My Journey through the Step by Step Online Program of CGS Options

[mef]

Dear Peter,
I will be more than glad to post my impressions on your Step by Step Online Program, starting with the excellent step one videos on the grip. It is the first time somebody makes what is usually a boring subject into something interesting! This is because unlike most instruction on the grip, you explain it from a functional and cause and effect point of view, rather than as an abstract dogma that one has to take for granted
As for my profile, I am a 48 year old Italian living in Belgium, playing to a handicap of 13.9. I started playing golf when I was ten years old yes, in Melbourne, where my father was Consul General of Italy for four years. I have played on and off (more off than on) since then, and I have gone through more swing theories and techniques than I care to remember, from the high hands and upright swing of Nicklaus, the big reverse C of Johnny Miller, the early wrist cock and lateral head shift of Ballesteros to the long and loose swing of Bobby Jones, moving on to an attempt to figure out Hogan's modern fundamentals of golf - the supination of the left wrist at impact being the most elusive. From there on I tried Mindy Blake's "golf swing of the future", and that's about when when I read your famous article on Golf Magazine with the same title I believe and I became interested in "natural golf". Unfortunately, I later became confused with Jack Kuykendall's version of "natural golf", based on the legendary Moe Norman. The big dip required to come in square at impact nearly killed my back! I later tried Bobby Schaeffer's "ultimate power swing", based on the teachings of Ben Doyle and Homer Kelley, but the confusion and the desperation continued yo increase, until I discovered your web site and I finally began to see some light at the end of the tunnel....I am finally beginning to understand something about the golf swing, and the surprising thing is that you have connected many of the dots that I have had a glimpse of in my explorations of so many different swings: I recognize Bobby Jones's "drag" in your take-away, with the clubhead lagging behind the hands; I see the same idea of your uncocking of the wrists in Mindy Blake's "unflexing" of the wrists at impact. Bobby Schaeffer's flat left wrist and bent right wrist at impact seem to be pointing in the same direction, as well as - ultimately - Ben Hogan's famous supination of the left wrist. But you have managed to put together these different insights into a coherent and tightly wound system, which is what I have been looking for for the past twenty five years at least! So there you go, sorry for having made it so long, but I wanted to let you know that I really appreciate what you are doing and that I am really serious about becoming a single-figures golfer with your system.
Best regards,
Michele

[mef]

I have just studied the video on the stance from step two of level one and here are my impressions:
the video helps clarify certain points that were not clear from other downloads, and in particular the position of the feet when taking the grip with the left hand. The procedure for completing the stance is very well
explained and, though a little complicated - with the weight shifts from onre foot to the other - it is fairly straightforward to repeat consistently. There is only one part in which there is room for improvement in my opinion, and that is in the delicate phase in which, after the balancing the right foot and the grounding of the club, the left foot is placed and the right foot subsequently moved rightward for balance.
There is a split second in which most of the weight moves to the left foot and if one is not careful, there can be a rebound effect when placinfg the right foot. The result can be an excess of weight on the right leg and/or the loss of the spine tilt. This happened to me during play last Sunday, and it took me a while to figure out what was happening. Then I noticed that I had lost that nice structure with the lef t leg nearly straight and the right leg slightly bent towards the target, which is an easy position to achieve statically, but tricky in the midst of a dynamic weight shift from the left foot to the right. Perhaps a little clearer instruction is needed on this point, to get this part of the procedure absolutely right: otherwise the consequences can be quite serious, as I experienced during my round, leading to a total loss of control.

[mef]

I've just finished step 3 and here are my thoughts. I think it's a great idea to discuss the impact positions right after the grip and the stance, because the former are a direct consequence of the latter. Now I know why it was so importnt to go to such detail in placing the hands and in taking the stance. I have actually been able to feel the transition from a level wrist at the beginning of impact to the uncocked position at the end of the impact zone, though I cannot retain this this feel in anything beyond a medium chip shot.
At the end of step one I have only one doubt left, whether the idea of "thumbs down", which i have picked up from previous downloads should be interpreted as a deliberate pressing down of the wrists to uncock or as a consequence of the other motions. In this context, I still don't know what "a little helping action" means in going from the beginning of impact to the end. Perhaps a little clarification on the exact role of the wrists would be helpful.

