Five, count 'em, FIVE decades OR...if you're keeping score(that's 2 1/2 score) have taught me that there are basically two general types of golfers. GROUP I: those who watch a golf swing, let it hard wire directly into their own motor skills, have zero interest in the technical side and rewire their own swings in effect...they represent the 1% with pretty, effective, consistent, & powerful golf swings. Please find below words from a student who definitely fits in this elite group. Group I.
In part..."Jim, I so wanted to have the silky smooth swing that you have but could never get over the hump. I would always revert back to the bad habits that had been learned over a lifetime. I would tell myself that it just can't be as easy as Jim says it is! The breakthrough came when I started reading a book on THINKING. How changing our thoughts can change our reality. I felt brand new and full of energy! I pulled an "all-nighter" with your videos. Only this time... without the sound. I watched your swing over and over and over again. Jim, it was like I was actually "seeing" the swing for the first time. I went out and practiced the "swing" and to my absolute amazement...beautiful golf shots. Crisp, clean, pure contact. My mind wanted to tell me that it was a fluke but my thinking has changed. I am a golfer with a smooth, powerful, and beautiful swing. Thank you, Jim." Marlon Glenn, Inkster, MI.
Group II...Then there are those poor souls that can't take YES for an answer. Who insist that everything is complicated, complex, the Sun is fixin to burn out, and the sky is falling. They want all the ridiculous and non pertinent details that the man with the great golf swing never considered in the first place. This group invariably comes from an engineering, technical, academic, think inside the box, someone has to tell them when & how to PEE....background. It is very difficult to convenience this group that the great swings are simply copied by watching. You should try reaching this group of hard of hearing, sightless, lost at sea urchins...banging your head against a brick wall won't help one bit!
This group will forever have swings that appear contrived, robotic, and artificial. These golfers are incapable of swimming down stream or riding the horse the same way the horse wants to go. Rewiring for this group is very difficult, they speak a different language. Screaming louder and louder "where's the bathroom" to someone that speaks only Swahili is futile. Better, find a bush, quick. The information is right there in front of their face but their eyes are slammed shut and they have ear plugs...they flatly refuse to "learn the language....break the code" "watch & do..Keep it Simple" ...as Marlon, the golfer above, did.
This Group II Group, W-A-S-T-E their time searching for some mysterious secret somewhere beyond how a 7 year old will simply watch and copy. It can be very exasperating for both the instructor and the student if one decides that a great golf swing is acquired from the same technical approach an engineer would use. It's possible all the angels in heaven will never change their minds. It is so simple but these bull-headed mules refuse to budge. What to do? Brain surgery, hypnosis, threatening their life?...who knows?
The best way is the lazy man's way. "Hell, I don't have time for all the technical mechanics garbage. Show me a great swing and I will steal it"!
Warning.... YOU.... are wasting your valuable time with Group II!.. They're wired weird. You'll have better luck teaching a squirrel how to play the harmonica.
Jim McLellan, "The Anti-Pro"
Monday, August 27, 2007
How Are You Wired?
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Friday, August 17, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Can You Count to Three?
It was a picture perfect fall day, ideal for trying out my new driver at the local driving range. There must have been 30+ golfers who couldn't resist the temptation to get outside and enjoy this glorious autumn day.
On our trip home my wife had some comments that seemed casual at first but became more profound as the conversation unfolded.
My wife doesn't play golf and has little interest in learning. She's the "smart one!"
It appeared to her that with dozens of good swings to copy on TV every weekend, any golfer should know what a decent golf swing looks like. "Seems simple, to me __watch and copy."
It appeared to her that with dozens of good swings to copy on TV every weekend, any golfer should know what a decent golf swing looks like. "Seems simple, to me __watch and copy."
The ride home is about 25 minutes. I asked her to elaborate on her statement. She said, "For one thing, no one has a decent backswing." "How can they have any chance of hitting the ball very far, if they have short backswings, and two, they either lift their heads and top the ball or drop their heads and hit the mat." ..."and three," she continued "they have no follow through...they stop their swing before it looks like they should." "Further," she added, "the poor things are kidding themselves, they'll never get any better practicing the wrong stuff." hummmm.
