tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90796248801626239602024-03-13T20:06:06.865+01:00Biokinetic Golf Swing TheoryMy theory is based on searching for the automatic golf swing motion in that all depends on a human body limitations rather than possibilities. Let me explain shortly why - in order to make a movement automatic there must not be any free capability left in a specific motion, otherwise timing issues come along.
Less timing issues = less small thoughts and concepts = more coordinated motion = more repeatability and consistency - this is the motto of the Biokinetic Golf Swing Theory.Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-4950990926704133122024-01-10T18:33:00.095+01:002024-03-13T20:05:03.452+01:00My Golf Resurrection. Controlled Draw Pattern and the Practice Swing enhancement for the OTT from Inside Approach.<p> It has been just more than a year since my beautiful light went out. Months of the 2023 year were passing like weeks, weeks like days, so fast it is all happening, like I wanted my end here to become as soon as possible. I lost my nerve to think about golf almost completely, I stopped to to read books from my library, I stopped to watch swings of famous players and I stopped to think about my amateur studies....</p><p>However, suddenly it has dawned to me that it would be unfair to everyone, including my Dear Wife to end this blog that way. I said to myself that my miserable existence should still include giving something to the world even if it is so insignificant as my amateur theories for golfers. I have been recently slowly but steadily returning to golf, even enjoyed few Trackman sessions with my Son. To my great content it appeared that my swing, although very rusty, is still consistent and timing-proof to a degree, so to speak. Of course I used my Controlled Draw swing, as this was what I was working on as the last pattern before the break.</p><p>Funny thing, I was never a fan of practice swings before hitting balls. What is to be stressed here, this practice swing makes the late inside approach in the following swing (see the picture below) practically automatic. Unfortunately, it does not make the angle of attack of the clubface automatic, however, it is entirely compatible to the long flat spot concept and the horizontal AofA of the whole clubhead is not that fat away from 0 degrees. </p><p>Furthermore, practice swings might be a precious link between the address and the waggle and the real swings. As you might remember, we have never dealt with the issue of setting up too close or too far away from the ball. It has dawned to us that the closer you set up to the ball the less are the chances of swinging from the outside as there is no time for an excessive opening up of the body in a rotational motion. It somehow forces the shoulders girdle to stay closed while the whole torso is opening which makes the draw swing even more automatic. Please look at the diagramme below:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgex5hkvV2fdTNQWTpCAHXy6fjFLWaCpnV1KqgkiP-rnpi4SYnw1YoQ9Ku8N3ske5827SanB1ZhheN_mpRUIcq0RNJf3DDdakvJ2g0LCwgf9qojJ8h-6LeWRAdatVmJbkYCFrbCKybwKO8WDTOcWHfEi3X6UnVmwhrCPdJ7iEOp9JJtMTBKNrU74GOO_WQ/s656/Divots.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="656" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgex5hkvV2fdTNQWTpCAHXy6fjFLWaCpnV1KqgkiP-rnpi4SYnw1YoQ9Ku8N3ske5827SanB1ZhheN_mpRUIcq0RNJf3DDdakvJ2g0LCwgf9qojJ8h-6LeWRAdatVmJbkYCFrbCKybwKO8WDTOcWHfEi3X6UnVmwhrCPdJ7iEOp9JJtMTBKNrU74GOO_WQ/s320/Divots.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p>The green spots are just bottom ones of swings depending on how close we are from the ball (of course in exaggeration). Notice that the closer we are not only the longer the bottom spot is (we have explained this in detail in the articles devoted to the Flat Spot Concept and Phil Rodgers) but also their location and direction is very different. Why it is like that ? Because when we try to swing very closely to our feet we shall hit the ground much earlier than in case we hang out to reach the ball. It is just a perfect scenario for our practice swing -- <b>to swing between the ball and our feet while having adressed to the ball before and without changing neither our feet nor our joints' presets and just following it with our true swing.</b></p><p>Imagine two middle green spots for a better understanding -- the lower and right one symbolizes our practice swing while the upper and left one is our true swing:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5znnAThJC6yz7VnkeWHAgWAqLPvpEoDjMAS94knL9c7UcCTKa2RQVYm-2rF60Ccwo3W2ZpzNIujL2NbGmM8INUmB1YNRvfKMvin2qeb9ZpvXHmufYWOIT-xqP0bcqeg2DMlVanjSl-i9uB6UyLELm6x7o13o8W8NZp3OdSUtkTcE3kOvT_6QO30-7otw/s656/Divots2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="656" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5znnAThJC6yz7VnkeWHAgWAqLPvpEoDjMAS94knL9c7UcCTKa2RQVYm-2rF60Ccwo3W2ZpzNIujL2NbGmM8INUmB1YNRvfKMvin2qeb9ZpvXHmufYWOIT-xqP0bcqeg2DMlVanjSl-i9uB6UyLELm6x7o13o8W8NZp3OdSUtkTcE3kOvT_6QO30-7otw/s320/Divots2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Do not be afraid to hit the bottom near your rear foot -- in fact, it should be done that way. The only one thing you should monitor is how this hit looks like. The clubhead should pass the ground smoothly, never sharply, like the flat spot is really long despite the location. Make two or three practice swings until you can feel this long flat spot. Then proceed to place the clubhead behind the ball and simply make a swing. You will be amazed how easy is to play a gentle draw.<div><br /></div><div>Last but not least, one word of caution. You must not stand too away from the ball just to allow to make a room for this practice swing (mind you, your feet do not move after the practice swing) as this make the whole process useless and you will stand too far away from the ball in result which rather disturb your desire to play draws. You should address the ball standing as close to the ball as it is comfortable for you and despite this you will have plenty of room for your practice swings. Your unconscious mind will take care about everything and you will not hit the ball accidentaly. This is how it looks in action (with both an iron as well as with a wood)...:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGfY1X2eyGrkk81CgEG6JUolZneQBhi-0wLa9k-5jSncg2E2UItMc54gQzOq7XM9WpDU3TQTvYyTYXPkWZriPG5827xwx3_P4tFe90KMhU1LkmQ_fZqgz5az_P4N5XngHotPmwPXo3t5m9NNppnaKrrbb92Z2tWFFTGZR3eEjGgNy8CXgU6RALYqNk9ko/s320/MVI_2228.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGfY1X2eyGrkk81CgEG6JUolZneQBhi-0wLa9k-5jSncg2E2UItMc54gQzOq7XM9WpDU3TQTvYyTYXPkWZriPG5827xwx3_P4tFe90KMhU1LkmQ_fZqgz5az_P4N5XngHotPmwPXo3t5m9NNppnaKrrbb92Z2tWFFTGZR3eEjGgNy8CXgU6RALYqNk9ko/s1600/MVI_2228.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8oqG_KWWP7mRJW2Zj72Efcx31tHQrk50NGZ4OEtrxLe3GQ_oYfwC53hVUdWKxrimP6QKz8Pw4ab304aCZVoclhMB497XFS5LnllYPW6y0nZARYkdRSPJBJlx1x3nHziH1Jy0Q0trfFd_KKoFS8VDwH6DhevxSnhyc2G-UKhesR_KwdnMURw_kIHLan8/s320/MVI_2231.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8oqG_KWWP7mRJW2Zj72Efcx31tHQrk50NGZ4OEtrxLe3GQ_oYfwC53hVUdWKxrimP6QKz8Pw4ab304aCZVoclhMB497XFS5LnllYPW6y0nZARYkdRSPJBJlx1x3nHziH1Jy0Q0trfFd_KKoFS8VDwH6DhevxSnhyc2G-UKhesR_KwdnMURw_kIHLan8/s1600/MVI_2231.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>...and the whole actions:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhVegvsHlI54d03iNT_NkRLEv_Z07S-BtgWkEPeDDt9pLtUPjP6FS9jmw7AKyQLF3ogvERJ-ws3ztK4fk57y-ADnIttvmicdfdCWJHkcikZVEyd2JG-1GHaxSR1xmZpQ0Iock8Hcp6R6nqeKyZge-cJdfHZnRgwJp2IIWBKyOiNVBITPxnN0qZZRff5LA/s320/MVI_2227.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhVegvsHlI54d03iNT_NkRLEv_Z07S-BtgWkEPeDDt9pLtUPjP6FS9jmw7AKyQLF3ogvERJ-ws3ztK4fk57y-ADnIttvmicdfdCWJHkcikZVEyd2JG-1GHaxSR1xmZpQ0Iock8Hcp6R6nqeKyZge-cJdfHZnRgwJp2IIWBKyOiNVBITPxnN0qZZRff5LA/s1600/MVI_2227.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-jp2hOlaKUgmZGiP4krGsPHPDmD3n7jop5jeGJqQunJW2-lWPoSQ3tanICZIj9oLDtcYuEq2AI-Fk4E6LwjoeOAqRCb7SbxuW5S2iuVcxs010Wjvko7nns1zMrRqnUZdMGFBlGYE4_2KLpqdHEv4FZAArfUKY9ufK2fV7c-hmb9Wy5SMtMZwB_vIs_i4/s320/MVI_2230%20(1).gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0s8yS6_FFJ2UG1WkkrzcrLgnJ5Q0cx-l7dyOJ3okjaue4v2LZadvScZamMJPqKXrQfOG6KjzlWu0cSqGsbUNuHhUH6-mjHXxJ5ST35TgJqWj7JJXFoGENulwFGsNGoPILoLrwNeCbaiemZT573UglcZoik0bBWJgQeFAY-Am2Vtqo2xClBboQgCKOqwE/s320/MVI_2230%20(1).gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0s8yS6_FFJ2UG1WkkrzcrLgnJ5Q0cx-l7dyOJ3okjaue4v2LZadvScZamMJPqKXrQfOG6KjzlWu0cSqGsbUNuHhUH6-mjHXxJ5ST35TgJqWj7JJXFoGENulwFGsNGoPILoLrwNeCbaiemZT573UglcZoik0bBWJgQeFAY-Am2Vtqo2xClBboQgCKOqwE/s1600/MVI_2230%20(1).gif" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09fwb_SrDS7YDY7wVOIlRFzuEHkMHQWbFCPtyD-qoyn8AZjzSYsM1opCz_Lt_JUxriP3b6rJ2GjtDFCROjYJiDtJs9wZwL4_jqAM_v80Xo7XKvcXX97DnO115P-3vu52MN8vA_-b4EYJ8pZ-qz8srJ6IdRt_P5bzXjyvt9DaRW3qB2UJ6NgsieZk8ZvA/s345/MVI_2234-ezgif.com-resize.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="160" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09fwb_SrDS7YDY7wVOIlRFzuEHkMHQWbFCPtyD-qoyn8AZjzSYsM1opCz_Lt_JUxriP3b6rJ2GjtDFCROjYJiDtJs9wZwL4_jqAM_v80Xo7XKvcXX97DnO115P-3vu52MN8vA_-b4EYJ8pZ-qz8srJ6IdRt_P5bzXjyvt9DaRW3qB2UJ6NgsieZk8ZvA/s320/MVI_2234-ezgif.com-resize.gif" width="148" /></a></div><br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-16839425948769765792022-11-12T14:10:00.001+01:002022-11-12T14:11:50.547+01:00Anna<p>My Dear Wife has passed away after a long horrible disease. My whole world has crumbled into a million of pieces that will never match again. See you in the afterlife after a half-second of eternity, My Biggest Love of my life.</p><p><br /></p><p>ANNA MARIA JĘDRZEJEWSKA (29.01.1964 - 4.11.2022)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Through hazards of fate</p><p>And roughs of reality</p><p>Our lives we do play</p><p>Onto greens of eternity</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p>Play on, friends, do not wait for me. I need a rest.</p>Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-66276336436382127992022-03-19T14:49:00.007+01:002022-05-24T23:10:49.733+02:00The Knee Flex Leveling Procedure for the Controlled Draw Pattern. Draws, Fades and Mac O'Grady's Wisdom.<p>Winter is always a good time to learn from others and rethink own theories. It is worth underlining that we have never been dealing with the flexion of knee joints before, mainly because it is not possible to apply the theory of natural limitations in this action. However, in view of our previous important discoveries concerning the Controlled Draw Pattern, as we have been always thinking about making the swing even more automated, we can now apply our newest findings. There is no automation big enough for an imperfect human being, mind you all.</p><p>We have been lucky to find recently quite a lot of tremendous YT vids about Mac O'Grady philosophy (published by several of his former students * -- obviously the content is not that prohibited any more as it was before). In several ot them, Mac stresses the importance of feet positioning and corresponding to them actions of knee joints during both the backswing and the downswing and it got us observing and thinking. Also we have just lately seen an excellent vid from a lesson Mac gives to one of his students about methods of playing the draw where he explains how to do it (by the way, nothing revolutionary here for us -- diagonal stance, closed alignment, bending the plane line, delaying the rear shoulder's action, slowing down the pivot during the downswing, increased secondary axis tilt, wide lead side at impact, etc., therefore, nothing that could help us in what we have already proposed with the Controlled Draw Pattern). Anyhow, this draw swing itself is simply beautiful:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LJfFjC9ksyw/YV2bepneqfI/AAAAAAAABRc/IUa6pzTJuhkAEB80XqR8UdgD0km7FUZ9ACLcBGAsYHQ/s856/GOLF-IN-THE-COSMOS-Ep.13.-1990-Draw-Swing-Description.-With-Ken-Brown._2.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="856" height="179" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LJfFjC9ksyw/YV2bepneqfI/AAAAAAAABRc/IUa6pzTJuhkAEB80XqR8UdgD0km7FUZ9ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/GOLF-IN-THE-COSMOS-Ep.13.-1990-Draw-Swing-Description.-With-Ken-Brown._2.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>What has drawn our attention then ? Not the very amount of the knee bend, as we knew that Mr. O'Grady liked to bend his knees a lot -- however, the increased amount of bending of the lead knee while still having the hips open ! We have to remember that if we want (in our Controlled Draw Pattern) to have hips open to the baseline while having an increased axis tilt and the legs wound up targetwise -- the amount of the lead knee flexion is practically always not biger (and sometimes smaller) than the rear knee one sort of by default. See below:</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3fKkYTbISKk/YV_t8wv8-wI/AAAAAAAABRk/B3oET9wX7bo_6u_TXC67GV7-kWsTy4kWgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/002_5.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3fKkYTbISKk/YV_t8wv8-wI/AAAAAAAABRk/B3oET9wX7bo_6u_TXC67GV7-kWsTy4kWgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/002_5.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>As we shall see later on in this article, the author's draw swing motion is being a bit stymied by the knee flex type that should be used for fades (not a big surprise for me as when I was younger and healthier I worked on fade patterns almost exclusively). We started to implement a correct knee flex leveling procedure for draws a'la Mac O'Grady and the results are tremendous. It automatically helps to deliver the clubhead from the inside and eliminates some errors that appear occassionally as e.g. throwing the clubhead too much to the outside that can end with heel shots or shanks, especially when trying to hit a powerful shot. What is also great -- it does not worsen the conditions of obtaining the long flat spot, despite some concerns from our part as we know both from Phil Rodger's as well as from our own experience that no excessive knee bend can be not good here.</p><p>Observe how Mac adjusts both his lead knee flexion as well as position in relation to baseline and pay special attention that he appears to bend the lead knee more than necessary (for a draw only, mind you):</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rH6KYwD6vwM/YWDNqU9aB4I/AAAAAAAABRs/dkjx1rWxDdwjxi7LAV7ABAC8yTmCB-DRQCLcBGAsYHQ/s856/GOLF-IN-THE-COSMOS-Ep.13.-1990-Draw-Swing-Description.-With-Ken-Brown._3.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="856" height="179" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rH6KYwD6vwM/YWDNqU9aB4I/AAAAAAAABRs/dkjx1rWxDdwjxi7LAV7ABAC8yTmCB-DRQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/GOLF-IN-THE-COSMOS-Ep.13.-1990-Draw-Swing-Description.-With-Ken-Brown._3.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Let us quote here 'The Stack and Tilt Swing' book: <i>"Players who swing too far out to the right have a tendency to flex the right knee too much on the downswing. As the club comes down, your right knee should flex from its straight or nearly straight position at the top, but it should never flex more than it did at address"</i>. And later the authors suggest the following fix:<i> "Set your right leg straight at address and keep it straight throughout the swing [...]"</i>. Of course the first part meets our approval as we do prefer always to have a setup-dependent swing motion -- we have developed our special procedure for our Controlled Draw Pattern to which it is very easy and natural to implement the knee flex leveling procedure.</p><p>For a better evaluation watch also someone as significant as Sam Snead preparing for a draw during his Shell match against Ben Hogan; observe carefully the whole set-up procedure of this master and pay special attention to his version of the knee flex levelling procedure...:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj555nQiYp7Wi_3kV7WOBXy1GwP5aKBGCd3Ev6MU2tHNZfXgRT8f9NxMs8npWSjVP7t5qCz_uHOQCgZQhzeSkeCX0iF8GJC-od28-j9pbrc0UaFIRtUNsAaN7PJxqgSjarBa1Y3LJ09hJZVuQdjCGJSi8hgHPKPufwn4smcd4oLKWTFCov4dVdROBjp=s544" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="544" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj555nQiYp7Wi_3kV7WOBXy1GwP5aKBGCd3Ev6MU2tHNZfXgRT8f9NxMs8npWSjVP7t5qCz_uHOQCgZQhzeSkeCX0iF8GJC-od28-j9pbrc0UaFIRtUNsAaN7PJxqgSjarBa1Y3LJ09hJZVuQdjCGJSi8hgHPKPufwn4smcd4oLKWTFCov4dVdROBjp=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>...and his whole beautiful swing motion:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDPKATMebd4YecOuRJCfwTXgQZDXIHQi-lLT5l9S8cAZY5KfUo6LoWxDq--1Q0xv9iuMdfm_PLgcQtLnf8Wns3iXPcdCZOWtv_DcZsGE7seFgYYaSoATES454o47NENoefKfF1bLCKVXlKmZ0Uhu1OhJtkKNyd9XCYQJRzlf8TVSFvIdM-mdt3oKmH=s544" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="544" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDPKATMebd4YecOuRJCfwTXgQZDXIHQi-lLT5l9S8cAZY5KfUo6LoWxDq--1Q0xv9iuMdfm_PLgcQtLnf8Wns3iXPcdCZOWtv_DcZsGE7seFgYYaSoATES454o47NENoefKfF1bLCKVXlKmZ0Uhu1OhJtkKNyd9XCYQJRzlf8TVSFvIdM-mdt3oKmH=s320" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><p>The very procedure can be easily implemented into the procedure of creating the diagonal stance. My own simple one in our Controlled Draw Pattern is somehow similar to Mr.Snead's one and consists of the following points:</p><p>- standing parallel to the target line with feet together and the ball in line with the right foot;</p><p>- instead serious withdrawing the rear foot to the South-East we rather use both feet; first, we place our lead foot to the North-West (the amount depends on how big a curve we want to play); it will automatically create the necessity to flare out the rear foot (sometimes even withdrawing it slightly especially with longer clubs) so that we could adjust our head, body and knees with that new baseline created by our feet; note that the ball position is now in the middle of the stance no longer in line with the right foot;</p><p>- when the rear foot is flared out we can perform our correct default taking of the diagonal stance with all usual elements with presetting of the rear ankle and rear knee; what is worth reminding it is not possible to bend the rear knee too much in a preset condition;</p><p>- we introduce now the levelling of the knee bend starting by flexing of the lead knee so that it matches the draw pattern baseline while having the hips line slightly open to it (because of the diagonal stance set-up followed by the winding of the lower body a'la Abe Mitchell);</p><p>- we do not forget about establishing the pronounced primary axis tilt which makes us see the ball even more forward (see the article titled 'Gaining the Setup Automatism in the Controlled Draw Pattern. Finally a Bliss for RED Golfers');</p><p>- in fact, our concept procedure is a mix of Snead's and Trevino's; if you remember, Trevino (who played a push fade) always moved forward by a step or two before starting his motion; we do not move forward but just use lead feet more than Snead did.</p><p>See it below in sort of an exaggerated mode:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXK5fufyKJIgzU81Ai9f02R8fT3klKBnkrd4M7Ivv4hTo00ExEoP41O8rDrelS9US9P5YJyEqtMQ3Lwkj7Gj83XQtVm86tbDClAoIHXmgE-2AnasJMBdk38pcMsF-adTiDrb_xlwXcPJnH12HgPgFmBzZJX6nIH90vy5gbIrEvN1MXh_jJ7ASIwfQ/s320/001_2.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXK5fufyKJIgzU81Ai9f02R8fT3klKBnkrd4M7Ivv4hTo00ExEoP41O8rDrelS9US9P5YJyEqtMQ3Lwkj7Gj83XQtVm86tbDClAoIHXmgE-2AnasJMBdk38pcMsF-adTiDrb_xlwXcPJnH12HgPgFmBzZJX6nIH90vy5gbIrEvN1MXh_jJ7ASIwfQ/s1600/001_2.