Dec 23, 2009
Boxing, Baseball and Golf
This is a post about consisting of some further thoughts on power. Tiger says he feels like he is throwing a big right uppercut. The Golf Channel describes it as keeping your right arm bent on the downswing until impact. Jim Hardy describes it as baseball homerun hitters are pull hitters. He further explains that power is created when the arms stay closer to the body. I'm going to describe it as a powerful right hand punch starts with your upper right torso (shoulder). Pull your arms in tight and bent like you are a boxer--hands up. Now make a punch with your dominate hand. Hopefully your shoulder will rotate back and your arm will stay bent as you powerfully move your shoulder forward and then the last thing that happens is your arm extending outward towards the target. Compare this motion in a power sense to only extending your arm with no shoulder involved in that same punch. This is the same difference in power you can have in your golf swing. This is why every right handed tour pro ends their swing with the right shoulder being their closest body part to the target. Compare this right shoulder action to your horizontal swing and become more aware of the role your right shoulder can play in your golf swing.
Dec 10, 2009
Catch and Release
I'm 41 and have been playing golf since I was 10. For the longest time I never really understood what a release was. I heard people talk about it but if you had asked me to define it on paper I would have failed. Here is what Dictionary.com has to say:
To free from confinement. To be free of anything that restrains.
Without getting into what it is exactly that the hands, arms or body do in a release, let's put a definition to how release applies to a golf swing. If the goal of a golf swing is to create motion and translate it to a golf ball, than a release could simply be defined as the non-hindrance of that motion. I think it is a little more than that though.
In past posts I have said that release and lag are inter-related. The better/deeper your lag the better your release.
You can experience this by swinging horizontally. With a good golf grip: create an angle which is the natural result of a good grip and then as you are swinging back and forth continuously create a deep lag on your down swing/forward swing and notice as your hands get to where the ball would be how the centifical force takes over and your arms will actually slow down while the club whips through. If you tie the words "catch and release" you might start to understand how lag and release are inter-related.
Become aware of the horizontal nature of a golf swing. Thanks to a friend of mine Jon B. who let me watch a tape made by Jim Hardy called "The Plane Truth for Golfers" I have become more aware that golf is a 'Side-line' game. Jim likens golf with Baseball and Tennis where the ball is to the side of us and contrasts it with 'In-Line' games like Bowling, Darts or Billiards.
Because golf is a side-line game off he ground, we have to consider both the horizontal and vertical natures of the golf swing. Think about the horizontal aspect of the golf swing sometime when you are doing the 4 foot tee drill (swinging continuously back and forth horizontally) and let it seep into your golf swing.
I have stated that the biggest problem with golfers is 'flipping it' or that there is an element of "trying to help the club get back to the ball' which hinders your centrifical force. Helping the club to get back to the ball hurts your golf swing and shot results. It's not that you do not use your hands-they are on the club. Is is just that most golfers over-use them and they over-use way too early in the downswing. This is why Pro's are always asking you to relax your hands and arms . This is the biggest part of the counter-intuitive side golf. This is why most golfers hit it poorly. This is why on little swings that are not sitting up that they are hit either fat or thin.
The hands in the golf swing need to be used like they would be used to throw a baseball. When you throw a baseball a long way you hold it lightly and have a lot of body action and the hands are the last thing to react and are reacting to a lot of coordinated body movement. one of my favorite sayings in is: "When the body stops the hands take over--so... keep your body/arms moving".
To free from confinement. To be free of anything that restrains.
Without getting into what it is exactly that the hands, arms or body do in a release, let's put a definition to how release applies to a golf swing. If the goal of a golf swing is to create motion and translate it to a golf ball, than a release could simply be defined as the non-hindrance of that motion. I think it is a little more than that though.
In past posts I have said that release and lag are inter-related. The better/deeper your lag the better your release.
You can experience this by swinging horizontally. With a good golf grip: create an angle which is the natural result of a good grip and then as you are swinging back and forth continuously create a deep lag on your down swing/forward swing and notice as your hands get to where the ball would be how the centifical force takes over and your arms will actually slow down while the club whips through. If you tie the words "catch and release" you might start to understand how lag and release are inter-related.
Become aware of the horizontal nature of a golf swing. Thanks to a friend of mine Jon B. who let me watch a tape made by Jim Hardy called "The Plane Truth for Golfers" I have become more aware that golf is a 'Side-line' game. Jim likens golf with Baseball and Tennis where the ball is to the side of us and contrasts it with 'In-Line' games like Bowling, Darts or Billiards.
Because golf is a side-line game off he ground, we have to consider both the horizontal and vertical natures of the golf swing. Think about the horizontal aspect of the golf swing sometime when you are doing the 4 foot tee drill (swinging continuously back and forth horizontally) and let it seep into your golf swing.
