Lately I've been spending a lot of time practicing but I'm struggling with something. To quote Yoda...
The Left Hand controlling the Clubface;
The Right Hand controlling the Clubhead; and
The Right Forefinger and Forearm controlling the Clubshaft.
From the Address...to the Top...to the Finish.
Seems simple enough. Problem for me is that I'm a hitter and I try to both control the clubface and clubhead with the right hand. It seems that when I start to involve the left hand my two hands almost start fighting each other and I have difficulty with closing the clubface. So my question is does the left hand have to control the clubface. It seems to me that if I keep the right wrist bent, the left wrist will automatically be placed in a flat position. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Originally Posted by 6bee1dee
Yes, it has too. Homer tried and tried to put the control of the FACE and HEAD in the right hand and couldn't. Swinging or hitting, doesn't matter. But there is good news.
The left does control the clubFACE because as you said mentioned the flat left wrist is the FACE. Since the right wrist is bent- the left wrist should remain flat - The FLYING WEDGES! The control of the clubFACE with the left hand, assuming it is Flat Level (from C0cked) and Vertical into impact, applies greater control when applying a hinge action and the swivel. That can't be done with the right hand - its DRIVING. The right arm wants to be like the left and is straightening and can't possible stop to control a PASSIVE clubface.
The good news: after you get hinge action and swivel down, the educated hands take over and you can just think about exploding the clubHEAD into the ball not the clubface. Thats a good ol powerful dumping on the ball, feels sooo good. LOL
This is how I got it figured from the last workshop.
Yoda?
At issue here is the 'mystery' of the Mechanics of Golf:
(1) Right Arm and Hand participation (and the control of Clubhead Power and Sweetspot Plane); and
(2) Left Arm and Hand participation (and the control of Clubface Alignment and Stroke Radius).
Happily, there is a solution to this two-handed 'problem' and a practical way to integrate it into your Total Motion.
Thank you Yoda, I eagerly await your reply. I'm a little lost as to how you can push with the right hand, but steer with the left. [Bold by Yoda.]
You 'steer' the Clubhead with the Right Forearm and #3 Pressure Point Tracing. You align the Clubface with the Flat Left Wrist and its preselected Hinge Action. Study their respective definitions and assignments on pages 237 and 235 of The Glossary (6th Edition).
The benefit of this drill is that it trains independently but coordinately:
(1) The Right Hand and Forearm to sense Clubhead Lag Pressure and Trace the Plane Line, thus controlling the Clubhead and its Line of Flight through the Ball;
(2) The Left Hand to Hinge and Swivel, thus controlling the Clubface and the Rhythm of the Stroke, i.e., the Clubhead Overtaking of the Hands during the Impact Interval (from Release to Finish Swivel).
The right hand controls the clubhead and its line of flight through the ball
The left hand controls the clubface
My question: there's a common drill that you see in golf magazines and books, where you hold two golf clubs, one in each hand, and you make practice swings and you work on keeping the clubs parallel to each other throughout the swing.
HOWEVER, if my right hand controls the clubhead, and the left hand controls the clubface (hinge and swivel), then isn't this fact incompatible with this common two-club drill?
When the training emphasizes the correct alignments, the drill you mention should yield valuable results.
Each Hand has its respective function and should be trained independently to perform it. Left WristAction controls the Clubheadposition (See the subheading of 10-18 ) on the face of the Inclined Plane. The Left HandHinge Action controls the Clubfacealignment in relation to its selected Plane of Motion -- Horizontal, Angled or Vertical -- through Impact. The Right Hand (through Pressure Points #1 and #3) provides the Active Drive of the Clubhead -- actually the entire Primary Lever Assembly -- for Hitters and the Acceleration Control of the Clubhead for both Hitters and Swingers. When combined with the Right Forearm Tracing of the Plane Line, it also controls the essential geometry of the Clubhead's Line of Flight through Impact (2-N-0).
In doing the drill you have described or any related drill, understand these three things:
1. The Shaft Rotates around the Sweet Spot (and not the other way around);
2. The Hands Rotate about each other; and
3. There is a definite Clubhead (Sweet Spot) Overtaking of the Hands during the Impact Interval.
An intellectual understanding of these points is one thing. Knowing them is another.