[croker]

I've just finished step 3 and here are my thoughts. I think it's a great idea to discuss the impact positions right after the grip and the stance, because the former are a direct consequence of the latter. Now I know why it was so importnt to go to such detail in placing the hands and in taking the stance. I have actually been able to feel the transition from a level wrist at the beginning of impact to the uncocked position at the end of the impact zone, though I cannot retain this this feel in anything beyond a medium chip shot.
At the end of step one I have only one doubt left, whether the idea of "thumbs down", which i have picked up from previous downloads should be interpreted as a deliberate pressing down of the wrists to uncock or as a consequence of the other motions. In this context, I still don't know what "a little helping action" means in going from the beginning of impact to the end. Perhaps a little clarification on the exact role of the wrists would be helpful.

Dear Michele,

How much assistance to the uncocking action through "impact" is needed will become much clearer following your study of the Step on "Transition"

Keep going and you can do as a minimum 1 step per day to gain maximum benefit from the Step by step program. Once you are through all steps you can come back and cycle through all steps again as you should be storing all video downloads and Test Links for repeating the process.

There is a statement about learning that I really have found very workable for myself and my thorough students and that is: "Number of times through material builds certainty" and "Knowledge is CERTAINTY in the data - not just data!"

That is why I am so excited to have developed this "first of its kind" Online Step by Step Program!

Already many are lowering their handicaps and "ENJOYING THE HIT!" more than ever before.

Keep PUSHING!

Kind regards,

Peter

[mef]

I"ve just finished step 4 and I now understand many things that were not clear to me from past downloads.
For one thing, I had completely misunderstood the ball placement and the weight distribution for the chip shot. I now feel the grip, stance and posture elements are tightly wound in a coherent and repeatable procedure that leaves no room for doubt. Looking forward to step 5!

[mef]

I've just finished step 5 and now I must admit I'm totally cionfused. There seems to be a conceptual problem here. In my past work based on the downloads from the members area of the CGS (not the forum area) I had understood the basic principle of the Croker swing to be that "THE HANDS ARE THE SOURCE OF MOTION" . My training with the swivel disks was geared to iletting that feeling sink in. I also distinctly remember a demonstratio by Peter in one of the forum downloads, in which he went through a detailed explaination of why the idea that the downswing is started by the hips (the Hogan way) is in fact an illusion, and that it is the educated hands that set the body in motion. Therefore,, either there has been a fundamental change in the whole philosophy of the Croker swing or there is a logical contradiction which needs to be solved. Indeed, when I now hear that "the pivot of the hips and shoulders is responsible for taking the club backwards and forwards in the golf swing" and that 'there is no independent hands and arms action" I can see a direct contradiction of the tenet that "the hands are the source of motion". Well, I think this issue deserves some serious thought., and I will be taking a break from the program ( I have also exhausted my free download period). I will go through all the previous downloads to see if I can make some sense of all this.....

[robro]

I've just finished step 5 and now I must admit I'm totally cionfused. There seems to be a conceptual problem here. In my past work based on the downloads from the members area of the CGS (not the forum area) I had understood the basic principle of the Croker swing to be that "THE HANDS ARE THE SOURCE OF MOTION" . My training with the swivel disks was geared to iletting that feeling sink in. I also distinctly remember a demonstratio by Peter in one of the forum downloads, in which he went through a detailed explaination of why the idea that the downswing is started by the hips (the Hogan way) is in fact an illusion, and that it is the educated hands that set the body in motion. Therefore,, either there has been a fundamental change in the whole philosophy of the Croker swing or there is a logical contradiction which needs to be solved. Indeed, when I now hear that "the pivot of the hips and shoulders is responsible for taking the club backwards and forwards in the golf swing" and that 'there is no independent hands and arms action" I can see a direct contradiction of the tenet that "the hands are the source of motion". Well, I think this issue deserves some serious thought., and I will be taking a break from the program ( I have also exhausted my free download period). I will go through all the previous downloads to see if I can make some sense of all this.....

