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Official Forum Member Review - Martin Chuck's Tour Striker Academy


goaliewales14

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Introduction

I wanted to start off by saying a huge thank you to MGS and Martin Chuck for this amazing opportunity!  With this being the first time anyone has reviewed a golf school on here, I figured I'd start out having a few different entries.  This one is going to be an introduction of myself and what I was expecting out to of the golf school.  Then I was going to break down each day, and how it went.  Finally, I was going to make two more entries, one being a wrap up and overall thoughts, and then another one a month or so down the road about my progress and continued communication with Martin and his team.

 

Who am I

I am Mike Wales.  I am 28 years old and I've been playing golf for 4 years now.  Within those 4 years, I've been able to get to about an 18 handicap with my lowest score being 85.  I took about 10 or so formal lessons to get started in the beginning.  I started getting into golf about 2 years after college.  My coworkers and boss always talked about going out over the weekend to play, and I thought it would be a good networking opportunity.  I was also looking find another sport to get into since I couldn't play hockey much anymore.  I played hockey for 20+ years until I suffered an injury to my back due to improper lifting in high school.  The pain began to get too great to continue to play goalie, forcing my “retirement.” 

 

BMW Championship.jpg

 

The more and more I played golf, the more I have enjoyed it.  I've became an 100% golf nerd.  I will go out and try to hit any new club line on the market just to see what it's about.  I'm currently playing:

 

Driver: Ping G LST Tour 65 X

3 wood: Cleveland Classic XL Stiff

Hybrid: 21* Titleist 815 H1 Fujikura Motore Speeder Tour Spec Stiff Flex

Irons: 5 – P Srixon Z545 Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges:

               Approach: Srixon Z565 Dynamic Gold X100

               Sand: Ping Glide 2.0 WS

               Lob: Ping Glide 2.0 WS

Putter: Ping Oslo

 

Biggest Issues

When Martin submitted the video he wanted to know what our 3 biggest issues before we started the school.  All of my issues are around 100 yards and in.  I played in a match play tournament 2 months ago and had 11 approach shots from 100 yards or close.  Out of those shots, I hit 3 greens in regulation.  As you can imagine I lost the match 2&1.  Besides approach shots, I wanted to work on chipping and bunker play.

 

Expectations

I've never been to a golf school before, but I had participated in a hockey school.  My experience with that school is what I used as a guideline for my expectations going into this school.  I was expecting to break out into groups to cover different aspects of the game.  Looking at the Tour Striker website, I was able to see that is exactly what we would do and the topics that would be covered.  I also have a very strong grip, I was curious how open they were to keeping things the same with it.  One of the main things I was looking for was a good flow to the school.  I wanted to 1:1 moments with the staff along with time by myself to try to think through what they were teaching us.  Lastly, I wanted a lot of training material to take home since I figured I wouldn't be able to retain everything they were teaching in 3 days.  Either, that I wanted to be able to look back if I wanted a refresher on a certain topic.

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max
3 Wood: Taylormade SIM
3 Utility Iron: Srixon U85
4i – 5i: Taylormade P790
6i – AW: Taylormade P770
SW: Taylormade MG3 TW Grind
LW: Taylormade Hi-Toe 3 Low Bounce
Putter: PXG Battle Ready One & Done

 

 

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Day 2 Recap

 

8:00 – 9:00 am      

Breakfast in Grille 36 – Day 1 - Q & “Eh” 

9:00 – 10:00 am 

Learning Center: Yoga Based Golf Warm Up

10:00 - 12:45 pm

Learning Center: Continuation Of Day 1 Development Strategy
Group Breakout Sessions: Bunker Play, Longer Pitch Shots, Long Approach Shots

12:45 – 1:45 pm 

Lunch in Grille 36 

1:45 – 3:00 pm 

Learning Center 
Group Discussion And Demonstration: Shot Shaping And Specialty Shots

3:00 – 5:00 pm* 

Taking It To The Course: Scramble Play With Martin And His Coaching Team
Applying What You've Learned

 

We started off today going through an hour-long yoga warm-up.  It was actually a welcomed warm-up as I was still sore from the previous day.  It was done by a guy who owns The Golf Yogi.  He did really well in relating the poses to how it would benefit to golf.  He also talked through how to do the poses without putting excess stress on your body.  The trick was if your voice begins to change as you get into a stretch, then you've gone too far.  That allows you to still get the benefits of yoga, but not injury yourself.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy the yoga session and felt ready to get started for the day.

