"Four Magic Moves" package Review

[warbirdlover]

Last fall (after a bad summer golfing) I bought this package to try and get my distance back. As with any golf lesson package there are some good points and some idiotic points and I'll pass on what I've found. Basically I started out with a shorter backswing with early release that I've arrived at over many years that gives me excellent, consistent face contact and results over the years. Last summer I lost distance and was looking for a way to get it back.

I tried to do everything as suggested in this package but if you do you'll be sorry. I have only been to the range a few times with this but enough to form some strong opinions.

The grip suggested in this package is the "Hogan" grip but they promote a tight grip. I found this to be WRONG. As everyone in here knows, you need a light grip pressure.

The second "strange" thing they suggest is immediately ****ing your wrist before the backswing. The backswing (and downswing) is to be controlled only by the shoulder turn. The shoulder turn part makes sense. The immediate wrist **** did not. I lost consistency on face contact with the immediate wrist **** and threw that in the garbage.

The last part (of worth) in this package promotes a late release and THIS is where it helped. In fact they suggest not even conciously releasing the wrists on the downswing. Well, it works most of the time but you look kind of silly when the club doesn't release and the head sails a foot over the ball on the downswing. I went to releasing the club but later in the downswing.

Conclusion: The only part of this package worthwhile is teaching you to not swing with your arms but with a shoulder turn and not releasing the club until the hands are past the ball. It gave me a much later release and more club head speed so it was useful in some regards. But it's NOT going to lower your handicap 5 strokes or more like they claim.

The price of this package ($30?) is so low that it was worth it to gain some lag. You just need to know what a proper swing looks like, know your own swing and know what works and doesn't work for you and then can get something out of it.

[eclark53520]

wow, thanks for paying 30 to tell me stuff i alredy knew!

Good review WBL...i appreciate it.

[MGP]

A pretty fair review, I'd say.

I too bought the package. Since I have a swing speed radar I took some baseline readings of my driver swing speed. It was as pathetic as I thought, about 87-90 mph on average.

I read through the different sections and the one thing i knew I had to improve was my release. I knew if I could get back to having some significant lag and a much later relase I'd improve my swing speed -- I just didn't know how much.

I too mostly ignored the grip related section other than making sure my grip wasn't too weak. Also double checked my alignment and adjusted it a bit. I've always thought grip pressure was a personal thing -- I've seen people that grip the club with a vise-like deathgrip and still be able to release late and through the ball at impact. I've also seen people who hit the ball well that have such a light grip you expect the club to go sailing out of their hands on every swing. I'm in the middle somewhere.

Well to make a long story short, after working on my wrist **** and release I've now added a solid 7-8 mph to my swing speed. That's shown up on the course as an additional 15-20 yds. on my drives when well struck. For me that's a significant improvement and takes me out of the "weak hitter" range.

All in all I think the Four Magic moves package is OK, not great. It is a nice short reminder about the basic swing functions though and that helped me get my swing back on track.

There were also several other little "bonuses" tossed in the package, shorter little tips and techniques type things. A few of them were OK as well.

So I guess I would agree with WBL, not great and not terrible. Probably worth the $30 (I think I actually paid $27) but not much more.

[BrandonM7]

I'll toss my hat in on this I suppose.

I bought this package last December, actually after seeing WBL post that he was reading it at the time. I more or less breezed through it at the time, didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to it. After that I bought the Ben Hogan book, and read it intently. I did my best to put the Hogan fundamentals into play, and boy did it work. I went through it step by step, doing everything suggested. It paid off to a huge degree. I played a few extraordinary rounds this spring, and was really feeling like a hero every time I went to the range or the course.

But in the past week or so, it all fell apart - the nature of this stupid game we play I suppose, at least until you're an advanced player that swings the club as easily as blinking an eye. I've been practicing like crazy, trying to figure out what has changed so drastically -- I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I shot a 42 on 9 less than 2 weeks ago, and now I was hitting the dirt, skulling, and slicing like mad. It was like I had gone back to the first day I ever tried to play this game. I couldn't come up with it, which blew me away.