You raise an interesting point, but as one who has been through Peter's Step by Step program I can assure you there is no contradiction. It remains true in Peter's system that THE HANDS ARE THE SOURCE OF MOTION. The crucial word in this statement is "Source" The hands start the backswing and are responible for the initiation of the transition. However once the hands initiate things the pivot will take over. In this sense the hands cause things to happen. The body pivot will take over once the hands have initiated both the backswing and downswing. The hands are then like the steering wheel for the motor or the pivot. In my progress through the steps I found the takeaway the hardest thing to master as there is a tendency to pick up the club when you start with the hands and therefore not set the pivot motion into action. The point where the hands start the pivot and then the pivot takes over is a real key if you are to get things right. Get this right along with the transition step from backswing to downswing, which is also dependent on the hands being the source of motion, and you are well on the way to understanding Peter's system and the very real benefits and outcomes it has to offer.

[croker]

You raise an interesting point, but as one who has been through Peter's Step by Step program I can assure you there is no contradiction. It remains true in Peter's system that THE HANDS ARE THE SOURCE OF MOTION. The crucial word in this statement is "Source" The hands start the backswing and are responible for the initiation of the transition. However once the hands initiate things the pivot will take over. In this sense the hands cause things to happen. The body pivot will take over once the hands have initiated both the backswing and downswing. The hands are then like the steering wheel for the motor or the pivot. In my progress through the steps I found the takeaway the hardest thing to master as there is a tendency to pick up the club when you start with the hands and therefore not set the pivot motion into action. The point where the hands start the pivot and then the pivot takes over is a real key if you are to get things right. Get this right along with the transition step from backswing to downswing, which is also dependent on the hands being the source of motion, and you are well on the way to understanding Peter's system and the very real benefits and outcomes it has to offer.

Dear Robro,

Thanks here for expressing your understandings. The thought here for Michele to grasp is that of what the pivot of the body does as a main function.

The body pivot is responsible for transporting the arms, hands, and club both backward and forward. The hands are the source of motion to the body pivot. I think Michele will gain total understanding of this as he moves on into LEVELS TWO and THREE that deal with the longer swings.

Persist and always question when you hit a missing understanding. Communication will usually clear the way to forward progression.

I look forward to many more "light bulbs" as the Steps help unfold both the alignments and forces required to hit the golf ball to its target.

Kind regards,

Peter

[mef]

Thank you for the explanations., but I'm afraid they complicate the issue further. I don't want to be pedantic, but I have always had an interest for the theoretical side of things (I wrote my thesis for my M.A. in economics on game theory) and I believe any theory has to be perfectly consistent with its axioms.
If you state the basic tenet that "the hands are the source of motion" as an axiom of the theory, then the statement that "there is no independent hand action" cannot be part of the theory because it contradicts the former. I know this is reducing things to the world of logic, and that we should be concentrating on how to swing a golf club and hit the ball correctly, but i think it is imporant, all the more so because the none of the previous "memberss area" dowloads on chipping contained the above mentioned statement or the fact that "the hip and shoulder pivot is responsible for taking the club back and forth". In fact I had based all my training with the swivel disks on the basis of the hands being the source of motion throughout the swing, which seemed the logical way of interpreting what Peter was saying at the time. In working with the swivel disks, I found that it's indeed true that the hands are the engine of the swing: on the swivel disks any attempt to use thye hips is futile, as the club reacts and can only react to the hands. i even have a video of a driver swing that I taped after working on this idea, and I managed a speed of 115 mph for a total distance of 275 yards, concentrating on using the hands exclusively from start to finish, pushing back and pushing forward. I could post it if I knew how. I'll be back with more later, bye for now.....

