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.

POSITION 2- Takeaway

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

The takeaway begins the swing and it ends its short journey with three outstanding characteristics.  1) The hands and the clubhead are the same height. 2) The shaft is parallel to the target line, 3) The face of the club is square to the arc of the swing.

Note that the face is still square to the arc of the swing even though it’s open [pointing to the right] of the target line

The Head: It remains in the middle of the shoulders which are closed and tilted slightly towards the ground.

The lead arm is straight and the trail arm has folded just a bit.  The right forearm is higher and on top of the left. The weight distribution has changed with more weight now flowing into the right hip. The spine retains its position as the hips begin their rotation.  At this point the left wrist is flat and in line with the front forearm while the trail wrist has increased its cup. The left knee has turned in a fraction and it should feel as if your weight is on the inside rims of your feet.

 

Tour pro Robert Allenby demonstrates the end of a perfect takeaway as his front arm swings to a 45-degree angle with the ground. Stop your swing at this point and check in a mirror to make sure you have accomplished the three keys mentioned above both from the target line view and the face- on view as shown in the photos. And don’t forget to center to head ala Allenby.

A Key Concept: Slack Breeds Slap 

At no time should there be any slack in your takeaway because slack breeds slap, i.e., looseness in the backswing causes a weak slapping action through impact due to a lack of coil. By swinging the lead arm to create maximum stretch, you keep tension on the muscles constant, which leads to a powerful release of this tension at impact. Also, the more stretch you create, the wider your swing arc will be which means more clubhead speed and power.

Now you don't consciously prevent your chest from moving, but you condition it to wait for the lead arm tug, a signal that comes as soon as you "run out of lead arm".  The proper sequence of motion keeps stretch on the muscles of the lead side of your body, especially your triceps. This is the beginning of coil and to maximize it keep your shirt buttons even with the ball until the pull of your lead arm becomes irresistible.

How does your swing match up?

11 Positions of a Model Swing: Position 1

This is the first of a series of key swing positions that allow you to match your own swing to the model to see how it stacks up. The model assumes a right handed golfer who is hitting a straight shot. Deviations are either [1] destructive and require immediate attention [2] minor and can be deferred or [3] idiosyncrasies that can be well tolerated.

POSITION 1: ADDRESS

In the model your head is in the middle of your shoulders with the chin up off the chest so your eyes peek at the ball. The eye-line is parallel to the target line.

Arrange your shoulders square to the target line: for the irons, the front shoulder and back are almost level and the foot pressure is 50/50; with the driver, the back shoulder is lower with a 70/30 distribution. It appears as if the golfer is attempting to touch shoulder blades. The spine has a neutral attitude.

 With the irons the arms and hands hang directly under the shoulders with the driver the hands are under the chin. The distance from the ball is a ‘fist and a thumb’ with irons and a little more with the driver.

The hips with the irons are square [slight open] and level [or slight right tilt].  With the driver the lead hip is a bit higher. The spine also has a slight bias to the right with the driver.  That bias disappears with the irons.

The knees are parallel to the target line and slightly flexed, about the same amount as when taking a step. The feet are flared the same amount between 10 to 20 degrees.  The weight is distributed from the ball of the foot back thru the heel with the major pressure along the arch.  The feet are parallel to the target line as determined by the heels, not the toes.

Aim and Alignment:  Face is aimed directly down the target line; the body is aligned parallel to the target line and perpendicular to the clubface line.  Ball position: It migrates depending on the club; in general with the irons it’s located off the front cheek of the face; with the fairway woods it is off the logo; with the driver off the front heel.

          The spine at address is tilted from vertical approximately 15 to 30  
        degrees toward the ball while the pelvis is tilted forward at address
       about 20 degrees. When standing normally the pelvis in usually tilted
       forward about 12 to 14 degrees; so an additional 8 to 10 degrees is
       added in golf posture.

How to Trouble Shoot Your Swing

To maximize your potential as a golfer you need to do three things: [1] figure out what you do best and preserve it, [2] know what you do poorly and get rid of it and [3] you must know what to ignore. This is important because there are so many things going on in a golf swing it’s easy to get side tracked.

