starts to understand the "why" behind the "what", which for adult students, makes the learning of the "how" much easier.

 

Of those three - the "how to do it" is by far the most important. And that part really comes down to Awareness and a focused mind.

[Jim Waldron]

"What to do" is the content of the lesson, starting with some basic theory, but quickly moving to the teacher actually showing the student the "look" of the proper Form.

 

"Why you do it" is a way of convincing the subconscious mind's skeptical "watchdog" of critical intelligence that there is some degree of credibility behind the "what" - because if it does not make sense in at least a basic way, no way is it ever getting into your subconscious mind Swing Map.

 

"How to do it" is the part that has a lot to do with the mind-brain/body connection, focus, feel Awareness for your body, coordination of mind and body basically. And that means things like using drills, training aids, exaggeration drills or "Brain Boundary" learning, and especially slow motion mirror work when working on static positions and moving body parts.

 

My take on a lot of modern teaching is that it has gotten bogged down in way too much attention being paid to the "what" and to the "why" - and not nearly enough attention devoted to the "how to".

 

There is currently a TV commercial running that kind of parodies what I am referring to: the bank security guard who tells the customers of the bank during the robbery that his job is only to "report" that a robbery is taking place. He does not actually do anything to stop the robbery....not in his job description.

[ofortuna]

My 3 top "feels" that have helped me the most from Jim's instruction so far:

 

1) Law of Club Motion #1

In Jim's first video, he talks about how the club is designed to work. After doing some swings on grass and observing the low point of my swing with short irons, I observed that my divot started before the ball. When it was just slightly before, I can get away with a decent shot but there's the constant fear of hitting it fat. Subconsciously, I would slide my entire body out in front of the ball on the downswing to compensate. Bottoming out before the ball for me was due to flipping or early release. By working on the hinge and hold drill associated with the law of club motion #1 in the first video, I learned to keep my right wrist bent back and found that my divot moved forward. I was getting that crisp ball first contact. It feels like I'm hitting the ball late or partially into my follow through.

 

2) Pushaway

This took a while to learn the feel of and it still feels a bit strange. As I start my pivot, my hands move away from my body immediately. As if you're going to slam a hammer down at the strong man competition at the county fair to try to ring the bell but you blend it into your pivot, or at least the first 6 inches of this movement. From someone who's used to turning their body with his arms still hanging down, it'll feel odd, but the old way will bring you way under plane or "inside" on the backswing. This is from the Arm Swing Illusion video.

 

3) Lose forward bend on backswing

For someone who has always been advised to "stay down", it feels at first like you're standing straight up on your backswing. As you remove forward bend on the backswing but add left bend, it'll feel like your head moved straight up 6 inches. I put tape on the mirror and verified that it remained steady. No way I still didn't believe it. I video taped myself, still it was steady. By reducing the forward bend on the backswing, I was able to finally eliminate years of swaying my head almost a foot off of the ball on the backswing. From the Pivot video.

[Forged4ever]

I also want to add that I think there is quite a difference in learning a martial art where the precise movement of the body is everything vs a sport with a ball and target (nevermind a ball and a club/bat/stick) where precise control of the ball is the key. For example, I don't know of any soccer player who learned how to take a penalty kick via slow motion mirror work etc.

 

No one - especially me - is saying that you can learn a great golf swing using ONLY slow motion mirror work. See my comment above to R. You need tons of full speed dynamic practice to get good at ballstriking.

 

The difference is that at full speed, you are not trying to "think your way" to better moving body part mechanics.

 

Simple fact is that your thinking mind does not have precision control over high speed moving parts - in ANY sport. That is not my opinion, it is a fact, and easily proven. Just watch any golf lesson where the teacher is trying to get a new student to implement a precise change in say how the left arm works in the backswing. Let's say the student is suffering from arm "run off", ie arms collapse at the Top and move into the body and around the body, ie "stuck". The teacher shows the student on video what is happening and why it is is a flaw. Student says he understands where his arms should be in a proper Top position. Student then pictures the proper Top position, or "tells" his arms to stop collapsing. He takes a swing at a ball while doing that - and what happens? No change....at all. Happens everyday on lesson tees all over the planet.

 

I have new students try to "reverse tie" their shoelaces as another way of showing them this concept. Most take a long time to finish tying the laces, since they simply do not have an established habit pattern for tying them in this new way.