[frenchy]

Gee I thought i could be pedantic, but thats ok, one needs to break through the misunderstandings

The statement that "there is no independent hand action" is totally correct.
The statement that "the hip and shoulder pivot is responsible for taking the club back and forth".
The statement" the hands being the source of motion throughout the swing"
are all correct.

Lets take one at a time and get to the misunderstanding

"there is no independent hand action"

This is taken to mean that the is no movement of the hands separate to the hip /shoulder turn ie across the body

"the hip and shoulder pivot is responsible for taking the club back and forth".

You certainly need something to power the club to get 115mph club head speed, the hips and to a lesser extent the shoulders are the engine that drive the club

" the hands being the source of motion throughout the swing"

The hands are the switch which tell the hips / shoulders to move. It is the resistance of one hand against the other that causes the hip/shoulder movement, Therefore the hands are the source of the motion , the same as the conductors baton is the source of the music we hear.
Fwd press, the right pushes against a resisting left, this pressure is the force that causes the motion If you have been on the swivel disc's you should have felt the resistance , if there is no resistance there is no movement.
I hope this is of some assistance to you, If not i will have another crack
By continuing through the steps your understandings will continue to grow
Logically
Frenchy

[croker]

Thank you for the explanations., but I'm afraid they complicate the issue further. I don't want to be pedantic, but I have always had an interest for the theoretical side of things (I wrote my thesis for my M.A. in economics on game theory) and I believe any theory has to be perfectly consistent with its axioms.
If you state the basic tenet that "the hands are the source of motion" as an axiom of the theory, then the statement that "there is no independent hand action" cannot be part of the theory because it contradicts the former. I know this is reducing things to the world of logic, and that we should be concentrating on how to swing a golf club and hit the ball correctly, but i think it is important, all the more so because the none of the previous "members area" downloads on chipping contained the above mentioned statement or the fact that "the hip and shoulder pivot is responsible for taking the club back and forth". In fact I had based all my training with the swivel disks on the basis of the hands being the source of motion throughout the swing, which seemed the logical way of interpreting what Peter was saying at the time. In working with the swivel disks, I found that it's indeed true that the hands are the engine of the swing: on the swivel disks any attempt to use the hips is futile, as the club reacts and can only react to the hands. i even have a video of a driver swing that I taped after working on this idea, and I managed a speed of 115 mph for a total distance of 275 yards, concentrating on using the hands exclusively from start to finish, pushing back and pushing forward. I could post it if I knew how. I'll be back with more later, bye for now.....

Dear Michele,

You are 100% correct when you believe as we do ' THE HANDS ARE THE SOURCE OF MOTION!
This is our #1 Axiom for CGS and educated hands cause and control all motions in the swing.

The point in question is what has to happen for the club to move back and forward and it is the "body pivot" that transports the arms, hands, and club both back and inward and outward and forward in the total motion.
If the pivot is not correct and the hands , arms , and club move back and/or forward independent of the pivot, then we have an "out of alignment motion of the hands, arms, and club in relation to the body.

You see that the hands and arms need to work always in front of the body trunk to deliver a precise and consistent strike on the ball.

The body needs to act as both a stable base and also as a launching pad for the power and control that will be generated and delivered by correct hand and arm action.

This is why you could hit such a power shot - the loading and release of the club by the hands involved the body pivot correctly.

We are not in conflict with the axiom THE HANDS ARE THE SOURCE OF MOTION!
What we are pointing out in the Step is that without the pivot functioning correctly the club will move out of its correct alignment.
I stated earlier that you need to move on to the next steps to gain your understandings and the steps ahead will clear the way for your better understanding of what is shown at this earlier step.

I did view your video download of what was supposed to be a chip shot and from this I can see that you would do well to progress through the steps and also attending a school would be a great thing. You deserve to have all tools available to you as you certainly are in search of total answers to the mysteries in golf swing technique.

The Step by Step Program is very good and helps us all understand the swing in more detailed precision

I hope you take the steps necessary to help clear your missing understandings here.

