Mindy Blake

[bill reed]

Re: Mindy Blake

hi
some pictures of Richard Wax using the Mindy Blake swing system.
cheers
bill

[golfndawg]

Re: Mindy Blake

Ok Bill you have the books so this makes you the resource.

Is Richard playing the ball a little further back than Blake and wider stance? I was thinking Blake, mid of left foot. Tooooo Long to remember.

The rounded man here, me, has to play just a tiny bit further back then Richard. Short Arms.

Nice photos.

I was noticing that it sure looks like playing a driver of the right foot,but then again it might just be the angle......

[bampot]

Re: Mindy Blake

Pics. taken at poor angle.The line drawings in Blake's book give much better idea of swing.

[bill reed]

Re: Mindy Blake

hi cmays
your spot on in the Richard has a very wide stance and i think thats why the ball looks further back and yes Mindy did play the ball off the middle of the left foot, the thing i like about Richard's swing is in picture 5 and the ball is well on its way but the club head has not passed the hand and he is still accelerating and his arms are only now fully extended.
i also think that the fact he stands 40% open makes the ball look further back in his stance, if i can find a pictures of Mindy with a driver I'll post it.
in Richards swing there are not many things that can go wrong and i think at impact he is good.
bill

[oldwease]

Re: Mindy Blake

I've enjoyed this thread - just shows how many successful ways there are to swing a golf club. I don't think it would be that natural for me but I can appreciate how the positioning of the right foot prevents any sway in the backswing and gives a pretty solid base to the swing.

A bit off the point, but I remember Faldo used to play a draw by opening the stance while closing the shoulders (puts a bit more strain on the lower back). I've actually tried that and it's amazing how much control you seem to get.

[bill reed]

Re: Mindy Blake

ho oldwease
one of the things about Mindy's swing thats so different to most it that he keeps the left hip thrust out a little to the target and it puts more of your weight on your left side and his right elbow is forward and points more to the ground and more inline with the zip of his pants. on the forum there is some pictures of some drills from Claude Pesant and the no club drills you really feel the the stretch in the muscles of the back when you do it. Mindy also like to do the broom or rake drill that cmays talks about a lot on here.
with Mindy's swing its about reflex, that is what you do in the backswing with the legs and hips make the arms and hands follow in a reflex action on the downswing, you don't try and do anything with the arms or hand on the downswing and you let your body's reflex action do all the work.
one you get the hang of it its a effortless way to play. with my Trevino swing i swing down with my left arm and the back of my left hand, in Mindy's system i don't do anything like that and i feel my heads a lot more behind the ball and i swing under my head, my neck being the point i turn around, also the hips don't sway forward as much as in the Trevino swing as Mindy already had his hips pressed forward in the back swing, i think thats why the picture of Richard Wax and the ball being back a little may be down to his hips being forward more than other golfers and his very open stance.
cheers
bill

[bampot]

Re: Mindy Blake

Have been reading all your comments on the Mindy Blake swing and decided it must have some merit. I particularly like the open stance, as I get older it is more difficult to clear the left hip. If I have got it right he initiates the down swing with a thrust down of right shoulder and arm as opposed to the usual left side.

[bill reed]

Re: Mindy Blake

hi bampot
no the arms and shoulders act in a refelex action to the movement of the hips and legs the arms just react to whats hapening and the shoulder follows the hips.
he does get the right elbow ahead of the right hip more than most golfers.

when you set up you slid the hips a little to the left and that helps drop the right shoulder and also the right elbow is close to the zipper of your pants and not at your hip like most swings and your head is more behind the ball, when you start to swing back you try and keep the club face looking at the ball and this closes the face a little on the backswing, you do nothing active with the arms and hands and you keep the left hips pushed towards the target as you swing back.
it all sounds strange but when you do it it does feel so effortless.
i tend to feel like i'm pushing down on the instep of my right foot as i start to swing.
if you look on his web forum at the pictures you will see about 20 pages of his book.
hope this helps.
bill

