I have paid attention to the relation of natural position of the wrists and the position and function of clavicles. Long story short - it is important for stability and ergonomy of the motion of the upper part of the main body (torso) to keep the clavicle bones in neutral position as long as possible, or, at least, to start the motion with it. What is important, clavicles not only transmit physical impacts caused by the arms motion but also ensures a maximum possible range of motions for arms - provided they are in a neutal position. It is a very important thing, IMHO, for bringing automatism in putting strokes - I'll get to it later on.
Going back for a natural position of the wrists, we shall find that neither "anatomical position" (palms are directed forward) nor "gorilla position" (palms are directed backwards) is natural for the wrists. When we stand freely and let our arms hang freely too, we can observe that the plane of the palms (both of them) are angled inward at ca. 45 degrees. And this is how the hands should be placed on the grip in order to maintain the neutral position of clavicle bones. As I said in my posts dedicated to the grip in this thread - both palms are angled to each other 90 degrees letting to align naturally the lead wrist cocking (radial deviation) with the rear wrist hinging (dorsi flexion).
For the moment, I find the "biokinetical grip" as extremely superior to the classic grip for the following very important reasons:
- creating optimal conditions for the automatic takeaway directly;
- creating optimal conditions for creating "lag" directly;
- creating optimal conditions for the trigger finger pressure point to act directly;
- creating optimal conditions for the short lead thumb to appear automatically directly;
- creating optimal conditions for minimizing any hands motion in a pivot-guided swing indirectly;
- creating optimal conditions for letting the early elbow plane in the downswing phase indirectly.
Last, but not least, I personally find it very interesting that the "biokinetical grip" may be used without NO SINGLE CHANGE for holding a putter, allowing the rotation of the neutral clavicle bones plane to lead the putting stroke. It is amazing how easier is to putt on a true arc taking the impact of the hands out and, simultaneously, how easy is to apply a correct force for the stroke. Besides, I cannot imagine anyting better than to have one and the same grip for all clubs, putter included.
Why the Biokinetic Grip is so helpful while:
a. the hands are not working paralelly to each other;
b. the lead hand is not parallel to the clubface.
My answer is very simple. Because the so-called "classic" golf swing theories never truly concentrated on biomechanics and because golfers blindly believe in "imperatives". I say there are no imperatives until they are verified through all possible methods and sciences. The answers are:
a. the so-called "parallel V's" theory is biomechanically not optimal for the reasons I've just described. To remind them:
- wrists cannot achieve its maximal potential in creating lag;
- wrists work paralelly to each other accentuating the primary motion (hinging-unhinging) that is hard, or even impossible, to control.
The importance of lag does not need to be underlined. But should not we ask yourselves why is that so many golfers flip when trying to hit the ball ? The answer is - because they want to hit the ball the farthest (it's the role of the subconscious mind) and because the CP/CF forces in a rotary movement + gravity help in releasing the clubface...and - because the wrist are set the way that unhinging is almost a must in such a scenario.
OTOH, the BG creates a scenario when one (lead) wrist cocks/uncocks while the other (rear) hinges unhinges; no matter if all other factors (CP/CF, gravity, rotary motion) exist, the possibility of losing the rear wrist hinge lag is much more limited, because the lead wrist motion is of secondary biomechanical importance and one won't be able to flip the RH wrist so much. Simply, the lead hand will be tending to deviate ulnarly (downcocking) and will create a natural limitation for a more powerful palmar flexion (unhinging) action of the rear wrist.
b. why the lead wrist should be parallel to the clubface ? to control its movement in so fast an action ? sorry, I don't buy it. Moreover, think what position should have the lead wrist in a correct rotary swing when both hips and upper body are open at impact in relation to the target line. Should the lead wrist be square to the target line or is it the clubface that needs to be square ? If the lead shoulder is open at impact - the LH palm should not be square to the body motion, what means it must be also open in relation to it (say, "delayed"). It is the clubface that should be square (OK, very slightly open at contact with the ball, ideally), therefore, the LH grip must not be parallel to it but in a stronger position on the grip.
Lastly, the question of offsetting the wrist/hands motion. We must remember that wrists are very mobile joints. They consists of many small bones that are practically impossible to control in a very rapid action. Therefore, it would be silly, IMO, to let them be influenced by so powerful forces as CP/CF or gravity - we should concentrate on finding obstacles that help in reducing such an influence. The Biokinetical Grip is one important obstacle to consider.
Here is the video about the Bio-K Grip with Mr.Hogan as the protagonist:
We shall present how to build correctly the Bio-K Grip in the part 2.