Kindest regards,

Peter

[mef]

Dear Peter,
many thanks for your reply. I suppose all I'm trying to say is that I believe
your system has become too complicated, and I feel fortunate to have absorbed your ideas before this new phase in your teaching.
Back in April 1995 you wrote a brilliant article on "Golf Digest" and I have it in front of my eyes. You illustrated your beautifully simple idea of "hitting from the top" and pushing or throwing the clubhead through the ball. This was a revlutionary concept and its greatness was also its simplicity. I believe all great ideas are simple and should remain simple.
In a later article you wrote with Nick Mastroni, you further explained your basic vision of the swing by introducing another simple and effective thought: swinging from A to B. You wrote, and I'm quoting here, that "most golfers can benefit immensely from realizing that the hands are the source of motion and power in the golf swing. The body will always respond to what the hands are doing. If you learn to use your hands and wrists correctly as you start down, the body will follow their lead. You won't have to worry about other swing thoughts, and you can focus on simply hitting that ball". Notice that you are saying that the hands are the source of motion AND POWER. You also state that "if you uncock your hands and wrists in an aggressive attempt to simply hit that ball, you'll be amazed at the power you can generate. Your body will follow this lead and move in to support this hitting action, without your having to worry about when and how to shift your weight, when or how much to turn your hips or shoulders, and so on". So you are clearly saying that the body moves IN SUPPORT of the hitting action, and that you don't have to worry about WHEN AND HOW MUCH TO TURN THE HIPS. In fact in your 1995 article you say that the body is "quiet and delayed in any movement towards the target. Your body will move in behind the push (throw) and be there when you need its force at impact". All the above statements are not compatible with the statement that "there is no independent hand action" and the statement that "the hip and shoulder pivot is responsible for taking the club back and forth, so as you can see, I am not the one who is creating the confusion here.
I found your original statement of your theory to be very appealing and it's a shame I later got swayed by so many different swing theories and methods. When I picked it up again and I studied the downloads from the members' area I found they didn't seem to go against the original ideas. It's when I came across step 5of the nline system that the alarm bells started ringing. I honestly thing that you are running the risk of transforming a stroke of genius into an over-complicated "Leadbetterised" system.
Concerning my "hands-only powered" 115 mph swing ( in whichI applied your basic idea that the hands are the source of motion and power to the letter), I had actually posted it some time ago on the "swingacademy.com" website, at the following url:
http://www.swingacademy.com/Categories.asp...p;analyzed=True.
Best regards and thank you for your constant inspiration,
Michele

[croker]

Dear Michele,

It seems you are stuck in a confusion - then the area being investigated seems too complex and of course

this leads to more confusion.

When such a thing as this happens, there are several options to take - but the best one is to communicate

more in the area of the confusion to find stable points of agreement to your viewpoint and understandings.

You are doing this here well.

The next step if progress is to be made is to confront the points of disagreement and see really what is being

communicated here.

You only will be able to see this once you have seen the bigger picture as presented in the following steps -

Steps 6 to 10 in the LEVEL ONE Program.

If you are truly wanting to fully understand how to build consistency in your golf game, you owe it to yourself

to continue on through at least Step 10 of LEVEL ONE. If the confusion and understandings are still not

cleared, I will gladly give you and anyone else who is prepared to look thoroughly a full refund for all monies

invested in the LEVEL ONE Program.

Your other option is to stop and go looking elsewhere for the answers.

All I can promise here is that from those who have made the steps, the results have been amazingly good.

I can only say that golf is a simple game when you understand the basic alignments and the "pushing" forces

required to maintain them on a consistent basis. LEVEL ONE shows you how to do this!

