Have been reading Blake's GSofTF over and over. Started working with it in practice and can tell you I am striping the ball. Currently play to a 12 handicap (mostly due to poor short game) and have always been a good ball striker but have struggled with inconsistent shots, one day great next day not so great. Since working with Blake's techniques I have found that my misses are fewer and my shots have a much better dispersion pattern. I have tried his grip but decided his swing works better for me using a strong conventional grip. Blake is right, until you have all variables of his swing down pat it is best to leave his grip change alone. Anyone who thinks this swing is a radical change from the conventional swing be advised that this is still a golf swing and aside from the stance most of your playing peers won't notice a difference in the way you swing. Give it a chance and keep practicing. It does work!

I am waiting to receive Blake's second book, The Technique Barrier. Anyone know how that book differs from GSofTF? Also, what drills are out there that one could use in practice to help ingrain the feeling of this swing? Thanks

Hello Mark,
Blake made a significant change to his address/stance in the second book, GTTB. He drew his left foot back which opens the hips by 40 to 45 degrees, though the shoulders are only very slightly open, lead foot points almost at the target. It looks a bit like Lee Trevino's stance as you will see when you read GTTB. This assured that the shoulders would turn more than the hips in the backswing and creates a large differential between hips and shoulders at the top. The shoulders turn fully in the backswing but the hips only turn back to about square at the top. There are also other more nuanced "evolutionary" changes in various aspects of the swing. GTTB actually can stand alone with no real need to reference the first book, GSOTF. I might mention that in GTTB Mindy did not recommend waiting until a single-figure handicap is achieved to begin using the grip change. It does take a while to be comfortable and confident with the grip change.

A teaching pro at Beaconsfield Golf Club in Quebec, Claude Pesant, developed drills which be believes help groove the reflex swing. He kindly provided the drills to forum members and they are depicted in the forum's photo album. SD

Snakedoc,

Thanks, actually received the GTTB book the other day and went out to experiment with it at the range. Opening the left foot to almost facing target in conjunction with the open stance got me striking the ball a little better. Able to move thru the ball much easier with no lateral sway on the downswing which has always been a problem for me. Will need to keep working on this a little more. Thanks for the drills. Should also help