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Firstly, one must understand that a ‘Shank’ means that you strike the ball ‘On The Hozel’ and not on the ‘Sweet Spot’ or relatively ‘Center Of Face’. This is a physical or mechanical reality. It is both annoying, quite unnecessary and easily understood. Be intellectual about this error!

If you are an ‘Arms Over Legs’ (deficient ‘Clubhead Lag Pressure’ … hands leading the Lower Body Machine (LBM) rather than trailing, you may find yourself ‘Reaching For The Ball’ with an ‘Above Plane and Path Error’. This can expose or present the ‘Hozel and not the ‘Center Of Mass’ to the Ballistic Point of the Ball. (BIC) Oops!

We have a minimum of fair comments about our use of basic ‘Acronyms’ … ‘TOB’ stands for ‘Top Of Back Swing’. You have noticed that we also always include the full wording for clarity.

Here is something your ‘555 Team’ always tells our clients. “If you establish Swing Stations, (‘TOB’ is one of them) and get proficient at hitting these ‘Check Points’, you shall become very much more ‘Consistent’ and ‘Happier’! If you miss getting into your garage by two feet, you are likely to be ‘Unhappy’! Please be aware that this ‘Positioning Comfort’ has to be earned the ‘Old Fashioned Way’ … through hard, repetitive motions over time. Have you heard that you will need to make 4,000 quality controlled repetitions to accomplish a ‘Swing Change’? That is just pure ‘Bovine Scata’.

Adequate sleep is vital for a vibrant, functioning immune system and our general potent and reliable well-being. Activity kills cells. They must be replaced. Rest restores cellular integrity. Studies show that people who do not get enough sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus, bacteria or mundane need to heal from soreness and injury. We must all “Think and Focus On Being Well!” Might I suggest you use a wellness mantra when you have a moment? “Every Day In Every Way I Am Getting Stronger and Stronger!” It fits into your walking and breathing rhythm so it is not complicated and is free.

Lack of sleep can directly affect how fast you recover if you do get sick. Without sufficient sleep, your body makes fewer ‘cytokines’, a type of protein that targets infection and inflammation, effectively creating an immune response. The very function of our ‘leucocytes’ plays a key role in our well-being!

The ‘5 CONTROLS ..... always!

1. ‘EVALUATE’ the wind’s ‘Direction and Velocity’ remembering that these change significantly with height above the ground and when trees and other factors are present.
2. ‘VISUALIZE’ the ‘Ball Flight’ or ‘Shot Pattern’.
3. ‘KEEP UNDER THE WIND’. Logically, if there were no wind or less wind, you could do less to compensate for it. There is generally less of it closest to the ground (‘Shift & Veer’). More simply put, the closer you are to the ground, the less time and margin there is for error to take place. Putts are less effected by the wind than are ‘Drives’.
4. ‘CLUB SELECTION’ during your ‘Pre-Shot Routine’ is always important. Still the case! You want lower ‘Trajectory’ so as to ‘Stay Under The Wind’ therefore select less loft. The smaller the number on the ‘Clubhead’ the ‘Less The Loft’ and the longer the shaft. This means that your ‘Clubhead Speed’ will be greater with perhaps less effort. So farther and lower can result from proper ‘Club Selection’.

Let’s start our evaluation at ‘Impact Fix’ (Swing Sequence #1) as well as SS #1a, the very initial Take Away move, always quite similar to your ‘Putting Take-Away’. (see ‘The One Piece Take-Away’) We are primarily viewing ‘Down The Line’ (see ‘DTL Video Perspective’ … ‘Ball To Target’)

Both Knees are athletically flexed and ready to ‘Go To Work’. (see ‘Posture - The Swing or Pivot Engine’) During SS #1 and SS #1a (Trigger or Start Of Movement) the Knee Caps are quite ‘Even’.