[bill reed]

Re: Mindy Blake

i agree with cmays that the hips point 40% to the left of target with the feet but the shoulders are only pointing about 10% to the left. if you sey up with shoulders and hips in line then you will keep wanting to come back to this on the downswing.
with blakes swing there is no wrist flip or turn at impact your arms pull the club through the ball and you arms follow your shoulders and they follow your hips and your legs control them. thats why you set up with a lean to the right and your lift hips is pushed out towards the target and stays there.
i think the hip being pushed to the left is hard to get use to but the open stance make the ball feel further back in your stance so you move it forward and the hip move puts you in a better setup.
if you try it think of it more a swing that hitting the ball, if you think hit then your hands come into play but if you think swing then your aems and hands just follow.
bill

[daviesec]

Re: Mindy Blake

An interesting thread this one. I can certainly see how this can work for people but for me, my normal shot is a draw, it would mean a drastic swing change as I tend to swing a little flatter.

I find I can hit a little fade with longer irons by opening my stance a touch, something that I do when I want to hit one high and land one soft or hold it against the wind.

Not sure I could start my swing with my knee moving towards the ball though, would this not cause less accomplished golfers to have problems with the reverse pivot??

[bill reed]

Re: Mindy Blake

hi Davie
when i put this up on the board it was to let people see thay there other systems that work and not to get people that allready have a good system to change, if like me you have back problems or your swing dont or you can't get it to work then maybe give it a try, i would never expect someone with a good swing like yours Davie to change and you seemed to be playing better this year too.
i went from a open (fade)system in the late 70S to a closed (draw) system in the 80s and 90s when i started playing with a tour pro i meet (David Roberson) and i only chaned back to an open system when i started having spine problems and had to give up golf for a couple of years, i find the open system puts less presure on my lower back and i have been playing of and on the Trevino system for over 30 years.
Cmays told me about Blake and i got his second book (still waiting on his first book being delivered) his system is diffrent to Trevino's and you do set up diffrent but once you have it it is a very easy swing and does repeat, it is not a power swing but one based on control and putting the ball on the fairway.
when you set up your right knee points into the ball and most players (using Blake) use this a start to there swing(forward press).the right elbow is more forward and the arms are turned by the chest and the chest by the hips, the arms just follow and the hands do one thing and thats hold onto the club. Blake used a strong grip to keep the right elbow tucked in but a lot of blake played use there standered grip but a weak grip will make you want to turn your wrists over near impact and that is not what you want using Blake. the hips turn and they in turn make the shoulders turn and the right elbow drops infront of the right hip as your hips turn, the arms follow the chest and shoulders, that is the basic of Blake, ie the arms and hands follow in a reflexed action and are not controled or manipulated.
the easy way to set up if you have not tried it is to set up to the ball 40% and then push the hips to the target and feel like your at impact, shoulders about 10% open, then push the right knee in and swing back. keeping the hips forward like you have a little more weight on the left foot.
it is hard to understand or explane but i have tried it and it works and works well and i will be using it more and more and trying to understand it more to.
hope what i have said makes some sense.
cheers
bill

[daviesec]