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGbJNEcRl-a-9OyuCzMRg0Y23uTAiiyropmkGNN7gs62mQWBdCbm-GxMUTu4Gkh7L_aayQhwT7SGUUl4JdEK5mzTtGt2kH6bwwgTGyWQBj9ZouwvJhkxtSwriPYqBh6UywgqotZYIneNkHVQLetZ4HO5FHVVEIq4Sb7KeG0BcswIvQI_bJKYGvYqf/s320/003_2.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRGbJNEcRl-a-9OyuCzMRg0Y23uTAiiyropmkGNN7gs62mQWBdCbm-GxMUTu4Gkh7L_aayQhwT7SGUUl4JdEK5mzTtGt2kH6bwwgTGyWQBj9ZouwvJhkxtSwriPYqBh6UywgqotZYIneNkHVQLetZ4HO5FHVVEIq4Sb7KeG0BcswIvQI_bJKYGvYqf/s1600/003_2.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p> As Percy Boomer wrote very wisely in his book 'On Learning Golf' -- <i>"The difference between the good and the oridinary golfer is that the good one <b>feels his shot through his address</b>." </i>I am not a good golfer in any case but I can tell you that I started to feel shots through my knees' position at address -- when my knees are being levelled for a draw, I feel my shot will be a draw. What is interesting, I have never felt it before so clearly. It is a great feeling.</p><p></p><p>And now we would like to present to you all the comparison of Mac O'Grady playing fade (left) and draw (right) in three crucial stages of the swing motion; please pay attention to the following aspects in the coronal plane (DTL view)...</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NhSxpNZV4-8/YY-Xq5f-wXI/AAAAAAAABSc/CKgwyzQ9KVImwLXAJiv6Oadza5TN0lIjACLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/Fade.Draw.P1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NhSxpNZV4-8/YY-Xq5f-wXI/AAAAAAAABSc/CKgwyzQ9KVImwLXAJiv6Oadza5TN0lIjACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Fade.Draw.P1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>...the lead knee not visible (left) while it is visible (right) -- the essence of the knee leveling procedure despite the classic diagonal stance in both cases...<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bBRRPmBsI5A/YY-YJosSrGI/AAAAAAAABSk/Pz0X_oTIA_ccSbW2tQ17ifdaCqGthjDYwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/Fade.Draw.P6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bBRRPmBsI5A/YY-YJosSrGI/AAAAAAAABSk/Pz0X_oTIA_ccSbW2tQ17ifdaCqGthjDYwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Fade.Draw.P6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>...the back of the lead thigh already visible in this stage (left) while not visible (right) -- and, of course, a difference in the degree of the upper body closure, a bigger gap between forearms, a difference in the clubhead position, etc....</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VJlP1mSstrY/YY-ZAhKkdFI/AAAAAAAABSs/0aE7oftbsHAXmIG0FZ6L8OIKIAMMivW0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/Fade.Draw.P7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VJlP1mSstrY/YY-ZAhKkdFI/AAAAAAAABSs/0aE7oftbsHAXmIG0FZ6L8OIKIAMMivW0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Fade.Draw.P7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>...impact position is <b>a natural and automatic consequence</b> of the previous one; it is very easy now to imagine what was the path of the clubhead from the previous position resulting in a small controlled fade (left) and a small controlled draw (right).</p><p>Professional players and professional teachers would certainly mention many more things when playing and teaching how to curve shots. Opposite to them we have always been concentrating on achieving straight as possible shots in an automatic way. Our work on the Controlled Draw Pattern for senior and body handicapped golfers, however, demanded some work on this subject though -- and the result is great, in our opinion, if one is capable to control the shape of shots just by proper aiming and the knee flex leveling procedure. It is simply plain, easy and efficient.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p> * I sincerely recommend John Dochety's and Kevin Ralbovski's YT channels.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-21044915618217078822021-05-24T18:49:00.005+02:002022-02-10T19:05:33.003+01:00The Golden Axis in the Backswing Phase. The [Radial Extension - Ulnar Flexion - Radial Extension] Sequence.<p>A natural consequence of finding excellent application of the Golden Axis in the downswing phase is verifying its usefulness in the backswing phase. This urge is being certainly enhanced either by opinions of such greats as Johnny Miller or Nick Faldo researches of such genial theorists as Mac O'Grady who all recommended the so-called early set of the wrists. For instance, Johnny Miller writes in his great book 'Pure Golf': <i>"The early cocking action sets up the late release. But equally important is the fact that wrists have to cock somewhere and, when they do, they must cock without disturbing the angle in the left wrist. Otherwise, the clubface will not be maintained in a square position. It is not only more natural to set the hands early. it is frankly far easier to do than the late cocking since the club is still in front of you in the early set and the club is traveling so much slower at this early stage of the backswing than toward the end of the backswing."</i></p><p><i> </i><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--wxkJ95YpUU/YEjiwJmX8UI/AAAAAAAABOE/nJEAlmmSDvMZneNZgA2ljj0f8dof4skRgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1027/EarlySetMiller.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1027" data-original-width="839" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--wxkJ95YpUU/YEjiwJmX8UI/AAAAAAAABOE/nJEAlmmSDvMZneNZgA2ljj0f8dof4skRgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/EarlySetMiller.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>While we surely appreciate the afore-mentioned points and gladly neglect Miller's lack of anatomical know-how, we rather prefer to concentrate on channeling the clubhead momentum through the Golden Axis of the lead wrist as the main goal that leads to eliminating redundant rotation of forearms not responding to the clubhead's CoG momentum. This is especially important as excessive forearm rotation gives the feeling (and in fact provides it) of accumulating power during the downswing phase. It brings some problems as well -- first, sucking the clubhead too low and to the inside too much (it is difficult to remain on this plane later on) and secondly, jeopardizing the clubface stability (that might have serious repercussions when fighting for the clubface stability in the wide impact zone). Of course some procedures as e.g. Scapular Plane Humerus Takeaway may vividly help but will not eliminate all possible errors. One thing is very important and we are in a full accordance with Johnny Miller -- the earlier the wrist acts the smaller are the chances for forearm rotation to occur. Let us show the comparison of the author's swing without (left, white shirt) and with (right, dark shirt) Golden Axis backswing below:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jrnhe6Sfgpg/YKuqG3qbqQI/AAAAAAAABPQ/nRJ3y5Yjm84XwVKUl19HSH3gisA-BdjhACLcBGAsYHQ/s1752/GAB0.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1752" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jrnhe6Sfgpg/YKuqG3qbqQI/AAAAAAAABPQ/nRJ3y5Yjm84XwVKUl19HSH3gisA-BdjhACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/GAB0.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3758wWsEs_n9X5ojVBcUxKljdLsDDGoeyKP2XzNGBkT2eoMzSshXqu9u-kbiiXA6sxY9G7kTKohVkT91cmwz06oZy-S-3hHxqechO5RMNeY0HsD_S2HGleKGs4iCemxLwyN2TXIyUPe4/s1766/GAB1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="1766" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3758wWsEs_n9X5ojVBcUxKljdLsDDGoeyKP2XzNGBkT2eoMzSshXqu9u-kbiiXA6sxY9G7kTKohVkT91cmwz06oZy-S-3hHxqechO5RMNeY0HsD_S2HGleKGs4iCemxLwyN2TXIyUPe4/s320/GAB1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Biokinetic sequence of momentum transfer throughout the whole swing motion along the Golden Axis of the lead wrist is then radial deviation coupled with dorsi flexion (a good abbreviation would be <b>'radial extension'</b>) at transition it starts to transform gradually into almost full ulnar deviation coupled with palmar flexion (a good abbreviation would be <b>'ulnar flexion'</b>) approaching impact and then it transforms again into radial deviation coupled with dorsi flexion (i.e. into <b>'radial extension'</b>) after separation. A very good validation of this sequence is the fact that if, theoretically, a man would like to mimic a golf swing with a very heavy object (say, a spade) using a golf grip he can do it relatively easy without losing balance with this sequence only. The conversion into 'ulnar flexion' during the downswing phase does not happen at transition otherwise lag angle is lost momentarily -- mind you, palmar flexion reduces radial deviation inevitably. Therefore, it happens automatically late in the downswing when momentum is too big for the wrists to stay in<b> 'radial extension'</b>. </p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iLffLwBahdM/YKuqlwQuM5I/AAAAAAAABPg/be5mgHvsSTYVI1XnqEH0CAwYTMmYJiRgQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/002_5.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iLffLwBahdM/YKuqlwQuM5I/AAAAAAAABPg/be5mgHvsSTYVI1XnqEH0CAwYTMmYJiRgQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/002_5.gif" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p> It is to be pointed out that the rear hand can be of a huge help to secure the Golden Axis of the lead wrist during the backswing phase but only when the rear wrist can also act more or less on this axis. It is possible with the Bio-K grip, i.e. when both hands are in natural position on the grip (and not in a parallel opposite position as many teachers recommend because it would force one of the forearms to rotate in order to accomodate). In this scenario, a golfer can concentrate on guiding the momentum via both wrists or even via the rear hand if one is accustomed to the rear side backswing. This backswing biokinetic sequence could be described as gradual transformation of a tiny <b>'radial extension' </b>of both wrists established at address into a full <b>'radial extension' </b>of both wrists at the top (maximizing all angles while maintaining the rear hand in the 'holding tray' desired position). Then from the top, resulting from the change of the orientation during the transition, clubhead momentum shallows the plane neutralizing full <b>'radial extension'</b> of the lead wrist while maximizing it in the rear wrist. Please see a beautiful angle of the Henry Cotton's transition below:<br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gi-3qKzEFkU/YG69aZol_qI/AAAAAAAABO0/deUZ9uvo-4AlYdDFlTk0bDXtaY4_hSzzgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Henry-Cotton-1934_2.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gi-3qKzEFkU/YG69aZol_qI/AAAAAAAABO0/deUZ9uvo-4AlYdDFlTk0bDXtaY4_hSzzgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Henry-Cotton-1934_2.gif" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p>The Golden Angle address universality is also worth underlining. Since some golfers prefer to have high hands at set-up it means that they are more on the <b>'ulnar flexion'</b> side while those who prefer low set-up of hands (as e.g. Mac O'Grady advocates) have their lead wrist already slightly<b> 'radially extended'</b>. The lower hands' position appears to be better as the angle has already been established in right direction and there are practically no room for any redundant forearm rotation to occur, however, high hands at set-up can be offset by their more mid-body position. When we compare Mac O'Grady's low 'y-shaped' position (the so-called 'impact fix') with Ben Hogan's high 'Y-shaped' mid-body one we can easily see that both make sense. However, if someone prefers a low 'Y-shaped' position or a high 'y-shaped' one will meet certain problems in reaching optimal Golden Axis channeling process.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i9TVzHLT2kk/YFCjWmqEGoI/AAAAAAAABOQ/-UJIarObrSMecHI-GLUELugVpHr7SauOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s967/Hogan.Mac.FO.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="967" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i9TVzHLT2kk/YFCjWmqEGoI/AAAAAAAABOQ/-UJIarObrSMecHI-GLUELugVpHr7SauOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Hogan.Mac.FO.png" width="320" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YaZ9z26dZIA/YFCjKmUCWVI/AAAAAAAABOM/ldop0lb0kF4MVBALmfbj9VrjnPcj2MxQACLcBGAsYHQ/s1001/HoganMacFOdr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="1001" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YaZ9z26dZIA/YFCjKmUCWVI/AAAAAAAABOM/ldop0lb0kF4MVBALmfbj9VrjnPcj2MxQACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/HoganMacFOdr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><br /><p><br /></p><br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-24969459115743746832021-03-05T18:58:00.007+01:002021-04-16T16:32:33.998+02:00Control Enhancement in the Controlled Draw Pattern. Channeling Clubhead Momentum via the Golden Axis. <p>Wrist is the most mobile joint in the whole human body. It can flex, extend, deviate and perform all possible combinations of these motions. When we add also the pronation and supination of forearms it appears that our hands can move in practically all directions. In view of this fact wrists can be seen as chains in between nunchaku sticks joining forearms and hands gripping the club, hence joining practically arms and the clubshaft. This notion is very important for those who believe in lack of conscious actions in this area of the body. Let us remind here the famous quote from Ben Hogan's '5 Lessons' book:</p><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.008); border: 0px none; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.9833px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">THE
ACTION OF THE ARMS IS MOTIVATED BY THE MOVEMENTS OF THE BODY, AND THE
HANDS CONSCIOUSLY DO NOTHING BUT MAINTAIN A FIRM GRIP ON THE CLUB. </b><span style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">(p. 82 of the book)</span></i></blockquote><p>Mr.Hogan was of course right, as almost always. But the biokinetical truth is more complex than that. Our wrists are capable
to both deviate in both direction (cock/uncock) and flex in both
direction (hinge/unhinge); moreover, there is a coupling between these
action described in our 'Omnium Trium Perfectum' article, namely that the
most usual movement of the wrist is one of
dorsi flexion (extension) combined with radial deviation, and of palmar
flexion combined with ulnar deviation. Pure palmar-dorsal flexion
(flexion-extension) and radial-ulnar deviation are movements that rarely
occur in a straight plane. It is like that because when we want to
maximize ulnar deviation range we unintentionally bow the wrist which
means we flex it palmarily; conversely, when we want to maximize radial
deviation range our wrist becomes dorsally flexed. It should give us the
picture that the axis of wrist deviation RoM is not parallel to pure
deviation motions but is slanted from slight palmar flexion to slight
dorsal flexion just as shown below (we shall call it "the Golden Axis"):</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uwgBktlLsi0/YDtrov-3fkI/AAAAAAAABMU/8Wy7ku3GHrg5ioj00RMXKC6XeYVNDo_kgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/ww-001_3.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uwgBktlLsi0/YDtrov-3fkI/AAAAAAAABMU/8Wy7ku3GHrg5ioj00RMXKC6XeYVNDo_kgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/ww-001_3.gif" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Please note what scientifists wrote (<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3260558/">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3260558/</a>) : <i>"The earliest notation of the functional use of conjoined wrist motions is attributed to Fisk,<sup> </sup>who noted the association of wrist extension with radial deviation and
wrist flexion with ulnar deviation “when someone is casting a fly,
throwing a dart, or conducting an orchestra.” Palmer et al
showed that many occupational activities, exemplified by hammer use,
involved an arc of motion from radial deviation and wrist extension to
ulnar deviation and wrist flexion. These investigators popularized the
term dart thrower’s arc to describe this conjoined wrist
motion. Indeed, nearly all sporting activities, including pitching,
racquet sports, fly fishing, javelin throw, batting, and golf also use
the dart-thrower’s arc of wrist motion."</i></p><p><br /></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KYhIhSX2-c4/YDyyTxjOiEI/AAAAAAAABNE/X9fKuD5FrIgECp2ExhyRMfFJVX5c_sltwCLcBGAsYHQ/s687/RDandDF.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="687" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KYhIhSX2-c4/YDyyTxjOiEI/AAAAAAAABNE/X9fKuD5FrIgECp2ExhyRMfFJVX5c_sltwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/RDandDF.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> </div><div> </div><div>These motions along the Golden Axis are present in many human activities such as e.g. throwing darts
or hammering nails. It shows us that this is the most effective and
natural motion of the wrist -- not pure deviation or pure
flexion/extension, but this coupling combination of , say, radial extension and
ulnar
flexion, a direction along a path of the dart thrower's wrist motion. A very interesting additional phenomenon is that the Golden Axis is the only one
easily achieved and there is no other possibility to do it in another
direction without the conscious help of pronation/supination movements of our forearms. Moving the wrist along the Golden Axis engages pronation and supination only in a slight necessary manner to perform the motion from maximal ulnar to maximal radial deviation. Moreover ,as beautifully described in the 'Solutions to Lengthen the Flat Spot. Part 4. Controlling Up and Down Movements: Automatic Shallowing via Sweetspot' article, further pronation/supination motions of forearms are just the automatic response for clubhead's CoG momentum.</div><div> </div><div> </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ob4ASNC7SaM/YDy2Bw5xNrI/AAAAAAAABNs/oekaHDY_1mkuAFwk-vUfhnRhp8Iw8n_aACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Hogan%2BArmsClub.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="182" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ob4ASNC7SaM/YDy2Bw5xNrI/AAAAAAAABNs/oekaHDY_1mkuAFwk-vUfhnRhp8Iw8n_aACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Hogan%2BArmsClub.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><p>The clubhead momentum created after the top during the downswing phase is huge (the head is relatively heavy because it is located at the end of a long shaft) not only ensuring a strong hit at the ball but also enough large to create balance problems of the whole body at the end of the swing. The
lead wrist after impact bends at an angle (and not just purely radially
deviates) which can be easily seen when we try to maximize its range of
motion up which is totally in accordance with the slap-hinge release
principles. Momentum vector is in line to the axis of maximum radial
deviation enforced by the help of dorsi flexion. Further motion along the Golden Axis leads to absorb the momentum in the most effective way as the limit of the lead wrist's motion range is being reached in the most natural and neutral way possible -- no excessive or intentional supination/pronation of forearms which is equal to clubface stability, repeatability and consistency of strokes within the pattern. It even can be a primary goal to eliminate conscious pronation or supination;
