Position No. 9

  

Your Golf Swing Should Be A Two Wall Swing

     Mental images, the pictures you draw in your mind, let your muscles know what needs to be done when you make a golf swing. In this way, what you see on your mental screen helps you to understand what you’re trying to do. An image that I often use involves the following:  Picture a horse and rider moving away from a wall with one end of a 60 foot coil of rope tied to the saddle and the other end anchored securely to the wall. The horse gains speed and the rope rapidly uncoils until, in a bone jarring tug, the rope goes taught and the horse stops dead in its tracks. As you can imagine, the rider is flung [released] from the saddle, continuing alone in the direction that he and his horse were traveling only a fraction of a second before.

     Now reverse the situation so that our horse and rider are approaching a six foot wall at full gallop and just as they get to the wall, the horse stops dead. Once again our helpless rider continues on alone as he's thrown over the wall.

     In the first image the wall represents your right leg, in the second the wall is your left leg. The rider is your clubhead and his separation from the horse causes the release of your clubhead through the hitting zone. Model a player like Dustin Johnson

 

Johnson’s legs are in perfect opposition; the right resists the left and vice versa. You could fit a       small pony between them

     

     At first exaggerate the move by taking some swings where it feels like your right heel stays on the ground until it’s pulled off by your body turning up and into your follow-through. Feel as if, for a fraction of a second, you’re sitting on your right knee to start the downswing.  But there are two things to watch out for:  Take care to keep both knees flexed and make sure you transfer your weight to your left hip. What you want is to let your weight empty into your left hip joint while keeping your right heel down

        This is the result of a correct two wall swing i.e. the butt of the club points at the middle of her pelvis and both arms are straight with the toe of the club pointing skyward. She’s run her right side over a resisting left side.

Position #8

Position: Both Arms Straight

 There is only one time in the golf swing where both arms are straight and that occurs just after impact when the shaft is parallel to the target line. As you pose in the mirror this is what you should see: The right shoulder is under the chin, the spine reaches its maximum tilt away from the target and the left shoulder is even with the left ear. Almost all the weight is on the front leg with your head rotated so you look over the ball as it leaves.  The back heel is off the ground and beginning to turn up onto the toe, but is still on its inner rim.

 

Sans excess rotation of his forearms, Lee Westwood has the toe toward the sky 

Nick Watney demonstrates full extension of arms caused by momentum [MO] and non-manipulation. He’s not trying to ‘do anything’ during impact so MO will be his friend.

The guiding theme here is to allow momentum to straighten both arms; by doing so you minimize the destructive force of manipulation. This position is instructive even though the ball is gone because it testifies to either excellence or malfeasance at impact – get the swing right here and excellence reverberates back through impact.

Studies show that the average rate of rotation of a PGA Tour players lead forearm/wrist at impact is 2000 degrees/second a rate that allows the toe of the club to point toward the sky when both arms are straight. [see photo] This position is a signal that the correct amount of forearm rotation has occurred -- if the toe of the club points other than this something is wrong.

Position #7

IMPACT

There are two swing centers, the upper, about half way down the sternum - the lower in the middle of the pelvis, just behind the navel.  At the top of the swing the two swing centers are stacked, one on top of the other at impact.  At impact the lower swing center has fired out from under the upper.  Keeping the upper swing center on top of the ball while the lower moves out from under is called “covering the ball”.  If the upper swing center is allowed to stack with the lower thru impact, the error is called a “slide”. 

The shoulders are closed to the hips with the lead arm fully extended and the trail elbow slightly bent.  The left wrist is in line with the forearm and slightly bowed towards the target, the right wrist is partially cupped. At impact the lead hip is higher than your trail hip and your pelvis faces just to the right of the target

Through impact the spine undergoes a rebound effect away from the target and as the pelvis releases its angle towards the target; the firing of this pelvic pistol occurs when the tailbone moves up and under the spine.

From this view you can see the weight distribution; predominately on the left foot while the rear foot is on its inside rim allowing the full release of his right thigh bone. Make sure to pose in this position using the mirror until you get it right.

 

PGA Tour star Johnny Vegas demonstrates perfect impact with his lead arm and shaft straight and the back of his lead hand pointing at the target—basically the hands “are” the clubface [see arrows]. Note how his right elbow points at his right hip so that his clubface remains square to the target line. Some of the shaft bend is camera artifact but not all of it – at these speeds the shaft actually flexes toward the target due to the transfer of energy through impact

Number 6

Position 6:

 This is the sixth in a series of key swing positions that allow you to match your swing to a pro swing model to see how it stacks up. The model assumes a right handed golfer who is hitting a straight shot.

The sequence that controls the transference of power is at the halfway point when the lead arm is parallel with the ground. Here the pelvis reaches its maximum rotational velocity by passing its energy to the thorax, then as the thorax (shoulders) picks up the core’s energy; the thorax reaches its own maximum velocity and in turn passes the energy along to the lead arm as shown below. In world class golfers, at the beginning of the downswing the pelvis tips forward toward the ground as the golfer “squats down” and arches the back slightly. This leg posture reminds of horseback riding without the horse.

When you are in a good position in # 6 [lead arm parallel] it is very difficult to screw up impact, so pose in the mirror until you have #6 perfect. Note that Matteson is on the inside rim of his right foot with the heel off the ground indicating that most of his weight has been shifted to his left foot. Both knees are flexed and the clubshaft is below his back shoulder and pointing at the target line, an indication that his swing is on the plane angle it’s supposed to be. 

