Ultimate Power

Here's the intro to what I consider one of the Best Videos I have in my collection. It's called the Ultimate Power Golf Swing by Bobby Schaeffer. It's available from OHP Direct. It is by far the best primer on The Golfing Machine.

We like to think that "The Gotham Golf Stroke" is a Classic Golf Swing and I think this epitomizes it.






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Vacation

I'll be back posting tomorrow, in the meantime I suggest you scour the archives. there's plenty of good stuff there.

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Vacation

I'm gonna take a break for the next few days. If you're hungry for Gotham Golf stuff, go into the archives there is a ton of good stuff there.

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Scratch Golf

I had the good fortune of being able to spend some time with Ari Techner from Scratch Golf back in January. Here's How it went:(it's almost comical!)







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EA Tischler on "Hogan"

Here is our friend, EA Tischler with his views on Hogan:

I have often heard instructors say you have to deliver the club at the same angle the club start at address, in what I call the Hip-Plane slot.  However many great players have delivered it in a more upright slot.  Moe Norman delivered the club in the Torso-plane slot for example, and I believe Tiger plays his best golf doing so.  

Another contention many instructor make is that you must deliver the club in the Hip-Plane slot, otherwise you will always be fighting the tendency to flip the club through impact, thus closing the clubface too soon. 

In my views there are two things at play here.  First off, are you delivering the club in the slot your body mechanics is designed to use, and second are you using a rolling release, supinated release, or a delayed release.  Rolling releasers will always be suspect to squaring the clubface too early or too late.  That is especially true the flatter the delivery plane. Delayed releasers lead into impact with the heel first and an open clubface and simply allow the release to freewheel at a much later point.  They often play fades and/or pushes.  Sam Snead made that adjustment for a while.  He actually coined the delayed release (or hit).  

To combat that tendency player like Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead (Whom all learned to play with hickory shafted clubs which required a rolling release) figured out ways to deliver the club with less roll (which was require with the new steel shaft that showed up in the middle of their careers).

Ben Hogan did a couple of things to change that tendency in his swing.  He weakened his grip and developed a type of supination that delivered the clubface square to the arc while he rotated left through the impact interval.

Whether you deliver the club in the Hip-Plane Slot, Torso-Plane Slot or Shoulder-Plane Slot you can learn from how Hogan did it.  I have put together 2 videos to help you understand how that works.  I hope you enjoy them and find the informative.

EA Tischler
 

Here's the video:







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Tom Purtzer = "Poetry in Motion"

Here's some stuff I wrote about him a couple of years ago:


Probably best described as "Timeless". I believe Tom suffered an injury in the time between the end of his PGA tour career and his Senior Tour Career which altered his swing somewhat.

Purtzer averaged 279.6 yards in 1990 as the PGA TOUR's driving distance leader. Last year, he averaged 295.5 yards, and hasn't gone below 294.8 (2004) as the Champions Tour statistical leader. This year he is averaging 304.5 yards.

Here's some video:



Purtzer's 4 key tips:

1. Get fitted for the right equipment. Take advantage of the available technology to find out what equipment -- shaft, clubhead loft, ball -- will be of greatest benefit. Purtzer: "The modern high-tech equipment only helps if it fits you properly. If it doesn't fit you, it's worse than using what you're using now."

2. Keep stretching. Hitting a golf ball a long way is more about flexibility than strength. Purtzer: "To me the most important thing is to be able to stay flexible enough to make a body turn -- shoulders, hip. That's the key."

3. Don't fall victim to equipment misconceptions. Stiffer shafts and stronger lofts don't necessarily translate into more distance. Purtzer: "My way of thinking is old school. The older you get, you want to soften up the shaft to give yourself a little more kick to get the ball to fly, to keep the ball in the air."

4. A trusty driver is a friend forever. Purtzer: "If it works, why would you change? My driver is three generations old. There have been three upgrades since mine." The shaft in Purtzer's driver is at least 12 years old. Moral of the story: It's hard to say good-bye to a loyal friend who has been good to you for a long time.


Here's some more:





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Tiger Woods 2000

I miss the Dynamics!! Hit em Straight

Bradley Hughes on "Hogan"

Today we're going to have our friend Bradley Hughes share his insights on Ben Hogan.









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Zach Johnson by Dan Whittaker

Today we're going to have a look at Zach Johnson's swing through the eyes of Dan Whittaker.









