Educated Hands

[jambalaya]

OK my fellow GTO companions, please explain "Educated Hands" to me. What is it? What do I have to do to have them? Is it the grip, the wrist cock, flat left wrist, wrist rotatation or all of the above? I've been the the TGM (The Golf Machine) web site. They talk about the hands controlling the pivot. Many say you can have a great pivot but if you don't educate the hands you won't be consistent. Are their steps and drills to train the hands? I am confused.

[jambalaya]

Re: Educated Hands

I would truly like it to work as you describe but my experience gives me doubt. If I do as you say in #5 of your instructions, I can move my left thumbnail around my body pretty far before my body actually moves. Naturally my left shoulder turns in but if I keep my arm straight the left arm is close to touching my chest before my body or torso is forced to rotate. I have to consciously let my body follow that hand movement in order for them to rotate together. And if I rotate the arm forward, my body does not have to rotate with it. If you are saying my natural reaction to rotating the arm around my body should be for my body to move in sync, then my reactions just don't seem normal.

Now, let's talk about your suggestion with the driver between the thumbs and forefingers. It is easier to get my body turning that way but there is still a stubborness of my body to follow the hands in sync. If I think more about throwing the club over each shoulder, it helps.

I can see that the hands direct the swing path and plane. My body doesn't seem to react as well as it needs to the path my hands are trying to trace. Your answer was good because it brought up all kinds of new questions and thoughts. It brings me slightly nearer my answer I think but there is still some fog to dissipate.

[bill reed]

Re: Educated Hands

hi cmays
on another thread i asked braveheart if the bobby clampet book he was talking about was on that i had read years ago, you spoke about hommer kelly and the golfing machine and that rings a bell as being the same book, is that i very deep read abouth the golf swing and is it a good 15 years old since it was written. i have been looking for it but dont remember what it was called or who wrote it as it was so long since i read it. would like to read it again now i know more about the swing.
thanks bill

[BrianW]

Re: Educated Hands

Hi Jamb,

Place a golf ball on the ground around 6 feet in front of you. Take another ball in your right hand, stand as if addressing a golf club and throw the ball at the one on the ground with a nice long easy underhand throw, now put a ball in your left hand and make backhand arm throw at the ball. Did you need to educate your hands to do it? Did you make a shoulder turn, did your right knee fold into the left, did your hands turn back on the backswing and over on the down swing, did your arms flex then extend, did you turn back and through towards the target?

Did you need to think about the action?

[bill reed]

Re: Educated Hands

hi cmays
would you recomend the book the golfing machine by homer, i looked it up on amason and its almost £40 and up to £100 over here, i know it a deep read but its so long since i did read it.
my swing is more like trevino, wide open stance and i come from inside and push my hands away and i do get a nice high fade. i find trevino's system works but its not for every one but does work for me.
not looking for a magic move, or the secret to golf i just want to understand more about the full swing.
thanks again
bill

[bill reed]

Re: Educated Hands


no i agree with you cmays what you say sounds just like me. i do have a shorter swing due to my open stance and do have to brace my right knee so i dont sway back on the backswing and i do start with my hips moving about 3/4 inches to target, but the reward is that i seem to be able to come into the back of the ball and time it well almost every time, i'm sure you understand when you feel the club head meets the ball good every time you get confedent and your swing gets more relaxed and your game improves. i am not a big hitter but i do put the ball where i want it to go most of the time.
i have always belived there is no right way to swing and the only thing that matters is putting the club head square on the back of the ball and being able to repeat it.
i do think some teachers often make it harder getting high handicap playes to try and hit the ball straight when working with a fade or a draw would make the player advance in his game quicker.
bill

[jambalaya]

Re: Educated Hands

cmays:

Thanks for your efforts. I read the stuff from your link. I am still digesting.

BrianW:

So I take it you don't believe in educated hands. Boy I wish I could get the golf swing to be as easy as throwing the ball underhand. I could then join the tour.

[jambalaya]

Re: Educated Hands

cmays:

Take a look at this link and the explanation of the pressure points:

Tutorials List

It has illustrations too.

[BrianW]

Re: Educated Hands

BrianW:

So I take it you don't believe in educated hands. Boy I wish I could get the golf swing to be as easy as throwing the ball underhand. I could then join the tour.

Sorry if my assistance is not what you wanted to hear, maybe next time you could let me have a better idea of what the answer should be so that I can reply in the way you want it?

I didn't say that I don't believe in educated hands, I was saying that the hands are already intelligent and don't need much education, you just have to listen to them.

Now there was quite a good golfer once called Hogan who managed to get on tour and made a fair job of it too-boot. He wrote a book to show us how the average Joe could break 80 if he practiced some basic fundamentals. One of the important fundamentals was to swing the club like you are throwing a ball underhand. Guess he was being a bit simplistic though!

[ubizmo]

Re: Educated Hands

I like this from Tom Stickney:


1. Index of /Tips

There's a lot of good material at that site.