pronation and supination of forearms should occur totally unintentionally; the follow through without
supination of the lead arm and pronation of the rear one requires to be preceeded by the
slap-hinge release (or, at least, by some elements of the slap-hinge release, i.e. dorsal flexion of the lead wrist after impact)
since without it the sweetspot would wander off plane or would require
a very strong pivot and pure push release (not a good option for seniors and body-handicapperd golfers) or just an early swivel as in the heavily timing-dependent crossover release.</p><p>This is extremely important for draw patterns that require long flat spot and it is crucial to have stable clubface all the time there -- fades basing on slight OTT accross the ball have a very short flat spot, hence potential problems with clubface horizontal stability are minimal comparing to draws.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xk-WN6_WRTs/YDz8scEij4I/AAAAAAAABN4/v_HPPODlcC4XZykNKLmFMyy8Yb2-bBJfgCLcBGAsYHQ/s741/FadeDraw.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="741" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xk-WN6_WRTs/YDz8scEij4I/AAAAAAAABN4/v_HPPODlcC4XZykNKLmFMyy8Yb2-bBJfgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/FadeDraw.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><br /><div>Mac O'Grady (and his later successors as e.g. Stack&Tilt
promotors) strongly recommended more or less conscious "recocking"
of the wrists in the follow through phase as a power leakage and lack of post-impact balance antidotum. From 'The Stack and Tilt Swing' by M.Bennet and A.Plummer: <i>"
The unhinging of the wrists on the downswing is a result of the club
gaining dynamic weight and your right arm straightening, both of which
exert a strong outward force and cause the wrists to unhinge. [...]
Rehinging is an important action that better players often do
instinctively but that less experienced golfers need to focus on. Just
as the club got heavy on the downswing, causing your wrist to unhinge,
it should feel heavy after impact, so your wrist rehinge to absorb this
force. [...] If your body is left to brake the swing without help from
the rehinging of your wrists, the club's momentum can pull you off
balance."</i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CzjW9ADbVUA/YDyzuxcd3gI/AAAAAAAABNc/_4z2fnvY2KkpX2awpIxxS9nk3YgMRw_FACLcBGAsYHQ/s856/Mac-O_Grady-Swing-Compilation-10-minutes-MORAD_2.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="856" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CzjW9ADbVUA/YDyzuxcd3gI/AAAAAAAABNc/_4z2fnvY2KkpX2awpIxxS9nk3YgMRw_FACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Mac-O_Grady-Swing-Compilation-10-minutes-MORAD_2.gif" width="320" /></a></div> </i></div><div><i> </i></div><div>While we can certainly agree to the latter we cannot follow the first
part. "Recocking" phenomenon happens entirely unintentionally when the
shoulder girdle is not rapidly opening through and after impact --
simply energy of the club and clubhead coming from the body and arms
forces wrists to cock. We are sure though that Mac O'Grady knew that the lead wrist had to cock and hinge together to maximize the bend because it can be seen on his swing videos while watching very carefully what happens with his lead wrist. It is more the Golden Axis bend than typical slap-hinge release only or plain naive thinking about "recocking".<br /></div><div>Moreover, it is crucial to remember about dividing the motion of the shoulder girdle from the torso as we described in detail in our last article from this year. Then the only thing we should do is to let the clubhead momentum guide the wrists to move up along the Golden Axis unintentionally. As we can see on the comparison below the effect is practically the same, no matter if one is a great pro with athletic body and one of the best swing motions in the history of golf and the other is just an old body-handicapped untrained weekend hacker who trusts the Golden Axis:</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I0DlLT_3Wd8/YDva4REJ_jI/AAAAAAAABMs/EJC-6wa8ao0WQO5eFWmoUlmLTR2iEmQVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1720/WristGoldenAxis.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1720" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I0DlLT_3Wd8/YDva4REJ_jI/AAAAAAAABMs/EJC-6wa8ao0WQO5eFWmoUlmLTR2iEmQVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/WristGoldenAxis.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <br /></div>Seniors and body-handicapped golfers would bless the possibility of playing draws in a controlled manner without forcing their bodies to try to perform very tough moves, such as e.g. very strong pivot, straight arms after impact or maintaining tour-quality flexions and extensions of all joints. It is worth remembering that late Mr.Hogan preferred to sacrifice his overhuman accuracy as he couldn't score well with shortened discances; we all should consider the same attitude unless we want to suffer much worse scores or to play from women's tees. Here is a brief video summary dedicated to the Controlled Draw Pattern:<br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ncMa4XRgckw" width="320" youtube-src-id="ncMa4XRgckw"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><br /><br /><br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-41514091244315637182021-02-09T11:31:00.015+01:002021-02-25T19:22:34.119+01:00Further Important Facilitation for the Controlled Draw Pattern. Antithetic Body + Waggle.<p></p><p>We already know that the process of opening the shoulders has to be delayed in the Controlled Draw Pattern. Since the rotary motion is very prevailing for us humans taking into account the orientation of the motion while maximizing power unintentionally it is relatively very tough to control the amount of turning shoulders in relation to hips. While looking at the great drawing taken from one of Sir Henry Cotton's great books below let us deepen into the subject throughfully:<br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RZ76oEyWLwQ/YCBM5-S7l_I/AAAAAAAABK0/u5pvg_Fcl0k1WAad5WfBnlcXFndZ5wYcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s933/CottonPelvisShoulderGirdle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="816" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RZ76oEyWLwQ/YCBM5-S7l_I/AAAAAAAABK0/u5pvg_Fcl0k1WAad5WfBnlcXFndZ5wYcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/CottonPelvisShoulderGirdle.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Human anatomy calls the body part between hips and shoulder girdle the thoracic/abdominal part. Together with pelvic region this part forms the so-called trunk or torso. Many golf theorists that were not anatomy-literate had difficulties in understanding that the thoracic part is much more merged to pelvis than to shoulders and, thus, often separated hips from what is above the waist. The consequence is that even if they understood the sequentiality of the motion well (i.e. they wanted hips turn before the shoulders during the downswing phase so to speak) they introduced unnecessary timing element even without knowing about it as they wanted their students to use their mid-torso together with shoulders and the effect was that there were three parts moving separately from each other. </p><p></p><p>The answer is very simple and effective -- if we follow anatomy and its nuances we will merge the rotation of the pelvic area with the thoracic/abdominal part which will mean the whole torso (trunk) is going to move as an unit and can easily move in opposition to the shoulder girdle. Moreover, It is <i>de facto </i>easier to turn hips together with torso as they are less mobile as they cannot protract and retract (<span class="ILfuVd NA6bn"><span class="hgKElc">protraction and retraction occur only in two major regions of the body – the scapula and the mandible) hence</span></span> the shoulder girdle can be more separated from the torso in its movement and it is able to move in a completely different orientation which is very helpful in our Controlled Draw Pattern, the more we talk invariably about the rear shoulder in depression and the lead one in protraction. </p><p>Someone could ask why not to limit the motion of the hips and move them
together with torso and shoulder girdle so that the timing issues can be
eliminated. Unfortunately, the timing
issues will paradoxially occur in a bigger scale as limiting the turning
motion of the hips in the downswing is against the cascade of
biokinetical events for a biped and would require lots of timing to
control it; it is partially possible to convert its rotary motion
orientation into linear one (as Stack and Tilt gurus suggest) but to do
it just to ensure demanded motion of the shoulders while introducing a
huge timing factor is just not wise; it is much better to create as big
angular gap between pelvis and shoulder girdle as possible starting
already at setup and letting the shoulders do their job unintentionally. Hence the big role of Antithetic Waggle concept that we are returning to a bit later in the article. <br /></p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jrUWLsSEaQU/YCGNEwhU_wI/AAAAAAAABLE/8IXpYYiQl5A4xmzPOxuhzXv5EbUu19KzgCLcBGAsYHQ/s424/The-Greatest-Game-Ever-Played-Movie-2005-full-movie_2.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="424" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jrUWLsSEaQU/YCGNEwhU_wI/AAAAAAAABLE/8IXpYYiQl5A4xmzPOxuhzXv5EbUu19KzgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The-Greatest-Game-Ever-Played-Movie-2005-full-movie_2.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>It is worth noting that this configuration of both shoulder joints (even including a pronounced axis tilt preset) can be noticed in the famous scene from 'The Greatest Game Ever Played' movie
(above; we were lucky to find this fragment on You Tube) when the old Scottish pro Alec Campbell gives young Francis Ouimet a lesson before his US Open battle
against Vardon and Ray and uses a stick making his lead shoulder
protract while rear one depress and, simultaneously, closing his shoulder
girdle in relation to his entire torso. What is extremely important, it all happens during the set-up phase, therefore, it is exactly what we always appreciate in our set-up-dependent swing patterns -- of course we can do it without anyone's help using procedures described in detail in previous articles.</p><p>Now we have to go back to one of much earlier articles of our site named 'The Antithetic Waggle'. We have concluded there that the waggle Hogan used could be named "the antithetic waggle". The word
'antithetic' means 'in diametrical opposition' which describe perfectly
what is going on with the body. When one waggles the club back one
should move the legs and hips into the opposite direction, like one
wants to maintain symmetry in the sagittal plane. Now we want something more, i.e. diametrical opposition of the whole torso (hips and thoracic/abdominal part) against the shoulder girdle. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Please look at Mr.Hogan here and pay close attention how his body goes in diametrical opposition to his arms:</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6RkAEvVZTOU/YCGRytXlLfI/AAAAAAAABLU/m3S-gbMlz84vaf1tsHXxI24TjE4COoJEgCLcBGAsYHQ/s720/Antithetic-Waggle_2.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="720" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6RkAEvVZTOU/YCGRytXlLfI/AAAAAAAABLU/m3S-gbMlz84vaf1tsHXxI24TjE4COoJEgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Antithetic-Waggle_2.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Now associate this image with much more pronounced rotation of the whole torso anticlockwise against the protraction of the lead shoulder and the depression of the rear one with the arms waggling as in Mr.Hogan's case. It creates a pretty strong opposition, strong enough to rename the whole notion to "The Antithetic Body + Waggle" (when "+" means something deliberately added to the concept). Since this new procedure presets everything very well in this area of the body at setup we have nothing more to do in this section but proceed to start the motion right after. Our body is prepared to follow this achieved preset all the swing up to the impact phase letting us enter it with open torso and a little closed shoulders. Just exactly as on the following pic of Mac O'Grady playing his draw at impact:</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldDayzD8KQCGmSzGW0WfzDiDMP2PtUTGFoW976RWTl7OtFP6MdKAYQcbqQHNDwPYZqKbImePI38ERHygqol19kJ-SEa8NWeI0r78BmI8g4O3b-CjbmXcocQfjuzI97gxAZvwnRSdG9aA/s694/MacDrawTorsovs.Girdle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="694" data-original-width="528" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhldDayzD8KQCGmSzGW0WfzDiDMP2PtUTGFoW976RWTl7OtFP6MdKAYQcbqQHNDwPYZqKbImePI38ERHygqol19kJ-SEa8NWeI0r78BmI8g4O3b-CjbmXcocQfjuzI97gxAZvwnRSdG9aA/s320/MacDrawTorsovs.Girdle.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>By the way, we chose this swing to illustrate the idea as it is known that Mac plays a draw here (since it is described this way in You Tube channel where we found it). Besides O'Grady is a swing motion stylist who based his swing motion on Hogan and Snead which is a very good recommendation for us. What is also important and it is a link to this film Alec Campbell lesson -- if we take a look at Mac's address position it is very easy to "see" an invisible Campbell's stick making his lead shoulder protract resulting in making his lead arm appear over his rear one still at address and, simultaneously, making his rear shoulder depress (our Controlled Draw Pattern would ensure the address position even more similar to the impact one mainly thanks to the new Antithetic Body + Waggle procedure):</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4da_l4DHpyopVr2SYg9LZP5bRqchEywW4NI8yOU8QVvtB920FPkF0IsVaI1zVFe5SyAgFwRrHJ5HEypnpQcYGmyQmC9sbzEaf2TyAIaT165MNL0SDnbuYeQtv-yMBMgGO6vA4vW09q8I/s687/MacDrawAddressImpact.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="683" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4da_l4DHpyopVr2SYg9LZP5bRqchEywW4NI8yOU8QVvtB920FPkF0IsVaI1zVFe5SyAgFwRrHJ5HEypnpQcYGmyQmC9sbzEaf2TyAIaT165MNL0SDnbuYeQtv-yMBMgGO6vA4vW09q8I/s320/MacDrawAddressImpact.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HyLG-OBcs8c/YDfqiyA1R3I/AAAAAAAABMM/PoH0AYidV84Vcng4PGhnWRzqfchlZrDXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1678/CDPaddimp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="1678" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HyLG-OBcs8c/YDfqiyA1R3I/AAAAAAAABMM/PoH0AYidV84Vcng4PGhnWRzqfchlZrDXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/CDPaddimp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>P.S. Although it does not belong to today's subject it is worth noticing that both O'Grady as well as the author of this blog used proper diagonality of his stance closing his feet line while letting his hips be slightly open at set up (his lead knee practically covered by his rear one and his lead hip not visible at all).</p><p></p><br /><br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-40917961830974703402020-05-13T19:05:00.004+02:002020-10-24T12:42:06.565+02:00Gaining the Setup Automatism in the Controlled Draw Pattern. Finally a Bliss for RED Golfers.<br />
The beauty in the Controlled Draw Pattern is that it can be finally a bliss for RED (Rear Eye Dominant) golfers -- yes, almost all things in golf favour either ambidextrous or LED (Lead Eye Dominant) players. Why ? Because golf is a side sport and the target is located at the lead side. For the first time we were lucky enough to invent a procedure that is extremely easy for RED majority of golfers, but first of all, introduces almost full automatism to the setup procedure and, therefore, makes the Controlled Draw Pattern in the Senior Swing almost fully setup dependent motion.<br />
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As we already know, two very important features must be obtained before the swing motion begins -- increased spine tilt and closed shoulders line in relation to the target line. We can have both in the same time when creating it becomes second nature, but let us examine them step by step. Please take a serious look at the following diagrams and descriptions:<br />
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<br />
a. closed shoulders phase<br />
<br />
we need to stand neutral in relation to the target while placing the ball exactly below the rear eye, then close the shoulder line and the whole torso in relation to the target line; we observe that by doing that the relation between the ball position and our eyes changes to a more centered one between the rear and the lead eye; we mentioned earlier also a valid hint for RED golfers who would like to depend the amount of shoulder girdle closure -- just try to look at the target binocularily "through your nose" with your rear eye<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1bF4WqbngtU/Xruung7emKI/AAAAAAAABIA/6TPBdQjVHMQ90usWoY72GuopNmeZJ_IywCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ClosingShouldersAdressEyes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1561" height="153" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1bF4WqbngtU/Xruung7emKI/AAAAAAAABIA/6TPBdQjVHMQ90usWoY72GuopNmeZJ_IywCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/ClosingShouldersAdressEyes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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b. increased axis tilt phase<br />
<br />
when we increase axis tilt more than the primarily achieved because of lower position of the rear hand on the grip the relation between the ball position and our eyes changes to almost under-the-lead-eye one; this is the position from which we start the motion; remember to use a more linear trigger in this case<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b3xuZUPxdz0/XruxF1JkQOI/AAAAAAAABIM/vZAH-fTK-8E8oBualEZHQJIX-tBbWZ0UACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/AxisTiltAddressEyes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="1600" height="125" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b3xuZUPxdz0/XruxF1JkQOI/AAAAAAAABIM/vZAH-fTK-8E8oBualEZHQJIX-tBbWZ0UACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/AxisTiltAddressEyes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As mentioned, both phases can be executed simultaneously and, moreover, we can easily learn to match the procedure to the club length and projected action <i>ad hoc. </i>When we need the flat spot to begin earlier (as e.g. in case of driver shots)<i> </i>the axis should be more increased, even to the position of the lead eye behind the ball. Conversely, when we need the flat spot to begin later (as e.g. in case of punch shots) the axis should remain as in the closed shoulders phase.<br />
A very good idea is just trying to look what is below the ball's equator with the lead eye before the trigger compression phase while not letting lose this below-equator view with binocular vision after the body downswing shift until impact. Interestingly, the ball position in the downswing phase after the Horizontal Guillotine Effect practically returns to the rear eye over the ball while having the lead side wide and the rear side narrow (as explained in the last article), however in terms of binocular vision we can still see the dimples below equator till the end, i.e. losing the ball image which happens to all of us in various phases of the late downswing.<br />