 

And the Russian tennis academies do use slow motion training to ingrain proper body mechanics, and they do use a tool (racket) to control the ball and where it goes. And Asian martial arts also use "tools" (weapons).

Point being that the body motion - from an objective viewpoint - ALWAYS controls how the "tool" moves. A golf club, tennis racket or samurai sword is a passive object held in the hands. How your entire body moves creates energy/forces that move the club. Your conscious mind does not directly cause the golf club to move - although apparently there are some golfers who still tend to believe in this myth!

 

Think of slow motion training as a way to learn the basic Template for how moving body parts behave in the swing. You then refine that pattern later on with full speed training.

 

I never claimed that the worlds top golfers - or a majority of them - learned their swing using this slow mo method. Not sure where you got that idea. Most of today's younger PGA Tour pros took up the game as little kids, and also took a ton of formal lessons from an early age. No doubt some (likely many) used slow mo training, but no way to know what percentage. Does not matter in any case. We are talking about a method for learning motor skills, and even if not a single one of those pros never spent a single minute doing slow mo work, that would not in any way weaken the case for slow mo training. I do know that many tour pros I have spoken with about this - as well as others in the golf media - have told me that they do slow mo mirror work when doing a swing change. Hogan was one of the first to do so, Snead did, and of course Tiger is the most famous advocate of slow mo training.

 

Sounds like the skeptics want to know - but does it really work? Oh - I don't know, several thousand of my golf school graduates since 1995 who did formal slow motion training would say "Absolutely!". The South Korean golf program is taking beginners and turning them into tour pro level golf swings in "less than two years" is I think the qoute from Tiger from a few years ago. One of my assistant coaches started as a regular student in 2001, and his handicap went from a 32 to a 12 in less than one year, and he tells every school he works at that the main reason for his fast improvement was slow mo mirror work. He got down to a 6 index by the end of his second year.

 

Guys, guess what? It has already been proven to work! I know it's fun to hang out in golf forums and theorize and speculate about this swing concept or that swing concept....but IF you really want to learn an effective golf swing, why are you not standing in front of a mirror right now? Try it for a month working on just one swing segment - lets say Takeaway, since that is the first of the six segments.

Brilliant thoughts and posts Jim!!

 

Regarding slow motion training, this isn't even open for debate. I don't care if you're speaking of a Navy SEAL and his initial exposure to Team close quarters combat tactics(with no adversary in the room), where their mantra is "slow is smooth and smooth is fast," learning to swing a tennis racket(with no ball), or on a football field, where as a D1 LB, my Mentor and former NFL LB Pete Wysocky taught me all of the techniques and funndementals that were to become my foundation in endless slow mo reps when I was a 17yo junior in High School, especially pass rushing techniques, which in a game, are an incredibly smooth quick explosive movement. My college D-Coordinator had us initially go through all new defenses weekly in slow mo with no offensive Players in front of us. In baseball, your Elite coaches/camps heavily use slow motion hitting progression drills for stride and mechanics along with slow mo drills for their young pitchers to work on proper positions and mechanics.

 

Regarding golf, As we have discussed before, Pete started working with me back in the 70's with slow motion and a mirrow and for those that haven't read my prior posts on this subject, Pete's Bro Sam(Snead) was also a big proponent of slow mo/mirror work.

 

Speaking to soccer, my 14yo cousin, who I've spoken of and posted stories and pics of in other threads, is a National Elite Soccer Player(she gave an oral commitment to the Tar Heels as a HS Frosh. I disagree vehemently with this though that's for a different discussion, lol) and she and her teammates do indeed go through both slow mo individual "skills drills" along with slow mo team work which is gradually sped up as the girls learn and "know" where they should be on the field. This too is started with no opposing Players on the field with them.

 

Notice a pattern beginning to develop here Gents?

 

Aside from its use for centuries in the martial arts, in the modern world, the Eastern Block countries used this form of skill development and practice to greatly enhance their athletes' performances.

 

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast...

 

Thanks for taking the time to post this Jim!

 

Stay well My Friend :)

 

My Best,

Richard

[Jim Waldron]

I also want to add that I think there is quite a difference in learning a martial art where the precise movement of the body is everything vs a sport with a ball and target (nevermind a ball and a club/bat/stick) where precise control of the ball is the key. For example, I don't know of any soccer player who learned how to take a penalty kick via slow motion mirror work etc.

