Worst Golf Instruction/Advice/Tip

[airair]

Glad to hear that, Jeff, but . . .

At least in the mid-'70s -- you were less than ten years old at the time -- Jimmy Ballard taught a sway.

Big time.

(If you want to see it done in person, look at Air's Post #14 above at 1:36-1:40.)

How do I know?

Because, for one full day, that's what he and one of his assistants taught me -- indeed, insisted that I do -- at his teaching range in Pell City, Alabama. I was not a "reverse-pivot-er" and have tons of pre-Jimmy photos to prove it.

The mantra: Move the weight and head to the right, then "fire" the right arm. "Nobody keeps their head still", right? The swing has "two pivot points", right? Move to the right and turn on the right leg. Then, move to the left and turn on the left leg. Let the head go with the motion.

All s-o-o-o logical and all so wrong. And all filtered down from three-time 1930s PGA Tour Money Winner Bill Mehlhorn to baseball great Sam Byrd and, finally, through Jimmy's own prism.

"Many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip."

I never heard a word about "tracing an outside rail" or "springing" the clubshaft. Of course, the Left Side Chorus of the 1970s Golf Digest Schools left the door wide open for Jimmy's liberating message to "fire the right side". Mac McLendon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_McLendon and Jim Colbert http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Colbert performed on Tour and the world came calling.

I was there.

At Jimmy's and his assistant's direction, I swayed my head off the ball and my weight laterally "into [my] right hip" on the backswing, and then I "fired" my right side, by the hour for six hours. I did all I could do to do exactly what they were asking me to do. I have never felt more out of control swinging a golf club.

At the lunch break, they took me into a little motel room at the complex. Over a sandwich and chips, they flashed some Hogan 1948 Power Golf slides on the wall. They all showed the "head back" and big back lean away from the target. (Thirty-five years later, I was to learn about parallax and how it can affect photographs).

"See?" said they.

"Yes." said I.

Then back into Hell's Kitchen.

I had arrived a halfway decent, low-handicap ball striker and had paid my $100+ bucks in 1970s-type money (regular gas was at 40 cents a gallon; do the math). I had no game: Club championship stuff (but in a top-flight club!) and a former USAF Tactical Air Command Championship team player. Still . . .

I left -- seven hours later -- shanking every shot. Unbeknownst to me, I had been transformed from a Centered Swinger to a Swaying Hitter (with none of the latter alignments supplied).

At day's end, I asked Jimmy simply, "Why am I shanking everything? And, why should I move to the right like this?'

To which he replied, in words indelibly imprinted on my memory:

"Don't pick it apart, son."

I had come to him, a now renowned "expert", and paid a lot of money (at least for a young insurance agent with a non-working wife and three kids) to "pick it apart".

But he couldn't do it. At least not to my satisfaction. Not then. Not now.

I'm okay with not being able to do some athletic something. (That said, I'm reasonably coordinated: I made straight A's in six quarters of Physical Education at Georgia Tech).

I'm not okay with not knowing what it is I can't do.

Insult to Injury Category:

Jimmy pointed to newly-minted LPGA Tour player Joan Joyce 'swaying and firing' beside us. Impressive! Joan Joyce, former softball fast-pitch champion, the fastest in the world. A magnificent, gifted athlete. She pitched 150 no-hit, no-run games and 50 perfect games.Further, her career batting average is .324. Somewhere along the way, she was inducted into the Connecticut's Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

She never made it in pro golf.

But later, Hal Sutton and Curtis Strange did.

Fortunately, my continued journey led me to Homer Kelley.

Until tonight, courtesy of Google http://www.fausports.com/sports/w-go...ce_joan00.html, I had no idea what happened to Joan.

In the article on Joan Joyce there is mention of Cecilie Lundgreen - whom I personally know, as we both belong to the same local golf club where I live here in Norway.

[drewitgolf]

The advice to Flatten the Right Wrist is the worst instruction that could be given.

[david sandridge]

I was also taught the Ballard sway. Loading the right side and then firing it. Just as described above. My club pro played on the tour for 7 years and went to jimmy ballard for help. Ruined him. Became my club pro and then ruined many of the members including me. 7 years going down the wrong track. As Clampett said "I shouldn't have listened to other voices.

[KevCarter]

The advice to Flatten the Right Wrist is the worst instruction that could be given.

Giggity!