I asked her what she would say to those golfers if she had a chance. "I would have them copy your backswing (That's One), after they got that I would have them copy your follow-through (That's Two)...after they got that I would tell them their heads are moving and yours isn't (That's Three). ONE, TWO, THREE..done.
Go to a driving range and see for yourself. How many golfers can count to three? Can You?
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Saturday, August 11, 2007
Point to Ponder
"Life is tough. Life is tougher if you're stupid." John Wayne
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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Easy Come, Easy Go
Perhaps you have experienced the thrill of finding a tip that works for you right off the bat. Overjoyed that you found the secret, the Holy Grail, the trick, to catapult your golf into something that really, really works, you rush to the range and try it out.
To your amazement___ it does. So excited you don't tell your golfing buddies....for fear that they will improve right along with you. No thanks, It's just too much fun taking their money.
To your horror, the very next time out your new swing falls apart. You miss the brass ring, can't catch the greased pig & the diamond has turned into a cheap piece of glass. You are desperate to pull the rabbit back out of the hat....BUT___alas your fleeting secret has vanished into thin air.
The TRUE TEST of a solid golf swing is how does it work round after round, time after time, year after year. Does your swing require only an occasional adjustment? A minor tune up? Just change the oil, Mr. Goodwrench....everything else is fine. No need for a complete overhaul.
Will you ever find your BEST swing? Will you ever have a swing you can fix by yourself?
Ask 10 golf instructors how to fix a slice, & you get 10 opinions. More yardage?__10 opinions. Topping? 10 opinions. Do you read golf magazines month after month ....they never agree on anything...do they?
There is only ONE best way to find your very own perfect golf swing! The Good News is THAT ONE BEST WAY__ works for everyone. Just like walking. The TRUE TEST for reliable golf instruction is how do the principles hold up year after year after year! We have students who have used our McLellan Golf Instruction for 50 years now. They write to tell us..." It still Works." Some have strayed off the path thinking there is mysteriously MORE TO IT. "Can't be that simple," they think. Ultimately, they always come back to our principles, & are furious that they strayed and wasted valuable time getting side-tracked with pure nonsense in the first place.
Our students are proud of their swings! Words they use to describe their golf swings are____ solid, crisp, consistent, pretty, powerful, self fixable, & a joy to own.... time after time after time. Have you waited long enough?
To your amazement___ it does. So excited you don't tell your golfing buddies....for fear that they will improve right along with you. No thanks, It's just too much fun taking their money.
To your horror, the very next time out your new swing falls apart. You miss the brass ring, can't catch the greased pig & the diamond has turned into a cheap piece of glass. You are desperate to pull the rabbit back out of the hat....BUT___alas your fleeting secret has vanished into thin air.
The TRUE TEST of a solid golf swing is how does it work round after round, time after time, year after year. Does your swing require only an occasional adjustment? A minor tune up? Just change the oil, Mr. Goodwrench....everything else is fine. No need for a complete overhaul.
Will you ever find your BEST swing? Will you ever have a swing you can fix by yourself?
Ask 10 golf instructors how to fix a slice, & you get 10 opinions. More yardage?__10 opinions. Topping? 10 opinions. Do you read golf magazines month after month ....they never agree on anything...do they?
There is only ONE best way to find your very own perfect golf swing! The Good News is THAT ONE BEST WAY__ works for everyone. Just like walking. The TRUE TEST for reliable golf instruction is how do the principles hold up year after year after year! We have students who have used our McLellan Golf Instruction for 50 years now. They write to tell us..." It still Works." Some have strayed off the path thinking there is mysteriously MORE TO IT. "Can't be that simple," they think. Ultimately, they always come back to our principles, & are furious that they strayed and wasted valuable time getting side-tracked with pure nonsense in the first place.