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Last but not least, some nuances referring to the set-up procedure in the Controlled Draw Pattern.<br />
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First, it is worth mentioning that we are in a position to proceed the combined closed shoulders and increased tilt phases from the ground up using the old but gold procedure of presetting of the rear leg ankle and knee joints (please refer to the 'Setting the Swing Motion' article from the year 2010) aiming at anchoring our feet well and, therefore, at easing the WAB into SWAB phenomenon (please refer to the 'Solutions to Lengthen the Flat Spot. Part 3. Controlling Up and Down Movements: the Spine' article).<br />
Both legs can be subdued to preset if it helps to anyone but, of course, the most important is the rear leg and its joints. The difference is that we now need to care about the senior and less agile golfers who tend to have weaker legs and, therefore, we need to create more effective shear forces, the more we do need as less flexed legs in the knees as possible (because of desirable limitations in the horizontal plane).<br />
Take a look at the view from the above onto the rear foot -- while presetting the knee and ankle joints it is of crucial importance to open it slightly then raise the toes and rotate them to the outside creating the very firm outside border of the rear foot.<br />
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Secondly, it is crucial to control the lead side firmness (please refer to the 'Firm Lead Side in the Impact Zone' both articles) which might be easily done via the lead hip fixed extension procedure. The bigger the fixed extension is the tendency to excessive draws is limited and viceversa, without so firm the lead side it is much easier to turn in the impact zone and add some to the draw numbers. We would personally firm up the lead side for small push draws that tend to end at the right of the target while loosing it a bit for draws that end to the left of the target. An advanced player would also use it for programming the height of the ball flight as well as merge the amount of firmness with the length of the clubs.<br />
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Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-44459954654835954762020-04-03T11:35:00.003+02:002021-04-07T17:45:32.038+02:00The Controlled Draw Pattern in the Senior Swing. The Horizontal Guillotine Effect. <br />
The Senior Swing Concept, as we have already know is being based on simplicity of movements that is so much required by seniors and body-handicapped golfers. There is no such a strong pivot present in the swing and less depth is prevailing. The whole motion is, therefore, more linear and shallow by default. Despite this we are capable to make the swing also automatic to a degree with help of some features described in detail in the Senior Swing series of articles including the YouTube educational video.<br />
Unfortunately, a very negative consequence occurs -- namely, vanishing power and, thus, vanishing distance of hits which is very painful for less agile and older golfers.<br />
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Gardner Dickinson, one of the most famous Ben Hogan disciples, says in his great book titled 'Let'er Rip!': <i>Never have I seen anyone control the ball as Hogan did during that period; it was beautiful to watch. A decent putter playing as he did from tee to green would have scored in the 50s almost every day [...]. One day he shot 61 and the longest putt he had for birdie, or eagle, was five feet. He could place his drives almost anywhere he chose [...]. The swing that produced Hogan's characteristic fade was developed when he was close to forty, and it continued into his mid-sixties. Slicing the ball as he did cost Ben a lot of yardage, and eventually he went back to drawing his shots. I asked him one day whether, if he had been able to control the draw, he would have played with a slice, and the answer was a firm "No".</i><br />
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The moral of the above story is very clear -- if only Hogan had been able to automate his pattern for draw the way he did it with the fade one -- he would have played draws as he would have gained some important extra distance for his shots. But he was not able to automate it the amount he wanted. Noone was able, let us be frank. Yet, when aging, Mr. Hogan decided to revert to draws as, which seems so symptomatic and sad in one, distance became more important for him than almost total automatism, repeatability and consistency of his fade swing. Honestly, I am 55 now and although I am not very short for my age and my imperfect body I noticed clearly my distances have shrunk considerably recently, especially after converting to my senior swing pattern. <br />
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The beautiful coincidence is that it is relatively very easy to control small push draws in the very pattern without any further timing-dependent modifications. We would even say that draws match the pattern better than fades (or at least almost straight delicate pushes). Moreover, we should not be afraid of hitting the ball fat (so typical with the desire to draw the ball) since obtaining a long flat spot even before the ball is not a mystery any more for us. As we know we need closed shoulders and increased spine tilt already at setup and then a limited pivot with depressed rear shoulder and then a linear trigger compression phase. We do not need to change anything after that, just to follow the trigger and swing on the outside-to-outside basis (please refer to the 'Bow Tie Concept' article).<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--cF7iLdbDiw/Xob1kYgr0QI/AAAAAAAABHA/3t_rFZBhrDcBb5svOn3Vl3YGeXDh4ucDwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/HorizontalGullotine.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1600" height="135" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--cF7iLdbDiw/Xob1kYgr0QI/AAAAAAAABHA/3t_rFZBhrDcBb5svOn3Vl3YGeXDh4ucDwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/HorizontalGullotine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The above diagramme shows from bird view the so-called Horizontal Guillotine Effect that is being required in simplification during the first part of the downswing from the top of the swing (left) up to entering the impact zone (right). The linear motion of the whole body (not only hips like in the Stack&Tilt pattern) is very easy, especially for RED golfers (this is another great feature as these golfers are in vast majority), and can happen without jeopardizing anything because of the increased axis tilt preset at address in the Senior Swing pattern that does not change during the motion. It is virtually impossible to enter the hitting area from the outside taking into account shifting this wedge-shaped body correctly and simultaneously knowing that we should not hit with anything below elbows since these body parts are for us the parts of the club system (please refer to the Automatic Shallowing via Sweetspot article). </div>
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Now please look at this diagramme below:</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oQWAc0PTmp0/Xob_Gm-1zII/AAAAAAAABHY/NRAwAfK_Nhc9RCAk1W288TXxsEthaKjSACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/L-R.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="633" height="206" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oQWAc0PTmp0/Xob_Gm-1zII/AAAAAAAABHY/NRAwAfK_Nhc9RCAk1W288TXxsEthaKjSACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/L-R.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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If we enter the hitting area with such a wedge, so to speak, our lead side appears to be much "wider" than the rear one in the coronal plane which is great as it prevents from throwing the rear side to the outside. This "width" is also present because of our lead humerus sticking out in front of the torso (while the rear humerus stays rather behind the torso). We only cannot let the rear "thin" side to "widen" prematurely, as this leads to numerous problems with the execution of the swing. The best feeling that accompanies this idea is not only to try to hit with humera close to the body but also to "hit with the rear scapula". It is also very interesting for all rear side dominant players that, again, are in the vast majority. Powerful, yet still effortless, shots from the inside are the desirable results.<br />
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P.S. There are no pure examples of the Horizontal Guillotine Effect in tour swings of course, however, some great swings (especially of greats in their older days) show the linear motion of their shoulder girdle together with their head after transition; while looking at the below gifs simply imagine less rotation aiming at delivering closed shoulders line to the hitting area (without concentrating on head dips):<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-obAhiR6czUs/XpFvcuqehiI/AAAAAAAABHk/m_dytYbXXDg-B-hJSuipVntzaA94lksJQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ByronNelsonHGE.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-obAhiR6czUs/XpFvcuqehiI/AAAAAAAABHk/m_dytYbXXDg-B-hJSuipVntzaA94lksJQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/ByronNelsonHGE.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-52921427240917527652019-11-21T10:38:00.003+01:002022-02-05T23:22:25.365+01:00Solutions to Lengthen the Flat Spot. Part 5. Controlling Up and Down Movements: Little Help from Physics and Anatomy.<br />
We asked the following questions in the previous article: what should we do to let the sweetspot guide our swings through the MOI axis automatically ? And how to make our forearms and wrists be parts of
our clubs ? In order to find the answers we need to take into account a little of biophysics. Prof. Theodore P. Jorgensen, in his excellent book titled "The Physics od Golf", explains to golfers how to use angular acceleration and torques to their benefit on base of the experiments illustrated below (the stick symbolizes golfer's lead arm):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbhzpCHz0lRzDmZy8SZrcmDjUuBCfOXXCGdNqf6eSWIcP5I6zTPHEZ6CpODN9CFnU4-a9eXl52pQlyOVqzreC3CLyadvI7xyeYnwGJP7NSW3RXmdkYtBDFM7vZSVL4OaMy3OZy4k8f0I/s1600/JorgensenExperiments.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="1508" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbhzpCHz0lRzDmZy8SZrcmDjUuBCfOXXCGdNqf6eSWIcP5I6zTPHEZ6CpODN9CFnU4-a9eXl52pQlyOVqzreC3CLyadvI7xyeYnwGJP7NSW3RXmdkYtBDFM7vZSVL4OaMy3OZy4k8f0I/s320/JorgensenExperiments.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We can see that if the lead shoulder pulls the arm parallelly there will be no lead arm rotation; if arm is angled to the vector of pulling force, the rotation will happen.<br />
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The difference between Prof. Jorgensen's examples and our studies is since we would like to have both humera as parts of the body while both forearms be a part of the club. It should be pointed out that forearm rotation is much easier achievable than the rotation of the whole arm which is very important in view of a subtle difference between club's MOI axis and shaft. Such a scenario is possible only when arms are not extended or hyperextended. It is easy to see this making a simple excercise: extend fully your arm and rotate it -- the whole arm (humerus and forearm) rotates; when it is not extended (only a little not extended is enough) -- only the forearm rotates (we wrote about this phenomenon in the first series of our articles in 2010, see: 'The Arms'). Let us see now our diagramme based on the Prof. Jorgensen's examples below:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--umDoSqE360/XcUkgixCOGI/AAAAAAAABF8/KWMVS4hg4sEVwuQf6zZaLMyo9vQLD3bCACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Jorgensen%2BForearms.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="1026" height="251" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--umDoSqE360/XcUkgixCOGI/AAAAAAAABF8/KWMVS4hg4sEVwuQf6zZaLMyo9vQLD3bCACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Jorgensen%2BForearms.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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It is to be pointed out that the sense of rotation will be always enhanced by the fact that the club rotated around its MOI axis and not around the shaft. Automation is full and the only one condition is not to allow the arms (especially the left one) extend fully at address and during the first part of the backswing. The lead arm will straighten unintentionally later on with the help of lack of centripetal force and, finally, with the help of gravity.<br />
Nevertheless, there is one more important problem, namely the wrist joint that somehow links the forearm to the club. If wrists are like the chain between two nunchaku sticks it would be perfect. Alas, it is not despite the fact that wrist joints are very mobile ones. The point is to allow its full mobility come into force.<br />
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The best solution for having both allowing the automation of forearm rotation as well as full mobility of the wrists I could ever find is a firm but loose grip. You might remember both articles referring to building automatically a very firm grip (i.e. 'The Tale of a Left-Handed Knight and a Lady with Fan' and 'Melting Two Hands into One. Rear Hand Joins the Puzzle' from the year 2014) -- they are very valid always. Tightening the grip by fingers' action has a very big negative effect on both cases. However, it is antisubconscious to let the grip be very loose as our subconscious mind does not want to let the club go out of our hands, therfore, we need to use a smart trick here. Please take a look on the following GIF (taken from one of my favourite Western movies titled "The Fastest Gun Alive"):<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KgCrWzI6VeE/XcgsmZ5H9II/AAAAAAAABGI/tjQHDZUJllUCZrRITR5EdZ30AkZ-jIl3wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/The%2BFastest%2BGun%2BAlive%2B%25281956%2529%2BGlenn%2BFord%252C%2BJeanne%2BCrain%252C%2BBroderick%2BCrawford_2.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="640" height="176" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KgCrWzI6VeE/XcgsmZ5H9II/AAAAAAAABGI/tjQHDZUJllUCZrRITR5EdZ30AkZ-jIl3wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BFastest%2BGun%2BAlive%2B%25281956%2529%2BGlenn%2BFord%252C%2BJeanne%2BCrain%252C%2BBroderick%2BCrawford_2.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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Put a special attention to how the Vinnie Harold character (played by a great actor Broderick Crawford) treat his guns before a forthcoming duel. He pronates both forearms to the inside using his thumbs in order to minimalize the friction between his guns and holsters and avoiding any potential blocking). Surprisingly, this action is in a great accordance with the process of forming the Bio-K grip (merging a strong lead and a weak rear hand position); it sort of tightens the grip several times before loosing the tightness. Watch closely again in a slow motion:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KwhPeAoES6rTX3GtR7f6yfsOGLm8Djb_s2cX03EVzNe4D3ZhEPsGAsNTG-6HG4rXygwBhkaIn2_jkumTvzCDYxCUPMdmfb10iLFGMaXalgzqdkYqYrpIgIbJVshr_Cv2XiN4j3nCNCI/s1600/ezgif.com-crop.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="301" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KwhPeAoES6rTX3GtR7f6yfsOGLm8Djb_s2cX03EVzNe4D3ZhEPsGAsNTG-6HG4rXygwBhkaIn2_jkumTvzCDYxCUPMdmfb10iLFGMaXalgzqdkYqYrpIgIbJVshr_Cv2XiN4j3nCNCI/s320/ezgif.com-crop.gif" width="273" /></a></div>
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The above method works for us perfectly, but it can be one of quite a few ones. The most important goal is to ensure maximal loosenes of wrists while maintaining stability of gripping the club lightly.<br />
If we are able to fulfill this goal everything become automatic -- forearms act involuntarily following the club rotating around its MOI axis and, in consequence, helping vividly in creating a repeatable shallow arc of the sweetspot that we want to achieve.<br />
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And here is a small video reassuming the whole subject:<br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-22001757379341133542019-08-19T20:04:00.001+02:002019-08-19T20:04:27.339+02:00Solutions to Lengthen the Flat Spot. Part 4. Controlling Up and Down Movements: Automatic Shallowing via Sweetspot.<br />
Well, first of all I feel the need to apologize to my readers that they had to wait so long for this article. Although the general concept was in my mind already after finishing the previous part, I still required more time than I thought to find the most automatic method of shallowing the club in the downswing without jeopardizing the longest possible flat spot idea. The solution was so simple yet deeply hidden as I have never suspected the way golf clubs are being built can be of any help in biokinetics. If only, I always treated it as an obstacle remembering famous quote of Sir Winston Churchill: “Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into an ever smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose”. He was very wrong, but ad rem.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfGVFwwCY69p4naz98dZMsxGghK0RU_j8APtjJQpbFWrvXkIE4-Dc5OsVIWhbA7FRnFQ669Zsiui0WeMH8whsTP-iJa1Qb5UfU76K269Nl7hhjjzJlQoBgrmqn3TAikV5x9Nkif_7KJY/s1600/Clubhead+Axes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="965" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfGVFwwCY69p4naz98dZMsxGghK0RU_j8APtjJQpbFWrvXkIE4-Dc5OsVIWhbA7FRnFQ669Zsiui0WeMH8whsTP-iJa1Qb5UfU76K269Nl7hhjjzJlQoBgrmqn3TAikV5x9Nkif_7KJY/s320/Clubhead+Axes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The whole golf club moment of inertia axis is neither the same as the shaft axis nor it is parallel to the shaft axis. This happens because heads of all clubs (except some funky patters) sort of stick out of their shafts. Thus, the axis goes from the top of the club through the center of mass of the head which corresponds linearily to the clubface sweetspot (in fact, the axis would run a bit closer to the heel of the clubhead, therefore between the clubhead CoM and the shaft, but for the better understanding of the whole phenomenon let us leave it as it is).<br />
Now, when a club is in movement while this axis is above the shaft (as in address while the head is sticking up and North assuming we face North) simple Newtonian physics make the head open or closed, depending on the orientation of the movement and the position of the clubhead in relation to the gravity vector. Simply saying, during the late backswing it will be opening and tending to go down behind us while during late downswing it will start closing and go to the ball.<br />
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What happens when the head is opening and going down ? The CoM of the clubhead tends to go first outside than under the shaft because of gravity. In consequence, it additionally supports shallowing of the shaft axis. I said additionaly because the very gravity and the mass of the head shallows the shaft axis per se no matter if the head is being open or not, however the process of further opening of the clubhead thanks to the clubhead MoI makes it much more effective. Moreover, if the clubhead MoI determines the way the shaft should be shallowed it means, no more no less, that the clubface sweetspot controls the optimal way for shallowing the shaft -- no matter what is the natural method of shaft shallowing for a given golfer (see: previous article).<br />
