i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

[BrianW]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

hi Brian
if your coming in on a flatter plane you may be catching the ball a little bit lower on the face of the driver too, maybe try and tee it up maybe 1/8 off an inch to 1/4 of a inch and see it you get the height back but still that solid flat approach into the ball. put some talcum power on the face of the driver and see where your making contact. i know when i hit my driver off the fairway with no tee it fly's low and i always catch it about 1/4 of an inch below the sweet spot but its great for hitting under the wind like that on the long par 5s.
bill

Bill,

I have some impact spray for checking where I hit the ball. It's not a problem Bill, I am working through the 3Skills drills and have been deliberately following the instructions from the book. The reason for the slightly less driving distance is due to me not giving it my normal freewheeling blow as I try the exercises and also freeing my mind of any considerations of what my body does, just focusing on the clubface through impact. I fully expect that distance will improve as I work more on these skills, it really is not a problem at this time.

[bill reed]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

sounds good Brian.

[Ian Hancock]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

ill take you up on that offer if i ever want my confidence smashed into oblivion!
seriously just give me the nod ian

Hi Slats,

Me and Liam are free for a Knock this Saturday morning around 9.00am, Liam has a lesson with Staffordshire after so we may have to shoot off after a quick pint., if this is a bit short notice or you would like a game with all three maybe another week, I try and sort before the weather changes to much.

Sounds like Brian is slowly being converted, like any change you need to let go after a while and hit the ball, I certainly pushed a few at first, and a few hooks.......................it soon settles down with the confidence it brings.

I'll catch up at home just leaving work now.

Ian.

[slater170]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

Hi Slats,

Me and Liam are free for a Knock this Saturday morning around 9.00am, Liam has a lesson with Staffordshire after so we may have to shoot off after a quick pint., if this is a bit short notice or you would like a game with all three maybe another week, I try and sort before the weather changes to much.

Sounds like Brian is slowly being converted, like any change you need to let go after a while and hit the ball, I certainly pushed a few at first, and a few hooks.......................it soon settles down with the confidence it brings.

I'll catch up at home just leaving work now.

Ian.

hi ian
got a comp on sat morn!
ive got a free day on sunday the 23rd if that is any good?
been to the range tonight practicing the 3sk*lls just going to say 2 words "feckin marvelous" and another 2 "effortless power"

[Ian Hancock]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

No worries Slats,

we are comping until 6th October, I'll arrange with you after that.

Hopefully, you will knock a fair few more shots off by then.

I am going to the Belfry in two weeks to watch the masters, may stand on the range talking out loud about 3skills, then hopefully pass it off as my idea and sign some tour players up under my tuition.

THUMP.............

Fell out off bed.

Ian.

[bdbl]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

been to the range tonight practicing the 3sk*lls just going to say 2 words "feckin marvelous" and another 2 "effortless power"

Told you it would take me longer ; tried adjusting my grip as Kevin suggested in order to promote closing the club. Just 3 words to describe my swing, "gone to pieces", and four more, "what the feck was that".

All over the place; either hooking or pushing really wildly every so often though a little glimpse of what happens when you get it right - so perseverence Robin, perseverence!

Mind you as my old Gran used to say "if at first you don't succeed take up another game".

[BrianW]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

Told you it would take me longer ; tried adjusting my grip as Kevin suggested in order to promote closing the club. Just 3 words to describe my swing, "gone to pieces", and four more, "what the feck was that".

All over the place; either hooking or pushing really wildly every so often though a little glimpse of what happens when you get it right - so perseverence Robin, perseverence!

Mind you as my old Gran used to say "if at first you don't succeed take up another game".

Robin,

Sounds like you are trying too hard. If you are OK with SK2 and can hit the ball slightly out right consistently then you only need a gentle closing of the clubface through impact, sounds like you are being a bit aggressive at this stage. Just imagine the toe of the club moving past the heel as you come through the ball, don't concentrate on the wrists or hands.

[greghutton]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

Well... another week of great feedback on the 3skills. I myself managed to get up to Wales at the weekend and squeeze in a few holes of golf. I can truly say that I am starting to strike the ball the best I ever have thanks to reading NAIL IT and through speaking to Joe Hagan.

I can vouch that the 3skillsgolf philosophy can be as helpful not only to the beginner but for the pro as well. So many times I have been walking onto the golf course with many teachnical swing thoughts in the back of my mind. Not anymore, and it is all thanks to Joe. Cheers buddy, and keep up the great work.

[slater170]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

hi greg
good to hear its working for better players like yourself and not just the duffers!
got my works society comp this weekend so hoping my recent purple patch continues.
played in a works 3 ball last friday night and shot a gross 63 for 14 holes
got in work on monday and all of a sudden im a bandit that has been having lessons (which i havent) and calling for my official handicap of 22 to be reduced to 12
thats the power of 3skills for you!

funny that the sh*t stirrer is the guy who regularly shaves shots off his score but still wants his 24 hcap in the comps

[dant]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

Well... another week of great feedback on the 3skills. I myself managed to get up to Wales at the weekend and squeeze in a few holes of golf. I can truly say that I am starting to strike the ball the best I ever have thanks to reading NAIL IT and through speaking to Joe Hagan.