 

No one - especially me - is saying that you can learn a great golf swing using ONLY slow motion mirror work. See my comment above to R. You need tons of full speed dynamic practice to get good at ballstriking.

 

The difference is that at full speed, you are not trying to "think your way" to better moving body part mechanics.

 

Simple fact is that your thinking mind does not have precision control over high speed moving parts - in ANY sport. That is not my opinion, it is a fact, and easily proven. Just watch any golf lesson where the teacher is trying to get a new student to implement a precise change in say how the left arm works in the backswing. Let's say the student is suffering from arm "run off", ie arms collapse at the Top and move into the body and around the body, ie "stuck". The teacher shows the student on video what is happening and why it is is a flaw. Student says he understands where his arms should be in a proper Top position. Student then pictures the proper Top position, or "tells" his arms to stop collapsing. He takes a swing at a ball while doing that - and what happens? No change....at all. Happens everyday on lesson tees all over the planet.

 

I have new students try to "reverse tie" their shoelaces as another way of showing them this concept. Most take a long time to finish tying the laces, since they simply do not have an established habit pattern for tying them in this new way.

 

And the Russian tennis academies do use slow motion training to ingrain proper body mechanics, and they do use a tool (racket) to control the ball and where it goes. And Asian martial arts also use "tools" (weapons).

Point being that the body motion - from an objective viewpoint - ALWAYS controls how the "tool" moves. A golf club, tennis racket or samurai sword is a passive object held in the hands. How your entire body moves creates energy/forces that move the club. Your conscious mind does not directly cause the golf club to move - although apparently there are some golfers who still tend to believe in this myth!

 

Think of slow motion training as a way to learn the basic Template for how moving body parts behave in the swing. You then refine that pattern later on with full speed training.

 

I never claimed that the worlds top golfers - or a majority of them - learned their swing using this slow mo method. Not sure where you got that idea. Most of today's younger PGA Tour pros took up the game as little kids, and also took a ton of formal lessons from an early age. No doubt some (likely many) used slow mo training, but no way to know what percentage. Does not matter in any case. We are talking about a method for learning motor skills, and even if not a single one of those pros never spent a single minute doing slow mo work, that would not in any way weaken the case for slow mo training. I do know that many tour pros I have spoken with about this - as well as others in the golf media - have told me that they do slow mo mirror work when doing a swing change. Hogan was one of the first to do so, Snead did, and of course Tiger is the most famous advocate of slow mo training.

 

Sounds like the skeptics want to know - but does it really work? Oh - I don't know, several thousand of my golf school graduates since 1995 who did formal slow motion training would say "Absolutely!". The South Korean golf program is taking beginners and turning them into tour pro level golf swings in "less than two years" is I think the qoute from Tiger from a few years ago. One of my assistant coaches started as a regular student in 2001, and his handicap went from a 32 to a 12 in less than one year, and he tells every school he works at that the main reason for his fast improvement was slow mo mirror work. He got down to a 6 index by the end of his second year.

 

Guys, guess what? It has already been proven to work! I know it's fun to hang out in golf forums and theorize and speculate about this swing concept or that swing concept....but IF you really want to learn an effective golf swing, why are you not standing in front of a mirror right now? Try it for a month working on just one swing segment - lets say Takeaway, since that is the first of the six segments.

Brilliant thoughts and posts Jim!!

 

Regarding slow motion training, this isn't even open for debate. I don't care if you're speaking of a Navy SEAL and his initial exposure to Team close quarters combat tactics(with no adversary in the room), where their mantra is "slow is smooth and smooth is fast," learning to swing a tennis racket(with no ball), or on a football field, where as a D1 LB, my Mentor and former NFL LB Pete Wysocky taught me all of the techniques and funndementals that were to become my foundation in endless slow mo reps when I was a 17yo junior in High School, especially pass rushing techniques, which in a game, are an incredibly smooth quick explosive movement. My college D-Coordinator had us initially go through all new defenses weekly in slow mo with no offensive Players in front of us. In baseball, your Elite coaches/camps heavily use slow motion hitting progression drills for stride and mechanics along with slow mo drills for their young pitchers to work on proper positions and mechanics.

 

Regarding golf, As we have discussed before, Pete started working with me back in the 70's with slow motion and a mirrow and for those that haven't read my prior posts on this subject, Pete's Bro Sam(Snead) was also a big proponent of slow mo/mirror work.

