Re: Rick Smith's Swing Tips for Lower Scores or The Golf Channel's Jim McLean - 8-Step Video

Date: 24 Mar 2003 18:36:07 -0800
Newsgroups: rec.sport.golf
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"Jay" <email-address-deleted> wrote in message news:<tOMfa.2540$email-address-deleted>...
> I am a fairly high handicap and looking to improve my swing. I'm
> considering purchasing an instructional video/DVD from The Golf Channel,
> however, I can't decide between Rick Smith's Swing Tips for Lower Scores or
> The Golf Channel's Jim McLean - 8-Step Video. Anyone recommend one of these
> over the other?
>
> Thanks a lot,
>
> Jay
You should sign up for...
OK, I won't preach to you about lessons. :-)
I haven't seen Rick Smith's video, so I can't say for sure, but I've
seen some of his shows on the Golf Channel, and like those. He tends
to cut right to the heart of the matter. Maybe the video is a compilation
of those shows, in which case I'd say go for it.
I think Jim McLean, at the time, put together one of the most detailed
and thorough analysis of the golf swing ever done, based on extensive
analysis of the swings of great golfers caught on film or video. One
of the problems, though, is that there is so much detail presented,
that many people miss the essential points, or misunderstand what he
says.
As one example, a lot of people think that he is trying to teach people to
swing by going through a series of positions: go to step 1, now step 2,
now step 3... He's emphatic that you should NOT try to swing that way.
However, people still somehow come away with that impression and criticize
him for it.
The purpose of breaking down the swing into steps is so you can video
your swing and then compare what you are doing in the video at each
step and discover what you are doing wrong at the earliest point in the
swing. But when you swing, you swing, you don't go through a jerky
set of positions. He's clear about this, yet his critics continue
to misunderstand, perhaps intentionally.
From personal experience, I studied McLean pretty extensively, and got
a lot out of it for several years. However, looking back now, I know
that throughout that whole period I was an OTT casting hacker with a
bad slice.
It wasn't necessarily McLean's fault. Even though I videotaped my
swing at the time, I somehow refused to see the problem when I looked
at the tape.
The best thing I did for my swing was to sign up for a series of lessons,
which I have extended into a long-term relationship with my pro. He
forced me to face my problems and make the essential changes necessary.
I'm not completely there yet, but the improvement is much better than
anything else I have tried. It will take me a long time to break all
those bad habits I grooved while trying to teach myself.
So, I guess I ended up preaching afterall. :-)