Martinez19696

[markTHEblake]

Not sure if its taboo to be posting content from another forum but this is really good stuff, a great insight, Elk and his mate practicing before the Hope. You can see Elk is really workin on the method.

a few things i noticed

- Elk cant see the pin or ball finish.
- You got to bribe cart shed workers to get a free cart.
- when hitting driver was his back foot turned in (or did the camera angle deceive me)
- 270m carry is impressive for a 49yo
- my choice of clubmaker is vindicated; Gary Tozer.


now whats the deal with the pre-shot routing of the casual backswing, rest club on shoulder, turn, then step into the stance with both feet. I assume he is 'setting' something, at first i thought hips but perhaps not.

[Jarro]

you think too much Blakey

[Iain]

a few things i noticed
- when hitting driver was his back foot turned in (or did the camera angle deceive me)

Yes, I believe he does turn his right foot in, but wait for Marty to confirm.

now whats the deal with the pre-shot routing of the casual backswing, rest club on shoulder, turn, then step into the stance with both feet. I assume he is 'setting' something, at first i thought hips but perhaps not.

I think he's creating the feel he wants.

[markTHEblake]

you think too much Blakey

Good to see that you are taking a notice of this thread, you were the first person that i thought of who would benefit the most from this teaching method (once i started to understand it), cos you are a short stocky fella with great hand/eye coordination. If I can stop slapping the ball, you most certainly can as well.

[martinez]

Mark...you remember the two fisted drill we did? That's what Elk is doing pre-shot...resting the club on his shoulder, then drops it down and just bends the left wrist and he has his set up.

I am leaving for the US on the 12th of Feb, I am going to the LA open then the Honda classic in Fl, and in between to Texas. I would love to do another one day clinic before I go, if there is enough interest. I will be gone for a month.

[gazgolf1]

I am leaving for the US on the 12th of Feb, I am going to the LA open then the Honda classic in Fl, and in between to Texas. I would love to do another one day clinic before I go, if there is enough interest. I will be gone for a month.

C'mon boys, you won't regret it.

[Daves]

C'mon boys, you won't regret it.

I would be keen again.

[Jarro]

All depends on the day you wanna do it.

My work roster isn't really friendly for a while now

[martinez]

I've got a pretty clean slate between now and the 12th, so any day would work at this point.

[markTHEblake]

Found this gem, i think I can get a lot out of this.
But i don't recommend using it against the expensive leather couch when the cook is around.

[Daves]

Found this gem, i think I can get a lot out of this.
But i don't recommend using it against the expensive leather couch when the cook is around.

Yep, great vid.

I finally got to the range yesterday and took a shaft to put into the ground in front. Managed to hit it dead centre on about the 4th swing. Lucky it was only an old bent steel shaft

[martinez]

Haha, good stuff Dave. I have broken a few....I will be picking up a few alignment sticks when I go to the States.

[s12raider]

Just read the entire thread. I'm off to Fiji 12th Feb and currently in NZ..... but can fly to Brisbane from Sydney on the 11th....if you'd propose holding another clinic that day of course....

Virge - thoughts? Or am I just way too early for any thing like this?

Stu

[Daves]

I've got a pretty clean slate between now and the 12th, so any day would work at this point.

Looks we aren't going to get this off the ground this time. Look forward to catching up with you Martin when you get back.

[MegaWatty]

Dave,

Can you point me to the vids you mentioned this morning about the front foot please?

[Daves]

Dave,

Can you point me to the vids you mentioned this morning about the front foot please?

Watch the full vid (and the next 4 parts), but in particular see from about 8mins in when he talks about the lower body facing the target, and being prewound.

[timah!]

Martin stole AndyP's pants!

[markTHEblake]

Marty, I was thinking about the instruction you gave on alignment, and as I already am familiar with the parallax error, I began to wonder if my putting is screwed up for that reason. I got an idea from this piece of equipment which you might find handy for your demonstration http://www.golfworks.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_MLAT and on the putting green lined up a putt, and then kicked the ball out of the way and placed a long tee square up to the face. Yep was aiming 2 inches left on a 2m putt.

Seems the hardest thing to do is to train your mind to adjust the alignment, so after some experimentation, with my usual bag of old tricks, came up with something that worked.
1. pick a spot 30cm or less in front of the ball to aim at - I do that anyway
2. address the ball and align clubface - aiming line to my mark, and only looking at the putter head and the mark, not the hole at all.
3. now rotate the head without moving the axis to look at the hole, so the eyes are aligned vertically, and putt while still looking at the hole.