 

Speaking to soccer, my 14yo cousin, who I've spoken of and posted stories and pics of in other threads, is a National Elite Soccer Player(she gave an oral commitment to the Tar Heels as a HS Frosh. I disagree vehemently with this though that's for a different discussion, lol) and she and her teammates do indeed go through both slow mo individual "skills drills" along with slow mo team work which is gradually sped up as the girls learn and "know" where they should be on the field. This too is started with no opposing Players on the field with them.

 

Notice a pattern beginning to develop here Gents?

 

Aside from its use for centuries in the martial arts, in the modern world, the Eastern Block countries used this form of skill development and practice to greatly enhance their athletes' performances.

 

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast...

 

Thanks for taking the time to post this Jim!

 

Stay well My Friend :)

 

My Best,

Richard

 

Thanks, R! And great to see you contributing to this thread.

 

I believe your insights on the mental game to be extremely positive and credible. Would love to hear more from you on this topic.

Our game is going through a bad patch right now, for lots of reasons, and one of which is we have created a generation of golfers who don't understand the clear difference between practice and play. Many golfers are actually trying to practice their swing technique mid-round, and even worse, they are using a practice strategy that, if implemented off of the golf course, would still lead to very poor results.

[Jim Waldron]

My 3 top "feels" that have helped me the most from Jim's instruction so far:

 

1) Law of Club Motion #1

In Jim's first video, he talks about how the club is designed to work. After doing some swings on grass and observing the low point of my swing with short irons, I observed that my divot started before the ball. When it was just slightly before, I can get away with a decent shot but there's the constant fear of hitting it fat. Subconsciously, I would slide my entire body out in front of the ball on the downswing to compensate. Bottoming out before the ball for me was due to flipping or early release. By working on the hinge and hold drill associated with the law of club motion #1 in the first video, I learned to keep my right wrist bent back and found that my divot moved forward. I was getting that crisp ball first contact. It feels like I'm hitting the ball late or partially into my follow through.

 

2) Pushaway

This took a while to learn the feel of and it still feels a bit strange. As I start my pivot, my hands move away from my body immediately. As if you're going to slam a hammer down at the strong man competition at the county fair to try to ring the bell but you blend it into your pivot, or at least the first 6 inches of this movement. From someone who's used to turning their body with his arms still hanging down, it'll feel odd, but the old way will bring you way under plane or "inside" on the backswing. This is from the Arm Swing Illusion video.

 

3) Lose forward bend on backswing

For someone who has always been advised to "stay down", it feels at first like you're standing straight up on your backswing. As you remove forward bend on the backswing but add left bend, it'll feel like your head moved straight up 6 inches. I put tape on the mirror and verified that it remained steady. No way I still didn't believe it. I video taped myself, still it was steady. By reducing the forward bend on the backswing, I was able to finally eliminate years of swaying my head almost a foot off of the ball on the backswing. From the Pivot video.

 

Hi O and thank you for your excellent feedback, and on three really important issues. I recall how stunned you were, during our webcam remote lesson, when I showed you the Tilt Illusion and it's relationship to both forward spine angle and your ability to keep your head steady!

[ofortuna]

My 3 top "feels" that have helped me the most from Jim's instruction so far:

 

1) Law of Club Motion #1

In Jim's first video, he talks about how the club is designed to work. After doing some swings on grass and observing the low point of my swing with short irons, I observed that my divot started before the ball. When it was just slightly before, I can get away with a decent shot but there's the constant fear of hitting it fat. Subconsciously, I would slide my entire body out in front of the ball on the downswing to compensate. Bottoming out before the ball for me was due to flipping or early release. By working on the hinge and hold drill associated with the law of club motion #1 in the first video, I learned to keep my right wrist bent back and found that my divot moved forward. I was getting that crisp ball first contact. It feels like I'm hitting the ball late or partially into my follow through.

 

2) Pushaway

This took a while to learn the feel of and it still feels a bit strange. As I start my pivot, my hands move away from my body immediately. As if you're going to slam a hammer down at the strong man competition at the county fair to try to ring the bell but you blend it into your pivot, or at least the first 6 inches of this movement. From someone who's used to turning their body with his arms still hanging down, it'll feel odd, but the old way will bring you way under plane or "inside" on the backswing. This is from the Arm Swing Illusion video.