Kind Regards,

Peter

[mef]

Dear Peter and all forum members,
after a break of several months I decided to give the Croker golf system another serious go. I applied the system as i had assimilated it, on the basis of all the material I had previously read and on my past attempts with the method,. I thought it would be interesting to share my experience with you, as the passage of time and a fresh start can highlight important things you had overlooked. or had not put into the proper perspective.
The first thing I appreciated enormously is that the CGS is precisely a SYSTEM, which means that you have an exact blueprint as to how to set up to the ball, to start with. The importance of this cannot be overestimated,, because when you switch from a driver to a wedge or viceversa, major set-up faults can creep in without you even realizing it. You must have a systematic way of putting yourself in the correct position time after time. In my past experience with the CGS I had been struggling with the driver, cutting all my shots without being able to generate any power. Now I realized i was missing an important stance component, or should i say I had never assimilated it properly: I am referring to the ''seeing the laces of your shoes when you look down at your feet'' pointer. It makes such a difference, though It doesn't feel as natural to do this as with a wedge. For the rest, I applied the key backswing and downswing components, as I had distilled them through analysis and practice, and my shots were flying perfectly on the range, with all clubs, and especially with the driver, which was my weakest shot in the past.. In fact it is precisely my unexpected success with the driver and with the full swing in general that led me to think that in my case, going from chips and pitches to the full shots, as the CGS prescribes, had the negative consequence of leading me to think too much about the various moving parts in the swing. This in turn led me to theorize too much and to wander off into an abstract discussion of which parts move first or whether they are independent of each other...The point is that in a full swing, and especially with the driver, there is no time to dwell on details. The movement is fast enough for you to concentrate on the essential thoughts: without being able to break down the swing into all its components and without being able to feel how each body part is moving with respect to the others - which you can do in a short chip - you just swing the club and get the job done. I don't want to be provocative, but I do think there is some value in seeing things the other way round, i.e. moving from full swings to short swings. It certainly avoids the ''paralysis by analysis'' phenomenon which has plagued me in the past and it has made me hit the best drives in a long time, and some good chips too by the way.
Well there you are, just some food for thought....
Best regards to all,
mef

[croker]

Dear Mef,

FANTASTIC!!!

Our "Hit Book" has the answers to this dilemma in Chapter One - "Approach to Learning Golf."

Most people dismiss this chapter and move on to the "meat and potatoes" of the following chapters on golf

swing mechanics. Anyone who has not read Chapter One of The Hit Book should do so. The Online Program

can be purchased from this link: http://www.crokergolfsystem.com/online_store.htm

Michele, I know we had some sticking points that lead you away in search of "other ways."

This is how it should be if something is not working for you.

There is one thing that we need to do is ideally to check out thoroughly that we have not misunderstood

something or not thoroughly covered each step and ideally under the supervision of a "hands on" coach. As

this is not possible when I am on the other side of the world, the next best thing is to communicate via the

Forum as you did.

In all these struggles, the teacher is the biggest winner as he/she has many more students to be tested by

and should learn in the process. I can assure you that I am willing to learn "How to become a better

Instructor/Coach." I am a little slow on the uptake but better late than never! What you say here is music to

not only my ears but others such as Patrick Helfer.

You see Patrick has been down here in Australia from Switzerland with me the past 2 1/2 weeks and he

needed to test out the longer shots to become less "thinking" and technique driven when making the full

power shots. The full power shots also bring to the surface technique errors that cannot be detected when

do "low thrust" shots such as chipping and pitching. On "full power shots" you need to train in the total

motion, feels and balances and develop the ability to fine tune the impact on the ball.

Please be specific in letting us know what mechanical part of the swing gave you the most trouble in

comprehension?

The short shots are where you refine your precision of the mechanics before putting your swing back under the pressure of

longer and more forces that the full swing shots give us.

Again thanks for returning and for your valued posting here. Chris Hogg would be proud of your realizations!

Kind regards,

Peter

[mef]

Dear Peter,
it's nice to hear from you again! My case is a bit complicated due to the fact that I have been switching back and forth from right-handed play (with which I started as a kid) to left-handed play for several years now.
As a small child I was left-handed, but I was soon forced to change to the "correct" side, and when I had my first go at golf, in Australia, I was given an old set of right-handed clubs by a family friend. I decided to attempt left-handed golf a few years ago because of severe and repeated back problems and, sure enough, as a left-hander I can play without any pain whatsoever.Though I am shorter as a left-hander, I am more accurate,, so I recently decided to permanently change to the left side. My earlier experience as a lefty with the CGS had been great with all the clubs except the driver: I was hitting a weak cut that would go nowhere compared to my big right-handed drives. This frustrating fact led me to switch again, leading to more back trouble. I am now fully committed to continuing on this healthier and more long-term lefty path, and the results I experienced on the range a few days ago were very encouraging. A break of several months allowed me to see things from a new perspective and to spot crucial faults that I had overlooked.
Well, there you go, I'll keepyou posted on my progress....
Best regards,
Michele
.

