Transition check?

I’ve had some light bulbs. Is this the right idea?

TIA!

Zach

PS speed from lowest to highest to see possible breakdowns, and apologies for the camera angle being a little off to the right.

Thank you!!

So that’s a tricky question for me, because any breakthroughs I have come from circling back to things you say that I hear again from a place of deeper understanding. First I really must credit yours and Lawrence’s site revisions, because the AI suggestions always seem to be what I need to see. In this case, the video that triggered the avalanche was the Sequencing Starter Kit.
Back when I was a member of another three letter forum, the instructors advised that practicing separation was not only functionally useless(because of the tiny window of time- the blink of an eye- during which said separation occurs) but potentially harmful(side note: separation and shaft shallowing are two of their biggest bugaboos, and they seem only lately to have come to acknowledge the merits of consciously practicing the release, albeit in a much less detailed way), and it was perhaps a holdover from that thinking that contributed to my initially glossing over your transition teachings. I had a similar conversion experience early on with the wipe move; those guys are yet unconvinced of the veracity of that concept.
That said, returning to your words with a fresh perspective and child mind, I found that the transition elements you describe are almost inescapable physical consequences of proper sequencing(especially shoulder blade shallowing for me). All of a sudden, things like my floating left heel and my spun open shoulders are silly, illogical… artificial.

Tl;dr the flow chart for my breakthroughs goes as follows:

Hm, that sounds funky- is Tyler sure about that? > much experimentation and testing > Tyler was right(again)

As always, I thank you for your massive patience and gentle guidance.

Your grateful student,
Zach

I love that quote, and I think you nailed the logic behind them ignoring shoulder dynamics.

The areas of my life where I’ve enjoyed the most training are piano performance and martial arts, so the idea that one cannot train a motion in its entirety is anathema to me, and one of the main reasons I became frustrated with AMG. In piano particularly, intricate passages that happen quickly are where most of the time in practice rooms is spent.

As for Shaun and Mike, they aren’t dumb, but Shaun especially is convinced that theirs is the One True Way. I think if the wipe were properly explained to him he couldn’t refute it, but I’d bet dollars to pennies what happened was one of his forum guys explained it to him incompletely, he instantly decided he didn’t like the name and refused to investigate further. He and Mike also both have steep downswing arms, so they wouldn’t have as much use for it anyway.
There’s some mingling of y’all’s forums(fora?), so I know they’re aware of what you do and have probably heard Temu renderings of several STS concepts.

When it comes to not teaching downswing, they’re good pals with Monte Scheinblum, who patently refuses to teach anything past transition, because “it happens automatically.” He also sternly advises against practicing separation, lest the arms get “trapped behind” the body. As I write this, I’m realizing that perhaps that’s why they don’t like the wipe- they all three teach the arms pulling down from the top of the swing,
so you wouldn’t need the wipe as much in that case. Regardless, they seem to seek information that reinforces the unimportance of their blind spots, rather than investigating those blind spots as to become less blind. I can’t count the number of times in my STS journey that I’ve felt the walls of the whole castle come crumbling down because I became aware of a block I’d missed in the foundation.

Anyway, I appreciate you, and the golfing is indeed Happy.

Zach

PS- the straight arm member question brought the walls down again, but this time it’s somehow led to the backswing becoming *ahem just what you say, and I think that maybe for the first time I’ve performed STS arms at perhaps a 94% grade. Thank you!

PPS- I’m going to ask you about gym training recommendations in the next group call, just a heads up. I’m extremely pleased with the direction my transition is heading, and am quite curious to tap into Trainer Tyler’s wisdom. I accept that the transition arm changes will probably take awhile to show up; I look at my practice as a team of sled dogs endeavoring to pull the monolith of my established swing around.

No whales were harmed in the making of this video :)

PPPS- one last thing: I’d be highly curious to hear your take on Michael Lasasso’s swing. It’s a move that to me almost caricatures some good things, and I’d love to hear you discuss some of the forces at play in his action as they relate to STS.