 

3) Lose forward bend on backswing

For someone who has always been advised to "stay down", it feels at first like you're standing straight up on your backswing. As you remove forward bend on the backswing but add left bend, it'll feel like your head moved straight up 6 inches. I put tape on the mirror and verified that it remained steady. No way I still didn't believe it. I video taped myself, still it was steady. By reducing the forward bend on the backswing, I was able to finally eliminate years of swaying my head almost a foot off of the ball on the backswing. From the Pivot video.

 

Hi O and thank you for your excellent feedback, and on three really important issues. I recall how stunned you were, during our webcam remote lesson, when I showed you the Tilt Illusion and it's relationship to both forward spine angle and your ability to keep your head steady!

 

Thanks Jim! Evidently I'm a slow learner because I'm still stunned today but slowly and surely, your teachings are sinking in. I'm very pleased to have your videos and this thread as a resource that I can continuously draw on for improvement instead of scouring books in the past and the internet in the more recent past constantly for tips and quick fixes. Case in point, the recent discussion on slow motion practice and utilizing feel channel on the road to making swing changes is so enlightening. I realize that my modus operandi has always been to visual the path of the clubhead for both full shots and putting. As you so aptly pointed out, the fatal flaw of this technique is that the club is not where you imagine it to be which creates a disconnect between what you think you you're doing and what you are actually doing. Learning to be in feel channel for both slo-mo and practice has really opened my eyes on a more effective way to make swing changes.

 

In just the first 5 minutes of your first video, when you talk about the way the club is designed to be used, you said something that really stuck (albeit after a dozen viewings for myself lol). I'll paraphrase and say this: lag = shaft lean = supination. This one law of club motion is so important, it's the basis of many videos, books, and training aids. Hogan talked about it as supination. Martin Chuck created the Tour Striker training aid to force you to exaggerate this leaning shaft at impact. It's the basis of Bobby Clampett's book Impact Zone. Also Manzella's Confessions of a Former Flipper video is all about that as well. This is just the examples that come to mind.

[Jim Waldron]

My 3 top "feels" that have helped me the most from Jim's instruction so far:

 

1) Law of Club Motion #1

In Jim's first video, he talks about how the club is designed to work. After doing some swings on grass and observing the low point of my swing with short irons, I observed that my divot started before the ball. When it was just slightly before, I can get away with a decent shot but there's the constant fear of hitting it fat. Subconsciously, I would slide my entire body out in front of the ball on the downswing to compensate. Bottoming out before the ball for me was due to flipping or early release. By working on the hinge and hold drill associated with the law of club motion #1 in the first video, I learned to keep my right wrist bent back and found that my divot moved forward. I was getting that crisp ball first contact. It feels like I'm hitting the ball late or partially into my follow through.

 

2) Pushaway

This took a while to learn the feel of and it still feels a bit strange. As I start my pivot, my hands move away from my body immediately. As if you're going to slam a hammer down at the strong man competition at the county fair to try to ring the bell but you blend it into your pivot, or at least the first 6 inches of this movement. From someone who's used to turning their body with his arms still hanging down, it'll feel odd, but the old way will bring you way under plane or "inside" on the backswing. This is from the Arm Swing Illusion video.

 

3) Lose forward bend on backswing

For someone who has always been advised to "stay down", it feels at first like you're standing straight up on your backswing. As you remove forward bend on the backswing but add left bend, it'll feel like your head moved straight up 6 inches. I put tape on the mirror and verified that it remained steady. No way I still didn't believe it. I video taped myself, still it was steady. By reducing the forward bend on the backswing, I was able to finally eliminate years of swaying my head almost a foot off of the ball on the backswing. From the Pivot video.

 

Hi O and thank you for your excellent feedback, and on three really important issues. I recall how stunned you were, during our webcam remote lesson, when I showed you the Tilt Illusion and it's relationship to both forward spine angle and your ability to keep your head steady!

 

Thanks Jim! Evidently I'm a slow learner because I'm still stunned today but slowly and surely, your teachings are sinking in. I'm very pleased to have your videos and this thread as a resource that I can continuously draw on for improvement instead of scouring books in the past and the internet in the more recent past constantly for tips and quick fixes. Case in point, the recent discussion on slow motion practice and utilizing feel channel on the road to making swing changes is so enlightening. I realize that my modus operandi has always been to visual the path of the clubhead for both full shots and putting. As you so aptly pointed out, the fatal flaw of this technique is that the club is not where you imagine it to be which creates a disconnect between what you think you you're doing and what you are actually doing. Learning to be in feel channel for both slo-mo and practice has really opened my eyes on a more effective way to make swing changes.

