New Horizons Golf Swing Basics: Secrets of Developing a Sound Golf Swing

By Edward A. Tischler

Ed Tischler provides clear insights into how real breakthroughs are achieved, which is not by simply increasing time and effort, but by looking at, and altering, the fundamental way we approach the game. Fred Shoemaker (Extraordinary Golf The Art Of The Possible

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 7, 2011
• ISBN: 9781463468408

Edward A. Tischler

EA Tischler is the Founder and Director of Instruction of the New Horizons Golf Approach. He grew up in California’s San Francisco Bay Area. He attended U.C. San Diego where he was the golf team captain as he pursued double majors in Philosophy and Management Science with an area of concentration in Psychology. To date EA has self-published 18 golf instructional books, has Invented and Patented golf training aids, has help dozens of golfers achieve their goal as professional golfers, in 2000 he was voted as one of Hawaii's top teachers in the August issue of Golf Digest Magazine, and while living and coaching in Hawaii he became known as the "Pro's-Pro." As a player EA played to as low as a +4.5 handicap, compiled 8 hole-in-ones, 2 double-eagles and has set 15 course records in 3 different countries. He is dedicated his career and life to the game of golf and to the quest for providing all golfers the tools they need to Own their swings and their games. Throughout that process he has developed the Power-of-3 Golf Biomechanics System, which provides the secrets for truly owning your swing.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Prelude

Part One The Fundamental Skills

Chapter One Getting Started

Chapter Two Developing The Skills

Chapter Three Routine Training

Part Two Developing Your Ball Striking Skills

Chapter Four Becoming A Great Ball Striker

Chapter Five Compressing The Ball

Chapter Six Ball Striking Skills

Part Three Power Stacking Method of Play

Chapter Seven From The Ground Up

Chapter Eight The Power Components

Chapter Nine Progressive Stacking Routine

Part Four Playing The Game

Chapter Ten Considering The Possibilities

Chapter Eleven Get Out Of Your Own Way

Chapter Twelve Take It To The Course

Self-Published by Edward Anthony Tischler

As a:

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Publication

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

I’d like to give special thanks to the following people for their guidance, support, and friendship throughout the development of my game and teachings. Their contributions to the quality of my life have largely influenced my approach to the game and this book:

My coach and mentor Fred Shoemaker whose guidance has helped open my life to what’s truly possible and extraordinary. Along the way he has taught me how to be a real coach, while at the same time helping me achieve my true potential.

Michael Murphy and Timothy Gallwey for providing us all with Golf In The Kingdom and The Inner Game Of Golf. Their works have provided tremendous insights into the nature of the game we dream of playing. With the introduction of their approaches into my life, my game has always journeyed down a path that has been anything but traditional and ordinary.

My father, for setting a good example for me to follow. In doing so, he introduced me to the game while instilling in me patience, etiquette, sportsmanship, and a true love for the game.

My mother and the rest of my family for helping me forge through the trying times in my career.

Dick McConn, who has taking a tremendous interest my teachings and has become a true friend and mentor in life and my career. It is because of his support that my books have been able to reach the mainstream of the golf world.

All my students who continually re-commit to the journey. For they have taught me much about myself and coaching.

How To Use This Book:

I believe it is important to discuss up front how to use this book. Keep in mind that Part One will discuss the game’s fundamentals and applications for employing them. Part Two will discuss Ball Striking skills, Part Three Power Stacking skills and Part Four Inner Game concerns.

Each part of this book can be studied by itself and employed by itself to help you develop new skills that will bring about improvements in your game. With that said, this book is organized to produce the greatest improvements in the most timely manner by first internalizing the skills in Part One, followed by those in Part Two, and then Part Three. Once again, only move onto Part Three when you have internalized both the Part One and Part Two skills. Part Four addressing what I call Stage Four concerns. They have to do with playing the game and are largely founded in Inner Game principles. For that reason Part Four can be studied on its own and in combination with any of the first three Parts.

With all that in mind, I recommend you read through this book from cover to cover as a once over. Do so to understand the process being presented in this book. Once you have completed the first read through I suggest you return to Part One to thoroughly study and implement the skills, techniques and drills that are recommended within its pages. I suggest you spend significant time to truly internalize the fundamentals that are addressed in Part One. And as you develop those skills I suggest you study Part Four of this book to start implementing the Stage 4 skills it addresses.

After you have a good command over your fundamental skills you will move onto Part Two of this book. At which point you will learn to develop your basic Ball Striking skills while maintaining your fundamentals. And once again I suggest you spend significant time to internalize those skills. I also suggest you continue to improve the inner game skills that are discussed in Part Four. In the end they may have the greatest influence with regard to your on scoring improvements.