As we transition into SS #2 (The Sweep), the Target Knee starts to move forward or towards the ‘Body and Target Lines’. The Brace Knee is stationery and ready to become loaded. Remember, the ‘Medial Head of the Femur’ (The Inside Knee Knob) is the ‘Base Of The Pivot’. Our entire ‘Golf Body Machine’ pivots or rotates and winds around that ‘Accumulate, Load & Store’ point. (see ALSDR … The Power Line Delivery Sequence … DR stands for ‘Deliver & Release’)

We are well-served by NOT turning our heads too early to watch the ‘Ball Rolling Line and the Outcome’ (Fear Oriented). As you well know, your ‘555 Team’ are foundational ‘Process Golfers’ (Love & Comfort Oriented). We like to focus on our specific ‘Pre Shot Routines’ (Building Trust) and then just ‘Letting IT Happen’. If you have earned success, the ball will ‘Find The Bottom Of The Cup’ and you can actually enjoy “Listening For It”. (The Rattle)

As you well know, we are proponents of ‘The Steady Head’ with all golf procedures. ‘Ocularly Acute Captain Eyes’ invite the ‘Steady Headed’ benefits. (see ‘The Tether Ball Pole’) If your head is moving around, it is highly likely that your ‘Putter Head’ (Clubhead) will be as well. A poorly controlled ‘Sweet Spot’ shall produce a ‘Poorly Controlled Ball Flight’. (see ‘Sloppy Energy Transfer’ with too much induced ‘Spin Rate’) Pretty logically sensible? (see ‘Marking Your Golf Balls’ …Use a 1.5” Line that Matches the Target Line & 1 Ballistic Dot placed on each end at the Bottom Inside Cheek Point or BIC)

Firstly, we need both ‘General and Specific Knowledge’. This includes A) Ball Flight Laws, B) The 5 Set-Ups (Posture, Grip, Stance, Ball Location & Alignment), C) The 5 Essential Elements (Clubface Aim, Clubhead Path, Clubhead Speed. Sweet Spot & Angle Of Attack) and D) The 5 Controls (Chin, Hands, Feet, Ball & Pin). These are basic golf foundations for you!

We need to understand A) The Golf Body Machine, B) Equipment, C) The Mental Aspect, D) Nutritional, E) Course Management and F) ‘How To Practise With A Purpose’.

Once we have the above basics mastered, we shall fully understand that “There Is A Putt In Every Drive” or alternatively “I Drive As I Putt”. Sound a bit outlandish? Absolutely scientifically true! Once you embrace this ‘Truth & Reality’, based on ‘The 5 Essential Elements’, you shall be amazingly ‘FREE’ to grow your game.

The ‘5 CONTROLS ..... always!

1. ‘EVALUATE’ The Environmental Elements’ first.
2. ‘VISUALIZE’ the ‘Ball Flight’ and ‘Shot Pattern’
3. ‘KNOW YOUR YARDAGES’
4. ‘SELECT THE RIGHT CLUB’
5. ‘5 SET-UPS’ and ‘5 CONTROLS’

We play golf as if we were standing on railway track rails that are automatically width adjustable to accommodate our various club lengths. The Driver requires the widest rails.

An associate of mine just sent me a virally popular instructional piece on ‘Training Indoors’.

He quite simply said that one needs to get the ‘Club Shaft Parallel To The Target Line or To The Body Line’ in order to improve your swing and experience more Ball Flight Success. Where we accomplish the condition of ‘Shaft Parallel’ to these lines is very important. Will this shaft be directly over the Target Line or over the Body Line’?

Like a virus, there is chronically a lot of unhealthy advice going around in the golf realm. Is it contagious? In its own way, absolutely! Evaluate and shun the bad mantras. Embrace the practical and logical. Remember, the golf swing and strike is based on science (Newtonian Truth). The Physics of Rotation and The Geometry of the Circle never get out of style or out of vogue!

What prompted me to write the above title?

We have all heard of the ‘L To L (Shaft Level To Level) Drill’, AKA ‘The Half Way Back and Half Way Through Drill’. Some swing to the Shaft Horizontal position on both sides of the circle. (Swing Sequence #3 Back & Up and SS #8a Down & Out) Others, to their own discretion, use the ‘Target Lever Horizontal Check Point’. (SS #4 Back & Up and SS #9 Down & Out)