Just ordered mine!

Well mine has just arrived this morning

And it could not have arrived at a better time as I have next week off work to get into it!

WOoot! I shall try post my experiences of the system as I progress (obviously without giving away anything in the book and taking away from Joe Hagans hard work).

Get reading pal,

All I will add is make sure your alinement is good, then start with SK1, then 2 then 3..........


I can't wait to hear how you get on, it will blow your mind when you hit one with all three at once........


MAGIC

Ian.

Well not here again today! this is Surrey England isn't it? and not Surrey Mozambique!

I was hoping it would be here this week, I could scan a few pages then go out and win the medal on Sunday

OK I could not wait to get started so had a read at lunchtime. Think I got to about chapter 4.

I've been playing golf for over a year now and already I have learned a few things. I think I am going to enjoy this fresh approach, the 3 skills in itself is so simple and obvious when explained to you in this way.

I shall continue to post my exploits as I progress. I was quite stunned about the statistic that only 20% of golfers score under 100.

I usually score around 90, so I have big hopes for this new system!

OK Folks sorry for not updating recently. I am off work all this week so been on course most of the time.

OK I have read through the book a few times and I think Im understanding the concepts!

I have not actually had a chance to do any of the drills on the range as such. But I have been occasionally trying a few techniques on the course on practise rounds.

Now I know I can probably perfect the drills by going to the range, but Im hoping someone can answer a few queries to get me on the right track.

OK SK1, I am trying to get the y shape to find the sweet spot and I do believe Im getting a better contact and hitting a bit further and higher with correct irons. But Im still not getting a divot, which shows Im still not connecting correctly. If I try a steaper angle of attack I tend to hit fat shots and too heavy a divot. Like I said Im sure I could fix this when I get to range and try drills, but any advice appreciated till I get a chance to do this.

My other question is about SK3. Should SK3 happen automatically if your applying SK1 and SK2, or do you have to consciously manufacture SK3.

I have to say at the moment, I am impressed with some of my results particularly with the driver, sk2 alone seems to have me hitting my driver straighter and further, Ive not managed the draw as yet, but I think that might be my lack of understanding of sk3.

Cheers for now!
Paul

Hi Paul,

You haven't let go of the swing thoughts yet (y/u) swing is not in the book.....

go to basics: All you are trying to do is hit the "Sweetspot" think where this is on the face and put the ball to it, the book shows you a few tips like to achieve this the shaft must lean forward etc .....no where in the book does it say try to take a divot, this will happen in time, like you say about drills try the leaf drill in the book, as you hit the imaginary nail taking the leaf with you.

SK2 is the hitting toward 1-2 oclock, again in the book the clubface is open coming into the ball open and closing just after, when you swing, in your mind you bring the club toward the ball with this thought (like the waggle), trust me it will automatically close after impact, by bringing the club into impact this way you create a late hit simply by the task and hit a much more powerful shot.

As for Sk3 I would not think to much about this one yet until you can perfect the first two, I find this comes with confidence, for me once you get the club coming down inside you will feel a 'freedom' in your swing which alows you to hit as hard as you like, because you re body is out of the way, this is when SK3 can be applied.

Don't go looking for divots, they come on their own.

cheers

Ian.

__________________
Once you learn the swing, your next step is mastering golf psychology................

Thanks Ian. I shall get to the range for some drills before I report back.

I know the book does not make reference to divots, I was just thinking that I should be taking divots if I was executing sk1 correctly. So I guess Ive answered my own quesiton in that Im not executing it correctly.

I will try not to think about it and just aim for hitting sweet spot. I do believe Im hitting the ball sweeter in general now, I guess it will come as I get more confident.

Cheers
Paul

G'Day Paul.

I am by no means an expert on the 3 skills, but I do consider that I have skill 1 grooved now for my irons. I find the sweet spot, hitting down on the ball 99% of the time. Heck even the miss hits are still hitting down on the ball(it doesn't go where I intended, but it has loft and distance). The one thing I always see now which I didn't before is a club mark left in the grass, at or in front of where the ball was. Sometimes I get a divot, depends on how soft the turf is really.

Hope that helps. Keep practicing. Once you get this one you will never look back.

Christopher

Thanks for support fellas! I think tomorrow I will hit the range and work on sk1 before I play my 3rd card round towards my official handicap.

Cheers
Paul.

Just a note to you guys, get SK1 grooved before moving on to SK2 and so on

your results will be so much much better!

Just as well I am a guy with a "one track mind"

Christopher

Im just about to head off to the range with my clubs,headcover, bits of cornflakes (leaf replacement) and Im gonna give the drills a real proper session!

Decided to stay away from course today as Ive been playing all week (plus its our 4 year wedding anniversary, so thought I would get some flowers as brownie points instead of disappearing for 4 hours, who said romance is dead).

As ever I shall report back with my own results on my progress with the 3 skills.

OK had first proper session with the 3 skills at the range today. Have to say very successful in all.

Sk1 - Went very well, most shots were effortless and high off the lofted irons. Using something in front of ball to aim at was a revelation then once I got confident with that moved on to imagine the hammer/nail technique which I can take on to course!

Sk2 - Again very well, I had been consciously implementing this technique on the course anyway. Dont think Ive sliced/faded a shot since I started this.

Sk3 - I think I was implementing this as I was managing to draw the ball with short, mid and hybrids and limited success with driver.

It really did seem to work for me visualing the draw, Im still not really sure how I achieved it, thinking about the baseball swing and tennis stroke really helped me visualise what I had to do. At no point was I consciously doing anything with my arms/wrists just purely thinking of putting the ball out right to the clock face suggestions of the book. Still quite stunned it worked.

I was hitting my 52 degree wedge about 100y
9i was going about 135y
6i was going about 170y (with great height, which is new for me)
3i hybrid 22 degree was around about 200y

Thats easily 10 more yards per club for me, but more importantly I was getting more height, damn I might even be able to hold a green now and then with my approach shots now.

I was able to to draw with all these clubs most of the time, and when I got it wrong they were mostly going dead straight or slightly left of straight.

My problems came when trying to use driver. I was lucky if I was hitting this same distance as my 3i hybrid and very rarely hit the sweet spot and got any height. I did catch one where everything seem to come together and it went for miles so I know its in me, but obviously I need to work on this for consistency.

I was practising the drill of swinging under the range ball basket handle to keep a low plane for correct hammer angle, but I must need a bit more work.

I ran out of balls before I could practise anymore, but very happy with my session. I just hope Im brave enough to take it to the course, it is very strange thinking about putting the ball out right and expecting it to come back left again .

I found over all I was swinging with real confidence, I never once thought about any swing dynamics, I was experimenting with different swing speeds, grip strenghs etc. I even managed to deliberately apply more or less draw by tightening loosening my grip.

My lower arms are aching a bit now after hitting 100 balls but it was all worthwhile, cant wait to hit course tomorrow now.

Hopefully I will impress my playing buddies if I actually pull off a few special draw shots. This Joe Hagan is really on to something with these teaching methods. I can vouch for that!!!

Cheers for now
Paul

Well I have been pretty much ignoring the 3skills thing until recently. Just wanted to see where it was going. This is the only site where I've seen a teaching method spring up and get so much attention. We don't even have a Hogan board. There is one site, I forget which, that promotes the TGM (The Golf Machine) method. It was probably started by TGM instructors. I am probably not unlike others who I'll bet have been kinda trying to reverse engineer the instructions by reading through the board. Interesting reading. I might take a look when they come out with the DVD. I love video instructions and demonstrations.

Just wondering, any sign of a DVD yet?