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But how can we achieve this unintentionally ? The answer is easier yet more revolutionary than ever suspected. We need simply to let the clubhead CoM and the whole club MoI axis lead our forearms during their movements. Lead and rear arm behaves differently from each other because lead one is straight and rear one is bent during the swing motion. When the arm is straight the humerus part and the forearm part rotate together, when it is bent the forearm rotates independently on the humerus, moreover, the humerus range of motion is much limited in this situation. Forearms and wrists can easily spoil the result of the swing by their intentional motions and affect badly the technique of achieving the long flat spot, thus, we need to get rid of them.<br />
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We need to view the whole arm-club system as both forearms are part of the club, not the arm (i.e. a "device" that brings the club into motion) and let them rotate freely according to the motion of the club. It is to be pointed out that both forearms wil match their rotary movements to each other automatically as their common goal is to hit the ball with the face of the clubhead. Moreover, the CoM of the clubhead will automatically "steer" the sweetspot to the ball in a shallow way ensuring a long and stable flat spot area. Hence the idea of hitting the ball with humera (as the element linking arms and golf clubs are elbow joints) is so attractive -- there is no further need to take into account either a complex two-bone movements of forearms nor even more complex multibone movement of wrists. Last but not least, the "shorter" are distal parts of the body in our mind the easier is to match their movements to the main body movement. The great Ben Hogan would surely agree to the above taking into account what he said about the role of hands in the swing motion in his 5L book: <br />
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<i style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.00784314); border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.983333587646484px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">THE
ACTION OF THE ARMS IS MOTIVATED BY THE MOVEMENTS OF THE BODY, AND THE
HANDS CONSCIOUSLY DO NOTHING BUT MAINTAIN A FIRM GRIP ON THE CLUB. </b><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">(p. 82 of the book)</span></i></blockquote>
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What is also important, the famous Hogan's idea of two-handed basketball pass can be easily described as a humera motion with unintentional and subconscious motion of forearms that can happen because of the friction between hands and the grip combined with the weight of the golf club and its MoI (remember -- the whole club's MoI axis !). Please look at the below drawing from the 5L book and try to differ the shadowed parts (humera "belonging" to the body) from unshadowed parts (forearms "belonging" to the club -- or to the basketball in this case):<br />
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The fundamental questions now are: what should we do to let the sweetspot guide our swings through that axis automatically ? And how to make our forearms and wrists be parts of our clubs ? Are there true simplified solutions available ? I have been looking for real answers and hence I did not want to publish the above article earlier...<br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-4264164992270347542018-11-15T18:14:00.003+01:002019-12-18T09:08:56.798+01:00Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Shallowing But Were Afraid to Ask.<br />
Before we proceed to the Part 4. of the series devoted to the lengthening of the flat spot we need to explain the process of decreasing the angle of downswing path which is also known as shallowing of the path or club or shaft in macroscale. This is, by the way, a very hot topic in the golf instruction nowadays.<br />
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The golf swing action takes place in a 3-D spacial world. It means that -- taking into account the ball lies on the ground -- golfers need to use both vertically as well as horizontally oriented movements. Since the goal is to hit the ball our mind partially associates it with a "chopping wood with an axe" up and down pure vertical motion (power element) with a vivid help from gravity. Unfortunately, it is not so easy. Hitting onto the ball is not enough to play golf. The goal is to hit the ball the way it goes to the West (assuming we face North when taking stance). This brings a "pushing down the line" from the East to the West pure horizontal motion (direction element) into play (vector of which does not act always in accordance with the gravity). The inavoidable mixture of both elements determine the characteristics of the downswing path of the club of course together also with the backswing path characteristics.<br />
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As we already know well the downswing path of the club must be as shallow as possible to ensure the longest possible flat spot (a wide letter U instead a narrow V) since the smaller the angle of the downswing path is the sooner the path touches the ground (and begins the flat spot, so to speak). Speaking theoretically, if the angle of the path was 0 degrees the flat spot would be as long as the route of the clubhead -- and, consequently, if the angle was 90 degrees the flat spot would be just a point on the ground). Take a look on the aerial view of Greg Norman here (notice also his slap-hinge release here) and imagine it is a 2-D action:<br />
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In reality, neither we can swing at 0 (because we would have to literally put our hands on the ground) nor at 90 degree angle (since the swing motion would be very limited as in case of short putts). We need to raise our arms and engage body pivot in order to make the swing strong enough and, thus, we usually make the path steeper than we wanted. Luckily, we can make the downswing path shallower what would help us with lengthening the flat spot without loss of power (the additional advantage is ensuring the inside approach to the ball). Let us list then possible biokinetical scenarios of shallowing the club (decreasing the angle) in the downswing phase below (not mentioning the pivot itself and pressures into the ground that are always present in all golf swings):<br />
- enlarging the spine side tilt;<br />
- thrusting hips forward (to the North);<br />
- wrists action (rear wrist dorsal flexion and/or lead wrist palmar flexion); <br />
- pushing arms or specific part of them forward (to the North);<br />
- clockwise rotation of arms or specific parts of them,<br />
and all possible random combinations of the above actions.<br />
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<b>Enlarging the spine tilt (a.k.a. secondary spine tilt)</b> is a natural phenomenon on the subconscious level and occurs in all correctly performed swing motions since we are bipeds and we transfer the dynamic weight in accordance with the orientation of the motion, i.e. to the West. When our head remains more or less stationary the amount of the spine side tilt must simply increase. Just to add, we recommended creating the tilt as large as possible at setup in our previous article so that the amount of its increasement (and, therefore, a timing-prone change in the swing) was reduced.<br />
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<b>Thrusting hips forward (to the North) </b>is just a phenomenon called early extension. This is something that we do not want in our swings since it brings lots of problems and should be eliminated, not promoted. We shall not deal with it any more then.<br />
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<b>Wrists action (rear wrist dorsal flexion and/or lead wrist palmar flexion)</b> as an unintentional move is rather rare and happens usually when the backswing ends very high independently on the backswing characteristics. It can be natural for Koepka's slight OTT-from-Inside pattern as well as for D.Johnson's slight reverse rerouting one.<br />
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<b>Pushing arms or specific part of them forward (to the North)</b> is just subconscious movement of the hands and/or rear elbow/forearm forward while letting the clubhead drop gravitationally down; the famous<span class="hw"> </span>OTT-from-Inside procedure descripts this very well in detail. This is the most natural scenario for the vast majority of people because the orientation of the motion is in accordance with the orientation of the pivot. The motion of the hands forward shallows the shaft per se, however, additional shallowing moves (as e.g. humerus external rotation -- see: Hogan or wrist motion -- see: Koepka) can be of further assistance as well. This scenario is usually related to inside backswing paths and closed stances.<br />
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<b>Clockwise rotation of arms or specific parts of them</b> practically happens unintentionally to a bigger or lesser degree in all motions. However, a special place here is reserved for the so-called reverse rerouting procedure golfers. It is natural scenario only for a small percentage of golfers because the first move after transition is against the orientation of the entire motion. Additional shallowing moves (as e.g. wrist motion -- see: D.Johnson) can be of further assistance as
well. This scenario is usually related to outside backswing paths and open stances.<br />
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After this introduction we can proceed to work on Part 4. of the series that will concentrate on presenting the most efficient shallowing procedure for our goals. Hopefully everything is clear now as the question of shallowing is often misunderstood in the macroscale and the errors in understanding can be easily transferred to the microscale.<br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-43393203566065274712018-10-01T15:04:00.000+02:002018-10-30T20:36:58.775+01:00Solutions to Lengthen the Flat Spot. Part 3. Controlling Up and Down Movements: the Spine.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Speaking about seniors, what bother them a lot are spinal problems. We need to help them to use the spine the way it is safe from injuries and "easy to use", so to speak. Not coincidentally, the dreaded up and down movements affect spine a lot, or better said, our spine takes huge part in performing these kind of movements during the swing motion (coupled with rotary motion of the spine which burdons the spine incredibly).<br />
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As mentioned in the Slap-Hinge Release articles, the key position for our spines to minimize any other movements is lateral side bend. That is why we recommended an exaggerated primary axis tilt so that the rotation of the spine (mainly thoracic, to a lesser degree lumbar and cervical parts) is not so violent. In fact, the best would be to set the spine in the secondary axis tilt position at setup; it is not quite possible because of the nature of the whole motion, but surely the amount of the secondary axis tilt amount will be diminished.<br />
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We have created recently very useful notions of WAB (well-anchored bow) and SWAB (stretched well-anchored bow) so that it is easy to have these ideas in mind. Please take a look above at this beautiful sequence of Sam Snead consisting of address position and transition. We would like to draw everyone's attention more to the process of "stretching the bow" than to creating the secondary axis tilt. We underline strongly also the word "well-anchored" as it has a vivid connotation to feet that have to be extremely quiet and stable as well as slightly closed feet line in relation to the target and flared out decently.<br />
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How to archor it well and stretch well ? We need to be firm on the ground with our feet first. Next we need to exaggerate the primary axis tilt in the pelvic area which is equal to move the lead hip laterally targetwise; if you remember the famous Hogan's bump at transition (above), it is easy to understand this move and perform it well at address. Please also refer to the two articles about the Firm Lead Side and the notion of fixed extension at address.<br />
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We simply need to sit onto the lead hip, so to speak which prepares the lead hip for retaining firm position before going to SWAB procedure. The best results were obtained when rotating both flexed hips medially (colloquially it refers to spreading buttocks away) which move is responsible for the stretching part. Important part is that this position helps to retain hips in flexion until they both start to extend and rotate laterally well before entering the impact zone unintentionally. Look how it looks in motion of a great ballstriker from the rear (Mac O'Grady):<br />
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Another important aspect in the Senior Swing is the so-called depressed rear shoulder backswing which is related very closely to the exaggerated primary axis tilt. We need to eliminate steepness of the shoulders (reducing up & down movements) from the entire motion as it makes finding long flat spot on a reliable basis very difficult. We always liked how the best ballstrikers were pivoting squarely to their spines but we never stressed that shoulder girdle can behave differently to the spine, e.g. flatter or steeper. We need definitely the first one, tending to be almost parallel to the ground and, to our grand pleasure, we can observe this phenomenon in many swings of past greatest champs and best ballstrikers. Presetting protraction and depression (mentioned earlier in our articles concerning The Arms Situation) surely helps a lot in achieving that. Lastly, having the flat rear shoulder backswing is entirely compatible to the preset rear elbow in flexion that we talked about in the last article.<br />
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It is unbelievable how many things still remain unseen and, thus, not used in the golf swing instruction industry. The next part no. 4. of the article series will be even more shocking for many, I believe.<br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-90112639492836797822018-09-21T12:45:00.003+02:002019-11-21T10:28:33.771+01:00Solutions to Lengthen the Flat Spot. Part 2. Controlling Up and Down Movements: Knees and Elbows.<br />
There is no stabilization of the flat spot without neutralizing the impact of the changes in the body planes during the golf swing motion. These changes are inevitable taking into account the way humans are built. The most dreaded are the movements up and down of the body and arms. The flexion and extension movements in knees and elbows (up and down in golf so to speak) seem to be of critical importance, however, the spine side movements cannot be underestimated. Ideally, the setup position should match exactly the impact position but in theory only. Last but not least, the inventor of the flat spot concept, Mr. Phil
Rodgers, wanted us to limit the up and down movements in the knee joints while not letting them to flex too much so that the spot was as long as possible in the impact zone.<br />
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Let us see what joints are the most vulnerable (red) for transverse plane movements from the ground up -- knee joints and elbow joints (for golfers practically only rear elbow joint as the lead one is not supposed to be in a flexion). Stabilizing their flexion/extension movements during the motion is of critical importance. As shown on this beautiful image of Ben Hogan from his 5L book, there are also joints of secondary importance in this matter (orange), such as ankle, hip and shoulder joints. What is great, it is easy to take control on these joints while we work on knee and elbow ones.<br />
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We have discovered, among others thanks to Abe Mitchell's wonderful work, albeit he did not say it so explicite, that one can easily control the flexion and extension via presetting torques in joints (external or internal rotation in both knee and rear elbow joints). As you might remember from our previous articles, we used to preset the rear knee joint in the process of taking the correct stance as well as rear elbow joint in the process of forming the Bio-K grip. We need now to neutralize the flexion/extension movements in both knees. Mitchell discovered that the most positive impact for him had been achieved via winding the muscles of thighs and and forearms forward (as shown on this picture taken from Abe's great book titled "Down To Scratch" below) which would make both knee and elbow joints immune to uncontrolled flexion or extension action there. </div>
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Now a word on the stance -- since the winding is forward it is recommended to make a small but important adjustment in the diagonal stance. We recommend to close the torso and shoulder girdle in relation to the target line a bit which is very compatible to the process of creating some additional amount of axis tilt. By the way, we discovered a great method to do it (especially easy for RED golfers as they usually see their nose contour when looking at the target from an angle), namely, we use the contour of our nose to cover completely the pin (or the place we want our ball to land). Thus, a bit open shoulders after winding become a bit closed (less for short clubs, quite a lot with the driver) as we subconsciously move our shoulder girdle with the head while looking at the target. With the exaggerated axist tilt the rear elbow remains in flexion beautifully.</div>
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Finally, a word about the trigger compression method. Because of the winding the shift onto the rear side has to be exaggerated a little. The best results we obtained with mixing Mac O'Grady's one with linear shift back.Also pretty good method is what we can observe in Byron Nelson's swing, i.e. rear knee on its bouncing reverse way sort of pulling the rear hip back.</div>
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One might ask what is the difference between this setup and the setup we used to do aiming at maximizing sequentiality of the motion via the SPC concept. In fact, not huge at all. The only one serious difference is the opposite orientation of the rear knee joint preset due to winding the muscles forward. The rear elbow joint is exactly preset the way we recommend several years earlier. Take a look at this two photos:</div>
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Mind you, we are dealing with swing model for seniors, therefore, we would need to enhance the rotation forward of the whole body. Besides, winding rear thigh muscles forward also has an effect similar to presetting the rear knee joint (knee goes slightly inward with this manouver), albeit not so strong to be able to evoke a sort of self-induced countertorque as in case of the SPC oncept way of presetting it. Nevertheless, seniors must take into account ageing of their joints and bones and avoid hypertorques if they want to enjoy golf as long as possible. The most enjoyable info is that some automatism can be also introduced here despite lack of stretching human body's abilities to the limits.</div>