 

In just the first 5 minutes of your first video, when you talk about the way the club is designed to be used, you said something that really stuck (albeit after a dozen viewings for myself lol). I'll paraphrase and say this: lag = shaft lean = supination. This one law of club motion is so important, it's the basis of many videos, books, and training aids. Hogan talked about it as supination. Martin Chuck created the Tour Striker training aid to force you to exaggerate this leaning shaft at impact. It's the basis of Bobby Clampett's book Impact Zone. Also Manzella's Confessions of a Former Flipper video is all about that as well. This is just the examples that come to mind.

 

Exactly right on the law of shaft lean - well known fundamental in golf, although as you said it comes in different names!

And lag means starting with correct Pivot sequence, or right degree of core lagging the hips on forward swing, and shoulder girdle lagging the core. Next is correct amount of lead arm lagging the chest, 30-45 degrees is ideal at impact. That creates the possibility of the hinge lag angle in back of right wrist, which gives you the shaft lean.

[ofortuna]

My 3 top "feels" that have helped me the most from Jim's instruction so far:

 

1) Law of Club Motion #1

In Jim's first video, he talks about how the club is designed to work. After doing some swings on grass and observing the low point of my swing with short irons, I observed that my divot started before the ball. When it was just slightly before, I can get away with a decent shot but there's the constant fear of hitting it fat. Subconsciously, I would slide my entire body out in front of the ball on the downswing to compensate. Bottoming out before the ball for me was due to flipping or early release. By working on the hinge and hold drill associated with the law of club motion #1 in the first video, I learned to keep my right wrist bent back and found that my divot moved forward. I was getting that crisp ball first contact. It feels like I'm hitting the ball late or partially into my follow through.

 

2) Pushaway

This took a while to learn the feel of and it still feels a bit strange. As I start my pivot, my hands move away from my body immediately. As if you're going to slam a hammer down at the strong man competition at the county fair to try to ring the bell but you blend it into your pivot, or at least the first 6 inches of this movement. From someone who's used to turning their body with his arms still hanging down, it'll feel odd, but the old way will bring you way under plane or "inside" on the backswing. This is from the Arm Swing Illusion video.

 

3) Lose forward bend on backswing

For someone who has always been advised to "stay down", it feels at first like you're standing straight up on your backswing. As you remove forward bend on the backswing but add left bend, it'll feel like your head moved straight up 6 inches. I put tape on the mirror and verified that it remained steady. No way I still didn't believe it. I video taped myself, still it was steady. By reducing the forward bend on the backswing, I was able to finally eliminate years of swaying my head almost a foot off of the ball on the backswing. From the Pivot video.

 

Hi O and thank you for your excellent feedback, and on three really important issues. I recall how stunned you were, during our webcam remote lesson, when I showed you the Tilt Illusion and it's relationship to both forward spine angle and your ability to keep your head steady!

 

Thanks Jim! Evidently I'm a slow learner because I'm still stunned today but slowly and surely, your teachings are sinking in. I'm very pleased to have your videos and this thread as a resource that I can continuously draw on for improvement instead of scouring books in the past and the internet in the more recent past constantly for tips and quick fixes. Case in point, the recent discussion on slow motion practice and utilizing feel channel on the road to making swing changes is so enlightening. I realize that my modus operandi has always been to visual the path of the clubhead for both full shots and putting. As you so aptly pointed out, the fatal flaw of this technique is that the club is not where you imagine it to be which creates a disconnect between what you think you you're doing and what you are actually doing. Learning to be in feel channel for both slo-mo and practice has really opened my eyes on a more effective way to make swing changes.

 

In just the first 5 minutes of your first video, when you talk about the way the club is designed to be used, you said something that really stuck (albeit after a dozen viewings for myself lol). I'll paraphrase and say this: lag = shaft lean = supination. This one law of club motion is so important, it's the basis of many videos, books, and training aids. Hogan talked about it as supination. Martin Chuck created the Tour Striker training aid to force you to exaggerate this leaning shaft at impact. It's the basis of Bobby Clampett's book Impact Zone. Also Manzella's Confessions of a Former Flipper video is all about that as well. This is just the examples that come to mind.