 

All of us took out a club and began taking a few warm up swings.  I was also trying to recall everything from the day before.  After a few minutes, we went into a 3-station session.  The first station was all about drivers, the other was using their training tool name the educator, and the last station was the dreaded Smart Ball.  I started off with driver station, and within this station there were 3 different rotations.  There was 1 off the high tee, one off an incline, and the other was just normal lie. 

 

The driver was actually one of the best clubs in my bag coming into this school.  With all the changes in my swing, I actually felt uncomfortable over it the whole time.  I was able to do really well off the high tee, but struggled in the other 2 rotations.  The high tee was basically like hitting a tee ball in baseball.  Looking back, being able to hit the high tee meant that I keep my shoulders very level, but not being able to hit the driver off the incline meant I have problems matching the slope.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel frustrated after this station, but it was time to move to the educator.

 

What we were doing with the educator was called the under-over drill.  We would take the club back keeping the educator on our inside forearm, but when we reached the top, we had to move it to the outside of our forearm.  The point of this drill was to demonstrate how the hands need to be used during the swing.  If you didn't set the wrists properly at the top and rotate on the way down, the educator wouldn't move correctly to the outside of your arm.  This really helped with all the swing changes that have been going on.  I've needed to get the club more vertical, and this helped show that as well as got the club in the correct place on the downswing. 

 

Last, but not least, onto the smart ball.  I was actually able to put everything together with a little help from the coaches.  I was hitting some great half to ¾ shots!  I felt like my irons and wedges we doing great!  This was definitely making up for the driver session.

 

Once we got back from lunch, we spent the majority of the time talking through shot shaping and how to do it correctly.  Martin talked about how the club path needed to be slightly greater than the face angle.  For example, to hit a fade, you need to have a slightly more out to in path to the target line, say 4 degrees, and a slightly opened club face, say 2 degrees.  He was doing this all of this while using Trackman data.  He also noted that where the face is pointed, that is where the ball will start.  During this discussion we also went into straight shots.  If the golf club is on a perfect path and the face was perfectly square, you still need a perfectly square strike to have a perfectly straight shot.  I'm sure most of us know that a toe strike will produce a hook and a heel strike a slice.  I just never thought about it that way.

 

As we now started to working on what Martin was talking about I noticed that I'm starting to hit a natural draw now, so those didn't seem to be a problem.  I was able to do some fades, but starting them on the correct line seemed to be a bit of an issue.  The good thing was I was able to do it.  I can work on the starting point as time goes on. 

Before we ended the day with the scramble, we did a quick short game lesson.  Mike led us through the order we should think through shots around the green.  The order we discussed was putting, chipping, pitching, and then the flop shot.  Putting also included putting with a hybrid.  Mike suggested this order because as we move down the line, you are required to make a larger and larger swing.  The longer the swing, the more things can go wrong during the swing.  We were able to practice these concepts a bit, but it was getting late in the day. 

 

As we moved onto the course, this is where things fell apart for me.  My group of 3 was paired with Mike today.  I still didn't feel comfortable over my driver.  I had to back off my tee shots with the driver because I couldn't get comfortable at all.  I felt like I couldn't even hit the first couple iron shots correctly like I've been doing on the range all day. 

 

Looking back, Mike was trying to explain things, but with just a few shots in the scramble to “fix” the issues, there wasn't enough time to go through it all.  I'll be honest in staying that I left the school not in a great mood.  I felt very defeated and very worried about where I'm at given that there is only 1 day left.  I really want to be able to be able to have a functional swing by the end of this.