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Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-84326233904015460932018-07-09T14:18:00.002+02:002022-03-24T09:27:35.504+01:00Solutions to Lengthen the Flat Spot. Part 1. What can We Learn from Moe Norman ?<br />
Let us start to propose some solutions that help to make the lengthening of the flat spot automatically using the properties of our human organism. Sadly, golf instruction do not deal with automatism -- perhaps theorists do not believe in that (as the action of human organism contains so many variables that it cannot be automated), perhaps they believe in muscle memory and repetitions, who knows. The truth is that although it is very difficult to find proper automating solutions -- they exist. Sometimes it is just a good brilliant idea that suddenly comes to mind, sometimes it is a hard work dedicated to observe the best ballstrikers that ever lived. This part one of the series is just a perfect example of the latter cases.<br />
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Moe Norman, a savage genius, whose legendary ballstriking is compared only to Ben Hogan. Tiger Woods said Moe and Hogan were the only one golfers who owned their swings. What does that mean ? To me it always sounded like a praise for automatism in their swings. Not coincidentally the key word of Hogan's best book "Five Lessons"is automatism (please revert for the details to the article named 'Mr.Hogan's Contribution to the Idea of Automating the Motion' here on our site). On the other hand, Moe Norman ironically said after nth ideally copied shots <i>"Why is this game so easy ?"</i><br />
We sincerely believe it is so easy because of serious automatism introduced into their swings, no doubt, supported with lots of training hours in both their cases.<br />
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We sacrificed lots of articles and vids to Ben Hogan in the past, time for the other genius ballstriker. What can we learn from Moe Norman then ? If you ask golf theorists why Moe was so great a ballstriker they would corcodantly say because of his single plane; of course, this is not true as Moe was not swinging at single plane (he was a double shifter who used to stay away from the ball with extended arms). Some others would say his wide stance contributed to this; we say not all people who perform wide stance at address are excellent balstrikers. Lastly, some says that <i>"his feet remained planted, keeping the foundation and trajectory of the flight true"</i> (both this quote as well as the above GIF taken from one of GolfDigest articles : https://www.golfdigest.com/story/what-you-can-learn-from-moe-no); this we find true, however, not as the cause, but the effect of what we are describing below.<br />
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Please look at his address with the driver...<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I5JnHrs2798/W0NHUySOstI/AAAAAAAAA9s/M7V0vkDpHB4SK49z6Y10PlfM3loqpyaNwCLcBGAs/s1600/moe-at-address-FO.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="613" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I5JnHrs2798/W0NHUySOstI/AAAAAAAAA9s/M7V0vkDpHB4SK49z6Y10PlfM3loqpyaNwCLcBGAs/s320/moe-at-address-FO.gif" width="257" /></a></div>
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...and the whole initial procedure with an iron...<br />
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What can we see there ? Placing the clubhead behind the ball -- an inch in case of irons, several inches in case of driver -- because of the fact that this is exactly where we want the flat spot to begin; in order to hit the teed ball on the upswing the flat spot must start earlier and end earlier. The whole procedure sort of presets the appearance of the flat spot in the impact zone as well as give signals to our subconscious mind to flatten the whole swing while approaching the impact zone. One can also subconsciously friendly hit at the ball (instead through it against ones subconscious mind) without losing swing speed prematurely. Last but not least, it gives more room for inevitable CoM shift to the lead leg without necessity of rapid increasement of the (secondary) axis tilt which can lead to inconsistencies. With all this it is very natural to swing with 'quiet feet' planted firmly on the ground even long after separation.<br />
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Also the distance between the clubface and the ball helps to set the correct path and clubhead angle for us. If the clubface is directly behind the ball our eyes cannot recognize ideal clubhead path and transfer it to out mind. We do not know that this was also Moe's intention (as he was incredibly straight hitter) but this seems so logical a consequence of Moe's set-up that it would be silly not to mention it. It is also worth noticing that for a neutral stock shot the clubhead (that lies behind the ball) should be placed according to the swing arc and not having its sweetspot in line with the ball -- slighty withdrawn with irons, much more with the driver (toe in line with the ball -- see the exaggerated image above). <br />
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Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-2844120744972445602018-03-01T18:44:00.000+01:002018-03-22T09:22:47.579+01:00The Senior Swing. Part 4. The Bow Tie Concept.<br />
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The flat spot must be as long as possible, therefore, the first contact with the soil must be done some time before the ball, not just before the ball so that erroring at hitting thin or fat can be eliminated. On the other hand, it cannot end just after the ball for the same reason . It cannot be V shaped since the timing of finding the low point would play too big a role. The sole of the clubhead should sweep through the ball. Moreover, the vertical swing must be wide, its radius must be as long as possible (remember the Jack Nicklaus's basketball image). The takeaway as well as the follow through must be wide and as long on the baseline as possible. A decent width of the swing arc is being achieved without its depth ! We are killing two birds with one stone here -- the arc is closer to our target line all the time during the swing motion and the pivot is not that critical which is very important for body-handicapped golfers. Also, the shoulder downswing plane is much less physically demanding than elbow downswing plane (especially the EEP).<br />
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First aid we can get is visual image of what we need to do. I am a bit familiar with the notion of the Bowtie method used to evaluate risks and consequencies. Our Bow Tie Concept is also based on the shape of popular men's decorative cloth but serves rather to minimize risks of playing bad shots. Let us juxtapose the image of the bow tie with the intercardinal directions symbolizing both backswing as well as downswing clubhead path (the flat spot in yellow covering the baseline close to the ball): <br />
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We see that recent golf swing instruction sometimes uses alignment
sticks for training; they cannot be used in regular play though while
the visualization of a bow tie on the ground in front of a golfer can be
used everywhere and always. This image is very easy to absorb by the subconscious mind's eye (as on the bird's eye picture of Greg Norman), the more we are basically dealing with clubface perpendicular to the swing path in our work on the Senior Swing:<br />
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The two basic shot patterns, except of course the straight one, are the in-to-out SE/NW push pattern (where the flat spot is not short but is located long before the ball) and the out-to-in NE/SW pull pattern (with almost no flat spot at all):<br />
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Searching for both lengthening as well as correct placing of the flat spot close to the ball we need to chart all the possible scenarios for shoulder downswing plane (single shift from EP to TSP in TGM terms). It is worth mentioning here that e.g. reverse OTT loop (examples: Furyk or Trevino) are associated with elbow downswing plane only (double shift from EP to TSP and back to EP in TGM terms) hence this very reduced number of patterns mentioned. It is worth mentioning that a typical in-to-in SE/SW pattern (below) is not useful at all because it is impossible for our brain to associate the pivoting motion with creating the linear flat spot idea:<br />
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Let us start with a relatively common pattern for both ordinary golfers and great champions, a very subconscious-friendly in-to-neutral 'OTT from inside' pattern (SE/neutral) which is equally popular among elbow downswing plane golfers (e.g. Jones, Snead, Hogan, Boros) and shoulder downswing plane ones which we are interested in (e.g. Demaret, Mangrum, Irwin):<br />
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The problem with this pattern is that although the flat spot is close to the ball it is relatively shortish. To lengthen it without moving it back behind the ball we need to introduce an odd, at first look, the out-to-out NE/NW pattern:<br />
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It is impossible to swing like that in reality, however, it is possible to sort of bend the reality for our mind while trying to merge a slightly outside takeaway with a slightly outside follow through which results in approaching the ball from inside. This pattern is totally compatibile with less amount of body rotation (that anyhow exists and flatten both red arrows to baseline) and conversion of depth into width (what we discussed earlier). Not coincidentally, the only one golfer that can be close to this pattern is the late Jack Nicklaus who wanted to find a pattern close to swinging the clubhead along the baseline while literally sweeping the ball.<br />
His pattern is not as sexy as Hogan's or Snead's -- perhaps this is why it is hard to find theorists that would try to understand it and promote it. This was true in my case before when I was not interested to analyze anything else from the EEP pattern, but finally it seems simple ageing with all its consequences made me start researching and finding the swing pattern of best golfer that ever lived...<br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-43940148834297531602018-02-05T20:25:00.003+01:002020-03-22T20:13:07.227+01:00The Senior Swing. Part 3. Mr.Rodgers's Argumentation about the Flat Spot.<br />
Before we proceed to reveal our findings it would be unfair if we omit the original argumentation of the concept inventor, Phil Rodgers. Although the flat spot topic in fact does not take much space in the 'Play Lower Handicap Golf' book, there is another source. We have invested some time and money in finding and purchasing one for the old Golf Digest magazines with a detailed and heavily illustrated article about the flat spot idea (we use here scanned photos from this article) in which the author explains how to manufacture a long flat spot we all should desire to have. Let us present below the summary.<br />
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First of all, Rodgers recommends swinging level, not down.<i> 'Think of hitting the ball in the back rather than striking down on it. The idea is to lengthen your flat spot, where the clubhead is moving parallel to the ground. You want to contact the ball at the start of the flat spot with your irons and the middle of the flat spot with your woods'.</i><br />
We totally agree to the above knowing how disastrous hitting down on the ball can be when not being able to deliver the clubhead from the inside. Thinking about hitting in the back of the ball is great unless we learn how to avoid hitting the ground inches before the ball. Mind you, our subconscious mind learns on our bad and good experiences.<br />
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Next recommendation from the author is the idea of swinging underhanded up to the ball. Rodgers wants us to swing our arms down as low as possible while releasing lag angles as soon as possible. Obviously it should be a good receipt for lengthening the flat spot by starting it as early as possible before the ball. As our readers may remember from the 'Skipping Stones in Troy. OTT from Inside Revisited' article we argued that the majority of golfers need exactly the opposite idea to skipping stones move because it is not natural for them at all. Moreover, while recommending the slap-hinge release type with the in-to-in path we do not want at all the flat spot to start so early before the ball; neither we do want to base the downswing on a linear slide over the ball (it is worth mentioning here, however, that Rodgers is an advocate of the in-to-out swing path) -- hence we are not with the author here.<br />
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According to Rodgers we should keep the light end of the club (i.e. the grip) below the heavy end (i.e. the clubhead) in plane, '[...]<i>which is another way of saying that you should swing the club on the same plane back and through. If your club is out of plane, either to the left or to the right, the clubhead will feel heavier'. </i>And later he says: <i>'The clubface and shaft should always be in line with the straight arm in the swing. On the backswing and start of the downswing, the left is the straight arm. On the follow-through, it's the right'. </i>Although we admit that this point can appear to be a little fancy, it is a valid one. We shall return to it in the part dedicated to the Bow Tie Concept.<br />
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This one is really important -- we argee fully with the author. One should stand tall, should maintain one's height with minimum of flex in the knees and centered head as well as one's lead side should feel long while the rear one (sagittal plane) should feel low (which corresponds well to the necessity of having a decent primary and secondary axis tilts that we mentioned in the 'Mastering Slap-Hinge Release' series of articles. There should be as minimal sitting down action during the downswing as possible. We will also revert to this section while discussing the head cradle motion in the context of relationship between the arc of motion of hands and the club in the downswing phase.<br />
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<i>'Like a pendulum, not like a metronome' </i>-- it is the motto of the last page of the Rodgers's article. He advocates more turning than sliding which we do agree to fully. We both seem to share the thought that centered pivot swings are more efficient.<br />
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This is the essence of the great concept that Phil Rodgers thought out. <b>Our goal now is to find the best way to automate the process of obtaining the flat spot long enough for performing the slap-hinge release while swinging in-to-in. </b><br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-9231540861871620122018-01-24T00:16:00.001+01:002020-04-24T13:04:30.155+02:00The Senior Swing. Part 2. A Short but Enlightening Story.<br />
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Imagine a new golfer's brain beginning his adventures with golf. The golfer of course tries to hit the ball straight, that's for sure. Next, he likes to hit the ball straight and get it airborne. His brain looks for solutions what to do with these funny sticks -- how to deliver them at the ball to fulfil these goals. And that is how the story begins...<br />
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The <i>tabula rasa</i> starts with steering the clubhead alongside the baseline (let us believe it is aimed flawlessly straight at the target) and, simultaneously, he/she wants to scoop the ball because it does not trust in clubs' lofts yet. The result is obvious -- he/she hits long before the ball. Phil Rodgers writes: <i>"A slicer has little or no flat spot, and a hooker's flat spot is too far behid the ball"</i>. Thus, the brain thinks how to avoid it and concludes that hitting from the outside across the ball is a cure. The brain accepts this easily, it is easy to hit the ball this way because it lies on the ground. Moreover, everyone says that one should hit the small ball before the big one (our Earth). However, a new problem arises -- the ball does not want to go straight at the target, it goes well left of the target. Until now, the brain associated the direction of the ball with downswing path direction with the clubface square to the path (hence, by the way, the so-called old ball flight laws were so long <i>en vogue </i>and millions of golfers including the greats built the whole game around them). Now it becomes obvious that toying with the clubface angle and delivering an open clubface to the path results in making the ball start more to the right and it also seems to curve even more right to the target. The vicious circle running...<br />
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Let us begin the same story a bit differently. What would happen if this new golfer would not have hit the first balls fat ? Or better said, if this new golfer hits long before the ball but he does not hit it fat ? Or even better said, this new golfer is somehow able to create a long flat spot that starts long before the ball and then sweeps the clubhead evenly through the ball ? The answer is simple -- this new golfer starts to hit the ball relatively straight from the beginning (of course trust in loft must take some time but let's forget about it now).<br />
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<b>The conclusion is -- the golf instruction for newbies should concentrate on automating the process of finding the best way to let new golfers hit it fat from inside without hitting it fat. IT MIGHT BE THE MOST IMPORTANT GOLF SWING TRUTH EVER WRITTEN</b> <b>FOR ALL GOLFERS.</b> Both Rodgers and Nicklaus thought about the same idea as well but rather in the context of helping accomplished golfers to work out consistent swing without lots of timing issues and verbalized it not so <i>explicite</i>. Coincidentally or not, this is also our current universal goal with working on the Senior Swing principles, for both accomplished ones as well as weekend hackers. Stay tuned, we shall try to work out the method of automating the process of obtaining long flat spot.<br />
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P.S. More specific and realistic graphics of the Flat Spot in our golf forum.<br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-1834633138542140362018-01-11T14:48:00.001+01:002018-01-24T00:17:39.956+01:00The Senior Swing. Part 1. The Introduction.<br />
We have already decided that the senior swing (i.e. the motion for older and body-handicapped golfers) should be based on the slap-hinge release type for the reasons that has been already explained. It is also well known that this release type, although the most natural from all three, is also somehow timing-dependent in the sphere of a consistent and repeatable finding of the low point of the swing arc. There are two great concepts created by two great minds that will help us to search for the answers that are going to solve that problem.<br />
