A Tribute to Ben Doyle from Chris Little on Vimeo.
And to answer some questions that I know will probably arise.
No, Ben Doyle DID NOT ruin Bobby Clampett's game. Clampett goes into this in his book 'The Impact Zone.' Some may not remember, but when Clampett was in college and first got out on Tour, he was looking like the next Ben Hogan with his snap release swing and beautiful ball striking (and he had a fantastic short game). But Clampett had a flat swing plane and when he started to struggle, instead of working with Doyle on his issues he started working with other teachers telling him that Doyle's teachings were heavily flawed. And instead of working on impact alignments and finding the best swing for Bobby Clampett, the instructors he worked with were far more concerned with his 'swing style' and Clampett's game took a turn for the worse. It wasn't until he went back to Ben Doyle when he already secured the CBS TV Analyst gig that his game came back around. But by then he was in his 40's, with a family and a TV gig that pays very well.
Ben usually teaches a 'swinger' pattern, but can teach a 'hitter' pattern. From what I've been told and heard, he's one of those guys that believes that almost all golfers are more meant for the swinger pattern than the hitter pattern. And no, John Erickson (aka Lagpressure, a former Doyle protege) doesn't think badly of Ben Doyle or his teaching skills and philosophy. In fact, he's often said that if you can get what Doyle is saying down pretty well you will hit it pure. It's just that Erickson prefers the 'hitter' pattern as there's less maintainance.
3JACK
3 comments:
Can someone expand on (or point me to a previous post) on the extra "maintainance" that is required with the swinger pattern? I've heard that mentioned a couple times in the last few days....
I've always figured I was a 'hitter' but the last few weeks I've had really great results with the pivot controlled hands (lagging clubhead takeaway). I feel mainly all i have to really focus on is "losing control to gain control" and not getting too quick and the results are good. Is it possible to still be a 'hitter' with that type of pivot/takeaway?
thanks
Swingers can have 'extra maintainance' as their swings are a little longer and there could be more moving parts. Swingers usually have a horizontal hinge, so the clubface rotates more than an angled hinge move. Hitters can have a pivot controlled hands swing, but it's not a very compatible component to the pattern.
I took a lesson from Ben Doyle in 1995 when on a trip to the west coast. He was kind to me, even though I obviously had no prospects for greatness. He stopped to speak to his friends as they walked by. He only charged a dollar a minute, far less than he could have. He made a video of the lesson, with himself in the background hitting balls as an example to follow. When I asked about Clampett, I remember he simply said "he still knows the truth." I like another quote of his in regards to how much lagging sensation one should seek..."can you have too much love?"( this from Bobby Clampett's book)
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