In order to trouble shoot your swing you must set aside some time then with the help of your instructor and a video camera, progressively scan the 11 swing positions: 1] address, 2] take away – lead arm 45°, [3] lead arm parallel,[4] top of the swing, 5] the transition, 6] lead arm parallel returning, 7] lead arm 45°, 8] impact, 9] both arms straight, 10] the pre-finish and 11] the finish.

Please remember that this is a general model and that because of variations between body types, there are variations among swing types, for e.g. to facilitate a better swing plane a player with a big chest bends over more at address than someone with a thin chest.  Also there is much deviation from this model depending on the desired ball flight, i.e. a player who is drawing the ball will set up and swing differently than a player who is fading the ball. But for the serious student interested in systematically analyzing his or her golf swing, the 11 positions is a viable way of checking how well you are doing at each position.

The Bane of Consistency

 

 As you will see as our weakly series unfolds, it is possible to have error in any particular swing even though there may not be error in the ball flight. This occurs when the compensating errors that infect your swing, match up and all is well for a while.  Unfortunately swings that feature balancing errors are untrustworthy. This is why golfers periodically lose their swing – compensating errors are the bane of consistency. Here is an example: at the start of the downswing [position 5] you spin your shoulders too early and the club is pushed out toward the ball in an error called over-the-top, the result of which is a cut-across swing that creates a pulled shot. To stop the pull you hold the face open by jutting out your front elbow in position 9 [the chicken wing].  One error compensates for the other – and it works but since it’s so hard to time, it only works sometimes.

 

Thus there is a difference between a matchup that makes the swing stronger and a compensation that weakens it. The failure rate of compensations is why I say that ‘the best golf swings require the least timing’ and that the swings with the most compensations, require the most timing.  Thus to max your performance it’s best to purge your golf swing of its error in order to assure that it will hold up under pressure -- and as we will see, this requires a competent analysis.

 

Do you hit it fat?

Fat is NOT Where It’s At

Why doesn’t Tiger hit it fat when he drops down toward the ball at impact as is his habit – or perhaps of more importance – why do you hit it fat? The answer is most golfers hit it fat when their lead shoulder fails to do its job.

At address you establish the radius of your golf swing, the distance from the tip of your lead shoulder to the bottom of the clubface – let’s say its 60 inches. The rule is that at impact, no matter what else is different, you must return the radius to 60 inches. If you operate your shoulders correctly so they rotate at an angle to the ground, the back shoulder will be down at impact but the lead shoulder will be up. Since the lead shoulder controls the radius it must be high in order for your club to arrive with its radius restored to 60. Because you lower your back shoulder during the downswing you must raise your front shoulder by impact to prevent the club from becoming “too long’ and digging into the ground behind the ball, AKA a fat shot.

    

Cap: During the backswing Tigers left shoulder turns down under his chin while his right shoulder travels up to finish behind his ear. During the downswing the shoulders will reverse themselves i.e. the right goes down while the left raises up.

 

Cap: With Annika looking on Tiger demonstrates ‘lead shoulder high.” His spine may have dropped down but his radius stays the same because his left shoulder rotates not only up but behind him.

No Respect!!

How about a Hot Dog with Your Fry’s

During the last round at the Fry’s a man rushed from the crowd, shouted something in what sounded like Latin, fired a hot dog at Tiger Woods then fell to the ground and surrendered.  The hot dog was concealed in a bun which flew off during the attack.  The police would not say if the perpetrator acted alone but Frank, a source close to the investigation who uses only one name as do many people in California, said that security had confiscated dangerous fruits a day earlier from several men before they entered the tournament grounds – among them were two large radishes and a Coco de Mer (Lodoicea maldivica).

Tiger remained calm and missed his 18 footer for a birdie.

The question is ‘was a crime committed?” A California state legislature said there was a law already on the books against hitting someone with a dangerous fruit but there was no law covering an attack with processed meat. The legislature plans a referendum that would cover all food no matter what its country of origin.