 

Our model has his pelvis cocked and ready to fire toward the target. His weight is left and his left knee is over the ball of his foot. At impact his left leg will snap straight as will his pelvis-- and that spells power.

Position Number 5

  

The Transition Zone  

The transition occurs at the top of your swing when the club changes directions – where it was moving away from the ball it now stops and begins to arc back toward the ball. It is here that golf’s smallest but most important movement takes place, i.e. the hip switch where pressure is transferred from the back hip to the front hip without actually rotating the hips – basically you simply step to the front leg. If there is one move that distinguishes a good player from a bad one it is this change of pressure applied to the front hip without any premature hip turn.

 2:1

Your goal here is to increase body coil by a lateral bump or shuttle of the hips. Studies of the transition show that to create coil you should rotate your shoulders twice as much as your hips, a ratio known as the X Factor. However the most powerful hitters take advantage of a technique that ratchets up their power factor even more called the Stretch Factor.

The Stretch Factor

Most low handicaps start the bump as the clubhead reaches the end of the backswing arc, but to take advantage of the Stretch Factor like the pros do, you must start your hips moving before you complete your backswing i.e. while the club is still moving up on the backswing arc. It’s just physics not magic but you will think its magic when you see how far the ball goes using the Stretch Factor. It’s the technique used by those tiny bombers on the LPGA Tour – there is one, 4’ 11” (although she claims to be 5’1”) Japanese player, Ai Miyazato that hits it 260 using a driver that looks bigger than she is – such is the power of the stretch factor.

Power is one half of the game [the other is direction] and the transition zone is where the sequencing of power begins. Here is the key concept that escapes the less fortunate observer over-blessed with common sense. You would think that hitting a ball hard is simply a matter of speeding up the club by speeding up your body, but that is only half the story– and you can’t play good golf with only half a story. Not only do you speed up your hips but then they slow down to pass the power on to the shoulders which speed up then slow and so on until at impact the power is dumped into the ball. But we are getting too far ahead of ourselves by talking about impact, a topic that will be reviewed subsequently.  

                                        The X Factor: twice as much shoulder coil as hip coil

                    The Stretch Factor: the coil is now more than 2:1 by virtue of the hip bump.

   

 

 

Position 4 in the series

Swing Position 4: The Top

This is the fourth of a series of key swing positions that allow you to match your swing to the swing model to see how it stacks up. The model assumes a right handed golfer who is hitting a straight shot.

Swing to the top of your swing and pose in the mirror – this is what you should see: Your head in the center of the shoulders with the left shoulder under the chin and the right shoulder behind the neck. Check to make sure your left arm is across the shoulder line with hands extended away from the head.  The face of the club is square to the back of the left hand which is square to the left forearm.  The shoulders have coiled twice as much as the hips with the right knee flexed and the left knee turned in pointing toward the ball – both knees are level.  The guiding thought here is coil with the goal of a 2 to 1 ratio, 90 degrees with the shoulders/ 45 degrees with the hips creating a ratio called the X FACTOR.

The club shaft with the longer club such as the driver is parallel with the heel line whereas with the shorter irons do not reach parallel. At the top your lead hip is lower than your trail hip and your spine is tilted a bit toward the target with the weight favoring the rear foot.

 

The role of the back swing is to put the angles of power in place while also keeping the clubface square to the swing arc. Coil results from spine rotation primarily in the middle of your back in an area called the thoracic spine. If you are to improve your coil it will come by maximizing your flexibility in this region. Here is a drill to help you maximize your # 4 position.

Drill: Take your address position using a driver then put the club behind you so it lies across your shoulders [see photo.]  Then coil around your spine until your front shoulder is under your chin and your back shoulder is behind your head. This is a full “two-shoulder turn” initiated and controlled by the thoracic spine.

Be careful not to put pressure on the shaft or it might snap. You can use a broom in place of the club to protect the shaft if you need to. As always check with your Doctor before you do this.

Position 3 - Key Swing Positions

 

This is the third of a series of key swing positions that allow you to match your own swing to the swing model to see how it stacks up. The model assumes a right handed golfer who is hitting a straight shot.

Position 3:

When your lead arm is parallel with the ground and across the middle of your chest you have reached the number three position just after the takeaway has been completed.

 In position 3 your head has swiveled slightly, but still remains in the center of the shoulders.  The Shoulders have rotated and tilted a bit as a result of the tug of your lead arm.  The lead arm itself is straight and parallel with your heel line while the trail elbow has folded into a 90 degree angle.  Your left wrist is flat [in line with your forearm] and cocked at a 90 degree angle. 

In number three you must accomplish three important mechanics: [1] for the right-handed golfer the wrists are fully cocked with the left wrist cocking and the right wrist hinging [left side leverage]. [2] With the fold of the trail elbow, the right side leverage is in place. [3] The club is on the correct swing plane as evidenced when the shaft points at the target line 

The controlling thought in position 3 is to correctly set the wrists so that the club remains on plane. [see photo] The wrists set the club up while the body rotates the club into the depth dimension. 

Concept expansion:  “Swing plane” is a general term used to describe the overall tilt of the arc of your swing. The plane changes with the club -- nine irons are swung on a more vertical arc and drivers on the flattest arc.

 

With all that’s happening you can see the importance of position three so take some time to work on this position in the mirror until you match the model without thinking about it – then you’re ready for Position 4.