Sorry, loving Family Man right now.

Kevin

[KevCarter]

I was also taught the Ballard sway. Loading the right side and then firing it. Just as described above. My club pro played on the tour for 7 years and went to jimmy ballard for help. Ruined him. Became my club pro and then ruined many of the members including me. 7 years going down the wrong track. As Clampett said "I shouldn't have listened to other voices.

Rabbit ears, man, I can relate! I've followed some very bumpy roads, learning a lot of different stuff, it's all right HERE in front of us. I wish I had known Lynn 30 years ago, and wish I had closed my ears to others as soon as I finally met him.

Pivot, Homer maybe didn't have enough there to make everybody happy, but Lynn found and shared MacDonald and Boomer to us to take care of the rest. IMHO, the MacDonald drills, at first glance look very silly, but in reality, they are very powerful, and beautiful in it's simplicity. I can't believe how much more confident and effective I have become as a teacher trying to use YODA's model to the best of my ability and understanding...

Kevin

[innercityteacher]

Rabbit ears, man, I can relate! I've followed some very bumpy roads, learning a lot of different stuff, it's all right HERE in front of us. I wish I had known Lynn 30 years ago, and wish I had closed my ears to others as soon as I finally met him.

Pivot, Homer maybe didn't have enough there to make everybody happy, but Lynn found and shared MacDonald and Boomer to us to take care of the rest. IMHO, the MacDonald drills, at first glance look very silly, but in reality, they are very powerful, and beautiful in it's simplicity. I can't believe how much more confident and effective I have become as a teacher trying to use YODA's model to the best of my ability and understanding...

Kevin

Kevin, if TGM is the Coolaid mix, you are the pitcher of ice and water...

If TGM is the pitcher of brewed tea bags, you are the sun....


A BIG Fan....

That would make LBG the manufacturing company of cold lemonade and Yoda as president.

....I had a moment so I'd thought I'd chime in.

JerryG-chief of HR

Daryl.....Chief Research scientist

OB Left....VP of something great

Bambam and everyone else Vp's of Science and Tech...


Anyway.... I would rather be a door keeper in the kingdom...than a prince of Hades.


ICT

[KevCarter]

Kevin, if TGM is the Coolaid mix, you are the pitcher of ice and water...

If TGM is the pitcher of brewed tea bags, you are the sun....


A BIG Fan....

That would make LBG the manufacturing company of cold lemonade and Yoda as president.

....I had a moment so I'd thought I'd chime in.

JerryG-chief of HR

Daryl.....Chief Research scientist

OB Left....VP of something great

Bambam and everyone else Vp's of Science and Tech...


Anyway.... I would rather be a door keeper in the kingdom...than a prince of Hades.


ICT

LOL

It's even better than Kool-Aid. It's got carbonation and all the good stuff we like, kind of like a Transfusion... Grape Juice and Ginger Ale. Mmmmmm.. Add Rum if you want a little more kick...

Kevin

[brianmontgomery2000]

Not looking to bash Ballard, but where has he been all these years? He has come back from what I can tell based on Rocco's success and maybe the V-harness. I just assumed he had retired since some time in the 90's.

I'm guessing the golf instruction biz -- esp. the "name" variety -- is quite up and down based on success of your pro(s). Or maybe you get busy translating that notoriety into schools and institutes? Leadbetter seems to have faded a bit. Wonder if Haney will recede some. Rick Smith? Many more I'm sure.

Anyway, I was a big fan of Ballard's years ago and hadn't heard of him for a very long time.

[kmmcnabb]

I have read this thread with some interest since my experience with Jimmy is quite different. Don't get me wrong, I love Homer's book but I found my time with Jimmy (in the 90s) to be very beneficial. He still teaches connection and I found the idea of coiling into my right leg astonishing since I never had done it in 20 plus years of golf.

Since that time, I now play to a 5 handicap and still coil into my right leg (do not go over the wall and sway).

You have to take some of the other ideas (triangle, fire the right side, and head position) with a grain of salt.

I think he had some genuine interest in me as a student and while I don't subscribe to all of his theories, I found some of it to be quite effective....for me.


My two cents.

Kevin

PS: I have Alignment Golf and continue to try to knock down my handicap. Of course, playing once every two months doesn't help.

k

[airair]

http://www.golflink.com/tipsvideos/video.aspx?v=26234