 

Also, I know that I didn't discuss anything regarding the bunker play, longer pitch shots, and long approach shots.  The coaches changed around schedule a bit to meet the needs of everyone and what they were seeing.  They did say that we will do the bunker shots on Day 3.  There just wasn't enough time today to cover it properly.

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max
3 Wood: Taylormade SIM
3 Utility Iron: Srixon U85
4i – 5i: Taylormade P790
6i – AW: Taylormade P770
SW: Taylormade MG3 TW Grind
LW: Taylormade Hi-Toe 3 Low Bounce
Putter: PXG Battle Ready One & Done

 

 

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Tour Striker Academy Overall Review

 

I want to start off this thanking again MGS and Martin Chuck for this amazing opportunity!  I am extremely honored to have been selected to do this review!  I hope you guys have enjoyed reading this review as much as I have had writing it.

 

To start this overall review, I first want to start with the expectations I had coming into this school.  First off, I wanted to break into group to cover varies aspects of the game.  We definitely did that.  The reason I wanted to be in the smaller groups was to get more attention than I would in a large group.  The group setting allows you to get instruction, but then still have time to process on your own.  If you still aren't getting the concept, the coach will be right back to check on you.  That also covers the 1:1 aspect I was wanting.

 

Each time a coach was 1:1 with us, they would take videos if there were points they wanted to touch on.  Those videos allowed us to see the changes immediately.  It was always interesting watching the videos because you would think the change you're making is huge, but you might be moving something 2 inches.  For example, on the Educator drill, I talked about getting the club more vertical.  To me the club felt as straight up and down as a flag pole.  In reality, it was going perfectly on plane.  Those videos were then uploaded onto a training app that had us use. 

 

I know this has been something people have been very curious about.  The app they had us use is called Edufii.  Martin sent us an email the morning of the first day with the link to sign up for this app.  You went through a quick set up process and then you could download the app onto your phone to log in with the profile you created.  When I opened up the app for the first time, Martin already preloaded a lot of videos from prior schools that he recorded.  As the school went on, each of the coaches would upload videos of when they worked with you, or when they taught a certain skill.  This allowed you to review them once the school was over. 

 

The great thing about the app is once the school is over, the app does not lock down.  It stays open to allow you to upload videos, or ask questions to the coaches.  That is something that I'll be doing in my post school review.  Martin said that it'll stay open as long as the app is around.  This is something I feel is critical to the success of the school.  You might think that you have everything down, say a month after, but if you could be forgetting an aspect that you need to be working on.  The video review allows the coaches to remind you of that, or it could allow them to focus on a completely new issue.  The questions are not limited to just what was covered during the school.  Shockingly, Martin said 90% of people don't take advantage of this feature.

 

The only issue I had with the app thus far, is that it took me awhile to figure out how to save the uploaded videos to my phone or laptop.  I actually asked the app themselves and it was a simple process that I wasn't able to see at the time.  However, it's only downloading the first 20 seconds of the video, so there's still some working to be done on this.  We'll see how easy it is to upload a video, and questions, to down the road.

 

One of the last expectations I had was around my grip.  I was curious how they would treat that even though I thought I was hitting the ball pretty well.  Martin should me on Day 1 that my hands are actually separating a bit in order to deliver the club.  Once I saw that, I knew I had to change, but I liked how they approached the topic.  Martin even told me if I was only going into long drive, that he wouldn't change my grip.  Everything about my grip was about power.  This was causing me to struggle with those touch shots.

 

Overall, I felt like this school was ran extremely well!  If I had the time and money, I would have no issues with going back!  The flow of the school was perfect.  There wasn't a time when we were just standing around, and there weren't a lot of lectures.  The school was very much let's do it.  I extremely appreciate that. 

 

I honestly wish I would have done a school rather than take lessons when I first started golfing.  Please don't take that as I didn't like where I took my lessons because that is 100% not the case.  I absolutely love everything about where I took them!  If you are ever in Indiana, look up Bunker Run Golf in Greenwood.  What I mean is that all of this block practice always you to focus on multiple issues at once.  In a lesson you might work on 1 or 2 things.  You saw in my review how just changing my grip changed at least 2 or 3 different things in my swing.  The way the school is set up, I was able to see all of those before I started developing bad happens that would need to be broken in the next lesson.  Going forward, I might use lessons to work on specialty material, like if I would want to work on my putting.  Things that wouldn't necessarily have a domino affect on the rest of my game.

