Marcus Edblad Golf Review - Week 4 - Golf Test Dummy 

Thanks Marcus, and of course, you're correct. It's a a very tough thing to try and undo what has been drilled into our heads for years. "Hold the lag" may be the most detrimental tip from modern golf instruction. It is a swing killer for so many golfers. I've made videos on it in the past, about how it's an absolute myth.

Thanks, Marcus! That's one of the courses I started on.

Much appreciated Jason! More coming.

Haha, man I put this shirt on with HOPE, before the game, the results are just miserable. But, they fired the coach, so I'd say that's a step toward progress at least.

Best of luck to you. Simple is always the best in the end.

Thanks Chris! I've heard good things about the 1 iron, and yes, the shafts are not really as labeled. Stiff is more like regular. But supposedly, in the 4.0, the shafts are more true to label.

Thanks Kym! Yeah, there's a lot of conventional teaching that doesn't add up.

I hope so! I've got a few more tricks in the bag coming, but I'm a long way beyond my content 3 years ago, lol.

@@GolfTestDummy Love it mate! Keep on doing great things

Thanks! I hope to at least provide some entertainment, even if my results aren't great, haha.

Definitely, and thanks Rob. Down from the top first, before moving forward, is a huge key.

I spent most of my work on the wrists and hands as primary movers until I discovered the right arm extending as the primary mover of the hit. Not sure why it took me so long when Marcus consistently stresses it ! Have fun Chad.

Marcus says that I need to keep trying to release even earlier, and that will fix the blocks.

Thanks so much Philip!

Haha, it will always be something, won't it? Great to hear!

Much appreciated Chris!

Much appreciated Damian!

Thanks so much Tim. For the foreseeable future at least, I'll be with this one for a while I believe.

It definitely deserves a few months to master, and I feel once you do, and I do also, I think we will both be staying with this method.

Great to hear Kenny, and the Optoma is a great projector also. You'll be very happy.

Haha! Man, you're the third person already to call out the shirt. I put it on and filmed this before the game, and hoped it would bring luck. No such luck. Anyway, I'm with you. As many swings as I review, my brain stays scrambled and I find it very hard to make consistent golf happen. My advice is always to stick to one way, and let me be the Dummy.

Thanks for the support as always PJ! You may just have to keep swinging until something clicks, so stick with it.

@@GolfTestDummy Almost walked away today. Terrible round, nothing working, so frustrated. Not an issue with Marcus swing, an issue with my inability to to get it put together. Gotta tear it apart and start over with a specific practice strategy and plan and log my work and progress. Something has to change man, I want to play good golf SOOOOO BAD. just old man dreams maybe, but I am going to give it everything I can.

I filmed the new video a couple days ago. Very fitting to this comment. Amazing that you had this story to tell, because mine lines right up.

@@GolfTestDummy I think I am starting to wear on Marcus nerves a bit too. I ask too many questions trying to get it figured out and still I am a dumpster fire. Tough time right now for my game.

Hang in there.

Much appreciated, Eliot! I switched to 10 finger as an experiment back when I did my single plane swing review. I have pains in my hands and wrists really bad, and after a short time with the grip change, I just found much less pain, and it actually produced more consistent results for me.

That might be one of the best compliments, that what I'm doing helps. Thanks for that. And since my wife is from KC, I get to be a Chiefs fan also, so it balances out, haha.

That's it! The leveraging as you said. 👍🏻

@@GolfTestDummy Ok, so I watched the response video from Marcus and I am way off I think on the trail hand passing the lead hand. What he is demonstrating there is not what I feel like I am doing. Going to have to get back to the drawing board on this.

OK went and hit balls again, started off pushing everything right. So I started turning back normal but never really intentionally turning forward. I just pushed my trail hand down and let it turn me ( this was difficult for me) this resulted in very solid contact and straight to draw ball flight. Not more distance but the wind was blowing so hard I cant be certain about that it was directly into me. Also went much earlier with the driver an did the same. Still struggling with getting this right but seeing some progress. Just updating what I felt. I also caught myself not swinging my hands and arms fast, almost like I would realize I didn't go fast for some reason. Just my .02

Sounds like you're moving in the right direction. I'm walking the path to.

