fatshot Is it true that Jacobs could watch ONLY the flight of the ball and from that diagnose the player's problems and suggest the correct cures??? He must have been AMAZING!!!
This is absolutely true,
At 16 years old, this is the system I learned and I learned from the best! Great and humble man. I miss him.
It is called "Ball Flight Teaching" and it is one I fully and continue to believe in til this day.
Tens of thousands of golf lessons given over the, now, decades and we use to literally fix people swings by asking them questions over the phone while drinking/eating Frosty's after hours at the club. I mean the guy is flailing in Arizona and we are sitting here in Illinois and fixing his game. It is fantastic.
Even now, when I am out helping someone, never, ever one single time have I tried to put a guest in a "position". To many "teachers" nowadays try to get their students in all kinds of positions. Planes, angles, hand positions etc. It's ridiculous.
Why? simply for this reason. If you get a golfer into, say, a better takeaway position, in relation to their body and god forbid, they happen to hit a nice shot or even a great shot... Immediately in their head they think... "Yeah! I got it!!
But they don't KNOW!
But if a guy starts the ball left of the intended target we absolutley do KNOW that they swung outside in.
If a guy keeps CURVING his shots, left to right, we KNOW that the clubface is open at impact.
The fixes are always easy to achieve.
We simply tell him.... I don't want you to start this next shot left of your target. You can hit it as far right as you want, even onto the street, but please do not START the ball left. Then, we go in front of them about 10 yardsand stand a half step left of the intended target line... Asking or rather begging him not to hit us.
He is nervous as hell as we didn't tell him HOW to miss us, just that he must hit to the right this time.
It is the very best system I have found in 45 years.
Funny Manuel De LaTorre story...
I met him in Florida at a PGA Teaching summit. He was one of the instructors that finished the day. He asked if anyone want to meet him on the back of the range, he would have us hit balls and the rest would critique and then Mr. De La Torre would do it the right way. hahaha
Anyway, out of 40 people in the class, only 5 went out.
As I was getting ready to hit, De La Torre was sitting on the upside down huge basket of balls. I hit one ball, a little thin actually but straight as I could.
He has his hands full of balls, just sitting there and tosses one to me to hit again. He asked why I thought I hit the first one thin. He said, I wasn't watching but could hear it. I gave him some bullshit answer and as I addressed the next ball, he threw another ball and hit my right hand, right on the knuckles.
He asked why I felt the need to grip the club so tightly?
Again came another bullshit answer from me.
He threw another ball from the same 9 feet away and hit the exact same knuckle.
He said, I am going to keep throwing balls at your hands harder and harder until you dial down that grip pressure.
He said... Do you think you can listen to me now of do you need to get hit on the hand again?
Keep in mind, I only hit one ball so far.
I said, I will lighten it up but I wanted to hit the ball well for him.
He said... We only have these few hundred balls... hurry up.
hahahahaha
The next 5 shots were well struck, nice trajectory and far better distance.
Months after the school I found myself repeatedly going up to Milwakee CC (about 2 hour ride) just to listen to him teach his students. If he had nobody, I was his student..... 2 hours for the same $25.
I miss him and his knowledge far more than I can explain.