I can vouch that the 3skillsgolf philosophy can be as helpful not only to the beginner but for the pro as well. So many times I have been walking onto the golf course with many teachnical swing thoughts in the back of my mind. Not anymore, and it is all thanks to Joe. Cheers buddy, and keep up the great work.

With your more lofted clubs are you exspected (6-Wedges) lean the club forward in order to get the leading edge of the club square to the ball. And less forward with the longer clubs.
Thanks
Dant

[golfseeker]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

I've been away from this blog for a few weeks and find this thread on the 3skills very interesting. About a year or two back I was watching a pro tournament on TV and they had an extremely slow motion of Ernie Els swing as it was coming into impact and slightly beyond. The iron he was using was coming into the impact zone wide open (about 1 foot from the ball) and was square at impact. It continued square for several inches beyond impact to completely closed about 1 foot past impact. The whole senario implies that the club head rotated 180 degrees from open to closed within just a couple of feet. The comments that were made by the TV host was that he felt that this is where Ernie generated most of his power and acceleration. And most people would admit that Ernie's swing seems to be effortless but they cannot see that impact of his golf club in the hitting zone. So to make a long story short I took that visual to the range (this was a few years ago) and attempted to replicate Ernies swing at impact. I had dramatic results just like others have mentioned on this thread. I dropped 10 strokes off my game within a few weeks. The end result was very incouraging. One thing I found was that timing is a big issue and it takes a lot of trials to get it working correct.
Golfseeker

[ubizmo]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

From my perspective, opening and closing the club face is something that happens too fast to be subject to conscious control, so I don't even try. In fact, of the three skills, I have a little trouble thinking of this one as a skill, because I tend to think of skills as things that are subject to direct conscious control. When I try to do something about closing the club face through impact, the result is inevitably a disaster. But it is apparently subject to unconscious control, so it can be trained, and that control can be directed by things such as visualization. So that slow-mo of Els could be a very powerful tool.

[kevinhendrix]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

With your more lofted clubs are you exspected (6-Wedges) lean the club forward in order to get the leading edge of the club square to the ball. And less forward with the longer clubs.
Thanks
Dant

Hi Dant, Kevin McDonald PGA here. I hope you are doing well. The shaft will lean more forward for clubs from wedges to 7 irons at address. The shaft will lean less forward for all your longer irons and utility/ rescue woods. The shaft should not be leant forward for 3 woods and drivers. The main reason for leaning the shaft forward the most with the shorter clubs is we are trying to apply more downward pressure to the ball in order to find the sweetspot. Leaning the shaft forward at address will give you a better feeling that you can acheive that. I wouldn't lean it too far forward as then you will start to shut the face of the club and this will only help you to hit the ball low. (can be used in certain circumstances on the course or if you have a strong wind into you and wish to do this anyway : ) ) With the longer irons we dont need to apply as much downward pressure to the ball to find the sweetspot so you dont need to lean the shaft forward as much. For rescue/ utility woods you want to apply a little downward pressure so you may want the shaft leaning forward just a little bit. For 3 woods and driver you dont want to apply any kind of downward pressure so you may want to have the shaft level. I hope this is of some use to you. Have a nice day. Kevin McDonald PGA

[golfseeker]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

From my perspective, opening and closing the club face is something that happens too fast to be subject to conscious control, so I don't even try. In fact, of the three skills, I have a little trouble thinking of this one as a skill, because I tend to think of skills as things that are subject to direct conscious control. When I try to do something about closing the club face through impact, the result is inevitably a disaster. But it is apparently subject to unconscious control, so it can be trained, and that control can be directed by things such as visualization. So that slow-mo of Els could be a very powerful tool.

To some extent I agree with you about the difficulty of concious control of the golf club. But you can learn the proper use of the instrument that controls the opening and closing the club face. That instrument is the left and right forearms rotating in a counterclockwise direction. This counterclockwise movement is learned conciously as in Tennis, baseball or even ping-pong. Once learned in can be performed subconciously. In my avatar above I am hitting a bag full of rags....in effect "nailing" the bag. I do this daily when I can't make it to the course. It gives me the "feel" of rotating of the left and right forearms, the "feel" of the impact position and the "feel" of where the back of the left hand should be at impact. This is my take on conciously learned and subconciously performed.
Golfseeker

[dant]

Re: i used the 3 skills and nailed it!

Hi Dant, Kevin McDonald PGA here. I hope you are doing well. The shaft will lean more forward for clubs from wedges to 7 irons at address. The shaft will lean less forward for all your longer irons and utility/ rescue woods. The shaft should not be leant forward for 3 woods and drivers. The main reason for leaning the shaft forward the most with the shorter clubs is we are trying to apply more downward pressure to the ball in order to find the sweetspot. Leaning the shaft forward at address will give you a better feeling that you can acheive that. I wouldn't lean it too far forward as then you will start to shut the face of the club and this will only help you to hit the ball low. (can be used in certain circumstances on the course or if you have a strong wind into you and wish to do this anyway : ) ) With the longer irons we dont need to apply as much downward pressure to the ball to find the sweetspot so you dont need to lean the shaft forward as much. For rescue/ utility woods you want to apply a little downward pressure so you may want the shaft leaning forward just a little bit. For 3 woods and driver you dont want to apply any kind of downward pressure so you may want to have the shaft level. I hope this is of some use to you. Have a nice day. Kevin McDonald PGA

Thanks Kevin