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The first one has been mentioned by arguably the best player of all times. The late Jack Nicklaus thought that the ideal swing plane is vertical (perpendicular to the ground) because clubhead is always on the baseline and, therefore, all shots would be perfectly straight. <i>"The ideal way to play golf would be to swing the club in a vertical plane -- like a pendulum. That way your club would never deviate from your target line, and, assuming you could also devise a way the clubface square to the target, you'd be bound to hit every shot straight".</i> Of course this is only half of the truth because: a. it is not physically possible to swing that way for a human and b. he was right only in one dimension (the ideal swing plane from the other dimension is horizontal (as in baseball swing) because clubhead is all the time on the ball level -- but it would merely touch the baseline for a very short one moment in time (not mentioning it is also not physically possible). In such situations usually the best equillibrium from the geometric point of reasoning is to have the swing path on a 45 degree angle.<br />
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Moreover, it is also important to support the shaft with the rear forearm acting on the same plane as the shaft for as long as possible before and after the contact (hence the early elbow plane in a pivot-subdued swing motion). Not coincidentally, the EEP angle is also very close to 45 degree and perpendicular to the turning core:<br />
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Late Nicklaus's more vertical swing arc angle calls for something different though. As the vast majority of senior and body handicapped golfers cannot have a decent quality pivots (usually the biggest problems are associated with lack of depth in the body turn) it become obvious that the angle of the path must increase which calls urgently for some rescue adjustments in the swing. In TGM terms the elbow plane is being replaced by the turned shoulder plane and the rear forearm does not support the shaft being parallelly behind it approaching impact zone.<br />
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What is to be pointed out here the slap-hinge release also needs the same adjustments aimed at consistent and repeatable finding of the low point of the swing arc. Nicklaus claimed very wisely that the rescue is to wide the swing arc as long as possible in the sagittal plane.<i> "An upright plane gives the golfer his best chance of swinging the club along the target line at impact. However, uprightness of plane must be accompanied by width of arc [...]."</i><br />
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It is perhaps enough to provide the motion with necessary clubhead speed, however, it is not enough to solve the problem of timing issues while finding low point. The correct answer is to make the bottom of the swing arc as flat as possible for as long as possible. We are now passing fluently to the second of the two great concepts -- this one was invented by famous player and theorist Phil Rodgers and called the flat spot. Let us quote the great man himself:<i> "I want the club moving parallel, or level, with the ground when it strikes the ball, and continuing level for some five or six inches afterward. The parallel zone [...] is the flat spot". </i><br />
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Rodgers argues wisely some advantages of the flat spot such as less resistance to the clubhead than in case of hitting down at the ball, clubhead moving more quickly in the impact zone, reducing shock to the hands or providing greater compression of the ball on the clubface. While he may be very right with all of them <b>the biggest advantage of long flat spot is eliminating of timing issues that accompany the process of finding low point in the arc, which means the remedy we are looking for for the senior swing. </b><br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-45774322570457686952017-12-04T14:04:00.005+01:002020-04-24T13:05:31.659+02:00Scapular Plane Humerus Takeaway<br />
Movement of the arm into elevation, which has to happen during the backswing phase, can have significant implications for the stability of the whole upper body and is being based on the coordinated movement of scapulae and humera. The most important thing is that scapulae do not lie completely straight against your back but they are angled slightly forward, approximately 30 degrees anterior (forward) to the frontal plane. This is the Scapular Plane at which the arm elevation should occur so that dusrupting the overall stability is avoided.<br />
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As read on musculoskeletalkey.com, <i>"shoulder abduction in the scapular plane, often referred to as scaption, positions the greater tuberosity of the humerus under the highest point of the acromion and helps to prevent bony impingement, regardless of the amount of rotation of the glenohumeral joint. This can be verified by performing abduction in the scapular plane, with the upper extremity positioned in internal rotation, in neutral, or in external rotation. Scapular plane abduction is more natural than abduction in the pure frontal plane. The humeral head fits better against the glenoid fossa, and the ligaments and muscles (in particular, the supraspinatus) are more optimally aligned to promote proper shoulder mechanics".</i> Scapular muscles are in best position to work with scaption angle. <br />
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The Scapular Plane Humerus Takeaway is just humeral abduction alongside the angle created during set-up which should correspond to the scapular plane. Extension and external rotation parts happen unintentionally later on in the backswing phase because it is no other option left. When being at address the flexion part is already done because the torso is not perpendicular but slanted in relation to the ground while humerus is sort of perpendicular to it. Watch the following pics to understand the idea better -- at setup it looks like this...:<br />
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...now we rotate the pic...:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xwk76ph_KLM/WiVB0FzgTjI/AAAAAAAAA3I/Q7bQSiwXFlQcu50K-oX9b_L7yKBsHXfagCLcBGAs/s1600/ScaptionAngleRotated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="628" height="318" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xwk76ph_KLM/WiVB0FzgTjI/AAAAAAAAA3I/Q7bQSiwXFlQcu50K-oX9b_L7yKBsHXfagCLcBGAs/s320/ScaptionAngleRotated.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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...and, finally, we can see the scaption angle as if in the anatomical position:<br />
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That is why it is absolutely enough to perform pure abduction movement with the rear humerus to be on the scapular plane which means elevation in the transverse plane since there is no possibility to abduct the humerus without elevating it. We do not need to worry about anything, just transfer the energy gathered by shoulder girdle trigger compression and move our rear humerus away from the body. We wish to underline here the shoulder joints protraction element that is a must (please refer to "The Arms Situation' article on our site).<br />
Yes, it is that simple. The turning body will take care of the rest. It is a pity that there are not many swings recorded from that angle but luckily we could find Sergio Garcia's one below; imagine how great the Scapular Angle Humerus Takeaway concept can turn to be:<br />
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Additionally, it is to be pointed out that scaption angle can be present not only during the backswing with rear humerus but also during the follow through with lead one provided the turn of the body is decent. It is another argument for those who agree to Stewart Maiden and claim that the body pivot is the most important thing, there is no other way...<br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-31322508903191659702017-11-22T11:35:00.003+01:002020-04-24T13:06:21.033+02:00Mastering Slap-Hinge Release. Part 3.<br />
Let us proceed to describe how to automate the set-up phase so that it matches to the slap-hinge release type. In the part 2. we underlined that it is crucial to stand as close to the ball as possible and to perform correctly the primary spine side tilt.<br />
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We shall start with a normal set-up procedure of the diagonal stance, however, with less lead foot flare and more rear foot flare angles (in order to help pivoting body in the backswing phase and obtain deeper backswing and also to force the lead side be firm a tad earlier) but still with rear knee joint preset that accompanies the SPC concept swing. The look is a bit less closed because of changing of the angle of both foot flares, nevertheless, the stance still has its diagonality.<br />
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The handle should be moved more targetwise, almost at impact fix position or between impact fix and mid-body hands at setup because of extra primary side tilt at address. Hands should be as close as possible to te body with arms both flexed in elbows. The antithetic waggle that helps vividly in obtaining primary axis tilt and setting the weight a bit onto the lead side also help with bringing handle forward to the point the lead arm is straight; then lowering the handle while bringing the lead shoulder into depression stamps the process and makes knees bend the proper amount.<br />
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Primary spine tilt should be obtained in the thoracic part of the spine so that the sholulders were not unnaturally slanted. It means that a slight modification is necessary in relation to the procedure described in the Arms Situation episode. The lead shoulder is in depression, but the rear one in elevation. Both shoulders of course are in protraction. Primary spine tilt is, therefore, mainly in thoracic part of the spine. The head should be slightly bent laterally antitargetwise.<br />
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The start of the entire motion happens through the trigger compression, however, since this kind of motion is more upper torso oriented, the trigger moves the upper torso to begin the upswing in a circular manner forward and helps to use gained inertia to perform the fanning rear humerus takeaway at the scaption angle (we shall revert to it in detail in the next article). The backswing subdues entirely to the SPC concept, the transition phase as well, hips act totally automatically (we do not think about them at all), then we use upper torso rotational power in a slightly slanted way because of the secondary axis tilt obtanined by hip slide and, finally, pouring rear hand power. The elbow plane is being achieved a bit later than in a classic EEP procedure for obvious reasons. The angles should be preserved till the end of the upper torso powering stage.<br />
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Last but not least, there is a good visual in the famous old
Mr.Hogan's beach video when the master poses in slow motion -- not
thinking about hip action neither slide nor turn at all and both
shoulder power and pouring rear hand stages are underlined !<br />
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For those who like to speak about feels the best image is the liquid metal flowing down sensation. As stated, the transition phase contains of unawareness of hips automatic action as per SPC concept,<br />
then first part of the downswing is just upper torso power and the liquid metal flowing towards the rear shoulder, followed by the second part of the downswing and liquid metal flowing to the rear hand just before impact.<br />
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Tommy Armour described how easy it might be:<i> "[...] by becoming acutely conscious of the necessity of a right-hand whip when the club is getting close to the ball, you will be pleasantly surprised at how your shoulders, hips and footwork are naturally disposed to co-ordinate with the hand action".</i><br />
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We recommend this type of swing to older and body-handicapped golfers as well as beginners who cannot sacrifice as many hours as they want for training and are prone to hit hard with their rear dominant arms:<br />
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Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-38547401681127875492017-10-12T16:21:00.002+02:002020-04-24T13:07:31.850+02:00Mastering Slap-Hinge Release. Part 2.<br />
First, we must be aware that properly executed slap-hinge release is not equal to a faulty scooping action when the hands are being left behind the ball. They are correctly positioned ahead of the ball just like in any of great push release shots. Great Tommy Armour explained it as follows: <i>"If you'll pause to consider, you will realize that if your hands are behind the ball at impact, you can only scoop the ball up. But if your hands are in front, you've got to smash the ball with lightning speed". </i>The difference between slap-hinge and push release lies in wrist action in accordance with a very simple rule -- the more hand action the less is the ability to hold angles in the natural way. Moreover, the angular velocity of body pivot is not that high any more, thus, some wrist action must simply happen before the swivel of forearms happens naturally in the follow through phase. That is why, despite the opinion of some bad instruction of today, it is nothing wrong in the lead wrist slight dorsal flexion (and the rear hand palmar flexion) after the ball has been hit. This is famous Wild Bill Mehlhorn (whom very Ben Hogan regarded as the best tee-to-green player he ever saw) and his impact action in a pure slap-hinge manner:<br />
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We can also observe this kind of action in other greats of yesteryear such as Harry Vardon or Bob Jones (interesingly the latter uses the slap-hinge release from sand (!) which somehow disqualifies arguments about problems with finding low point correctly consistently):<br />
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Since slap-hinge release is being based on the rear hand boost and the lead hand dorsal response to it the ball trajectory is prone to be a pull, especially when body pivot is weaker but still correctly executed from the ground up and core out as per SPC Concept. My own case confirmed it easily. Therefore, we need to be more careful about full implementing the subconscious-friendly OTT move that characterized so many great ballstrikers. We need now to turbo the impact conditions with rear hand action without worrying about ball going left as well as without holding angles post-impact. See this beautiful drawing from the best book of Sam Snead which shows how he imagine pouring the rear hand power into the ball:<br />
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It is worth mentioning here that Henry Cotton, whom we quoted in the part 1., was convinced that the rear hand, starting from a certain point in the late downswing, moves faster than the lead one and the proof was an extra blurriness on the photo (see: Forgotten Great Theorists series and the Henry Cotton episode).<br />
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In view of all the above, it is absolutely required to take into account the following measures:<br />
- to stand as close to the ball as possible (it promotes downswing inside approach);<br />
- to perform correctly spine side tilts, both primary and secondary (it also promotes downswing inside approach).<br />
We shall tell how the above can be easily automated during setup in the part 3. <br />
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Lastly, in case of not so effective body pivots, often the clubface can be left open at impact resulting in push shots, especially with longer clubs. We are of the opinion that it is better to train how to pivot correctly, but we are aware that age and illness can spoil such plans. Dumb instruction, in such cases, promotes crossover (roll) release, the worst of all three release types because of disastrous timing issues. The truth is, however, that we can adapt slap-hinge release here easily as well but with the following simple add-ons:<br />
- grip harder with your rear hand, especially by three first fingers (it promotes late but sure closing of the face, Johnny Miller used this thought while wanting to play a draw);<br />
- wind the rear forearm in a pronating manner up to the target in the Abe Mitchell's style; <br />
- if someone is a feel player, Jackie Burke says about concentrating on accelerating the clubhead, not
the whole arm, as a soultion for a too open clubface at impact.<br />
<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-4003964641744449462017-09-14T13:09:00.002+02:002021-03-18T22:06:46.269+01:00Mastering Slap-Hinge Release. Part 1.<br />
When growing older (and being far from having a perfect body shape) it is more and more tough to use the push release that must be accompanied by excellent body pivot. The entire season of 2017 I was struggling to obtain desirable effect with my current swing. It is still very reliable and repeatable, however, both distances achieved as well as tendency to leave the clubface open at impact (mainly with longer clubs) forced me to reshape my swing to be based on less dynamic pivot and slap-hinge release type. Last several rounds were promising enough for me to start working on this subject and trying to make slap-hinge release swing motion less prone to timing (automate it, so to speak).<br />
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Let me write first a few words about the three releases. I did mention this release type in the "OTT from Inside" article illustrating it with a great sequence of Wild Bill Mehlhorn, however it was just an iceberg's top.<br />
It's enough to classify them depending on what happens with the clubface in the impact zone. We humans are being built the way that there are no many possibilities left. In fact, there are only three pure models (and as usually, when there are pure models almost always a mixture of them must be taken into account):<br />
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1. wrists themselves are rotating at the impact zone causing the clubhead turn in a horizontal plane - the clubhead is being delivered open to the swing arc at the beginning of the impact zone and is leaving the impact zone closed to the arc. The ball "feels" it is forced to be horizontally spun. Loft is not changing during impact. <b>The crossover release.</b><br />
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<b> </b>2. wrists themselves are uncocking/unhinging at the impact zone causing a clubhead turn in a vertical plane - the clubhead is being delivered square to the arc and leaving it square to the arc as well. The ball "feels" it is forced to be vertically spun. Loft is changing during impact.<b> The slap-hinge release.</b><br />
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3. wrists themselves are doing literally nothing in the impact zone - the clubhead is being delivered square to the arc and is leaving it square; the ball "feels" nothing odd apart from being hit according to the swing plane. Neither extra horizontal or vertical spin is being added nor loft is changing during impact. <b>The push release.</b><br />
