.....Try hitting pitch shots, with your right forefinger extended down the side of the shaft. As you swing back, and change direction, notice the ˜pressure' on your finger? Great, now ˜keep that pressure'. That is lag pressure, one of the foundations of a great swing. Lag and Balance are critical.....
I originally posted this back in 2001 (EdZ drills 1,2 showing flying wedges, body/arm motion) and then consolidated many posts into this back on March 11th. I even sent them to Yoda back then (EdZ drills).
Not a knock against Lynn at all, just that some folks have given me a hard time and don't seem to give me any credit at all for my knowledge.
For the record, I hadn't even read TGM when I came up with all of my swing drills, including the finger down the shaft, but I have come to learn TGM very easily, since I already understood its concepts, just not the language used by Homer.
Not that it matters, I simply want folks to play better golf.....
First of all, can we stipulate that the 'finger down the shaft' is not exactly a new idea? I don't know how old you are, EdZ, but I dare say you were still in kneepants -- if you were yet born -- when I first heard of Gene Sarazen's 'After 40' Finger putting stroke in 1960. That would be 44 years ago, and there's no telling how many years he had been using it before that. Another great player whose 'extended forefinger' substantially pre-dates your drill is Nancy Lopez -- no longer a spring chicken -- who has used it almost every day of her golfing life. So, again, not exactly a new idea.
Second, no disrepect intended, but if I read your 'extended forefinger' drill, I don't remember it.
Third, what's new about the Grip I independently came up with (a few weeks before the Pine Needles Workshop and not on the spur of the moment as 6bee1dee's post suggested) is the way the Forefinger is positioned at the back of the Shaft. Very importantly, it is not "extended down the side of the shaft" as in your drill. Instead, it is 'crooked' at Right Angles. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the tip of that Finger -- far more than your simply extended finger -- and thereby produces an unmistakeable Pressure Point #3 Feel.
Beyond that, and just as important in promoting the proper support for the Frozen Right Wrist, it also drives the heel of the right hand into the Left Hand Thumb, thereby creating susbstantial pressure at Pressure Point #1.
And all this pressure -- both against #3 and #1 -- is established before you swing the club, not just during the Stroke.
So, any resemblance between my drill and yours is coincidental and very faint. That's the real story behind this new twist on an old idea.
I know you understand the wedge, and that you have read my drills in the past, so the fact that the support, pp3, is at 90 degrees is clearly not new to me.
- EdZ
EdZ,
We're not talking about the 90 degree Flying Wedges Alignment. We're talking about the tremendous difference in the crooked positioning of the Forefinger itself. Do you see it? Have you tried it? It is this positioning that creates so much pressure at #1 and #3 and that make this drill so effective.
__________________
Yoda
Last edited by 12 piece bucket : 04-27-2006 at 11:11 AM.
YODA,
This is indeed the best right forefinger drill I have ever tried. This is very different than keeping the right finger down the side of the shaft, which does not compare to this.
With your drill, on the chipping and short pitching green, all I keep hearing is "click" after "click" of the clubace hitting the ball.
Yay! Isn't it great?
When I go back to my 'regular' Grip, I never hit the first few as solid as I was hitting them with the Finger Grip. Nor do I feel nearly the control of my Hands, especially in those delicate little shots that require a slow, constant Hand speed. This one is a real 'keeper!'
As for when this evolved, I can tell you I have never seen anyone discuss using it for full motion shots, only putts.
EdZ,
I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here, but as a point of interest...
Peggy Kirk Bell, the famed LPGA Professional and owner of Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, attended our Workshop. Each year many hundreds of women attend her hugely popular clinics known as The Golfari. She was on the front row as I began introducing the 'Forefinger' idea, and she piped right up and said that using an extended forefinger down the shaft was one of her standard techniques.
One minor clarification needed. This drill is meant for hitting where one actively pushes the heel of the right hand against the left thumb via pp#1, and then the right forefinger , representing pp#3, lags behind?
Can one perform a swinging chip with this? IF so, should one try to swing with pp#4 and the left armpit? SInce there is no wristcock, I imagine pp#2 is out of the question for direct drive.
Again, great drill!!
The drill stabilizes the Grip (1-L-#3) and is effective for both Hitting and Swinging. Hitters use the 'Bent' Right Forefinger to actively Thrust the Primary Lever Assembly (Left Arm and Club) while Swingers use it to passively sense its Centrifugal Acceleration (1-L-#7). Both use it to Aim the Lag Pressure and Trace the selected Delivery Line (1-L-#10 and 6-C-2-A).
Short Putts and Chips ( Basic Motion 12-5-1) emphasize the Arm Motion Power Accumulators (Right Elbow and Left Arm). Hitters accelerate the Club radially with an Active Right Elbow (Bat Minor Basic Stroke 10-3-K) while Swingers accelerate the Club longitudinally with either the Left Arm or the Right (Pull Minor Basic Stroke 10-3-D). Shoulder Motion is Zeroed Out. The Minor Basic Stroke may be combined with the ponderous Push Major Basic Stroke (7-3) for its minimum Mechanical Advantage and potentially maximum Distance Control. Otherwise, it is combined with either the Pitch or Punch Major Basic Stroke (10-1 or 10-2) and a Fanning Right Forearm Motion.
Pitch Shots (Acquired Motion 12-5-2) introduce Body Motion and the Hand Action Power Accumulators (Left Wrist Cock / Uncock and Left Hand Turn / Roll). Pivot Motion is minimal, but Shoulder Motion may be used to assist both Hitters and Swingers to accelerate the Primary Lever Assembly through Impact.
Hitting or Swinging, remember that the Geometry is the same for all Strokes from Drive to Putt. So, direct your #3 Pressure Point (Right Forefinger Lag Pressure) strongly Downward in a Straight Line Motion toward the Ball. Keep your Left Wrist Flat, your Right Wrist Bent and make no attempt to Steer (3-F-7-A) the Club toward the Target. Finally, remember to execute a definite Left Wrist Hinge Action (1-L-#4, 2-G and 7-10) as you Fully Extend your Right Arm to the end of the Follow-Through, the Both Arms Straight Position (1-L-#15).
When you work in the above Stages One and Two (Basic and Aquired Motion), you are perfecting your Motion 'Through the Ball' . In so doing, you are mastering Golf's Moment of Truth -- from Release to the end of the Follow-Through. When this normally 'Blacked-Out" Interval has been illuminated by your full attention and brought under conscious control, Stage Three -- Total Motion -- becomes a piece of cake.
__________________
Yoda
Last edited by 12 piece bucket : 04-27-2006 at 11:45 AM.
Yoda- Would you please explain the Follow-Through alignments for the Bat Minor Basic Stroke (10-3-K). I have read this section a few times but I'm just not getting it.
Thank you,
Eric
1. Both Arms Straight.
2. Left Wrist Flat, Uncocked and Vertical to the Plane (Angled Hinge Action).
3. Right Wrist Bent, Level and Vertical to the Plane.
4. Right Forearm, #3 Pressure Point and the Sweet Spot On Plane (pointing at the Plane Line).
Hybrid Mode