I have stated that the biggest problem with golfers is 'flipping it' or that there is an element of "trying to help the club get back to the ball' which hinders your centrifical force. Helping the club to get back to the ball hurts your golf swing and shot results. It's not that you do not use your hands-they are on the club. Is is just that most golfers over-use them and they over-use way too early in the downswing. This is why Pro's are always asking you to relax your hands and arms . This is the biggest part of the counter-intuitive side golf. This is why most golfers hit it poorly. This is why on little swings that are not sitting up that they are hit either fat or thin.
The hands in the golf swing need to be used like they would be used to throw a baseball. When you throw a baseball a long way you hold it lightly and have a lot of body action and the hands are the last thing to react and are reacting to a lot of coordinated body movement. one of my favorite sayings in is: "When the body stops the hands take over--so... keep your body/arms moving".
Dec 8, 2009
Golf is a game of Opposites
I like the word opposite because it is catchy and implies there is a counter-intuitive side in the game of golf. A more accurate phrase though would be that golf is a game of action and reaction or cause an effect.
The biggest opposite is creating motion from non-motion. We stand at a ball completely still and than have to make an athletic move. Watch a NBA player like ShaQ sometime on the free-throw line. He can do so many things in motion that are fluid and athletic but when it comes to full stop on the free throw line in starts to look awkward. It can be challenging to create motion from
non-motion but it is just a skill that a golfer has to develop.
One way to achieve this is to look at the top of your backswing as the start of the swing. A big backswing does not necessarily create power. Balance creates power. Balance creates the ability to move athletically through a golf ball. No matter what you do eventually there is a change in direction of the golf club in a swing. So much emphasis is placed on the backswing that we forget to hit a golf ball. As a far as I know, the ball has never lied to me. It tells me exactly how good my action was on that swing. It tells me where my point of contact was on the club face and the direction of the club face at impact. The golf ball responds perfectly to all of the above information. I have never hit a golf ball on my back swing. I hit the ball on the downswing. My only focus on the backswing is to stay balanced and load the gun. I were to lose my balance and rhythm on the back swing than making a good athletic move on the downswing becomes more difficult. The goal of the backswing is to load the gun--not to shoot the gun. The shooting comes on the downswing. Visualize baseball players waiting for a pitch. The all have one thing in common--they are balanced on their back foot ready to create motion and be athletic when the pitch is coming.
Down is up. To get the ball up into the air the club has to move downward through the ball. The only way to get the ball onto the loft of the club is for it to be moving downward through the ball. There is no loft on the leading edge of the club. A properly hit golf ball off the ground would include a divot forward of where the golf ball was. This is the evidence of a properly hit golf ball off of the ground. If you cannot make a divot forward of the golf ball than you are a flipper. If you are a flipper than you have a lot of potential to hit a golf ball way better, cleaner and farther by learning to understand the nature of flipping. Why you do it and why it doesn't work. Flippers can get away with hitting shots if they are sitting up but crumble into the fat and thin world with shots that are sitting down.
The cause and effect of lag and release. Entire books could be written on this topic alone but if you want to experience this phenomenon than just swing a golf club horizontally and notice what happens. Notice how your hands just hold the club. Notice how you will naturally create lag on the downswing (forward swing) and then how your hands and arms respond to this lag. Notice how you athletically can sense no need to help the club to get back to and through a ball on a four foot tee. Learn to allow these same physics to apply to your golf swing.
The biggest opposite is creating motion from non-motion. We stand at a ball completely still and than have to make an athletic move. Watch a NBA player like ShaQ sometime on the free-throw line. He can do so many things in motion that are fluid and athletic but when it comes to full stop on the free throw line in starts to look awkward. It can be challenging to create motion from
non-motion but it is just a skill that a golfer has to develop.
One way to achieve this is to look at the top of your backswing as the start of the swing. A big backswing does not necessarily create power. Balance creates power. Balance creates the ability to move athletically through a golf ball. No matter what you do eventually there is a change in direction of the golf club in a swing. So much emphasis is placed on the backswing that we forget to hit a golf ball. As a far as I know, the ball has never lied to me. It tells me exactly how good my action was on that swing. It tells me where my point of contact was on the club face and the direction of the club face at impact. The golf ball responds perfectly to all of the above information. I have never hit a golf ball on my back swing. I hit the ball on the downswing. My only focus on the backswing is to stay balanced and load the gun. I were to lose my balance and rhythm on the back swing than making a good athletic move on the downswing becomes more difficult. The goal of the backswing is to load the gun--not to shoot the gun. The shooting comes on the downswing. Visualize baseball players waiting for a pitch. The all have one thing in common--they are balanced on their back foot ready to create motion and be athletic when the pitch is coming.
Down is up. To get the ball up into the air the club has to move downward through the ball. The only way to get the ball onto the loft of the club is for it to be moving downward through the ball. There is no loft on the leading edge of the club. A properly hit golf ball off the ground would include a divot forward of where the golf ball was. This is the evidence of a properly hit golf ball off of the ground. If you cannot make a divot forward of the golf ball than you are a flipper. If you are a flipper than you have a lot of potential to hit a golf ball way better, cleaner and farther by learning to understand the nature of flipping. Why you do it and why it doesn't work. Flippers can get away with hitting shots if they are sitting up but crumble into the fat and thin world with shots that are sitting down.
