What brought you to TGM?

I'm curious about the story that brought you to TGM and why you stuck with it.
We all have a story, it would be interesting to hear the common threads.

Bagger

Various things - Alot of people where reading it on Manzellas forum and Brian himself said some interesting stuff and wanted to see what the fuss was about. When I looked up the golfing machine and looked at the forum there, there was this guy called Yoda who spoke about golf at a different level anything I've seen.

Ordered the book and here I am - studying it and love it. This stuff is just so much better than anything out there.

I just wanted to learn the proper golf swing. From what I was being taught by my Pro (Flat Left Wrist) I wanted to find out more and thus my journey in TGM.
I also like how its not a cookie cutter method as is quite a lot of the theories out there today, the book has options and I like that.
Alex

Back about 7 years ago, somehow I wanted to go back and study Mac's swing (not sure why, but again, those days I was 'flavor of the month' when studying the swing). I called up the publisher of Golf Digest and ordered the 1987 GD copy with Mac on the cover titled 'Best Swing on Tour?'. In the article, Mac reference seeking out Homer and his book, etc. I then proceeded to see if I could do a web search on 'The Golfing Machine'. Found a contact number so I decided to call and order it....at first, I thought I called the wrong number as a sweet old lady picked up the phone and said, "H-Hello?".

I said, "I'm sorry, I was trying to order a copy of The Golfing Machine but I think I have the wrong number." The voice said, "Oh no, I've got plenty of copies right here." I laughed and she laughed and she asked if she could sign the book for Homer for me...I said sure. I then asked, "Is this Mrs. Kelley?" She said, "I sure hope so!"

And now you know the rest of the story! The copy came about 4 days later....

FL-John

I was reading freegolfinfo.com.....

Got directed to some Manzella guy's golf forum....

Learned 10 times more real information than I ever have anywhere else.....had been reading GD and other random, vague, conflicting clutter before that- like lots of people.

TGM just really made sense to me and appealed to me right off the bat....I've always found it easy to tell whether something was genuine or not...the difference between quality info. and so-so stuff- clutter.

And I was obsessed with golf and perfecting my swing before that so.....here I am.

Honestly haven't made a HUGE breakthrough with my game yet but it got me away from some other crap swing things I was doing before or may have gotten drawn into (stay away from drugs kids!).

But I know it'll come together eventually.

And besides, if I don't make it to the Tour I can be a pretty damn good instructor from all the stuff I've picked up.

I took a lesson from a local non-TGM pro. He didn't tell/show me anything I couldn't read in Golf Digest for a lot cheaper, and I already knew most of that info was junk/incomplete. I Read some of David Laville's (sp?) posts on various newsgroups, which got me to buy the book, which led me to the TGM forums, which led me to the much better forums on Brian Manzella's, Chuck's, and now Lynn's websites.

The small victories, improvements in ballstriking, and knowing that one of these days I'm going to try to find time to schedule a visit with Lynn keep me moving along (plodding at the moment).

Originally Posted by Yoda Mathew,

Thank you for all your contributions to our site and to Homer Kelley's great work, The Golfing Machine®. Your unsolicited animation of the Hinge Action concept (Sketch 1-L) is revolutionary and will one day be recognized for the genius that it is.

Can't wait to see you next year at LBG Academy St. Andrews 2006. Get ready...

I'm in a huggin' mood!

A hug from Yoda sounds cool !

Just cannot wait to meet you finally .

Yo Da Man

Maybe 8 or 10 yrs ago when I was flipping on chips and having trouble keeping my left wrist flat someone (don't remember)told me keeping the bend in my right wrist would keep the left flat. That stuck and it became something I'd fall back on... but only in the short game. Then a year ago on GEA someone named DukeNasty took a lesson from Yoda... and mentioned the the bent right wrist. I went to the range and tried hitting full shots that way and slowly had some sucess... bought the book and was convinced it was a unique work by a very intelligent man... went to see Ted Fort in Feb 05 and that is the story.

I've followed Brian from his days at FGI (what a party) to his own site. Bought the book together with Hebrons "secret and Lies..." (TGM light) on recommendation from Manzella. Then Yoda came by and wupti today LBG-forum is my browser start-up site.

I'm a gymnastics teacher and have always enjoyed studying movements and coordination in sports. TGM is perfect for that for the #1 sport in the world.

FGI to Brian Manzella to Canton, GA - The rest is history. The greatest thing about the TGM journey aside from the oustanding improvement has been the great friends I've met - especially the crew at Canton - an All star cast I was privileged to "hang out" with.