[mef]

Dear Peter,
it's nice to hear from you again! My case is a bit complicated due to the fact that I have been switching back and forth from right-handed play (with which I started as a kid) to left-handed play for several years now.
As a small child I was left-handed, but I was soon forced to change to the "correct" side, and when I had my first go at golf, in Australia, I was given an old set of right-handed clubs by a family friend. I decided to attempt left-handed golf a few years ago because of severe and repeated back problems and, sure enough, as a left-hander I can play without any pain whatsoever.Though I am shorter as a left-hander, I am more accurate,, so I recently decided to permanently change to the left side. My earlier experience as a lefty with the CGS had been great with all the clubs except the driver: I was hitting a weak cut that would go nowhere compared to my big right-handed drives. This frustrating fact led me to switch again, leading to more back trouble. I am now fully committed to continuing on this healthier and more long-term lefty path, and the results I experienced on the range a few days ago were very encouraging. A break of several months allowed me to see things from a new perspective and to spot crucial faults that I had overlooked.
Well, there you go, I'll keepyou posted on my progress....
Best regards,
Michele
.

[mef]

Dear Peter,
I have come full circle and after 8 months of hard work I have basically completed my conversion from a right-handed to left-handed golf. I have explored many new ideas and revisited past ones along the way. I have studied the swings of players such as Jim Furick, Sergio Garcia, Lee Trevino and other ''loopy'' (outside on upswing and inside coming in) players such as Allen Doyle, Ben Doyle ( a golfing machine theorist) and Jim Thorpe. Instinctively I felt that this outside upward and inside downward clubhead path was going to be the most natural and efficient way for me to swing the club. I developed a method based on two principles: taking the club back along what I call the ''maximum gravity line'', i.e. along the path that offers most resistance to the ascending shaft; and keeping the pressure on the shaft at all times, from start to finish, with the transition smoothly but actively (abs really working) ensuring the torque inversion on the shaft, with no slack. The result is an outside ascending path, with a subsequent flattening of the plane in the transition as gravity plays its part, and a final inside-to-square approach to the ball. The forearms (rather than just the hands) and the mid-section of the body have an active role in this swing. I further refined this by introducing a slight backward move of the trailing leg to keep the outside movement of the ascending club within reasonable bounds, a move similar to the ''candy cane'' hip action advocated by Ben Doyle disciple Bobby Schaeffer in one of his videos.
And that's when I came full circle: I tried the Croker swing, the way I had assimilated it on the basis of all the material I had studied and I was stunned to see that it produced essentially the same swing, though with a less pronounced loop and with the added benefit of consistency in the set-up, by following the very precise pre-shot routine I was already familiar with.
I subsequently incorporated the Croker system of setting up to the ball, focussing on taking the grip at waist level, then measuring up to the ball on one leg (left leg for me ) and seeing your feet from the shoe laces onwards. From here I adopted the waggle, with a miniature Bobby Jones ''drag'' component follwed by a loop with the wrists and then after settling the club (tap-tap-tap doesn't work for me) I set off directly (I Ihave never ever been comfortable with any type of forward press) with the take-away, whilst consciously thinking of beginning to move the knee of the lead leg (right for me) outwards, as Simon Owen explained so well in one of the older clips. I found that moving the lead leg outwards rather than the trailing leg backwards is a more consistent move and easier to control.The beauty of it is that it achieves the same result of reigning in the outside rise of the club, in this case determined by the cocking of the wrists rather than by the forearms pulling the club up along the maximum gravity line. By performing this sequence of moves I find that if I concentrate on keeping the pressure on the shaft throughout the downswing I can achieve consistent results without further complications. If anyone were curious to see this hybrid swing, which incorporates many of the Croker swing components, interpreted my way, I have posted it here:
http://www.swingacademy.com/categories.aspx (it's the video with the title ''Conversion from right-handed golfer....'').
That's it for now.
Best regards to all,
mef

[croker]

Dear Michele,

You certainly have tested much and looked deep into building your own "best golf swing" using principles from Croker Golf System as you have understood them to be from your study of the Online Step by Step Program of CGS.