Their Clarion Call is Rhythm (See The Glossary and 6-B-3-0).
"But it is always a Left Arm Stroke unless the Right Elbow replaces the Left Shoulder as the center of the Clubhead Arc. (10-3-K)"
Are left arm strokes swinging and right arm strokes hitting? Since the low point will be directly below the center of the arc wouldn't a right arm stroke require the ball futher back since the right elbow is further back than the left shoulder?
As you have quoted, all Strokes are classified as Left Arm Strokes unless the Right Elbow replaces the Left Shoulder as the Center of the Clubhead Arc(1-F). This would be the case, for example, with The Bat Minor Basic Stroke (10-3-K).
The Left Arm itself can only Swing -- it cannot Drive. However, the Left Arm can be driven -- Powered -- by the Right Arm. A Left Arm Stroke that is Powered by the Pull of Centrifugal Force -- usually the result of the Right Shoulder Turn Thrust (6-B-4-A) per 2-M-4 -- is Swinging. The Left Arm Stroke that is Powered by the Pushing of Muscular Thrust -- by the Driving Right Arm (6-B-1-A) -- is Hitting.
So, the Left Arm can only Pull (Swing). The Right Arm, however, can either Push (Hit) or Pull (Swing). While the Right Arm Hit is by far the more common, the Right Arm Swing is The Bat used with loosened Wrists per 7-19.
Regarding Ball Placement, for any given Line of Compression (2-C-0), all Strokes -- Left Arm or Right Arm and Swinging or Hitting -- have the same Impact Geometry (Preface), i.e., identical Impact Alignments per 2-J-1. Ball Location will agree with that Geometry and the amount of Hook-Face built into the Club.
I pull the club through impact, much like throwing a frisbee, but I never felt like a true swinger. At 6'3 230 lbs, I look more physically like a hitter. Flexible enough to have high hands at the top, full turn, and have a very (very) inactive right arm in my downswing.
My question: I have a powerful feel with PP#3. I preach to my friends the importance of PP#3 with a bent right wrist. I call it my ping pong paddle pressure point. Oh yes, the question: Am I fooling myself in concentrating on swing applications with such powerful PP#3 applied to the ball?
Originally Posted by Yoda
Originally Posted by armourall2
Yoda,
Would that include an on-plane Right Forearm?
"You got it! Swingers Pull the Club down behind them just like it is a piece of string. They crank up the Gyroscope of the Circling Clubhead, keep their Right Arm passive, and then let Centrifugal Force do the rest of the work. Hitters start out Pulling, too, but once their Right Shoulder has supplied the initial Thrust, they start Pushing against the back of the Shaft -- just like it was an Axe Handle -- and they use their Active Right Arm and Elbow to Drive the Club through Impact. That's one reason, by the way, you like those very stiff Shafts. They're great to Push against."
So much to read, I'm trying to catch up.
So a hitter could use a pulling "rope pull" action to start the downswing? This is what I feel and used as a swing thought at first, when I start the swing. At what point, as with Larry Nelson, would the right shoulder take over? Would the hands be reaching the right thigh? Does Els do this too? He has a tremendous straight line to the ball with his right arm, some days I think he swings, other days he hits. The fact that he looks some smooth throws preception off.
I was afraid when I wrote that "the Hitter starts out pulling, too" that the action would be misinterpeted and, like Job of the Old Testament, "my fears have come to pass."
The Golf Stroke is always a Left Arm Stroke as long as the Left Shoulder serves as the Center of the Clubhead Arc. In that sense, both Hitters and Swingers must 'Pull' from the Top (8-6) of the Stroke. However, the Swinger's long Backstroke typically goes to the End (10-21-C), and then he Pulls the Club down like it was a piece of string trailing behind him. Then, having cranked up the Gyroscope of the orbiting Clubhead, he 'hangs on' as Centrifugal Force Powers the Club through Impact. The Hitter's Backstroke, on the other hand, typically ends at the Top (10-21-A) when his Right Elbow has become completely Bent. Then, after the initial Downstroke Shoulder Acceleration (8-7), he accelerates the Club by Pushing against the Clubshaft as if it was an Axe Handle.