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(last but not least - a remark: forearms must roll somewhere during the swing (so-called "swivel") because this is the way we are built. The crucial part in distinguishing a crossover release from the two other releases is to observe when it is happening. The support of the body turn, depending on the release, is also very important.)<br />
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In view of the above, it is not hard to conclude that the push release type is less timing-dependent of all three and that's why the best ballstrikers in the history used this release type (with some notable exceptions such as already mentioned Bill Mehlhorn, Sir Henry Cotton or even late post-accident Hogan). The slap-hinge release, although being more timing-prone, is a much better option for an average hacker than disastrous crossover release that would require an incredible timing sense and lots of training hours.<br />
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Now, let me quote Sir Henry Cotton (above), genius golf theorist and excellent playing pro, who sacrificed more time to research types of release than probably all others combined. He noticed as follows (calling the slap-hinge action 'flicking'):<br />
<i><br />'The wrists can work in many ways: they can help to combine a push with the flick, or a roll with the flick. It is difficult to define exactly the part they play in the golf swing and to separate their action for analysis, but from observation I should say that they work best when they combine with arms and body to form a smooth action.'<br /><br />'Players who use a minimum of wrist-work -- those who push the ball with a stiff-armed action -- can be well advised to acquire a flick of the wrists; this can be done by hitting the ball with less follow-through during practice. "Hitting and stopping" -- pupils of the "cotton School" will know this expression.<br />Those who whip the ball, and use therefore only a wrist-flick, can build their game by cultivating an arm swing -- a push, in fact. I have found during teaching that players go into these two classes and few combine immediately the flick and the push to the best advantage to get the maximum results from their physical attributes.'<br /><br />'To bring the club-face square to the ball at impact, and at the required speed, is the aim of every player, and we go to the trouble of learning a system in order to effect this. At present the only way to get sufficient power into a full shot is to use a turning and flicking action. The square face "all the way back and through" extends in general only to putts and short runs-up. There are players who grip the club with the left hand on the top of the shaft, showing four knuckles, but they only shut the face of the club because of the grip, and not because left wrist is holding the face square to the ball all the way, as it were. This would, however, happen in an extended hinged left-wrist action all the way to the top.'<br /><br />'I am sure that a gradual squaring up of the face on the way down is safer than a quick unwinding hit, and so, as I have advised before, a combination hit and push is preferable. Most succesful players use the hingeing of the left wrist more than they imagine.'<br /><br />'Players who use a snap turn of the wrists usually hit a long ball as they are late hitters, but they are apt to misjudge this turn when under pressure. I prefer to see a player use some proportion of push in his shots when he has to produce winners.'</i><br />
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We shall start to depict some discoveries we made in the next article soon.<br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-49651416733955766502016-04-08T16:14:00.000+02:002018-02-26T15:53:28.338+01:00Haendel's Golfing Rhythm<div style="text-align: right;">
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Automation needs a certain repeatable rhythm as every well working machine has its own rhythm. Great ballstrikers surely had their tricks to ensure a proper rhythm of the swing motion. The great Sam Snead, the owner of arguably the most rhythmic motion, used to swing to the waltz time. In one of his books he writes: </div>
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<i>'NOT long ago I was watching a fellow trying to slam the cover off the ball on the practice tee. "Treat the ball a little more gently" I said. I grabbed his club and demonstrated. "swing to the waltz time -- la-la-la...la-la-boom!"<br />"I know something about waltz time," the pupil declared. "Believe it or not, I'm a professional dancer!"<br />"You are? Well, stop swinging to a fast foxtrot like you've been doing, and swing to a waltz time instead!"<br />That tip changed his golf swing from terrible to pretty fair in five seconds.'</i></div>
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I, as 99,9% of golfing population though, do not possess the quality of Snead's beautiful motion; thus, the waltz time seems to be not well matched to a much more jerky swing. I have been looking to find a good music that could play a role of the rhythm for an average swing for quite a long time. It was difficult because I am a heavy metal man. However, as someone wise said once, from all modern light music styles heavy metal is the closest to classic music. Many heavy metal musicians foung inspiration in Bach, Vivaldi or Haendel. No odd that I personally like classic music as well and here is a good time to remind that the majority of my early YT vids are accompanied by great pearls composed by a genial Polish contemporary composer Mr. Zbigniew Preissner while the other are accompanied by some great classic music pearls. Recently, I have been re-discovering Georg F. Haendel and have found that one of his most recognizable pieces of music, i.e. Sarabande (from Suite in D minor, HWV 437) is perfect for my goal.</div>
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Before we will explain you why, let us present the first part of the sheet music:</div>
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As we can see, the main motive consists of two half-notes/quarter-rest/quarter-note/two half-notes. The first two half-notes should be played in our mind just after finishing the set-up phase but before the trigger compression phase. Why ? Because we are of the opinion that the rhythm must exist already before starting the motion so that it is effective. These notes give a clear indication for setting a correct tempo as well -- if the interval between these half-notes is relatively big our tempo will be slow later on and viceversa. It is a very useful thing when it comes to finding a good tempo dependently on a club or weather conditions.</div>
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The very motion starts with the trigger compression phase and the quarter-note corresponds to it. Take into account that the pause between the last of the two first half-notes and the quarter-note (the quarter-rest) must be obeyed, otherwise the rhythm will be destroyed. Also, it is a very important part since it creates the necessity to perform the trigger compression phase, which is still practically a lost art. Not coincidentally I chose Jordan Spieth as the model for today's golfers -- he obviously has not forgotten this art.<br />
Now, between the quarter-note and the next two half-notes there is no pause which is perfect since these two half-notes symbolize backswing-transition and downswing-impact (or better said, getting into transition and impact). The quarter-note (trigger) should fluidly mix with the first of the two half notes (backswing-transition) as it is in reality. Lastly, the two half-notes are mirroring each other; it is very important to understand (and they help us to) that the time of backswing should be more or less equal to the time of the first part of the downswing (till the impact) only (and not till the finish). Hence the two half-notes are ideally put by the composer, so to speak.<br />
Last but not least, it is a good moment to remind Tommy Armour's 'One-Two-Wait-Three' method that also matches Haendel's pattern here. Armour was of the opinion that the best and simplest tip to ensure a great timing of the swing motion is the pause at the top of the backswing -- hence the 'Wait' part that is being symbolized by the pause between two half-notes that is per se more enhanced than this between the quarter-note and the half-note (i.e. between trigger and the backswing phase).</div>
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When watching the below YT vid we encourage you to melt the notes into the motion of presented great swings:<br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-22460181510851438272016-03-09T23:11:00.001+01:002016-03-10T12:37:15.268+01:00A Word on Mac O'Grady<br />
I am not personally very far from thinking that Mac O'Grady might be the best current researcher in the area of the golf swing motion, despite I never attend any of his clinics or never was in his close circles. My limited knowledge on his researches is being based on what may be found in the internet. Many smart and important people in golf consider him a guru and create sort of a cult status which is hard to deny taking into account O'Grady's indrawn and distrustful chartacter that many people, who were close to him, describe. His opinion that TGM is tragically flawed while concentrating mainly on studying anatomy surely helps me trust that his researches make some serious sense (remember -- geometry is just a servant to anatomy and physics, never vice versa). Somewhen in the middle of my researches, several years ago, I even wrote a mail to him so that he could discuss and criticize my work-- no odd I received no answer so far. In fact, I do not even know if he read my letter at all. Whatever...<br />
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As a keen observer of every great swing motion from the past, I also directed my eyes to Mac's swing some time ago. Perhaps both my readers as well as the very subject find it strange -- I pay my close attention to very few elements of his motion and never treat it holistically, so to speak. His swing played a role in my articles dedicated to the importance of the diagonal stance, low swing plane, toes action and, foremost, the presetting of the protraction and depression in 'The Arms Situation' episode. Nevertheless, there are few elements in his swing that I do not like at all, however, it is not the right moment to speak about it. He wanted the full swing motion to be 80% of Snead and 20% of Hogan but without saying openly what exactly does it mean in detail. I prefer to find common denominators in these motions (which might be regarded easily as the two best ever ones) instead looking for differences, but most probably O'Grady and I use different methodology or even have different goals for our work.<br />
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What exactly is the point I would like to touch in this article then ? The special trigger compression that rocks the whole motion more in the transverse plane instead in the sagittal and coronal ones only and that is very compatibile to famous O'Grady's obsession of the binocular vision importance. I personally applaud this obsession very much and am astonished that this aspect is being touched very seldom in relation to golf and one can feel it is underestimated or often ignored (similarily, in fact, to the eye dominance issues). I run lots of researches on eye dominance before and I am quite positive it is a vital aspect of the game that may be crucial for our game progress -- there are no obstacles in my mind to believe that caring about the depth of vision (that binocular vision contributes to) is also of some significant importance, primarily for weekend players.<br />
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As I read somewhere in the net, O'Grady calls his trigger compression "the bunny hop" which sort of underlines the action taking place in the transverse plane. In reality, it occurs in all three planes, however, in the view of the fact that all other trigger compression types do not include practically any transverse plane movements, it is practically simply unique. As you can see from three different angles, Mac triggers the motion via pushing the center of mass mainly into the ground but also slightly forward and targetwise and letting it rebound while creatiing a slight delay for the rest of the body -- the similarity to the classic trigger compression phase that happens only in two planes is obvious here. The difference -- and, simultaneously, the difficulty -- is that there is no possibility of benefitting from natural limitations of joints in legs compared to e.g. Snead or Hogan type trigger and, therefore, it should be run via the pelvic area, (the second rebound subphase, at least). The rear hip gaining momentum and tilting the pelvis anteriorily creating more lumbar spine extension (more lordosis) appears to be a very good method although full unconscious automatism is lacking.<br />
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The advantages of this type of trigger compression cannot be underestimated though. First, it enhances the proper weight shift during the backswing to the rear which is extremely useful for people who leave too much weight on the lead side without loading properly the rear one or transfer the weight to the lead side too early. Secondly, starting the movement in the transverse plane engages moving in this plane during the whole swing; it is very useful for those who have problems with executting the squatting element in the downswing and, consequently, benefitting from the parametric acceleration phenomenon not only through the lead shoulder joint moving up. Last but not least, this type of trigger -- since the turning element in the sagittal plane is minimized -- does not enhance any part of the body (including the head as well) to rotate excessively and, consequently, helps even a heavily LED person to keep both eyes on the ball all the motion despite the initial hear turn -- just as the great Jack Nicklaus (a heavily LED player) did during his famous 1986 win at Augusta which reminds me somehow of "the bunny hop"...and it is definitely worth watching over and over.<br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079624880162623960.post-70410483436645333892016-01-23T21:47:00.000+01:002017-09-26T20:41:06.576+02:00Skipping Stones in Troy. OTT from Inside Revisited.<br />
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Some good things are currently happening in the world of golf swing instruction. Finally, some of teaching pros started to understand the OTT from the inside concept and stopped to see the OTT phenomenon through the prism of total negation. If I am to choose a good example, I sincerely recommend watching Bradley Hughes's YouTube vid called "The Inside Approach".<br />
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Talking about something fine to watch, I am personally a fan of Wolfgang Petersen's great epic movie "Troy". I've seen the 'Director's Cut' version recently and am under big impression both of the director's skills as well as his wise decision to release it. Watching carefully all before unseen fragments of the movie and having always my eyes open for everything that refers to human body movements, I noticed almost immediately a scene that contains a certain way of using the sword which appears on the screen only once, however, that was so different from all sword techniques I was accustomed to before. It reminded perfectly the correct application of the OTT from Inside concept. I let myself make two GIFs from some fragments of the great movie found on YouTube.<br />
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If we watch the Achilles GIF carefully, we can note that Brad Pitt's rear side motion was correct. His rear humerus leads the elbow joint and the forearm with wrist follow. The sword flattens its plane beautifully. Of course Achilles uses only his rear dominant hand hence the flattening is so drastic. Golfers should use both arms, often promoting a non-dominant arm action, but a correct usage of the dominant sector is crucial, however, the flattening is much less visible. Here it is how it should look like when using both arms from an another angle:<br />
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Going further, the notion of 'skipping stones' was and still is very popular in the golf swing instruction. It is used to depict the correct move aimed at the much desired goal of flattening the downswing shaft plane. It also seemed to be helpful in achieving the correct motion of the rear elbow joint forward at the beginning of the downswing. The truth is somehow a bit different. The golf ball is not at the height of golfer's elbow, it lies much below on the ground.<br />
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The 'skipping stone' analogy, although the cascade of biomechanical events is correct -- the motion consists of shoulder going from extension to flexion and from its external to internal rotation, arm abduction to adduction, elbow flexion to extension and wrist radial deviation and extension to its flexion and ulnar deviation -- it appears to be rather ill-advised to the vast majority of golfers that holds a relatively heavy and long stick in their hands. It is against subconscious minds of these persons and, therefore, cannot be either mastered even during many training hours or cannot ever become natural. Lowering the arms alone will certainly be of no help either in the process of creation of the downswing coronal balance compression a.k.a. squatting. If the spirit of the "Troy" movie is still here in this article, it is almost like a Paris's last weak try of swinging his Trojan sword in his duel against Helen's husband, Menelaos.<br />
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The solution is to bring the OTT element that is so natural to almost everyone of us. What we already underlined several years ago, it is high time to take the curse off an average golfer. Let's put an end to frustrating golfers. Let's stop frighten them with slices. They do not need to get rid of the OTT element at all. Hogan and Snead had it and were far away from slicing. People, however, should understand that although OTT is one of the most subconscious-friendly motion for a golfer it is difficult to perform it correctly with a heavy and long tool. We do need to care for a proper sequencing. This difficulty comes from urge to use the hands as force leaders, so to speak. The move must be performed from the core out with a proper work of the shoulder joint that should be externally rotated and not retracted at transition and remain that way for quite a while in the downswing phase. Such a biokinetical scenario is the only one I know that guarantees the rear humerus and rear elbow joint moving properly at the beginning of the downswing automatically. Please refer to the "The Arms Situation" series of articles for details. Of course we must remember that there is no proper from the core out sequencing without a decent pivot that all great ballstrikers had.<br />
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<br />Dariusz J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/07066230680548263033noreply@blogger.com