@@GolfTestDummy ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-St3ITZIlWuk.html Check this out, tell me Freddie is not doing exactly what we are talking about here.

I'm always willing to try things out, so I'll give that a shot and see what happens.

Yep, like I said though, it can be fickle for me at this stage. More time, more work, and maybe it'll stabilize.

Haha, well, it's hard to go wrong with Manuel. Awesome and a legend.

If I used your list above, and rearranged them by priority to what I'm hoping for, it would look like this. Consistency Distance Solid contact Accuracy Shot shape

@@GolfTestDummy Solid list Sir! I hope your efforts are fruitful and some genuine consistency comes from it. When it comes to driver and I think of what it takes to generate Club Head Speed, I believe that to mostly be in the Hands. As that's the final pivot point I think of my Body and Shoulders as the Rolling Start and then let my Hands be the Nitrous. 😄 I would guess this is often referred to as "Lag" but I prefer to think of more as a "Whip." My thought process is: The Body "Twists, like a Coiled Spring," the Shoulders "Swing, like a Pendulum," and my Hands "Whip...like a whip!" 😄 AsI think of swings I think of the greats of the past, Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Seve Ballesteros, Moe Norman, etc. Smooth, Fluid, Graceful but Powerful. As I tend to analyze things I do in a kind of reverse manner, the golf swing is no exception. I think that's what I like the most about the game, being able to troubleshoot and see/feel the results. I start with what I want to accomplish and then think about what it'll takes to get there. I've been working on: 1- Keep it Straight. 2- Solid Contact. 3- Consistant Distance by length of Swing. 4- Distance in total. 5- This all leads to Accuracy. The other night I was in the park and hit Three consecutive shots (because that's all the balls I had with me) with my 60° Wedge NINETY YARDS! All Three landed within 12-15 feet from one another and within a few feet of Distance. No this is not average for me and Yes my 60° and I have not gotten along very well in the past. I'm starting to think we're becoming friends. 😁 Amazingly enough I hardly felt like I was swinging but man, everything simply felt so right and each shot looked just as good as the previous one. To tell you the truth, I was in a mild state of Shock. When I checked the yardage and reveled in what I had accomplished, my dog wasn't very excited but I sure as hell was. It's one hell of a benchmark for me but having done it has concreted in my mind what I'm capable of. That's Golf for ya, right?

Haha, my dog wasn't excited, but I was made me choke on my drink. Love that. Awesome results too!

@@GolfTestDummy That's awesome! 😄 I taught myself the Golf swing back in the 90's by reading books and taking a club while walking my dog and here I am 30 years later at it again. Except with RU-vid, a club, and of course my Dog. Today is my Baby-Beast, Junior's, 14th Birthday and we're about to head out for another walk and some more chipping practice. My goal lately has been to get all 20 balls in a row to land where I'm aiming. I've got about 16or17 but there's ALWAYS those few that don't wanna be cool like the other balls.

Best of luck in that endeavor, and happy birthday to your buddy.

great tips, when you say "feel like your trail hand is faster...." are you stalling your target side hand after impact so the trail takes over (with irons) producing the flip that Marcus talks about? and with the Driver, looking at a target 2 or 3 feet behind the ball imaging hitting that, causing the flip at impact.

I have, yes. I don't try to STOP it, but just allow it to be passed by the trail hand. Kind of like a car passing another on the outside in a corner.

Haha, yeah, I put it on before the game.... ugh. As far as club, ball, and smash, it's tough with the R10, because sometimes the numbers come out off. Ball speed might say 87, with a smash of 1.6, which isn't possible. Or, I'll have 98 mph BALL speed, and 140 mph CLUB speed, haha. Which again, is impossible.

Many thanks BG! The Zebco analogy hits home. The swing happening behind or beside of you is a tough concept for a lot of us to grasp, but it's a game changer. BTW, do you think the Panthers will make a play for the Great Sean Payton?