Originally Posted by Bagger Lance I'm curious about the story that brought you to TGM and why you stuck with it.
We all have a story, it would be interesting to hear the common threads.

Bagger

I took up golf just under 10 years ago and from the start wanted to do things properly. At the time the Leadbetter swing was all the rage. Not Knowing any better I went down that route and ended up having a lot of lessons with Leadbetter's partner Denis Pugh. It did not work for me and I felt there was a huge hole in knowledge that I needed filling. I was not getting real info from the coaches when I asked them questions but knew somewhere out there there must be answers. Because I was not getting what I wanted from coaches I tried to work out what pros were doing by myself watching them and studying their swing's frame by frame. I noticed there were different actions that all seemed to work. So something was wrong with the idea that the single method being sold as the way. I experimented a lot but without good results because I could not find real help despite my best efforts to find people who could help me. My friend and playing partner David Hawkins (hawks92) is very big into golf equipment and told me about Golfopinions.com. Chuck Evans was the moderator there and I found his posts very interesting. They were very specific and unlike any of the ideas I had come across before. Chuck went on to form his own website and I followed him there . Phillygolf gave me some really good advice and I started to feel I was on to something. Brian then turned up at Golfopinions and made his thoughts clear on how poorly golf instruction was being served and ruffled a few feathers. Having been through loads of bad coaching I agreed with him. Everything he said was consistent with my real life experience findings. I read all of his posts and followed him to FGI after Golfopinions gave him the chop. The same thing happened to him at FGI and he set up his website. I had a good feeling about Brian from the start and the more I read his posts the more certain I became that this guy knew his stuff. I decided to follow all his advice and ask a ton of questions and my ball striking got a lot better but although pieces of the puzzle were coming together there were missing bits. I got the book read it a couple of times and did not like it at first. I am on my 17th reading now and have a better idea but nowhere near the understanding I want . The Ben Doyle video helped a lot. Then Yoda turned up and things really started to liven up. I liked his style and the generous way he was happy to share his information. When the Canton trio of Blake, Doyle and Manzella decided to put together a golf school I decided to leave England and go to the States for it. At some point I wanted to meet all 3 of these guys this was a one off opportunity that I could not miss and I was not disappointed. The school was fantastic for me and at the end of it for the first time ever I had a clear idea of what I should be doing. I did a lot of filming there to keep a record.. Watching Michael Finney swing gave me the visual image I needed. We have the same kind of body type. The coaching I got from Lynn, Brian and Ben was fantastic . Not only were they good coaches but I really felt that they wanted to help me. At no point did I feel I was being patronised and being seen as a meal ticket. I liked them all as people. Ted Fort was the real surprise . I did not really know much about him. He is a great coach and with Yoda behind him is destined for the top. I will be going to more schools for sure. As far as I am concerned TGM is where it is at and the more I learn the more certain I become. One thing that concerns me is that it is not being properly represented. It was only by chance I stumbled on TGM and if I started playing golf from scratch it would be unlikely that I would have stumbled on it. This has to be addressed. The fact that the original thread's question has been posed is a clear indication that something is wrong. I have put in a lot of effort in golf . Much of it wasted . Had I got the right info early I would have saved myself a lot of suffering. There are a lot of lost golfing souls out there that need sorting out. The TGM organisation must get it's act together otherwise the legacy of Homer Kelley's life's work will be short changed. .

A co-worker of mine who I had played a lot of golf with came over to my office one day. He had a little yellow book in his hand and handed it to me and said, "I'm not sure if you are ready for this, but check it out".

Then I got addicted to the enthusiasm of some guy named "Yoda" on TGM's forum. I PM'd "Yoda" and asked him for a lesson and he said he didn't give lessons anymore. About 8 months later he changed his mind!

Thanks for the book Bagger. And thanks to Yoda for "getting back in the game"!

It was fall of 2000 and my instructor had the book. He was a GSEB authorized by Sally and was well grounded in the TGM principles. I did some poking around on the internet, found the TGM forum, and eventually bought the book. I distinctly remember when the book came and I sat down on the couch and started to page through it. I remember thinking to myself, "What have I gotten myself into? This is crazy."

But slowly it all started making sense. As always, there were questions that I couldn't find answers to - either because people simply didn't know or because the nature of communicating via forums wasn't the best for communication. With the help of my AI I improved rather nicely nonetheless. I was a high 80s/low 90s shooter that first year of high school in 2000 and by junior year had cracked the varsity squad - I beat out probably 12-15 other guys for one spot. I won our state regional tournament that year with a one-under 70 (many more stories can come out of that round because it was a clearkey epiphany!) Senior year I was individual conference medalist and our team lost the state tournament in a playoff.