Z

Mornin Tyler!
There’s an animated TV comedy spy show called Archer, in which a character named Cheryl has a recurring line: “It’s exactly like the Old Gypsy Woman said!!””
Not to call you an Old Gypsy Woman, but time and time again I find it’s exactly like you said, and when that happens, I hear Cheryl in my head, every time.
Here I have a concept demonstration, a couple of tai chi downswings, and a couple of fuller demonstrations. Right track?
The “Body Swings the Arms” series has been particularly helpful.
Hope your Thanksgiving was happy!

With thanks, Zach

Taking that and running with it, I had a session with my PGA buddy and he put me in a top of backswing position that really stretched me out and put my arms more in front of my body. Feels like I’m getting somewhere here, especially in terms of involving my fascial slings, although I could probably still use more shoulder protraction/retraction. Does that feel carry on basically forever? I notice that it seems to help with thoracic spine extension as well.

Range video is during our session; at home is after I had some time to assimilate the feels and better tie in the release.

What do you think?

What an interesting question!

Of course, I’d like to play golf like Archer, but I’m probably more Krieger at home and Cyril on the course. Daily life is a different story.

My miss is still left. My PGA buddy has a trackman and he says my path is very much improved (I used to be 6-8 degrees in to out no matter how hard I tried), so it’s a face issue. He thinks, and I’m inclined to agree, my issues are related to my right arm going too internal at the top of the swing which leads to a steep, shut face transition. I’ve included a left miss from yesterday, as well as a good drive. The good news is the left miss is no longer typically a snapper but a good old fashioned pull or pull draw. The bad news is that it’s still left. Video tells me that my hands are much more in front of the ball then they used to be (see iron shot). As I warm up, usually around the 13th hole, a right miss begins to creep in off the tee. That doesn’t exactly work wonders for my scoring, but it lets me know my lag can eventually assert itself.

It’s really hard for me to get a handle on my jump/stall tendency. I know I’m rotating better and better as time goes on, but my swing was so ingrained for so long that changes are arduous. Still, I persist.

I appreciate you, Tyler!

Zach

Edit: after some assiduous position work(blue sweatshirt), maybe this could be good. Getting it to the course is another matter entirely

I think a new level unlocked.

So, cover and rotate, but it’s still a side-on sport.. that’s all I can come up with to describe this feeling, but to me it looks more like your demonstrations than what I’ve been previously doing. Am I on track?

TIA

Zach

Also, see above for Archer answer. Almost* feeling like Lana out there today:)

Thank you for this last bit, Tyler. A goldmine.

It opened up a can of worms, but I think a good can, because it made me reexamine impact and some things I thought I was doing properly.
The only way that I can achieve that shaft position you drew while maintaining my tilts is to let my trail arm lengthen a bit earlier than I had been, perhaps keep my back to the target a little longer, and to key on allowing my arms to get in front of me more in the delivery position. Does this sound correct?
It will take time, but I can at least get there in slow motion now. Training that and some impact and delivery, I was able to play a nice round yesterday where I didn’t hit single ball appreciably left. My misses were the right shot you see here, and to my eye that comes from allowing my scapular “unit” to break down too early, which probably in turn comes from stopping my turn through impact. Does that sound correct?

While focusing on maintaining that “30 degrees right” feel with the shoulders all the way through to the finish, I’ve been able to finally understand where high arms come from at the end of the swing. Overall, for me I believe a proper downswing might feel more in-to-out than I’m allowing myself to perform(probably due to my fear of hooks), and I’ll eventually be able to allow more supination as my body moves get better.

Also, I don’t know how I missed “awkward chest pass,” but that’s just what I need for proper thoracic spine extension.

Something you said answering a member question stuck with me- that hopefully when we do all these things the results just look “normal.” I’m a trim carpenter by trade, so I’m quite familiar with the idea of going around the world to have a result that looks perfectly ordinary.

Thank you as always, and happy New Year. I’m looking forward to the coaches call!

Zach

Edit: a couple tweaks and I think I *may* have made a golf swing (white shirt).

PPS and perhaps the green sweater ones too :)

PPPS added the last range shot from first session of the new year. Happy New Year!

Heading the right direction, I think.

Cheers,
Z