Oh wow! I've studied and watched the same videos, haha. I would LOVE to make the same shaft. I think I'm going to put the Evenflow L 40g in the Bombtech.

@@GolfTestDummy when you do, let me know how it goes.

Great thoughts here! It takes some work, but I'm finding that if I put the time in, I see imprpvement.

@@GolfTestDummy Yes, the driver in particular is a VERY odd feel. Releasing so early and hitting the low spot so far back is very different from everything I've been taught, but since what I've been taught has lead to a slice and lots of drives OB, different is good. I'm hoping with time and practice, the driver will some day be a useful club.

Many thanks, BD. You nailed it. My only reason was to bring an end to all of the in-depth reviews, and start finding my own swing.

Uh oh, you must be in a place with really cold Winters. I'll try and keep you entertained in the off season.

I'm trying to, thanks!

44.5 to 45 typically.

Thanks! 😆

Haha, you know, that was allllll insightful, but I was waiting for it. After you opened with "You should be able to achieve more carry", I was waiting for you to tell me "but you can't do it with a blue and white golf bag". Thanks Mike!

I have, yes. I did a review a while back and a Playlist for it on my channel.

I will definitely look into that. I've watched quite a bit of the Asian coaches, and love what some are putting out.

I think I have additional yardage in there, like you said. In one of Marcus's videos, he was going through feel versus real basically, and how he has the angles at impact, but he doesn't get them by intending to get them. He actually gets them by trying to get rid of them. In a message yesterday, his advice was to try and release even more and sooner to prevent the block and get the draw.

@@GolfTestDummy Yeah, that is why I was speaking in terms of releasing from the top because I totally agree with Marcus about releasing from the top. However, that is dependant on the position of the folded trail arm and cocked trail wrist relative to the plane that the shaft starts down on from the top. If the shaft is not on plane from the top you cannot keep the folded trail arm and wrist behind the strike starting fron the top. So you can release right from the top and the angles will still naturally be retained and you can drive them right through the strike AS LONG AS the trail arm and wrist are releasing on plane from the top. With your driver especially you are quite off plane from the top and that means that your trail arm and wrist cannot build up speed and channel it right through the ball starting from the top. You can do it somewhat more when you release further out to right field because that motion puts you closer to the plane that you actually start down on so you can drive the trail hand through the ball a little more but the arm motion ends up being quite a bit from the inside so I think that you will have trouble turning the ball over. Additionally, you still have a limited potential with the plane that you are starting down on to exploit the trail hand and arm. That is why I think that you should try shorter more compact swings and work on starting down on the same plane that you finish the backswing on and with that also work on releasing from the top which will allow you to retain the angle. Essentially what we are talking about here is a longer (in length) on plane release of the trail arm and wrist which causes that release to happen down and right through the ball and past the ball. The trail arm and wrist can make a longer release BECAUSE they are releasing on plane. Being on plane allows the longer release of the trail apparatus to happen. This is because when the release from the top happens on plane, your hands and arms can sense that the approach into the ball is appropriate for a good strike without changing any angles and so they allow you to continue to build up speed and momentum in the club by naturally and automatically holding the angles until you absolutely have to let them go. If you look at Marcus' backswing he actually has a very compact arm motion and at the end of the backswing he finishes by driving his trail elbow back behind him further when his arm swing and wrist cock are essentially already finsihed which gives more width to his turn and gives his trail arm more room to release on plane from the top You are kind of doing the opposite. Your trail elbow moves back at the top but your arms are still also moving so you are trying to get more width at the top which is good but the extra arm motion is taking the club well off plane and there is actually less room for the trail arm to release on plane instead of more. So you need to shorten and tighten your arm motion (trail especially) at the top in order to have an opportunity to start down on plane and get maximum power out of the trail arm and wrist. This is VERY MUCH a part of what Marcus is doing. It is also why you can't find a tour pro that isn't very close to the address shaft plane starting down from the top, because otherwise the power potential that is lost is huge and you can't get it back later in the downswing. My research has shown me that in the best swings, the motions in the last quarter of the backswing are extremely important to the development of accurate power. What the arms and wrist do relative to the turn that the body has made in that part of the swing is monumentally important. It is like the wind up of a pitcher; if his pitching arm does not move properly at the top of his wind up, he will lose a massive amount of accurate speed. The elbow, wrist and hand of that pitcher all have to move in a precise way to accomplish that. If you look at Marcus' trail arm and wrist motion starting from address, it is very much like a big league pitcher's wind up and release and that is the secret to his power. Cheers.

