PROGRAM III (GOLDEN EXCERCISE)
Done with Golf Clubs, Iron Preferred 2, 3, 4 or 5
The purpose of this program is one of adaptation. The pupil will now attempt to adapt the club to a specific object starting to make this embryonic Golf Swing practical. One tee will be placed in the ground in ball position with other tees being placed anywhere from six to eighteen inches beyond the ball in line of flight. Three wooden tees of different colors will be placed into the ground, white tee representing ball position or use a half buried ball. On line of flight six inches beyond ball position a blue tee representing the release position, and still on flight line, twelve inches beyond blue release tee, a red tee, which will represent the true target position for this conditioning program. The Swing Pipe will no longer be used, but an iron will be the best for swinging in the same one armed fashion as in Program Two. Start the club in the conventional swing pattern, except for holding the club only with the left hand, radially deviating the left wrist. Now the right hand grasps the steel of the shaft midway and proceeds to help torque the upper body against the lower body, the right arm and right leg opposing one another. Once maximum torsion of the upper body has been achieved and the high hands attained, giving the swing a big arc, the player is now ready to start the downswing.
The buckle of the left knee toward the target leads the mass of the lower body with a sit-bump action as the right arm retains, the right elbow immediately seeking the rib cage in the downstroke. Once the left hand is beyond the ball position opposite the blue tee, the right hand releases completely, allowing the club to completely miss the first tee representing the ball position, and the blue tee and makes contact with the third tee, which had been placed at least twelve inches beyond the release position tee. The ball must become incidental to the whole process, while the second impact object, the tee, or the divt, must become the primary. The mind must be conditioned to allow the ball to be incidental to the whole process, while the body is conditioned to anticipate secondary resistance, a need or Appetite for a divot after the ball. Allow the club to continue on up after striking the last tee to a nice high finish while the right arm retains a claw-like position. This is Program Three of adaptation, i.e., adapting the club to an actual object, making the swing practical, conditioning the Golfer to dig mud, soil, or turf, the secondary impact. This also develops the all-important P.S.M (Proper Sequential Movement), a glue that holds the swing together.
It is absolutely vital to the player's development toward his potential that he be conditioned to take a divot. To keep a Golf Swing healthy, feed it post-hit divots with an iron. The player should be taking these divots - dig a pit with the golf iron measuring six inches deep, six inches wide, and three feet long. Dig several bushels of soil in this fashion. Use an old iron, and if you bend the shaft in the process, no harm is done to your regular set. I cannot possibly over-emphasize the value of this soil of turf digging with the iron in Program Three. Most golfers are ground or turf shy. This shyness must be overcome to the point where the golfer does not feel fulfilled unless he has cut a nice long thin divot. I prefer the divot taken while playing an iron to resemble a bacon strip, and not a pork chop. 90% of the time when the fine Golf Swing malfunctions, it will be due to a lack of P.S.M, P.T., or a combination thereof. Cure: Do the Golden Excercise, for it will not only develop P.S.M and P.T., but will temporarily purge or minimize the #1 enemy of the Golf Swing. The Hit Impulse.