 

Before you would go into this, or any other school, I think you need to be mentally prepared to be frustrated.  As you read, after Day 2, I wasn't in a good place.  When I talked to the coaches, they didn't seem worried at all.  They knew that anything I was having issues, there would be time to work through it on the 3rd day.  The made sure everyone felt comfortable where they were at by the time they left.  Granted, I don't feel like I could play 18 holes at all right now, but I have the tools necessary to get there with a little bit of work.

 

Also, going into this school you need to be prepared to put in the work.  I don't even want to begin to count the number of balls I hit during those 3 days.  If you don't put in the work though, you won't get any better.  That is what this school is built to do, make you better.  My first round out may not be the lowest round ever, but I definitely feel like I will break 85 very soon.  Next season, I may even break 80.  That's how good I feel about the changes I'm going through.  I'll put some things below of where my swing was (blue shirt) and where it is (red shirt).  Black shirt was day 2.  I'll also through in a Smart Ball swing while we were on the course for fun.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEFzKggReYs

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKoz1wVoie8

 

 

Screenshot_20171213-224901 (2).png  Screenshot_20171213-224932 (2).png

 

Smart Ball

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ-8eynp6Sg

 

Long Drive Swing :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33xEzm3OPcw

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max
3 Wood: Taylormade SIM
3 Utility Iron: Srixon U85
4i – 5i: Taylormade P790
6i – AW: Taylormade P770
SW: Taylormade MG3 TW Grind
LW: Taylormade Hi-Toe 3 Low Bounce
Putter: PXG Battle Ready One & Done

 

 

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Follow-Up Comments

 

It has almost been 2 months since being back from the Tour Striker Academy, and I'm feeling really good about the state of my golf game!  I've been trying to get in practice when I could despite the fact it hasn't been above freezing pretty much this whole time.  The most notable achievement with my new swing is winning the closest to the pin competition at the Indy Golf Expo with a distance of 14 feet from 150 yards out with the clubs they had there.

 

Martin and I have been in contact through the app pretty constant throughout this time period as well.  I really love this interaction after the school.  I'm able to upload swings, ask questions, etc. and Martin will give a few tips, or even upload a video demonstrating what he would like to see.  I wish I had a recent video that would be good to upload, but I've been struggling to record when during my range sessions. 

 

Overall, I would say if you're looking for a school to get lower scores, Martin and the Tour Striker Academy is definitely the way to go!  I can't thank MGS and Martin enough for allowing me to do this review.  The Tour Striker Academy is 100% the real deal and I would highly recommend it to anyone!!

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max
3 Wood: Taylormade SIM
3 Utility Iron: Srixon U85
4i – 5i: Taylormade P790
6i – AW: Taylormade P770
SW: Taylormade MG3 TW Grind
LW: Taylormade Hi-Toe 3 Low Bounce
Putter: PXG Battle Ready One & Done

 

 

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Introduction

I wanted to start off by saying a huge thank you to MGS and Martin Chuck for this amazing opportunity! With this being the first time anyone has reviewed a golf school on here, I figured I'd start out having a few different entries. This one is going to be an introduction of myself and what I was expecting out to of the golf school. Then I was going to break down each day, and how it went. Finally, I was going to make two more entries, one being a wrap up and overall thoughts, and then another one a month or so down the road about my progress and continued communication with Martin and his team.

 

Who am I

I am Mike Wales. I am 28 years old and I've been playing golf for 4 years now. Within those 4 years, I've been able to get to about an 18 handicap with my lowest score being 85. I took about 10 or so formal lessons to get started in the beginning. I started getting into golf about 2 years after college. My coworkers and boss always talked about going out over the weekend to play, and I thought it would be a good networking opportunity. I was also looking find another sport to get into since I couldn't play hockey much anymore. I played hockey for 20+ years until I suffered an injury to my back due to improper lifting in high school. The pain began to get too great to continue to play goalie, forcing my “retirement.”