So this way the brain has had no opportunity to link the alignment and the hole together. I have putted like this before but i would look at hoe>ball>hole>ball many times, and that defeats the purpose. As soon as i tried it i holed 6 x 3m putts in a row doing this, and that is bloody sensational.

This will probably only work for me a short time, but should be enough to retrain my brain.

[gazgolf1]

http://www.youtube.com/user/interpau.../3/UdfNtLecZIA
http://www.youtube.com/user/interpau.../2/eRyHGUVxgfo
http://www.youtube.com/user/interpau.../1/DR05Yi9LGUw

Some great footage from Elk and Martin's clinic in LA. You can tell how much Elk believes in Martins method.

[Daves]

Thanks Gaz, some great reminders there.

[razaar]

Marty, I was thinking about the instruction you gave on alignment, and as I already am familiar with the parallax error, I began to wonder if my putting is screwed up for that reason. I got an idea from this piece of equipment which you might find handy for your demonstration http://www.golfworks.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_MLAT and on the putting green lined up a putt, and then kicked the ball out of the way and placed a long tee square up to the face. Yep was aiming 2 inches left on a 2m putt.

Seems the hardest thing to do is to train your mind to adjust the alignment, so after some experimentation, with my usual bag of old tricks, came up with something that worked.
1. pick a spot 30cm or less in front of the ball to aim at - I do that anyway
2. address the ball and align clubface - aiming line to my mark, and only looking at the putter head and the mark, not the hole at all.
3. now rotate the head without moving the axis to look at the hole, so the eyes are aligned vertically, and putt while still looking at the hole.

So this way the brain has had no opportunity to link the alignment and the hole together. I have putted like this before but i would look at hoe>ball>hole>ball many times, and that defeats the purpose. As soon as i tried it i holed 6 x 3m putts in a row doing this, and that is bloody sensational.

This will probably only work for me a short time, but should be enough to retrain my brain.

This works because your hands are moving directly at the target when you are looking at the target. Do exactly the same thing while looking at the ball, only you will be directing your hands to where you perceive the target to be. There are two lines - the ball/target line & the hands/target line. Line up the putter face with the ball target line and move the hands on the hands/target line. You won't read this in putting books because secrets are secrets.

[virge666]

Marty, I was thinking about the instruction you gave on alignment, and as I already am familiar with the parallax error, I began to wonder if my putting is screwed up for that reason. I got an idea from this piece of equipment which you might find handy for your demonstration http://www.golfworks.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_MLAT and on the putting green lined up a putt, and then kicked the ball out of the way and placed a long tee square up to the face. Yep was aiming 2 inches left on a 2m putt.

This will probably only work for me a short time, but should be enough to retrain my brain.

Blakey - do you really think alignment is important ?

Personally - i really wouldn't call it a fundemental at all...

[markTHEblake]

Blakey - do you really think alignment is important ?

Obviously a loaded question, so I shall go with yes, interested to here what you have to say. Obviously some people can aim incorrectly but still put well.

Personally - i really wouldn't call it a fundemental at all...

I dont think I did either but i know i have not felt comfortable putting for some time, getting alignment correct makes me feel much better.

[virge666]

Obviously a loaded question, so I shall go with yes, interested to here what you have to say. Obviously some people can aim incorrectly but still put well.

Not loaded at all.. If all the good players all had close to the same setup and alignment then I would say "Yeah baby - that is the way." But they don't.

A lot of the better putters setup a little open, (seems to a trend of sorts) - some others setup closed to release the putterhead a bit more. Other Professioanls just butcher the process in the hope of being more consistant.

Personally - and I try to not teach a method for puttting as it is such a personal thing. The putter has to be square to the target point at impact - there should be some forward lean on most putters at impact and the ball shouldn't bounce along the ground off the face.

Apart from that... go nuts. Grip and Alignment just ain't that important for either putting, short game or long game IMHO.

Not saying you shouldn't fix or adjust... I just wouldn't try to improve a swing or stroke by adjusting same.

[martinez]

Apart from that... go nuts. Grip and Alignment just ain't that important for either putting, short game or long game IMHO.

Not saying you shouldn't fix or adjust... I just wouldn't try to improve a swing or stroke by adjusting same.

I think how you set up has everything to do with good strokes....short or long game. The key is to know WHY you are setting up that way. GREAT players don't set up JUST to aim. They set up for the entirety of the motion they intend to make.....with the target in mind.