I spent a month practicing in front of a mirror , no hitting balls, working on maintaining a constant spine angle and not lifting my shoulders. Yesterday, I finally hit a bucket of balls at the range and what a disaster. Most of my full shots skidded off the ground perhaps 20-30 yards at most. Before the lengthy mirror work, I could hit 150 yds.Went back home and re-analyzed my swing in the mirror, and saw the severe difference in impact and address positions from the side view.
Thanks
Golf Catty,
You are experiencing major league Geometric Disaster, and though still indenial, you have hit rock bottom. We in 'The Program' have heard your plea andknow that your only hope is the A. A. (Authorized Assistance) Three-StepProgram. First, you must be willing to admit your problem. So, repeat afterme...
"Hi, My name is Golf C., and I am a G.O.L.F.-a-holic."
And the Forum responds in unison: "Hi, Golf C.!"
Now that you have publicly admitted your problem and sought the help ofrecovering others, let us begin.
We in The Program know that you are powerless over Club and Ball. That does not make you a bad personnor is it a sign of character weakness. It is simply a condition that affects acertain percentage of society and is often genetic. Ask yourself: "Wereeither of my parents a Golfer? Were both? How about their parents? Were any ofthem powerless? Were -- God forbid -- all of them powerless?" It isimportant that you face the cold hard facts concerning your condition.
But it is not enough to know your weakness. No! You must have a Plan toconquer it One Day At A Time! "Just for today," youmust repeat, "I will not touch a Club. Just for today, I will not hit at aBall. Just for today, I will admit that I am a powerless hacker withno control over either!"
You see, Golf C., we in The Program know that your only hope is to completelyabstain from both Club and Ball for a lengthy period. But willpower isnot enough in these early stages of Recovery. You must remove all temptation!Store your Clubs and Balls in a closet or in the basement. Better yet, have afriend take them to an unknown location and make him swear he will not revealit until your recovery is well underway. When this has been done, go to thehardware store and buy a wooden dowel 48" long and 1/4" in diameter.It will cost approximately $2.10, a small price to pay for Recovery.
Dowel in hand, open The Yellow Book Of A. A. to page 226. Here you willfind Step One in Homer K.'s Proven Plan For Recovery -- the Basic Motion of12-5-1. Begin by mastering Item No. 1 of the Basic Motion Pattern, theprecision Grip of 10-2-B. Grip down on the dowel so that it runs aboutthree-quarters of the way up your Left Forearm. Imitate the middle picture onpage 137 of The Book and look, Look, LOOK to make sure you get itright. When you can assume the correct Grip automatically, then (and only then)proceed to Item No. 2, the Stance Line.
Use the dowel -- and only the dowel -- until you have acquired a consciouscontrol of each Item in the Checklist. Remember, at no time are youpermitted to make a Motion longer than two feet in both directions! Youshould practice your Basic Motion by swinging the dowel in a continuous backand through Motion -- back and through and back and through and back andthrough. When you can swing the dowel back and through continuously whilecorrectly performing the first 21 items in the Stroke Pattern, use the last(No. 22), 'Closed Eyes Hand Education,' to completely capture the 'Feel' ofyour Basic Motion and to assign its control to your Hands.
When you can reproduce the Mechanics of your Basic Motion by Feel alone andwith little conscious thought -- remember, One Day At A Time! --you are permitted to replace the dowel with a Putter. However, you may not yetuse a Ball. That's because the Putter has a Clubhead at the end of its Shaft,and for some reason unknown to Man, a Clubhead tends to 'flip' in thepresence of a Ball.
So, you must first gain control of the Clubhead, and this, of course, meansgaining control of your Hands. It is the only road out ofHackerville. Not until you can successfully perform the 22 items-- andespecially Items 11, 12, 15, and 16 -- while continuously swingingthe Putter back and through and back and through, are you permitted to useyour Basic Motion to actually strike a Ball.
When you can strike the ball with the Putter with zero deviation in theprocedures and alignments of the Program, especially in items 1, 11, 12, 13,15, 16, and 20, post or PM me to that effect. Meanwhile, post any questions --about this Step One only! -- and we in your Support Group will respond. Whenyou have satisfactorily completed this Step One, we will move on to Step Twoand ultimately to Step Three of the Program.
But...you must remain in this First Stage of Recovery until you aretruly ready. If you fail here, you will destroy any hope of a long-term curefor your G.O.L.F.-a-holism. Know that we are with you, Golf C., during thesedifficult early days. And that we are only a post away should you feel yourselfslipping. Soon your old habits born of ignorance will be replaced by new onesbased on Science and the Proven Principles of The Golfing Machine. Allthis will be yours if only you take it...
over Club and Ball. That does not make you a bad personnor is it a sign of character weakness. It is simply a condition that affects acertain percentage of society and is often genetic. Ask yourself: "Wereeither of my parents a Golfer? Were both? How about their parents? Were any ofthem powerless? Were -- God forbid -- all of them powerless?" It isimportant that you face the cold hard facts concerning your condition. 
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