MacDonald Drills and Basic Motion
 

Should the feel of the basic motion be the same as the feel in the MacDonald drill where the arms work independently of the body?

what's the MacDonald drill and is there a link to it?

MacDonald drills
 

Try this link.

http://www.lynnblakegolf.com/forum/s...ed=1#post39845


Dave

Ta v much big guy

MacDonald Mistakes
 

Because of their apparent simplicity, I have no doubt that both amateurs and professionals woefully underestimate the effectiveness of the MacDonald Exercises (drills). http://www.lynnblakegolf.com/forum/s...ed=1#post39845 Correctly performed, they have the power to transform one's game. But, there's the rub: They rarely are performed correctly, at least not at first.

Here are ten common mistakes I see -- there are more -- as students attempt them under my tutelage. I will talk to you as I talk to them:

Exercises 5 and 6 (No Club)

1. Your feet are too wide apart. Get your heels together . . . actually brushing against each other back and through. [I usually have to repeat this instruction a half dozen times or more before it finally sinks in.] And keep your hands apart . . . you're swinging your hands, not gripping a golf club.

2. Keep the motion continuous . . . don't stop after one 'swing' . . . back and through and back and through and back and through. Oops, you've got it backward: You're on your left foot when you swing back and your right when you swing through. It should be the opposite: Swing your arms back when you're on your right foot and through when you're on your left foot.

3. Your feet and knees are too wobbly . . . too much sideways motion. The 'mark time' motion should be straight ahead. The knees don't 'kick in' independently, and the ankles don't roll excessively. Later, they will be pulled in slightly as the hips rotate.

4. Let your left heel 'unload' on the backstroke. In fact, let it come up a fraction just to make sure you've got the right action. Keep the outer edge of the toe of the left shoe on the ground. [Here, I often will squat down and physically place the left foot in its proper 'top' position.]

5. Your shoulders are way too active. Feel as though you keep them facing the line. Don't let them turn toward 'the target'.

6. Swing your arms freely from the shoulder joints. Yours really aren't swinging at all. They are tied into your shoulders and you're dragging them around like this (demo).

7. Your arms and hands are swinging way too much inside . . . going back and coming through. Feel like you swing them 'parallel' to the plane line. Point both your index fingers at the target line throughout the motion. Your arms should swing more 'up' and less 'around'.

8. You're holding your right arm too straight on the backstroke. Let it bend at the elbow. And you're not fanning the elbow. Let the 'pocket' of your right elbow look upward and your hands turn to plane, like this . . . [Yoda 'hands on' correction is applied with virtually instantaneous results.]

9. Let the right arm 'go' a little at the bottom, like you're pitching a ball.

10. Keep your head still. Here, I'll help keep it steady -- [I actually reach out and stabilize the head position] -- while you 'mark time' with your feet and knees and swing freely back and forth with your arms from the shoulder joints. This is the essence of the swing, including its timing. It's just like walking, but with a sideways arm swing. See?

And so it goes . . .

:golfcart2:

What is the advised number of repetitions Yoda and How regularly should they be performed?

The True 'Natural Golf' Swing
 

There is no magic number, GP. The idea is to spend a little time each day coordinating the body, arms and hands into one efficient motion. Once done, you will have achieved the Holy Grail of Golf:

A 'natural' swing that will last a lifetime.

:salut:

Yoda showed taught me exercise 5 and 6 on the practice tee at Orange County National in front of about 50 people. The player to my right was a tour pro on the Canadian tour. I was a little abashed but played along as people watched Yoda and I working on what I am sure they thought were dance moves. Yoda is one heck of dancer, I bet!

That was almost two years ago and I now do 5 and 6 on the course when ever I feel the need. Its also a good warm up drill. It creates a feel that sets me straight. A feeling of the arms going sort of "up" independent of the body and knees. For me it is a feeling of the right hip going back and the arms going up with the shoulders held still. If you were to add a little shoulder turn you'd have the hands going not only back and up but also in, just like in a real swing. It is a good "hands to pivot" drill. Not sure if that is just what the doctor diagnosed for me or whether it is prescription for all. Hope I got it right here. Correct me if I got wrong.

In the almost-a-year since I had my lesson with Yoda, I have played my most consistent golf ever. I attribute it to monitoring my alignments and learning to swing my arms independently of my body as per MacDonald Drill No. 5 (I think). I am now trying to integrate the MacDonald drill with my Basic Motion practice, and I wanted to make sure that I was doing it correctly. When I move the club 18" in the backstroke to 18" in the forward stroke, I try to feel my arms moving independently of my body (as a swinger). I also use the drill on the course to ingrain the feel that I am swinging the club.

