Mindy Blake

hi davie
e-bay you get ping eye2 one irons and zings on there a lot, i think the ping eye2 is a great one iron and i wont change.
just had a quick look and there are 2 ping eye one irons listed look for the one with a + as its legal the one without a + or a dot is no legal
bill

Cheers Bill, i'll have a look.

I have tried almost every technique over the last 8 years, and while changing every two months may be interesting, it doesn't do much for the game. A few years ago I looked at Heards Super Swing, and liked the grip, which has some similarities to Blakes. But I never got the release to work, and went on to others.

Recently, I purchased a book called The Secret of Golf, ed. by George Peper, which has 46 of the 'top innovations' in the 20th century. It makes for very fascinating reading. Mindy Blake was in there, and I started by being as fascinated by his life as his technique. But the grip sounded a lot like my old super swing grip, at least in the LH. The difference in the RH has made all the difference.

I am much more consistent and accurate now, and when I miss I know immediately what I didn't do.

I'm 60, and my playing partner is 8 years younger and hits the ball a mile, so he plays from the tees behind the whites. I join him to keep it similar, and have dipped into the high 80s. I even beat him this week, as my 240 yard drives were in the short grass, while his longer ones were all over. Eliminating 2 or 3 OB shots per round is a great way to lower your score.

My only complaint about the Mindy Blake book which I subsequently purchased, is the lack of pictures. But, as Chuck Cook said of his visit with Hogan years ago and his words of wisdom, "If it is to be, it is up to me." I have made this technique mine as I understand it, and am not reading every tip in GD or Golf any more! I expect to be consistently in the 80s soon, and lower when I go back to the whites.

Hit them straight!

jb

Hello,

I'm the forum owner for the Mindy Blake Golf Swing Forum. Your discussion about Blake was discovered by one of our members,who posted a message about your site and included a link to this thread.

FYI, the Blake forum was started because of the interest of Jim (Snakedoc) on the Single-Axis Golf Forum. Jim knew Mindy Blake and is an ardent advocate of Blake's "Reflex" method. I thought there was enough interest in Blake's swing theories,so I started the separate Blake forum,with Jim as the Moderator.
Mindy Blake was a very interesting man. A New Zealander,pole vault champion and WWII RAF Spitfire pilot,Blake also had a keen interest in golf.

http://www.nzfpm.co.nz/article.asp?id=blake

Last year I started another golf forum,which deals with the "Stack and Tilt" golf swing;it is hosted by my reluctant host,Denver Haddix. Denver is a golfing buddy of mine;he just happens to be a student of Andy Plummer (who started S&T.) I've been taking lessons from him and I will say that this method is the best I've tried.

hi Bobky
thanks for your link to Mindy Blake and his war years, he was some man and there has been a lot of intrest in Mindy and over 850 people have viewed this thread.
look forword to hearding more about Mindy on your forum, (Mindy Blake golf swing forum" and i pass on any imformation i get from your forum to any one intrested here on GTO.
thanks again
bill

I have just discovered this website and was interested to see photos of my swing! I was a close friend of the late and greatly missed Mindy Blake. I have used his swing since we first met at Wentworth in 1968/9. I have never thought of going back to the wristy swing I used before I met Mindy. I had a 3 handicap before making the switch which took some time. But I returned to 3 and now some 30 years or more later am still off 5.

If anyone is interested in knowing more about Mindy and his swing I'd be happy to oblige.

hi Richard
it was a member on here that told me about Mindy and it was looking at some of your clips of film on the Blake forum that got me interested in Mindy Blake. i have been using Trevino system off and on since the late 70s and have changed it a little to use some of Blake's teachings, mostly the right knee and trying to use a reflex swing rather than driving through the ball with my left hand. weather been really bad so not done much work on my swing since November, but i do like your swing and hope you don't mine me showing your picture here as a picture explains more than words at times. as you will see by the posts there has been some interest in Mindy and anything you would like to add I'm sure would be very helpful to all members that read this post.
thanks
bill

__________________
ping zing2 metal driver
ping zing2 metal 3 wood
ping eye2 1 iron
ping zing2 3/9 irons
ping ist 47% wedge
ping zing2 52% s/wedge
ping mb 56% wedge
ping c10 G2I broom handled putter
top flight "T" golf balls
white ping bag

Please feel entirely free to use photos of my swing on the Forum. I have derived so much pleasure from following Mindy's method. I feel that it si a harmonious way of playing golf. If I set up in the square position, I feel weakened by the lack of energy in my body. The legs are a great source of power if the upper body is configured correctly. That takes time to achieve but produces great results.

Last year I shot 70 around Morfontaine which is just north of Paris where we live. Four birdies and an eagle with a holed five wood from the fairway!

I'm coming up to 65 yrs of age and my golfing pleasure has remained intact due to Mindy's great refelctions and the fact that I was able to learn from him as fellow members of Wentworth in the late 1960's.

hi Richard
there were some members asking about the ball being further forward than Mindy played it based on your pictures, do you play it more forward with the driver or is it just the angle in the picture. we did discuss your swing and hope we were right in what we were sawing about it. over 1100 hits on this Mindy post so i would say there is a lot of interest in both Mindy's swing and Moe Norman's swing on this site.
thats good scoring on a hard course and even better knowing your almost 65.
keep up the good work in spreading the word about Mindy and i will try and make sure other hear too.
thank again
bill

__________________
ping zing2 metal driver
ping zing2 metal 3 wood
ping eye2 1 iron
ping zing2 3/9 irons
ping ist 47% wedge
ping zing2 52% s/wedge
ping mb 56% wedge
ping c10 G2I broom handled putter
top flight "T" golf balls
white ping bag

I think al Mindy's students adjusted their swings to suit their own structure. It could well be that there is a difference but I'm taller than Mindy was. The key is in the leverage of the ball rather than generating clubhead speed. that's what makes my game so reliable. i don't have to practice as there is nothing to go wrong.

I am a course rater and very involved in the creation of new courses. Some of your contibutors will know Kingsbarns, The Grove or Wisley where I was consultant as well as thirty other courses. So when I tee it up on courses I rate, I know where the ball is going and can concentrate on assessing the strategic design of the course.

hi Richard
i was trying to explain to some of the members here how once you get into Mindy's swing and understand it then everything just seems to fall in place and you don't really have to think about it as you swing and like you say there is nothing that really goes wrong if you trust it and let the reflex swing happen. i found with the Trevino swing there was a lot of hip shift but with Mindy your right leg stops hip sway and stops so many things going wrong, the elbow leading the right hips into impact also seemed to stop anything bad happening and the open stance gives you room to move.
cheers
bill

__________________
ping zing2 metal driver
ping zing2 metal 3 wood
ping eye2 1 iron
ping zing2 3/9 irons
ping ist 47% wedge
ping zing2 52% s/wedge
ping mb 56% wedge
ping c10 G2I broom handled putter
top flight "T" golf balls
white ping bag

Mindy was an expert in the design and manufacture of industrial machines and he approached the golf swing as an analyst of which were the powerful parts of the body and which were weak. He concludd that the hands and wrists could not be asked to propel a ball and also control the direction. So he looked for larger muscles to power the ball and focused on the legs and hips. The hands remain passive as they are dragged over the ball. It feels like the blades of a water wheel in that the face is on line with the shot throughout. It does take work but the investment is worth it!