So today at work while bored (I work at a college, and everyone but staff is on Spring Break -- so I've been pulling my hair out trying to find something to do) I happened across my 4 Magic Moves files and decided to read it again, but actually pay attention this time. It worked absolute wonders.

It wasn't in any way a revolutionary change, but it brought a much greater understanding to a key area that Hogan didn't really address. Conservation of Angular Momentum. Many people may have read other things about that, and if so this probably wouldn't help. It did help me - it reminded me of exactly what I had lost in the past couple of weeks. Hogan says to swing back with the hands, arms, and shoulders (letting the hips naturally follow,) then swing down in the opposite order - hips pulling shoulders pulling arms pulling hands. That's exactly what the 4 Magic Moves advocates, although they say to shift the hips instead of spinning them. Thinking about it both ways and feeling it both ways, you can quickly find a happy medium. What the 4 Magic Moves book tells you is WHY you can swing from the bottom up, rather than just telling you to do it like Hogan does. They really work great together, because they're telling you to do the same thing, just in different words. I still put more weight on Hogans words, but the complement of this package explains why some of it works.

So I guess I give it a mid level review like the previous posters. When combined with the Hogan book, the result is outstanding. They both tell you to do almost the same thing, but you have to read both to have an explanation of why all parts work like they do. Hogan tells you to swing down starting with the hips, letting everything naturally follow as it must (with thought on supinating the left wrist.) 4Magic tells you to swing down with the hips, with absolutely no thought on what happens afterward, other than maintaing the wrist angles set at the beginning (which is a supinated left wrist.) 4Magic tells you why you can do it, Hogan just tells you to do it. Aside from that (which is basically the "lag" part the previous posters already mentioned,) it's just another book. To me it's well worth $30, though.

[mont86]

I have heard teachers talk about early wrist ****, but also heard it more for shorter shots because it promotes steeper swing angle. I have tries it and had no success.

My biggest enemy is my fast backswing, slowed my tempo down.

[Eracer]

Originally Posted by BrandonM7

I'll toss my hat in on this I suppose.

I bought this package last December, actually after seeing WBL post that he was reading it at the time. I more or less breezed through it at the time, didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to it. After that I bought the Ben Hogan book, and read it intently. I did my best to put the Hogan fundamentals into play, and boy did it work. I went through it step by step, doing everything suggested. It paid off to a huge degree. I played a few extraordinary rounds this spring, and was really feeling like a hero every time I went to the range or the course.

But in the past week or so, it all fell apart - the nature of this stupid game we play I suppose, at least until you're an advanced player that swings the club as easily as blinking an eye. I've been practicing like crazy, trying to figure out what has changed so drastically -- I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I shot a 42 on 9 less than 2 weeks ago, and now I was hitting the dirt, skulling, and slicing like mad. It was like I had gone back to the first day I ever tried to play this game. I couldn't come up with it, which blew me away.

So today at work while bored (I work at a college, and everyone but staff is on Spring Break -- so I've been pulling my hair out trying to find something to do) I happened across my 4 Magic Moves files and decided to read it again, but actually pay attention this time. It worked absolute wonders.

It wasn't in any way a revolutionary change, but it brought a much greater understanding to a key area that Hogan didn't really address. Conservation of Angular Momentum. Many people may have read other things about that, and if so this probably wouldn't help. It did help me - it reminded me of exactly what I had lost in the past couple of weeks. Hogan says to swing back with the hands, arms, and shoulders (letting the hips naturally follow,) then swing down in the opposite order - hips pulling shoulders pulling arms pulling hands. That's exactly what the 4 Magic Moves advocates, although they say to shift the hips instead of spinning them. Thinking about it both ways and feeling it both ways, you can quickly find a happy medium. What the 4 Magic Moves book tells you is WHY you can swing from the bottom up, rather than just telling you to do it like Hogan does. They really work great together, because they're telling you to do the same thing, just in different words. I still put more weight on Hogans words, but the complement of this package explains why some of it works.