Id say that for a shot that short you only want to use one accumulator. That is
to say that either you are hitting and using the right arm and straightening right elbow actively and solely or swinging and using the pivot solely to extend the right arm which is passive.

Acquired motion would see some McDonald drill 5 and 6 relevance in my opinion however. The pivot and arms, though co-ordinated, would be going different ways and doing different things.

We worked these drills as a group at Falcons Fire, and they have been a tremendous help to me. I had worked so hard on tracing and monitoring my hands, I had completely ignored my pivot. Lynn was quick to point that wobble out. Lynn, if you remember you sent me a home shot video that was a tremendous help. It was the one with your dog playing tug o war in the background. Not sure if it is on the website. I do the drills now while swinging a weed cutter, its a good workout.

McVideo
 

I remember, 8cork. That was a fun little video to do -- I never posted it -- especially demonstrating lag pressure with the help of a pit bull! I am considering producing another for the site.

:)

Yoda, your post explaining all the pitfalls of these exercises was perfect!

Sometimes your words read like a "pop-up" book - so illustrative! Thanks!

The MacDonald exercises would make a special edition "pay per view" download video classic!

I would love to hear your thoughts about his words on page 41 of my copy...

"There is a remarkable analogy between the way in which a woodsman swingas an axe and the manner in which an expert golfer strikes a golf ball....

... The movement, (sic) is really a picking up with the right arm and bearing down with the left arm"

Thanks again.

PS. you can't be a real instructor unless you develop a real accent ...did you hear Bob Torrance interviewed!... A uncompromising Scot who has not had media training...thank God!!:laughing9

I did and didn't understand a word of it! Is there a transcript available anywhere?:laughing9

MacDonald Drills With Alignments
 

Thanks, golfbulldog. Now I'm getting inspired!

:salut:

I don't know what you guys are talking about...I understood him perfectly :golf:
Since I have not been able to play at all this year, I have been looking at and doing the MacDonald drills quite a lot to help improve the swing.
Alex

Alex,

You need to get out of McDonald's



and on to the Golf Course.:naughty: :)

Alex can spank it and after last week it's gonna get better:3gears:

Up
 

Watch Nick Price start up practice swings.

Keeeerect!:golf:

Remember no more jelly legs and right forearm Burner!!! I better not see that next time we meet :sad2:
Alex

Slo-Mo Movies Coming!
 

As time and student permissions permit, we will be posting some of these swings in the Homecoming thread. They were shot by golfguru in super-slow motion using the new Casio Exilim EX-F1 camera. Stay tuned!

The best "Big Mac" ever!
 

I have been doing these drills and lifting my heels while keeping my Balance over a golf ball and Lagging a club tracing back on the Baseline of the Plane. It has been over a week and my club "swoosh" sound has increased as my muscles have gotten use to the move! My goal is to do these drills daily as a type of stretching, Balance, and Rhythm.

Thanks Lynn! :study:

ICT

Nice idea. I do them in elevators looking in the mirror..... when Im not doing Startdown Waggles that is.

Ice, check out Harry Vardons swing for some serious lagging on the takeaway. A not so popular these days move but it'd make a real shot seem more like a Melhourn drill shot with its tremendous Loading via momentum, Swinging from the Feet, Lag and Drag. Lag is "golfs secret". Even when putting.

Dowel Lag
 

That's right OB. I have been using dowels since the Swamp and you can feel the lag of the club very clearly. It has forced me to rethink Extensor Action "heaviness."

ICT

We're Not Alone
 

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one doing these drills at every available opportunity :laughing9

Free At Last
 

Make sure you revisit Post #5 in this thread: http://www.lynnblakegolf.com/forum/s...4468#post54468

Overactive shoulders -- Pivot-Controlled Hands -- continue to be the bane of golfers everywhere. Keep those puppies square to the target line through impact and swing your arms and hands freely past them (while keeping your head still). Get reckless!

This is the essence of the effective, efficient golf stroke.

Aficionados should study 6-B-3-0. For the very brave, add 6-M-1.

:golfcart2:

Nice reminders, Lynn
 

I was starting to turn too inside and not trace enough! Keeping the shoulders more square to the Base Line of the Plane will help every shot as my arms swing more up!

That would explain the odd "duck hook" since everything else was solid: Grip, Standard Address, Mid-Body hands, TSP, Right/Left March and Flail then Arrow through the Ear (Should I call this the "Osama?") .