 

 

The more and more I played golf, the more I have enjoyed it. I've became an 100% golf nerd. I will go out and try to hit any new club line on the market just to see what it's about. I'm currently playing:

 

Driver: Ping G LST Tour 65 X

3 wood: Cleveland Classic XL Stiff

Hybrid: 21* Titleist 815 H1 Fujikura Motore Speeder Tour Spec Stiff Flex

Irons: 5 – P Srixon Z545 Dynamic Gold X100

Wedges:

Approach: Srixon Z565 Dynamic Gold X100

Sand: Ping Glide 2.0 WS

Lob: Ping Glide 2.0 WS

Putter: Ping Oslo

 

Biggest Issues

When Martin submitted the video he wanted to know what our 3 biggest issues before we started the school. All of my issues are around 100 yards and in. I played in a match play tournament 2 months ago and had 11 approach shots from 100 yards or close. Out of those shots, I hit 3 greens in regulation. As you can imagine I lost the match 2&1. Besides approach shots, I wanted to work on chipping and bunker play.

 

Expectations

I've never been to a golf school before, but I had participated in a hockey school. My experience with that school is what I used as a guideline for my expectations going into this school. I was expecting to break out into groups to cover different aspects of the game. Looking at the Tour Striker website, I was able to see that is exactly what we would do and the topics that would be covered. I also have a very strong grip, I was curious how open they were to keeping things the same with it. One of the main things I was looking for was a good flow to the school. I wanted to 1:1 moments with the staff along with time by myself to try to think through what they were teaching us. Lastly, I wanted a lot of training material to take home since I figured I wouldn't be able to retain everything they were teaching in 3 days. Either, that I wanted to be able to look back if I wanted a refresher on a certain topic.
Good luck at the school I know I am looking forward to this review I think it will be fun. I hope you learn a lot and are able to retain a bunch of info.

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using MyGolfSpy mobile app

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Perfect!!  I was thinking about this over the weekend, looking forward to the thread to pop up!  Can't wait to read each day's recap.  

:ping-small: G430 Max 10K 

:titelist-small: TSiR1 15.0 Aldlia Ascent 60g

:titelist-small: TSR2 18.0 PX Aldila Ascent 6og

:titelist-small: TSi1 20 Aldila Ascent Shafts R

:titelist-small: T350 5-GW SteelFiber I80 

:titelist-small: SM10 48F/54M and58K

:ping-small: S159 48S/52S/56W/60B

:scotty-cameron-1: Select 5.5 Flowback 35" 

:titelist-small: ProV1  Play number 12

 

 

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Day 1 Review is up!

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max
3 Wood: Taylormade SIM
3 Utility Iron: Srixon U85
4i – 5i: Taylormade P790
6i – AW: Taylormade P770
SW: Taylormade MG3 TW Grind
LW: Taylormade Hi-Toe 3 Low Bounce
Putter: PXG Battle Ready One & Done

 

 

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Day 1 Review is up!

Great start man! Those tests sound like lots of fun. It's embarrassing to expose weaknesses but it's gotta be done.

 

I have some smart questions and some dumb questions. You be the judge which is which 🤪

 

-How's the food?

-How's the weather?

-How's the hotel?

-How do you like the other students?

-How do you like the teachers?

-Have they checked your clubs for fit?

-Where do you rank on the class age range?

-Where do you rank on the class skill range?

 

 

OK I'm out of ammo and done peppering you.

Have a great day 2!!

 

 

 

 

Sent from carrier pigeon using MyGolfSpy

In my ATumSBM.jpg Pisa, riding on a hXf3ptG.jpg 3.5+

:ping-small: G410+
:755178188_TourEdge: EXS 5W
:cobra-small: King F7 Hy

:ping-small: i500 5-GW
wxW5hk4.jpg Equalizer 56/60
:ping-small: Heppler Ketsch

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Wow. Whaf a day Mike. I had to laugh at the Scramble part picturing a team full of guys with training devices.