Our students are proud of their swings! Words they use to describe their golf swings are____ solid, crisp, consistent, pretty, powerful, self fixable, & a joy to own.... time after time after time. Have you waited long enough?
ORDER NOW!
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Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Golf Slice Surgery
How to fix your golf slice...for good.
Unless the stork just dropped you down the chimney & into your mom's outstretched arms and her soft & warm duel dairy facility...You know damn good and well what a slice is. NOT clueless, you fully understand that a ball slices because, at impact, the club head makes it spin in a clock-wise rotation. As a result of this encounter...the air catches the dimples and your ball rockets to the right over some guy's backyard fence, blasting through his patio glass door, knocking his prized Ming Vase off of the hand carved walnut mantle & onto his imported Italian tile floor___ transforming this prized collectible into Ming Dust. I should mention that this rich guy just happens to be the president of the local NRA and would love to show you exactly how his new 12 gauge shotgun works. Got Vaseline?
I first became aware of just how often the horrid slice infected the golfer at my Dad's driving range when I was 8 y/o. I was one of the lucky lads who fetched golf balls that were returned, back to the clubhouse, into another waiting bucket for resale. A gigantic percentage of the driving range balls were found on the right side of the range. Dad went so far as to install a 4 story, chicken wire fence, to keep the bad dog balls from flying onto our golf course. It worked....only a little bit!
SLICING 101...
A ball slices because:
1). the club face is open at the wreck (impact)
2). the club face is traveling across the ball...(outside-in) to the intended target,
3). an order of fries & biggie drink combo...
( for those of you w/o a sense of humor, it's a combination of 1 & 2 above)
All of the information that I have read, regarding the golf slice, has one thing in common (drum roll). . . . It doesn't work!
If you are cognizant that the family jewels are oftentimes hidden under those canary yellow, Palm Beach slacks, tucked appropriately out of the way, in the fruit of the looms with the valentine hearts__THEN__ you have what it takes to GET THIS ....The cure for the slice CAN Forever and Ever be YOURS & found in the next paragraphs....You Lucky Dog You!
So confident (AKA cocky) in my ability to fix a slice...I bet my students I can eliminate their slice in 5 shots or less or the lesson is free. Never lost the bet. I see on the Internet where some golf pro (?) needs 21 days to do it.. If he can't fix it in 5 balls he ain't gonna fix it!
As the club face leaves the ball it naturally opens up a full 1/4 turn by the time you reach the top of the back swing___ or you break both arms off at the shoulders. The next sentences are worth a kings ransom so take a hit off of your coffee mug and hang on every word. I usually sell this information, but you caught me in a generous mood today. Golfers slice the ball B/C they don't get the club face back to square at impact.
NOW, in order to get the club face back square at impact, the golfer must trick his swing by thinking that he is rolling the club face WAY TOO MUCH__ with his hands. The golfer must try to roll the club face 1/4 turn PAST square as if trying to hit the ball on the toe of the club head....NOT the club face. Likea thisa...(Use your Italian accent)
Here's what to do. Grab a 7 iron. Tee It UP. Take a nice big back swing....lazy smooth and slow. On the downswing have the sensation that you are GRADUALLY rolling the club face WAY TOO MUCH....with your hands. The casual observer won't be able to see this happen! One more point, make sure you are swinging directly to the target....not to the left of it.
IF the ball slices, you are not rolling. If the ball hooks, swing faster until the ball goes straight or hooks a little__ Your choice.
IF the ball slices, you are not rolling. If the ball hooks, swing faster until the ball goes straight or hooks a little__ Your choice.
Hey Sailor, wanna have some fun? On the next shot don't roll the club face over at all. Actually__Try to slice it. Big slice. Next ball ROLL Way TOO MUCH again....does it hook? Too much hook?___ Swing faster. Play with it...nothing to lose but your slice.
For My Dad
Bud McLellan 1913-1962
Any questions ?...post your comments to this blog and I'll respond appropriately with my personal answer!
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