As soon as you’ve internalized your Ball Striking skills you will turn your attention to Part Three Power Stacking Skills. Make sure you spend the time necessary to thoroughly develop and internalize your Power Stacking Skills before you move onto any other book or stage of the New Horizons Golf Approach. As you continue developing your Power Stacking skills you will also continue studying and implementing the inner game skills addressed in Part Four. In that way, by the time you have internalized all the skills being presented in the first three parts of this book you will also have a command of your basic inner game skills.

Now, I know many of you will randomly apply some of the skills as you casually read through this book. And doing so will have its benefits. If that is your plan, I recommend you read the book over and over and over again until you have gotten everything you can its pages. Of course, if you follow the recommended approach you will still need to re-read this book multiple times. However, your journey will be more structured and will have the best chance of developing productive and lasting results.

Enjoy the Journey.

EA Tischler

The New Horizons Approach

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Prelude

Many years ago I wrote a series of 12 books I called the New Horizons Golf Approach Pocket Coach Series. The first four books in the series involved the basics skills needed to play the game in a sound and rewarding manner. The middle four books involved developing Swing Techniques and Mechanics, and the last four involved playing the shots of the game. In this book I am compiling three of the most popular books from that series.

Part One of this book will discuss the topics that were presented in Volume Two of that series-Developing Your Skills. (Originally self-published and Copyright © 2001 by Edward A. Tischler) It will involve a discussion of the games fundamentals as seen through the eyes of a New Horizons Golfer, and it will provide drills for developing your fundamental skills.

Part Two of this book will discuss the topics that were presented in Volume Four of the Pocket Coach Series-Ball Striking Skills (Originally self-published and Copyright © 2002 by Edward A. Tischler). It will involve a discussion of the basic skills needed to become a good ball striker, and it will include drills for developing those skills.

Part Three of this book will discuss the topics that were presented in Volume Five of the Pocket Coach Series-Stacking For Powerful Golf (Originally self-published and Copyright © 2002 by Edward A. Tischler). It will involve the process of developing power from the ground up.

While developing power from the ground up you will learn to play a series of shots that vary in distance and trajectory. And those Power Stacking Techniques will give you a Method of Play that you can employ on the golf course.

As you read your way through this book I would like you to keep in mind that developing a sound golf swing involves 1) Developing Your Fundamental Skills, 2) Establishing a Sound Swing Technique and 3) Having a Method of Play to take out on the golf course. And those are the topics we will discuss throughout this book.

It is also my intent to provide the information in a way that will allow you to eventually Own Your Golf Swing. The New Horizons Golf Approach does that by first addressing the fundamental skills that all golfers need to play the game. Whether you are a beginner, recreational golfer, avid golfer, competitive amateur or professional golfer, you will need to own your fundamental skills if you want to play your best golf. Secondly, if you want to play to your potential, you will need to develop at least a basic command over your ball striking skills. And the more accomplished you strive to become, the greater the command you will need over those skills. Thirdly, all golfers have to take their skills onto the golf course. The best way of doing so is to organize them into a method of play that can be employed successfully with a game plan. Lastly, if you are going to continue to play the game with longevity and with minimal chances of injury, then you will need to apply your skills with your specific body mechanics in mind. If your applications fight your body mechanics you are certain to struggle with your skills, your health and the game in general.

It is also my belief that all true golfers need to own a swing that suits their body mechanics, athleticism and style of play. The degree to which each golfer needs to own their swing is based on the individual’s level of accomplishment and desire for improvement. And to serve each golfer well the approach that is undertaken needs to establish a foundation that is satisfactory for the recreational golfer while being sufficient to support the added skills that will be needed to develop to the highest level of accomplishment for each individual. Rest assure, the New Horizons Golf Approach is organized in a manner to satisfy those criteria.

Once you’ve developed a sound swing that can be employed successfully on the golf course you can decide if your long term goal is to truly own your swing. If it is, then you can study my Power3Golf Biomechanics System (pronounced power-of-3 golf). That system is overviewed in my book Secrets Of Owning Your Swing-The Revolutionary Power3Golf Approach. It explains the biomechanical feature/options you need to understand to truly own your swing.

I believe it is also important to mention that the original Pocket Coach book series was organized in such a way that each successive book be linked in some way to the previous books. Therefore, from Part One to Part Two to Part Three of this book some concepts will be repeated, doing so is intentional. First of all it will help link the Fundamentals to the Ball Striking Skills to the Method of Play. Secondly, when learning a new approach it is often advantageous to have certain key factors repeated frequent enough that w e have a better chance of recognizing their importance.

You can rest assure that any repetition of such key concepts will be held to a minimum and only done so when it seems extremely advantageous to the learning process. Therefore, as you read through this book please be attentive to those topics that seem to be periodically repeated. Take them to heart and do your best to understand their importance in relations to the process being introduced.

