3 skills - more questions than answers IMO

[Matt OB]

I ordered the book last week and it arrived Friday. I played on Saturday before picking up the book and played ok. I shot a 98, which by my standards I was fairly happy with.

I started reading the book over the weekend and my initial reaction is that I have actually found myself with more questions than answers as a result. I must clarify that I havent read the entire book yet and I havent had a chance to get to the range to practice any of the skills. I am actually unsure as to whether I am supposed read it through to the end before practicing the skills?

Anyway, sk1 I get completley and I know this is something I dont currently do or if I do, I dont do it consistently. However, sk2 and sk3 just dont seem to make sense to me.

First of all, I am having difficulty even picturing the sort of swing arc that they are describing in sk2. Surely if you took a birds eye view of any golfers swing, it would not follow the sort of arc outlined in the book? So how can you know when the top of the arc is?

As for sk3, it really doesnt elaborate any more on the hand turn - when you do it exactly, how much you turn??

I dont want to be overly negative before I have even attempted to put any of the skills into practice but as I said at the start, I was really hoping I would find the skills very simplistic to understand and execute with practice whereas I actually find myself more confused. I am also a little worried if I forget about all other swing thoughts and just focus on applying these skills, any progress that I have made so far will be lost.

I guess I shouldnt really have commented at all until I have at least attempted to put it into practice but I guess I am airing some frustration because in all honestly, so far I have found it a frustrating read.

Thanks for listening. Any comments/suggestions would be welcome.

Matt

[Matt OB]

Re: 3 skills - more questions than answers IMO

Well I have just got back from the driving range and I could not be more disillushioned.

I started off as the book suggested by putting a leaf past a rubber tee and focus on hitting the tee and theleaf on the way through. Then I tried applying this to the ball, with mixed results for 20-30 balls.

The more balls I hit the more I focused just on hitting down on the ball and not about my swing at all. This is where everything started to go horribly wrong. I started hitting shots directly out the right, so much so to the point where they were hitting the dividing wall between the bays. This was a shot that crept in to my game occasionally before and I spent a lot of time and effort trying to eradicate, which I did successfully in the end( I think by keeping my take away on line). Now it's back and I can ony assume it's because I am coming from the inside, something that when I had lesson the instructer told me not to do.

I'm not sure what I am expecting anyone to say, other than probably practice, practice, practice. But the way it went today, I am dreading going back up there again because not only will I worry about embarrassing myself but I am worried that I am going to regress so badly that I will lose all motivation.

[Ian Hancock]

Re: 3 skills - more questions than answers IMO

Hi Matt,

I think you need to give it a chance, firing a few off to the right is probably about right, your probably a slicer and hitting down with exagerate this a touch more, what you are now missing is skill two which will stop this almost instantly.

You say you dont understand skill 2, then maybe a little more reading until you understand but basically it is this: If you held the club head at shoulder height as if trying to hit a golf ball off a fence post, perform a few swings and feel the ARC you are making, like the clap exercise in the book. If your left hand is the ball your right comes from inside to hit your left hand.

Now when you look down on the ball you have to think of the ARC this is what makes the ball go straight, combine the ARC with the downward blow and you should start hitting some decent shots.

I have attached a graph giving you a thing to think about, notice the ARC coming into the ball.

Any probs let me know.

Ian.

[Matt OB]

Re: 3 skills - more questions than answers IMO

Thanks for your response Ian.

My concern is these shots which have now come back into my game. The cant even be defined as a slice because as I say, they go off to the right immediatley after impact, to the point where it is hitting the dividing wall between me and the next bay. Highly embarrassing and frustrating.

I had about five lessons last year with my sole aim and focus being to get rid of these shots from my game and I got there in the end. This was through really focusing on my swing plane, stance, etc... The same things that 'Nail it' is now telling me to forget. Before I even attempted to apply any of the skills I was concerned that this might happen and lo and behold it did.

I will go through the book again and give it more time up the range but I am worried that if I spend too much time moving away from what I have learned then if the 3 skills doesnt work for me, it will be a long road back.

Matt

[Ian Hancock]

Re: 3 skills - more questions than answers IMO

Hi Matt,

There is nothing wrong with working on set up, in fact I work on it all the time, I think you should work on setting up perfectly with a good solid, athletic posture.

The 3Sks is designed to take away all the swing thought, if you throw a stone in to a pond you dont think about how to do it do you..!! the problem with golf is to many people get caught up with technic instead of just a simple thought.

If you grasp sk2 then you should be ok, I have attached a picture of a training mat that gives you the same ARC on the floor to swing along, I understand that swinging in an arc may seem crazy but thats how to hit the ball well.

Stick with it mate, you sound like your not enjoying golf at the moment, 3SKs will help you for sure and I'm not selling the book you already bought it, it is fantastic trust me.

Ian.

[Matt OB]

Re: 3 skills - more questions than answers IMO

Thanks again Ian.

I wasnt enjoying the few times I played golf last year because my rounds were marred by these hideous shots that seemed to come out of nowhere. Once I had the lessons though, I cant tell you how happy I was that they appeared to be gone and I have since spent lots of time up the range this year and played a fair few times already.

As I said, I played on Saturday and although the score wasnt great, it was probably my most satisfying round yet because I could see real improvement. I know I am probably jumping the gun after one brief session up the range, but to now see these shots back in my game after working so hard to get rid of them is so frustrating.

Anyway, I will work on it and really try and imagine following the arc and let you know how I get on.

Thanks

Matt

[BrianW]

Re: 3 skills - more questions than answers IMO

Matt, I have to endorse what Ian has said. You should read on and follow the drills related to SK2, a good golf swing must come from the inside, square to the ball then back to the inside again. If you can perfect this action it will be the underpinning to creating great ball striking.

Your bad shot seems to be a shank and will more than likely be caused by you swinging out-to-in. Keep working on it, things may seem worse before they get better.

[Matt OB]

Re: 3 skills - more questions than answers IMO

Thanks Brian, I will stick at it. Things have definitley got worse so far, and they werent great in the first place!