 

Great question by Stud, I'll be curious to hear the answers to those as well when you have time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

:ping-small: G430 Max 10K 

:titelist-small: TSiR1 15.0 Aldlia Ascent 60g

:titelist-small: TSR2 18.0 PX Aldila Ascent 6og

:titelist-small: TSi1 20 Aldila Ascent Shafts R

:titelist-small: T350 5-GW SteelFiber I80 

:titelist-small: SM10 48F/54M and58K

:ping-small: S159 48S/52S/56W/60B

:scotty-cameron-1: Select 5.5 Flowback 35" 

:titelist-small: ProV1  Play number 12

 

 

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This has been a great read so far.  It's funny that the things your are correcting first as the same things that I worked to correct over the 2017 season: overly strong grip.  Weakening my grip allowed me to stand more upright too!  Nice to see common themes and I am excited to read the rest

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Nice write up! That Driver distribution pattern is something to be proud of.

Bag: Bennington Quiet Organizer 9-Lite (link)

Cart: :Clicgear: 3.5+

Driver:  :cobra-small:  F9 speedback, Accra iWood

Woods:  Sonartec GS Tour 14*, Fujikura Six S
DI:  :titelist-small:  T-MB 2 iron, KBS Tour-V 120 X,
Irons: :Miura: PP-9003SN 4-GW, Nippon 1150GH Stiff
Wedges: :Miura: 1957 K-grind SW, LW, Nippon 1150GH Stiff
Putter: :odyssey-small: EXO Indianapolis (link)
Ball: :Snell: MTB
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Nice write up. What are the 'non negotiables' of ball striking Martin talked about the first day?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

Left Hand orientation

:taylormade-small:SIM 2 D Max with Fujikura Air Speeder Shaft 

Cobra  Radspeed 3W/RIptide Shaft
:ping-small:  410  Hybrids 22*, 26*

Cobra Speed Zone 6-GP/Recoil ESX 460 F3 Shafts 

:titelist-small: SM7 54* Wedge

:ping-small: Glide 3.0  60* Wedge

:odyssey-small: O Works putter

:ShotScope: V3
:918457628_PrecisionPro:NX9-HD

:CaddyTek: - 4 Wheel 

EZGO TXT 48v cart
:footjoy-small: - too many shoes to list and so many to buy

:1590477705_SunMountain: And  BAG Boy

Golf Balls: Vice Pro Plus 

2020 Official Teste:SuperSpeed: Beginning Driver Speed  - 78

2019 Official Tester :ping-small:  410 Driver

2018 Official Tester :wilson-small: C300

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Good job of your review.  I'm looking forward to comments on your swing changes that you've made.  I did find it frustrating on the first couple of days of my schools that I was hitting poor shots, but my instructor said that is very common; if it doesn't feel good, then you are making the change and to trust it.  I found that by day 3 I was seeing better shots and felt better about the change.

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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Good job of your review.  I'm looking forward to comments on your swing changes that you've made.  I did find it frustrating on the first couple of days of my schools that I was hitting poor shots, but my instructor said that is very common; if it doesn't feel good, then you are making the change and to trust it.  I found that by day 3 I was seeing better shots and felt better about the change.

I once had an instructor tell me, don't thnk of it as "Not feeling right"  think of it as "not feeling normal"  and since you don't want your "normal" shot, this is a good thing...ha  Kinda hard to accept but it makes sense. 

:ping-small: G430 Max 10K 

:titelist-small: TSiR1 15.0 Aldlia Ascent 60g

:titelist-small: TSR2 18.0 PX Aldila Ascent 6og

:titelist-small: TSi1 20 Aldila Ascent Shafts R

:titelist-small: T350 5-GW SteelFiber I80 

:titelist-small: SM10 48F/54M and58K

:ping-small: S159 48S/52S/56W/60B

:scotty-cameron-1: Select 5.5 Flowback 35" 

:titelist-small: ProV1  Play number 12

 

 

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Very much looking forward the the rest of this review.