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John and Ben Doyle

Here's a nice one of our friend John working with Mr. Doyle. For those who don't know who Ben is, here is his bio from his website:

The 1st Authorized Instructor of
The Golfing Machine

Ben Doyle, a resident of the Monterey Peninsula, is known world-wide as one of golf's foremost instructors. Named by Golf Digest as one of America's top 50 golf instructors for several years, his students routinely travel from as far away as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, and Sweden. He was also named by Golf Magazine as one of the top 100 golf instructors. A native of British Columbia, Ben joined the Professional Golf Association in 1954 after playing golf at Western Washington University. He became the first authorized instructor of The Golfing Machine, by Homer Kelley in 1969 while serving as Head Professional at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle. Devoting the last 40 years exclusively to teaching, Ben has worked with many young players on the PGA tour, has developed young golfers for college competition, and has helped men and women of all ages understand and enjoy the game of golf and the laws of the golf swing. His teaching has been featured in such publications as Golf World and Golf Digest. He gives lessons on the practice range at:

 The Golf Club at Quail Lodge ◦ 8000 Valley Greens Dr. ◦ Carmel, CA 93923 ◦ 831-624-2526.

Here's the video:





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The Ellebye Project Part 1

Here's the first installment of Peter's work with Gregg and Les. My goal is to try to get Peter to Valencia so that they can film the lessons and we can all learn something. At this point I'm reaching out to SAS to see if they would donate a flight. If there is anybody out there who would like to help us out with this shoot me an email. Worst case scenario is to try to start a contribution drive among us, I really think we can all gain something from this and I strongly believe Gregg and Les can help Peter attain Championship form. Here's the first email exchange. (you can enlarge the PDF using the menu at the bottom)Response to Ellebye Email of March 24, 2011


And here's what Peter looks like now:





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Keith Handler, Green Reading and Zero Lines

Here's our friend Keith Handler rocking the putting instruction:















































For more information about Keith and his instruction philosophies email him at:
keithhandler@yahoo.com


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Roberto DiVencenzo by Dan Whittaker

This is dedicated to all the Gotham Golfers in Argentina and the rest of South and Central America.

 First his bio from Wikipedia:

Roberto De Vicenzo (born 14 April 1923) is a former professional golfer. De Vicenzo was born in Villa Ballester, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He won more than 230 tournaments worldwide in his career, including six on the PGA Tour and the 1967 British Open.[1] De Vicenzo is best remembered for his misfortune in the 1968 Masters.[1] On the par 4 seventeenth hole, Roberto De Vicenzo made a birdie, but playing partner Tommy Aaron inadvertently entered a 4 instead of 3 on the scorecard. He did not check the scorecard for the error before signing it, and according to the Rules of Golf the higher score had to stand and be counted. If not for this mistake, De Vicenzo would have tied for first place with Bob Goalby, and the two would have met in an 18-hole playoff the next day. His quote afterwards became legendary for its poignancy: "What a stupid I am!"[2][3][4] In 1970, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. De Vicenzo subsequently found great success in the early days of the Senior PGA Tour, winning the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf two times and the inaugural U.S. Senior Open in 1980. Also won the 1974 PGA Seniors' Championship, and represented Argentina 17 times in the Canada Cup/World Cup (leading Argentina to victory in 1953). De Vicenzo was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1989, and officially retired on November 12, 2006 at age 83. He had 100 international victories.

One record that will never be broken is his 230 international career wins .

Here's an analysis by Dan Whittaker: (a couple of corrections, Mr.  DiVencenzo is still alive, and the first person Dan compares him to is Byron Nelson and not Sam Snead)

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Introducing Brenndan Cooper

 Head PGA Professional, Top of the Rock Golf Course at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, MO

•    Certified PGA Professional - Instruction 

•    Impact Zone Master Instructor

•   GSEB The Golfing Machine

•  Putting Zone Coach

An Impact Zone Master Instructor who has had the opportunity to be trained by, and work with Bobby Clampett, creator of Impact Zone Golf.  Brenndan also has been fortunate to learn and work with other top instructors Chuck Evans and Geoff Mangum.

Brenndan has been able to take what he has learned from these top instructors, as well as his own studies of the golf swing, to help golfers of all skill levels reach their golfing potential. He has helped numerous junior and high school players receive college scholarships and taught players of various skill levels, from the amateur to the professional. 

Teaching Philosophy: I want to help my students understand, achieve and improve their swing dynamics. I believe that each student has their ideal swing based on their natural tendencies, physical strength and limitations. If the student can understand the dynamics of their golf swing, and not someone else’s swing, then the student will have a greater success rate at a quicker pace.


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