Awesome! :golf:

MacDonald Drills Redux
 

let it swing baby.
 

I can attest to the transformative powers of the MacDonald drills. Under the tutelage of Mr Blake Ive stripped away a lot of excess motion and effort. My swing looks different , better, way better, but I didn't get there via copping positions... position golf . No Sir. The Alignments allied with motion as per the MacDonald drills did it. Actually only motion can produce some of the positions we admire. Positions that can't be copped, posed or attained without the proper motion and its precious momentum. Momentum which produces lag and drag. Lag golfs secret.

Take special note of the title to Lynns post #27. "Free at last". And also point 9 in post #29. Homer said in the end we all feel like we were pitching a ball underhanded. Thats what golf can reduce to .... after training.

Try under handing a golf ball at a hole within chipping range. Then chip one to the same hole. How did your two procedures differ in terms of mental imagery and intentions? In regard to "free at last" did you tie your arm to your pivots motion mechanically when throwing the ball? I suspect not. Did you pivot? If so , I bet it happened without you instructing it to do so. Your brain was in your hand not your pivot I suspect. You pivoted perfectly not too much nor too little. You're "wired" to this... all day long actually. The Arms and your Pivots motions are independent of each but coordinated.

Prior to your actual throw , you probably had a clear picture of the hole and the terrain you needed to traverse , the ideal loft of the throw , the proper amount of acceleration needed as later sensed in your hand (lag pressure). You probably did all of this in an instant without much thought to it. You didnt need to take any practice throws I bet. Freeing you from the temptation to critique your practice strokes ... go upstairs , get inside your head and probably ruin the whole process. You didn't need to measure the shot in feet or yards. Your brain gave your hand the correct instructions without you intervening with warnings, messages , swing thoughts etc.... In the end golf is reduced to "hand / eye coordination" , just like tossing an underhanded ball or if you prefer a side armed ball.

Tracings good. It goes with the underhanded throw idea nicely. Same with the Aiming Point Procedure if you use it for longer shots. Visual Equivalents too .... if you see a club head blur that is and understand the geometry.

Northern Lights
 

Great post, O.B.

Especially valuable are your thoughts on the 'hand controlled pivot'. All so natural, yet all so at odds with certain 'modern' and posited
'scientific' approaches.

Free at last . . . indeed.

:salut:

That's as bad an idea as Hogan's sidearm/underhand basketball pass. It's called steering. Chips or full shots, you should drive PP#3 down-plane towards the ball with the right shoulder, if Swinging, or with the right tricep, if Hitting. You should never make a hand effort toward the target! If you're going to throw a golf ball in order to get the correct swing feel, it should be toward the one on the ground.

No it's called an underhand pitch motion and feel, It's in the book...yea hogan had terrible ideas about the golf swing, you're right...

Yes agreed the direction of thrust is different when throwing a ball but cut me some slack I never suggested the direction of thrust when chipping should be towards the hole. In fact I made specific mention of the aiming point procedure.


Don't discount what Homer himself described as "an underhand pitch motion" . See Geometry of the Circle 2-N-0 page 40 in the 7th. To my mind he is referring to what could also be described as a side armed throwing motion given any right elbow fanning and bending... or a leading elbow even.

A leading elbow to point to lower scores
 

The elbow leads, the front hip slides, the triceps fire into the inner aft quadrant. I am sighting the face of the club-head at impact in my elbow led waggles-very comforting knowing that ball will not go left unless I want it to.

I've picked up 20 yards with the driver and 10 on all the clubs with real ball control. Besides 4 barrel switting, and new clubs, is there another insight that will allow me to focus more power into the shot?

When a switter Pivots, how do they avoid spinning over the top before driving the shoulder?

ICT

Hands to Pivot.

When you threw a ball did your pivot get in the way? Did you spin out? Did you have your mind in your pivot? (No). Did you pivot ? (Yes). Was it the perfect amount of pivot? (probably).

In regard to MacDonald drills .... when hitting a ball , after training you can get left , left hip over left foot simply by loading the left foot. To stay stuck in the "mind in the hip slide stage" is to probably slide to little , too much , not at all randomly. Just load the foot... you know like when we walk. Left , right , left ... loading. The left hip will find a spot directly above the left foot automatically. No need to think about how far to slide , whether to slide with a right side push off or a left side pull , just load the foot! Crush the can as some call it. No need to understand which muscles are in play. It might be the Hips that do it but just load the dang foot.

Load the left foot and throw the right arm (actively or passively) .... and you will pivot. Its hard not to.

Nice Insights!
 

Thanks OB!