@@GolfTestDummy Did you understand the last post? Do you want me to elaborate on or explain anything that I wrote? I'd be happy to if you so wish? In the meantime, here is another analogy. Being off plane starting down is like a boxer attempting to really land a hard punch on the opponent's jaw, so he must drive through with his punch. However, right as he starts to deliver it his opponent moves his head way off the line of the intended punch. Now he is like someone starting down off plane, he can still possibly deliver a pretty solid punch by changing his direction of force, but he can't deliver the punch with the same speed and power that he could have because he started on the wrong arc for maximum power and must accept a weaker blow. Cheers.

I understand most of it yes, and the analogy with the boxer makes sense. I'm just so busy lately that trying to get through everyone's comments and respond accordingly is becoming more difficult. Anytime I've tried to shorten my swing, by simply trying to shorten it as an intent, it never takes root. What I'm working on is trying to make my "circle" back behind me now, starting more from the top of the backswing, in the beginning, by letting my wrist turn the club out shallower. Aside from that, reinventing the wheel at this point is just something I don't have time for.

@@GolfTestDummy Yeah, I have noticed that you work really hard with the comments. Kudos for that. I'm sure with a little more success comes even more demands in that regard. Sorry to add to the burden but I'm hoping it will help with the swing journey. As far as trying to shallow it out coming down, I was going to suggest something like that as well. Just remember that the trail arm arm will tend to travel in the same front to back depth coming down as it went back on. So if you want a longer length of release of the trail hand (which is what you need) in front of you, through impact, you are going to need a wider motion in front of you in the backswing. This is something you can see in Marcus' backswing, it is compact but he has a lot of width in front of him taking the club back. It's a sharp wrist cock but a wide arm motion in front of him. No need to reply; as though you were thinking of it 🙂Cheers.

Well, in my experiences, there's a big difference between casting, over the top, and releasing as soon as you can from the top. In my opinion, you can release it as fast as you want, as long as it's down, and not out and around. Also, even though you're trying to dump those angles, it doesn't actually happen. It's a feel versus real thing.

@@GolfTestDummy down being inside, and around outside(over the top)?

Yes sir

@@GolfTestDummy Chad, I have to say out of just about everything that I have come across related to the golf swing this is such a big deal. It is worthy of a “Nobel prize “ in golf instruction. In Harvey Pennicks Red Book he mentions to stop casting have the player hit the club with the toe. This leads to believe this issue never had to do with throwing the club. It all had to do with swing path. If your plane you are on plane you don’t need compensations. I wish I understood this stuff when I started 30 years ago.

One other think to add when Hogan said in his book you get a free ride at the beginning of the down, that to me has more to do with the transition. Unless you are extremly strong and fast like a Tony Finau you need a slower transition which would explain the “free ride”. Would you agree with that?

I need to get a bit more open. My old habit of standing square is creeping back in.

Definitely that feeling of "hitting behind you".

They did, haha! That's a step in the right direction, but we're just awful.

It's coming along!

Very true, and I have a video concept I need to film soon. Lag is like a savings account. It's great to create and have, but if you never actually use it, it's pointless.

Agreed, and in my case, I've been able to start zeroing in on that. Driver has the ball more forward, I have some shoulder tilt, and my weight is more toward the trail side.

That's true, but I can't be sure the spin rate on the R10 is accurate. It doesn't measure spin, it just calculates it based on other metrics that it actually does measure.

Go check out his channel. Swedish long driver and instructor.

I most likely will. Thanks LA!