WITB - New Drive, Irons, and putter for 2019. What could possible go wrong?
 
Driver:   :callaway-small: EPIC 
3wd:  :cobra-small: BIO Cell+ 12.5*
2hb:  :callaway-small: Diablo Tour 18*
4-pw:  :srixon-small: 765
52*:  :cleveland-small: RTX-3
56*: :cleveland-small: RTX-3
60*: :cleveland-small: RTX-3
Putter:  :EVNROLL: ER 1

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Great info, Mike .. thx!

 

Have been intrigued with Martin's Tour Striker schools for a while, but .. reluctant as I'd thought he might be overly technical for me......

 

Can you guesstimate the breakdown of about how much teaching time is...

..launch monitor and video analysis, vs.

..hitting balls outside at targets with coaching?

WITB of an "aspiring"  😉 play-ah ...
Driver...Callaway Paradym (Aldila Ascent PL Blue 40/A)
5W...Callaway Great Big Bertha (MCA Kai'Li Red 50/R)
7W...Tour Edge Exotics EXS (Tensei CK Blue 50/R)

4H...Callaway Epic Super Hybrid (Recoil ZT9 F3)
5H...Callaway Big Bertha ('19) (Recoil 460 ESX F3)
6i-GW...Sub 70 699 V2 (Recoil 660 F3) 
54°, 60°...Cleveland CBX2, CBX 60 (Rotex graphite)
Putter...Ev
nRoll ER5 or MLA Tour XDream (P2 Reflex grip on both)
...all in a Datrek bag on an MGI Zip Navigator electric cart. Ball often, not always, MaxFli Tour.

Forum Member tester for the Paradym X driver (2023)
Forum Member tester for the ExPutt Putting Simulator (2020)

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Day 2 review is up!

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max
3 Wood: Taylormade SIM
3 Utility Iron: Srixon U85
4i – 5i: Taylormade P790
6i – AW: Taylormade P770
SW: Taylormade MG3 TW Grind
LW: Taylormade Hi-Toe 3 Low Bounce
Putter: PXG Battle Ready One & Done

 

 

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Nice write up. What are the 'non negotiables' of ball striking Martin talked about the first day?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

 

That was the discussion the group had while I was in with Martin for the report card review.  I was able to look at the videos later and it was basically the grip that Martin was having me switch too.

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max
3 Wood: Taylormade SIM
3 Utility Iron: Srixon U85
4i – 5i: Taylormade P790
6i – AW: Taylormade P770
SW: Taylormade MG3 TW Grind
LW: Taylormade Hi-Toe 3 Low Bounce
Putter: PXG Battle Ready One & Done

 

 

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Great info, Mike .. thx!

 

Have been intrigued with Martin's Tour Striker schools for a while, but .. reluctant as I'd thought he might be overly technical for me......

 

Can you guesstimate the breakdown of about how much teaching time is...

..launch monitor and video analysis, vs.

..hitting balls outside at targets with coaching?

 

Great question!  I will tell you that there isn't much time at all spent on a launch monitor.  They basically just use that to get baseline numbers and then you won't go back to it.  Granted, it seems that he switches things up based upon the needs of the class, but most, if not all, of the time is spent on the range outside.  While you're on the range the coaches will come by to give feedback based upon what they are seeing at that time.  When they do that, they will take videos of that "mini session" for you to replay later through an app.  (I will do a full review of the app in the overall analysis, but it's a great tool!)  Then the coaches will move down the line to the next person.  This allows you some time to work through whatever comments that just gave.  Does that help?

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max
3 Wood: Taylormade SIM
3 Utility Iron: Srixon U85
4i – 5i: Taylormade P790
6i – AW: Taylormade P770
SW: Taylormade MG3 TW Grind
LW: Taylormade Hi-Toe 3 Low Bounce
Putter: PXG Battle Ready One & Done

 

 

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Great question! I will tell you that there isn't much time at all spent on a launch monitor. They basically just use that to get baseline numbers and then you won't go back to it. Granted, it seems that he switches things up based upon the needs of the class, but most, if not all, of the time is spent on the range outside. While you're on the range the coaches will come by to give feedback based upon what they are seeing at that time. When they do that, they will take videos of that "mini session" for you to replay later through an app. (I will do a full review of the app in the overall analysis, but it's a great tool!) Then the coaches will move down the line to the next person. This allows you some time to work through whatever comments that just gave. Does that help?