The goal of our Online Program is to allow a student to build their understandings of an orthodox "on path" golf swing and to find minimum stress on back and other body parts.

Looking at the video of your swing, there is a disconnection of your hand and arm motion from your body pivot at the start of the backswing. You need to study the online program further and train in the chip shot and then the pitch shot to develop a "connected takeaway."

While the start of the swing is not "on path" what follows will be a series of compensating moves and your rotation through "impact" and into "follow through" will be blocked. This leads to much stress in the back. Lucky that you are young and fit. For someone less atheletic or older, this would be too much stress and lead to back problems.

From your posting here it would be of great benefit for you to attend one of our 3 Day Schools to quality control what you have done in building your swing. It will be quite easy once you have the "hands on" feel of the start of the swing to get a more complete rotation through to a full balanced finish.

Are you still living in Italy? If so it is not far to Klosters where I will deliver a 3 day GS Signature School with Tony Smith on June 26, 27, and 28.

Full details will be posted on www.crokergolfsystem.com within the next week. Please contact me directly on crokergolfsystem@gmail.com for full details and to book your place. It would be a pleasure to meet you and help correct the start of your swing.

If you are living in the USA please check out the school dates and venues offered.

INTERNATIONAL GOLF SCHOOL LINKS: http://www.crokergolfsystem.com/GolfSchool...ternational.htm

Kind regards,

Peter

[mef]

Thanks for the valuable feed-back, Peter. I have worked on a more connected take-away, trying to time it with the outward move of the right knee (would be left for a right-hander). I have also tried hard to build the tap-tap-tap into my routine, to slow down my otherwise excessively fast rythm. I have just posted a video at http://www.swingacademy.com/categories.aspx, entitled "Peter Croker style swing", in which I have synthesised my understanding of the principles of your method. I'll keep you posted.
Best regards,
Michele
P.S. I actually live in Belgium, not in Italy...

Dear Michele,

You certainly have tested much and looked deep into building your own "best golf swing" using principles from Croker Golf System as you have understood them to be from your study of the Online Step by Step Program of CGS.

The goal of our Online Program is to allow a student to build their understandings of an orthodox "on path" golf swing and to find minimum stress on back and other body parts.

Looking at the video of your swing, there is a disconnection of your hand and arm motion from your body pivot at the start of the backswing. You need to study the online program further and train in the chip shot and then the pitch shot to develop a "connected takeaway."

While the start of the swing is not "on path" what follows will be a series of compensating moves and your rotation through "impact" and into "follow through" will be blocked. This leads to much stress in the back. Lucky that you are young and fit. For someone less atheletic or older, this would be too much stress and lead to back problems.

From your posting here it would be of great benefit for you to attend one of our 3 Day Schools to quality control what you have done in building your swing. It will be quite easy once you have the "hands on" feel of the start of the swing to get a more complete rotation through to a full balanced finish.

Are you still living in Italy? If so it is not far to Klosters where I will deliver a 3 day GS Signature School with Tony Smith on June 26, 27, and 28.

Full details will be posted on www.crokergolfsystem.com within the next week. Please contact me directly on crokergolfsystem@gmail.com for full details and to book your place. It would be a pleasure to meet you and help correct the start of your swing.

If you are living in the USA please check out the school dates and venues offered.

INTERNATIONAL GOLF SCHOOL LINKS: http://www.crokergolfsystem.com/GolfSchool...ternational.htm

Kind regards,

Peter