I am of course grateful to Lynn for making St. Augustine happen. Chuck and Randy also were big influences there. I had hit a semi-roadblock in my book study around that time and felt that to progress forward I had to really get some info from "outside the box." It needed to be first-hand stuff because parts of this book are just plain hard to understand using only a keyboard. St. Augustine opened up a lot of the book for me. I remember Danny Elkins asking me after the first day, "Matt, what is the biggest thing you've learned so far?" I told him, "I never knew how important the right forearm was." I still feel that way.

I feel fortunate to have connected with these people because it opened up such a network for me. There are countless others on the forum here that I've met as well and it was a pleasure.

Originally Posted by Trig
Thanks for the book Bagger. And thanks to Yoda for "getting back in the game"!

What are friends for? Trig's swing has made a huge tranformation ever since he took ownership of it and he is deadly in our skins games as a result.

Iron sharpens Iron.

I took up the game 7 years ago at 39. Didn't even know how to hold a club prior to that. I found myself wading through all the trade rags trying to find the magic move that would break 100. Had a few lessons with the local range pro's at my club. All of them seeking their PGA qualification and each trying to get me to pattern after their swing. After a few years, the contradictions from every source nearly drove me away from the game for good. I did an internet search on "swing plane" which landed me on Chuck Evans first EZ-Board forum and read posts from Randy, Philly and a few others. The language was clear and precise and they seemed to understand the swing better than anything I had read till then, and I think they would readily admit they were really struggling to understand TGM at the time. You guy's have come a long way.

I made my way over to the Golfing Machine forum (when it was still active), and ordered the book from Sally in 99. Started posting and trying to learn the yellow book. Like Metallion said, it's been downhill (handicap-wise) ever since. On a really bad day I shoot in the low 80's. I'm convinced I would still be struggling to break 90 right now if I hadn't stumbled on TGM. Thanks Randy, Philly and especially Chuck for keeping the fires going. It's my time to help hold the torch and give back everything that Homer has given to me. My contribution is helping the worlds best G.O.L.F communicator bring Homers work to everyone that needs it as badly as I did, and still do. Lynn Blake is turning the golfing world upside down. The package is all there, the timing is right, and we all need to help deliver it.
Respect goes out to all y'all.

Bagger

Originally Posted by Bagger Lance What are friends for? Trig's swing has made a huge tranformation ever since he took ownership of it and he is deadly in our skins games as a result.

Iron sharpens Iron.

I took up the game 7 years ago at 39. Didn't even know how to hold a club prior to that. I found myself wading through all the trade rags trying to find the magic move that would break 100. Had a few lessons with the local range pro's at my club. All of them seeking their PGA qualification and each trying to get me to pattern after their swing. After a few years, the contradictions from every source nearly drove me away from the game for good. I did an internet search on "swing plane" which landed me on Chuck Evans first EZ-Board forum and read posts from Randy, Philly and a few others. The language was clear and precise and they seemed to understand the swing better than anything I had read till then, and I think they would readily admit they were really struggling to understand TGM at the time. You guy's have come a long way.

I made my way over to the Golfing Machine forum (when it was still active), and ordered the book from Sally in 99. Started posting and trying to learn the yellow book. Like Metallion said, it's been downhill (handicap-wise) ever since. On a really bad day I shoot in the low 80's. I'm convinced I would still be struggling to break 90 right now if I hadn't stumbled on TGM. Thanks Randy, Philly and especially Chuck for keeping the fires going. It's my time to help hold the torch and give back everything that Homer has given to me. My contribution is helping the worlds best G.O.L.F communicator bring Homers work to everyone that needs it as badly as I did, and still do. Lynn Blake is turning the golfing world upside down. The package is all there, the timing is right, and we all need to help deliver it.
Respect goes out to all y'all.

Bagger

Bagger...ty for your post. And yes, I struggled big time to learn the terminology (I remember Chuck, Randy, Todd trying to explain the flying wedges to me - a disaster!). You and I, while not recently, have chatted alot in the past - always been a pleasure.

Thats the thing. I know recently I have been questioning alot of hte 'minutia' of TGM - but it comes from wanting to understand better. And where better then here? With friends?

Also...I am utterly amazed at how quick some of the members here have learned the book and the concepts. Truely a testament to the type of people the book draws.

I love this Job. I thank God for every day he gives me in the Corp. Ooo rah.

[quote=phillygolf]
Thats the thing. I know recently I have been questioning alot of hte 'minutia' of TGM - but it comes from wanting to understand better. And where better then here? With friends?

PC,

You had better discuss this stuff here and not in the general public...or they'll send someone to take you away!
EC