 

Exactly right on the law of shaft lean - well known fundamental in golf, although as you said it comes in different names!

And lag means starting with correct Pivot sequence, or right degree of core lagging the hips on forward swing, and shoulder girdle lagging the core. Next is correct amount of lead arm lagging the chest, 30-45 degrees is ideal at impact. That creates the possibility of the hinge lag angle in back of right wrist, which gives you the shaft lean.

 

Thanks for throwing that in Jim, especially the part on the arm lag. Need to do some more slow mo work on the "lag chain".

[Josh The Nosh]

I have been reading this thread and watching the videos on youtube and was really excited to try this out, as i have a serious inside problem.

 

i have been doing the move away drills in my bedroom for hours, before i went to the range today and did tones of drills practice swings hit hundreds of balls doing it.

 

and it just feels horrible :( it feels like i have no room and the only way to get back to the ball is with a massive cut. i hit shanks tops duffs, loads of block fades, the funny thing is when i videoed my swing it was still inside a bit and a bit flatter than i wanted.

 

I think my golf brain just does what it wants and wont let me change anything. with out a ball i do the motion and it feels right with a ball it feels disgusting!

 

:)

 

i dont think i was doing it right,.

 

JIm is right you cant get it from a forum you need someone standing there with you, watching you and making sure you do it right or correct it dont even think you can get it from youtube videos, though at least i have some basic knowledge :)

[GoStars]

I haven't yet purchased the books, but Jim's videos are quite comprehensive and explain it quite well. You could also do a video/Skype lesson (something I haven't done but will probably do at some point).

[Jim Waldron]

I have been reading this thread and watching the videos on youtube and was really excited to try this out, as i have a serious inside problem.

 

i have been doing the move away drills in my bedroom for hours, before i went to the range today and did tones of drills practice swings hit hundreds of balls doing it.

 

and it just feels horrible :( it feels like i have no room and the only way to get back to the ball is with a massive cut. i hit shanks tops duffs, loads of block fades, the funny thing is when i videoed my swing it was still inside a bit and a bit flatter than i wanted.

 

I think my golf brain just does what it wants and wont let me change anything. with out a ball i do the motion and it feels right with a ball it feels disgusting!

 

:)

 

i dont think i was doing it right,.

 

JIm is right you cant get it from a forum you need someone standing there with you, watching you and making sure you do it right or correct it dont even think you can get it from youtube videos, though at least i have some basic knowledge :)

 

I agree, pretty good chance you are not doing it right. Especially the lack of space comment - when you blend in the arm motion with a good Pivot, you should feel the total opposite - tons of space in front of your chest to release the angles into.

 

Yes - most golfers are not going to be successful through solo trial and error searching/tinkering using forums or youtube videos as the foundation of their golf swing learning. Achieving a solid golf swing is so much more than just getting the theory down. For one, not all swing models are the same, and they never are compatible with each other component-wise. If you don't teach for a living - and for many years - and put the research and lesson tee time in, good luck trying to guess which parts match your swing and which don't.

 

My second point is that the ASI pushaway move during the takeaway swing segment is in NO WAY meant to be used as some kind of "magic move" that is guaranteed to produce instant ball flight improvement. It is just one important swing fundamental - of many!

 

You could in fact be doing the arms pushaway move perfectly in and of itself, but if your Setup, Aim, Grip. grip pressure, Pivot, wrist action, Balance, Tilts, Spine Angle, Tempo or Release timing is off - you are going to hit a bad shot. This is precisely what makes golf such a difficult game.

 

Which is why I always say here in this thread, if you are going to ignore my advice about taking lessons, and try to learn the ASI stuff on your own, do it without a ball, in slow motion, in front of a mirror - and a lot! - before attempting to take it to the range to "see if it works". Of course it does work IF you are actually doing it correctly and IF the other parts are mentioned are not way off. But it is very easy for golfers to conflate their intention for doing it - with actually doing it.

 

The there is the flinch factor that josh talked about. When your mind is focused on how "weird" or "uncomfortable" a new swing move feels - that very focus on the "discomfort" will tend to make you flinch, and thus hit a bad shot. You need to learn how to ignore - not pay attention to so much - those strange feelings when working on a new move.