So I guess I give it a mid level review like the previous posters. When combined with the Hogan book, the result is outstanding. They both tell you to do almost the same thing, but you have to read both to have an explanation of why all parts work like they do. Hogan tells you to swing down starting with the hips, letting everything naturally follow as it must (with thought on supinating the left wrist.) 4Magic tells you to swing down with the hips, with absolutely no thought on what happens afterward, other than maintaing the wrist angles set at the beginning (which is a supinated left wrist.) 4Magic tells you why you can do it, Hogan just tells you to do it. Aside from that (which is basically the "lag" part the previous posters already mentioned,) it's just another book. To me it's well worth $30, though.

Well-written post. Thanks.

[warbirdlover]

I have to add an update to this. After working on this all winter and battling it on the course it is FINALLY starting to feel comfortable and "TAKE". And it has DEFINITELY improved my game.

The only parts of it I don't agree with are the tighter recommended grip pressure and I have to use a weaker right hand but otherwise it seems dead on. I don't start my downswing with a push off the right foot. I don't like to seperate the lower and upper body movements. I also originally didn't agree with starting an early wrist **** but now I do.

I've been overswinging all summer until recently and that was the main problem. Relax, swing easy (not slow) per these instructions and all is well...

[BrandonM7]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

I have to add an update to this. After working on this all winter and battling it on the course it is FINALLY starting to feel comfortable and "TAKE". And it has DEFINITELY improved my game.

The only parts of it I don't agree with are the tighter recommended grip pressure and I have to use a weaker right hand but otherwise it seems dead on. I don't start my downswing with a push off the right foot. I don't like to seperate the lower and upper body movements. I also originally didn't agree with starting an early wrist **** but now I do.

I've been overswinging all summer until recently and that was the main problem. Relax, swing easy (not slow) per these instructions and all is well...

Cool. I still use the wrist hinge timing and idea, and the ideology of trying to maintain it (rather than thinking about releasing my wrists, I think about not releasing them so the momentum does it much later in the swing,) but I just couldn't get along with all that body movement. I could do it and made some pretty good shots, but I just couldn't get the consistency I wanted. It seemed to promote a hugely inside-out swing for me, so it required too much timing and setup perfection to hit the ball off the center. I instead chose to go back to a more rotational movement which produces perfectly straight and beautiful swishes across the grass in my practice swing, and a nicely skulled off the toe impact when a ball is in front of me.

[cwo2lt]

Originally Posted by BrandonM7

I instead chose to go back to a more rotational movement which produces perfectly straight and beautiful swishes across the grass in my practice swing, and a nicely skulled off the toe impact when a ball is in front of me.

[LyleG]

I would like to get of these bastards e-mailing list.

[Burg]

Originally Posted by LyleG

I would like to get of these bastards e-mailing list.

Its unpossible.

At least you only get 4 emails a day. Otherwise it would be annoying.

[MGP]

Originally Posted by LyleG

I would like to get of these bastards e-mailing list.

Originally Posted by Burg

Its unpossible.

At least you only get 4 emails a day. Otherwise it would be annoying.

Hehehe... I actually bought the "Four Magic Moves" package and they don't email me at all anymore. I may have told them to stop emailing me, but I don't recall doing that. They never sent more than about an email a week in the past so it was never a big deal to me.

[warbirdlover]

Yeah, but the e-mails are stuff that's supposed to help you, not sell you anything more. They're part of the "package". I read the ones that sound okay and toss the others.

[raven34]

Originally Posted by Burg

Its unpossible.

At least you only get 4 emails a day. Otherwise it would be annoying.

LOL!! At the very bottom of the e-mails there should be an "unsubscribe" option.

If I can just comment on the "wrist ****" action.
This is something I teach students to try and get them to stop swinging with the arms. The hardest part is to get someone to actually JUST **** the wrists before moving any other muscle. Everybody seems to battle with this until shown.
The idea is that once ****ed the angle that you would normally reach at the top of the backswing is already set. All the player then has to do is turn his shoulders and hips (never the arms or wrist again) until he is at the top of his swing. Now start the down swing and the wrists should release automatically and late!
It actually works very well but it is important that you **** only the wrists before commencing the swing.
I would also only advocate it as a training drill.

[warbirdlover]

I am using that wrist **** as part of my normal swing but start the backswing and wrist**** at the same time. I can't **** it and then keep the backswing on line consistently so this seems to help. It's keeping me straight and I'm not using an arm swing anymore.