Beyond developing a sound golf swing the New Horizons Golf Approach is also concerned with guiding each golfer through the process of Owning Their Games. That means it addresses such topics as inner game skills, mental skills, stroke saving skills and putting skills. Those topics are addressed in a variety of books I have self-published and coached directly in my golf schools and private lessons.

However we must start somewhere, so for now let’s discuss the topic of New Horizons Golf Swing Basics-Secrets Of Developing A Sound Golf Swing. I hope you enjoy the journey and find it a great way to establish a process that will truly allow you to both Own Your Swing and Your Game.

"As you readyour way through this book I would like you to keep in mind that developing a soundgolf swing involves

1)   Developing Your Fundamental Skills,

2)   Establishing a Sound Swing Technique and

3)   Having a Method of Play to take out on the golf course. "

Part One

The Fundamental Skills

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Chapter One

Getting Started

Part One of this book is dedicated to getting the most out of your practice. To get the most out of your practice, I recommend you start by developing the fundamental skills necessary to p lay the game. Without the fundamental skills golfers continually struggle to maintain consistency in their play. However, if you internalize your fundamentals you’ll maintain a consistent foundation during your pressure-filled play.

After internalizing your fundamentals, you will be ready to fine-tune your ball striking skills. Although many golfers feel that ball striking should be their first concern, I believe it is a fine-tuning issue. The fact is, you can be a good golfer without being a great ball striker. However, it is impossible to be a great ball striker without first developing the basic fundamentals.

Therefore, to get the most out of your practice, establish the fundamentals first. Then you can develop your ball striking skills. Beyond those concerns we will learn to maintain consistency through good focus habits and commitment to a practice routine.

As you will learn, Part One of this book will focuses on the fundamental skills involved in the long game. Even though I believe it would be wise for all golfers to develop their short game skills first, I know most golfers are anxious to get to the long game.

If you choose, you can find a complete approach to the short game in my book Golf-The Timeless Game-A Natural Way To Play. It covers all aspects of playing golf from putting through the power swing. You could also look for the short game skills in the New Horizons Golf Approach Pocket Coach Series; volumes 9, 10 and 11 specifically cover putting, stroke saving skills and wedge play.

By the end of this book’s journey it is my hope that you will understand the game’s true fundamentals. As well as understanding those fundamentals, it is my hope you will take the time to organize them into a productive practice routine.

One last note before we get started, I am going to describe all the physical actions in terms of being a right-sided golfer. I apologize to the left-handed golfer, however, I will use the terms dominant and non-dominant as much as possible without disrupting the flow of instruction.

Playing Naturally

Although playing naturally is arguably outside the realm of the fundamentals, I believe it is something that all golfers would like to experience. It is also my belief that the more natural the golfer can be while applying the fundamentals, the better the golfer will play. Since playing naturally is outside the realm of the fundamentals, adhering to the principles of natural play is simply a choice. Therefore, if you are unconcerned with playing naturally, then you can skip the rest of this section and move on to the rest of Part One.

To play naturally, commit to using your natural skills. For example, if you are right-handed, play right-sided golf. That means standing on the right-hander’s side of the ball and swinging with your right hand in control of the golf club.

Dominant hand control of the golf club has been a controversial topic between 1940 and 1990. However, over the past ten years we’ve seen a resurgence of this once popular idea. Historically, golf has always been a dominant hand sport. From the ancient Scottish teachers, to Tommy Armour, to Ben Hogan (who said he wished he had three right hands on the club during the impact interval), to the modern teachers, dominant hand control has always been present. Only during a short period of time did it become popular to pull through with your non-dominant hand. And that was mainly due to the change from hickory shafts to steel shafts in the 1940’s. With hickory-shafted clubs, the clubface would torque open during the downswing. Therefore, it was necessary to roll the hands and clubface over, closing the clubface throughout the release.

When the golfers of the Forties needed to make the change from hickory-shafted clubs to steel shafted clubs, they found their old rolling the hands action inappropriate. With steel shafted clubs, the old rolling action produced hooking golf shots. Players like Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, and Byron Nelson all found the need to develop a new type of hand action. Ben Hogan opened the club so much in his grip and backstroke that however hard he released the club, the clubface would never be closed through impact. He also employed a supinating action that delivered the clubface square-to-the-arc of the stroke.

Sam Snead simply delayed his release as long as he could so that the clubface would enter impact with the heel leading the toe. The longer he held the hinged attitude of his wrists, the less he found the ball hooking. That technique was later coined the Delayed Hit. Byron Nelson made his grip more neutral, firmed up his hand action, and tried to make a more straight-back straight-thru swing path. To do that, he implemented a lateral weight shift. He drove his weight laterally through the ball to the extent of dipping and sliding his