Taly Training Aid Review

I first became interested in the Taly thru Lynn Blake's Web site (www.lynnblakegolf.com). I am usually averse to using training aids because most don't work, some actually ingrain more bad mechanics, and some that work only work for certain type of swings.

The Taly certainly made sense to me about the way it operated given my knowledge of the importance of the flat left wrist at impact. And I had been around the block a few times and understood how many instructors will pimp off less than stellar training aids because it will fatten their wallets. Lynn has never struck me as that type of instructor and I was even more impressed when in a recent golf school he held he included a Taly training aid with the cost of tuition for each student. That tells me that Yoda really believed in the Taly because he didn't have to include it with the school.

For me, I have been switching off an on between flipping and not flipping recently, but still with quite a bit of clubhead throwaway. I decided to see if this Taly would live up to the hype, so I purchased one on May 19th and received it on May 27th.

It does have a good set of instructions, although the instructions are more of Taly Williams' (the inventor) mindset than the typical TGM type instruction. And as far as putting the Taly on, any idiot can do it.

I'm usually not into training aids because they usually don't work or they can even ingrain bad mechanics or often at best they work, but for only one type of swing. But the Taly can work for any type of swing, whether you be a 'hitter' or a 'swinger.' With something like the Swingyde (pic below) that's really meant for the 'swinger' and is practically useless, IMO, for the 'hitter.'



The main goal of the Taly is to keep the golfer from 'flipping' thru impact and keeping that left wrist flat. This is all done by keeping the red ball on the Taly ahead of the clubhead. So whatever procedure you use...pulling (swinger) or pushing (hitter), the Taly works. But it's not just about impact, it also can help with training the proper backswing plane (which I haven't used it for yet) and downswing clubhead path (by simply running the red ball over the golf ball). Regardless of swing plane or grip or swing procedure, it does fit every type of pattern.

However it's important to note a couple of things:

1. Practicing with the Taly the address position should be at 'impact hands' so that the shaft on the Taly is parallel to your clubhead shaft. Then the goal is to swing the club with the Taly so the clubhead is behind the red ball.

2. You should do as the instructions say and hit 10 shots with the Taly and then 10 shots without the Taly and then back with the Taly. Keep switching off an on and see your brain finally start to 'get it.'


The last key is that you need to understand the result you should hope to achieve. It's not really about the flight of the ball. The results you're looking for are to make good contact with the ball while keeping the clubhead behind the red ball on the Taly. When you do it correctly, try to FEEL what was different.

At first when I tried the Taly I struggled quite a bit with it. I then took a break and started to feel my way around. I noticed that my startdown was too quick, that I could start to now feel and see my right forearm flying wedge and how I wanted to crash it into the golf ball. All of the sudden I started hitting it great. The big key for me is that I could actually SEE myself maintaining the right forearm flying wedge as it went into impact. Very powerful stuff.





3JACK