Re: Mindy Blake

hi Davie
when i put this up on the board it was to let people see thay there other systems that work and not to get people that allready have a good system to change, if like me you have back problems or your swing dont or you can't get it to work then maybe give it a try, i would never expect someone with a good swing like yours Davie to change and you seemed to be playing better this year too.
i went from a open (fade)system in the late 70S to a closed (draw) system in the 80s and 90s when i started playing with a tour pro i meet (David Roberson) and i only chaned back to an open system when i started having spine problems and had to give up golf for a couple of years, i find the open system puts less presure on my lower back and i have been playing of and on the Trevino system for over 30 years.
Cmays told me about Blake and i got his second book (still waiting on his first book being delivered) his system is diffrent to Trevino's and you do set up diffrent but once you have it it is a very easy swing and does repeat, it is not a power swing but one based on control and putting the ball on the fairway.
when you set up your right knee points into the ball and most players (using Blake) use this a start to there swing(forward press).the right elbow is more forward and the arms are turned by the chest and the chest by the hips, the arms just follow and the hands do one thing and thats hold onto the club. Blake used a strong grip to keep the right elbow tucked in but a lot of blake played use there standered grip but a weak grip will make you want to turn your wrists over near impact and that is not what you want using Blake. the hips turn and they in turn make the shoulders turn and the right elbow drops infront of the right hip as your hips turn, the arms follow the chest and shoulders, that is the basic of Blake, ie the arms and hands follow in a reflexed action and are not controled or manipulated.
the easy way to set up if you have not tried it is to set up to the ball 40% and then push the hips to the target and feel like your at impact, shoulders about 10% open, then push the right knee in and swing back. keeping the hips forward like you have a little more weight on the left foot.
it is hard to understand or explane but i have tried it and it works and works well and i will be using it more and more and trying to understand it more to.
hope what i have said makes some sense.
cheers
bill

Bill

I appreciate what you're saying, if the cap fits wear it and all that!!!

For me golf is all about confidence, trying to my brain to remember a particular swing that works well for me then repeating time after time. The only swing thought I have these days is to remember to transfer my weight onto my right side during the backswing and then through onto the left during the down swing. I find that if my weight is transfering well then I tend to swing well and hit the type of shot I want, usually a low/medium height draw, particularly useful for us Northern-ers eh Bill?

[bill reed]

Re: Mindy Blake

hi Davie
thats why my pro got me to change to a draw as we played links courses most of time and i hit the ball so high and when changed to the draw i got that low runner thats great on links. due to back problems i had to change to an open stance a few years ago after a 3 year lay off and back with high ball again and my handicap when using the draw was down to 4 but now i'm up to 14, i wont ever get back to a 4 again but think i could maybe get to 10 or maybe 9, when its windy the one iron comes out a lot more and if i set up with a 40% open stance and have the club face about 30% closed i can hit a nice low fade but i lose about 10 to 15 yards.
as you know the wind blows all the time up here and you get use to playing in it and using it, you dont have any other option but learn to work with it and not against it.
with my open golf swing i dont really have any swing thoughts, i tend to focus on the shape of the shot and just setting up right, i have a forward press and everything just hapens as if on auto, if i have a short chip then i think soft hands but i try not to think about any part of the swing when i get up to the ball, with me it all about how i see the shot in my head and then knowing thats how i will hit it, dont always work???
cheers
bill

[daviesec]

Re: Mindy Blake

hi Davie
thats why my pro got me to change to a draw as we played links courses most of time and i hit the ball so high and when changed to the draw i got that low runner thats great on links. due to back problems i had to change to an open stance a few years ago after a 3 year lay off and back with high ball again and my handicap when using the draw was down to 4 but now i'm up to 14, i wont ever get back to a 4 again but think i could maybe get to 10 or maybe 9, when its windy the one iron comes out a lot more and if i set up with a 40% open stance and have the club face about 30% closed i can hit a nice low fade but i lose about 10 to 15 yards.
as you know the wind blows all the time up here and you get use to playing in it and using it, you dont have any other option but learn to work with it and not against it.
with my open golf swing i dont really have any swing thoughts, i tend to focus on the shape of the shot and just setting up right, i have a forward press and everything just hapens as if on auto, if i have a short chip then i think soft hands but i try not to think about any part of the swing when i get up to the ball, with me it all about how i see the shot in my head and then knowing thats how i will hit it, dont always work???
cheers
bill

Just following on from what you're saying about your 1 iron, I've been trying to get hold of one for ages now without success, I don't bother carrying my rescue club anymore so there is a space for one. I don't think manufacturers still make them so i'm after a similar model to yours. needle and haystack springs to mind though.

[bill reed]

Re: Mindy Blake

hi davie
e-bay you get ping eye2 one irons and zings on there a lot, i think the ping eye2 is a great one iron and i wont change.
bill