Yes! Very helpful and good to know .. thx! Enjoy the rest of your time there - work hard and keep us filled in!

WITB of an "aspiring"  😉 play-ah ...
Driver...Callaway Paradym (Aldila Ascent PL Blue 40/A)
5W...Callaway Great Big Bertha (MCA Kai'Li Red 50/R)
7W...Tour Edge Exotics EXS (Tensei CK Blue 50/R)

4H...Callaway Epic Super Hybrid (Recoil ZT9 F3)
5H...Callaway Big Bertha ('19) (Recoil 460 ESX F3)
6i-GW...Sub 70 699 V2 (Recoil 660 F3) 
54°, 60°...Cleveland CBX2, CBX 60 (Rotex graphite)
Putter...Ev
nRoll ER5 or MLA Tour XDream (P2 Reflex grip on both)
...all in a Datrek bag on an MGI Zip Navigator electric cart. Ball often, not always, MaxFli Tour.

Forum Member tester for the Paradym X driver (2023)
Forum Member tester for the ExPutt Putting Simulator (2020)

followthrough.jpg

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Day 2 review is up!

Man! You're gonna be nice and tired after all this. Keep it up! That golf yoga sounds interesting to me. Do you think you can remember and incorporate it into your warm up routine?

 

 

Sorry to hear you're headed the wrong direction but you've definitely gotta tear things down before you build up. Are most of the other players tearing down as well? Are there anyone making magical improvements?

 

 

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Man! You're gonna be nice and tired after all this. Keep it up! That golf yoga sounds interesting to me. Do you think you can remember and incorporate it into your warm up routine?

 

 

Sorry to hear you're headed the wrong direction but you've definitely gotta tear things down before you build up. Are most of the other players tearing down as well? Are there anyone making magical improvements?

 

 

Sent from carrier pigeon using MyGolfSpy

 

The golf yoga was really interesting!  He actually said that most people take one or two things out of the session that seem to stretch high tension areas.  For me, I most likely won't do it before a round just because I would need to do it at home.  Then I would sit in a car for 20 minutes or so before I get to the course.  I would feel I like I would need to warm back up.  I actually found a good warm up from Jess Shelton of Painless Golf, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzAWIHDoT_8.  I do think the yoga we did would be great after a round as a cool down, but I don't see it being used in a pregame routine.

 

You definitely hit things on the head about tearing things down before you build them up.  As I mentioned in the day 1 review, I'm an 18 handicap, so there is definitely room for improvement.  I need to break some habits in order to see that improvement.  This school is also a good mental test too.  You have to keep telling yourself it's for the greater good.  

 

As far as the rest of students, there were some that had their breakdown during Day 1, but felt better on Day 2.  There were some that followed my path.  I didn't see any miracles happen, but we are all making great strides.

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max
3 Wood: Taylormade SIM
3 Utility Iron: Srixon U85
4i – 5i: Taylormade P790
6i – AW: Taylormade P770
SW: Taylormade MG3 TW Grind
LW: Taylormade Hi-Toe 3 Low Bounce
Putter: PXG Battle Ready One & Done

 

 

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Great job documenting this experience in a relatable manner Mike. MGS definitely sent an exemplary agent into the field for a Tour Striker Academy debrief. Thanks for all the hard work and attention.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

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:nickent-small:________3DX 17* - Matrix Ozik Altus Hybrid SG
:Hogan:______ICON Black 4-PW - KBS Tour V S
:cleveland-small:__________588 RTG 49  RTX 52.10  56.12 - DG S400
BobbyGrace.png.1dc40002fcec0eee8603b71b3e706e89.png______Amazing Grace NYC Tour CS
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"The most important shot in golf is the next one“ - Ben Hogan

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