At the Top then, the Hitter resists the Inertia of the moving Club (which wants to continue On Plane Up, Back and In). This resistance to the Clubhead Inertia causes the Lag Pressure to Load against the No. 3 Pressure Point and is called Drive Loading (10-19-A). Once the Right Shoulder has provided the initial Downstroke Acceleration (2-M-4), the Hitter begins his Right Arm Pushing, Driving Motion through Impact. The Swinger, on the other hand, with his longer End Backstroke, allows the Club to come to rest against the first knuckle of the Right Hand. He then Loads the Lag Pressure against that Point by Pulling the Club down lengthwise -- Drag Loading (10-19-C).
At the Top then, the Hitter has not changed in the slightest his Impact Fix alignments, i.e., Left Wrist Flat and Right Wrist Bent. Therefore, the Clubshaft has maintained its position against the No. 3 Pressure Point, and the Shaft is still pointing skyward. The Swinger, on the other hand, Turns (4-C-2) his Left Hand against the Plane in the Backstroke (Standard Left Wrist Action of 10-18-A). He typically goes to parallel (and perhaps beyond), and this has caused the Clubshaft to Load down against the first knuckle of the Right Hand. This Action gives the Swinger the Feel of having Rotated the Left Wrist and Lag Pressure Point one-quarter Turn in the Backstroke.
The Hitter, on the other hand, feels no such Rotation. Instead, he senses Homer's "Hitter's Guiding Principle:"
"At the Top, you should feel that absolutely nothing has changed in your Impact Fix Wrist alignments and that you are in perfect postion to Slap the Ball with the palm of your Right Hand."
The Swinger, having Rotated his Left Wrist in the Backstroke, then maintains that position through the Start Down, Downstroke and Release. This is the Swinger's 'Left Hand Karate Chop' to the Ball. The Action of this Left Hand 'Palm Down' to the Plane' surface actually overrides the 'natural action' of the Hitter's constant On Plane Rolling from the Top (caused by the Turning of the Body and the Swinging of the Arms and Hands). The Swinger's Rotation must ultimately be reversed -- this is the function of the Swivel -- in order to restore the Impact Fix alignments.
The Hitter needs no such Swivel because his Left Hand has been Closing from the time it left the Top in Start Down. From Release, he simply Drives his Right Arm through Impact in a Straight Line Motion.
If you are thinking that there is a lot more going on with Swinging than with Hitting, you are right. If you are thinking that Hitting, once mastered, can be the superior alternative, you may be right there, too. It's all about personal preference. I, for one, feel more far more in control and am decidedly more accurate Hitting. The reason is that you are never out of your Impact Fix Alignments. And as for Homer: "You'll all become Hitting Nuts."
Regarding Ernie Els, I have personally never seen him Hit. He Loads to Swing, and then he does.
But "What do I Pull it with?" I asked Homer as we stood on the driving range that rainy late afternoon in January 1982.
"Pull it with anything you want!" he said. "I don't care! Just Pull it!"
Well, all rightee, then!!!
And so the Basic Basic you are trying to Feel in the Golf Stroke is a Pulling sensation. As long as you are Pulling and the Clubhead Lag Pressure Point Pressure retains its passive, inert Loading, then you will have contained Centrifugal Force, and your Feel will be one of a controlled, heavy, steady-as-she-goes, constant Loading, constant direction, deadweight inertia (7-19). "
Phew. Alrightee, then. Fear Not. We can still pull and Hit.
Remember, though, I was Swinging at the time. I'm quite sure that, had I been Hitting, Homer would have emphasized the Drive Loading (10-19-A) I have described -- not the Drag Loading (10-19-C) -- and also the decidedly Active Right Arm Push (6-B-1-A) through Impact -- and not the Swinger's Gyroscopic Leftside Pull with its Passive Right Arm and Elbow.
Hybrid Mode