The cause and effect of lag and release. Entire books could be written on this topic alone but if you want to experience this phenomenon than just swing a golf club horizontally and notice what happens. Notice how your hands just hold the club. Notice how you will naturally create lag on the downswing (forward swing) and then how your hands and arms respond to this lag. Notice how you athletically can sense no need to help the club to get back to and through a ball on a four foot tee. Learn to allow these same physics to apply to your golf swing.
Dec 3, 2009
Superfluous Motion
It is entirely possible to try to do to many things with your body while hitting a golf ball. It is possible to lose your natural coordination by trying to swing too big and too full and too fast. We have all hit those "zippy" effortlessly powerful shots and any reasonably competitive person has to ask them self. "Hey Self", How do I do that more often?
If you want to see efficient swings go to any PGA Tour event and be amazed at how much energy is transferred into a typical golf shot while the swing is fluid and apparently effortless. Sure you can always find a few slashers out there but the overwhelming majority of players hit fluid smooth shots most of the time.
I believe that most of the power in the golf swing is delivered from the arms and hands. Sure the arm bone is connected to the shoulder bone and knee bone is connected to the thigh bone... We all know the saying.
Stand at the golf ball with a club at address and recognize that this is basically your starting position and your impact position. All motion you make in your back swing and downswing basically moves back into your address position.
The most efficient way to do this is to have a lot of arm/hand motion with your body supporting. I am constantly amazed how solidly it goes by just keeping your body still and hitting 70% shots using mainly my arms and hands and just letting my legs do what they do to support and my shoulders and torso doing what they do to support. It is this type of porportionality that makes a golf swing look smooth and is efficient.
Good arm swing creates a shoulder turn. To learn good arm swing --learn what each does naturally with only one hand on the club. Here is a four phase drill.
A) Swing right hand only back and forth with a club creating lag and release naturally.
B) Swing left hand only back and forth with a club creating a toe up position at waist height on both back swing and follow through.
C) Swing two clubs -- one in each hand duplicating what you just practiced with A and B one foot off the ground and one foot away from each other swinging harmoniously with each other back and forth continuously.
D) Swing two handed with one club back and forth continually re-creating the feels that you developed in A B and C.
This four phase drill will make you aware of arm swing and will most likely make you have a great shoulder turn while perserving your balance and centeredness.
Try this for 10 minutes a day and relate it to how you naturally swing horizontally and you might discover that they are very similar.
It is entirely possible to overuse your body and sacrifice all the natural athletic power available to you.
Whoosh equals club head speed and when I try to max out my whoosh horizontally I find that I do it with my arms and hands mostly with my body supporting all of this. This is precisely why I'm saying that most of your power in your golf swing should come from your arms and hands.
If you want to see efficient swings go to any PGA Tour event and be amazed at how much energy is transferred into a typical golf shot while the swing is fluid and apparently effortless. Sure you can always find a few slashers out there but the overwhelming majority of players hit fluid smooth shots most of the time.
I believe that most of the power in the golf swing is delivered from the arms and hands. Sure the arm bone is connected to the shoulder bone and knee bone is connected to the thigh bone... We all know the saying.
Stand at the golf ball with a club at address and recognize that this is basically your starting position and your impact position. All motion you make in your back swing and downswing basically moves back into your address position.
The most efficient way to do this is to have a lot of arm/hand motion with your body supporting. I am constantly amazed how solidly it goes by just keeping your body still and hitting 70% shots using mainly my arms and hands and just letting my legs do what they do to support and my shoulders and torso doing what they do to support. It is this type of porportionality that makes a golf swing look smooth and is efficient.
Good arm swing creates a shoulder turn. To learn good arm swing --learn what each does naturally with only one hand on the club. Here is a four phase drill.
A) Swing right hand only back and forth with a club creating lag and release naturally.
B) Swing left hand only back and forth with a club creating a toe up position at waist height on both back swing and follow through.
C) Swing two clubs -- one in each hand duplicating what you just practiced with A and B one foot off the ground and one foot away from each other swinging harmoniously with each other back and forth continuously.
D) Swing two handed with one club back and forth continually re-creating the feels that you developed in A B and C.
This four phase drill will make you aware of arm swing and will most likely make you have a great shoulder turn while perserving your balance and centeredness.
Try this for 10 minutes a day and relate it to how you naturally swing horizontally and you might discover that they are very similar.
It is entirely possible to overuse your body and sacrifice all the natural athletic power available to you.
Whoosh equals club head speed and when I try to max out my whoosh horizontally I find that I do it with my arms and hands mostly with my body supporting all of this. This is precisely why I'm saying that most of your power in your golf swing should come from your arms and hands.
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