Mr. Whippy

Bobby Jones' views and The Golfing Machine are entirely consistent. Jones' Left Side Dominance concept and The Golfing Machine's Swinging Procedure (2-K) -- the Left Arm Stroke (1-F) with its Centrifugally-Powered Secondary Lever Assembly (the Clubshaft 6-A-3) -- are one and the same.

As far as 'Swinging the Whippy' -- hold all the poor taste jokes! -- the problem is Clubface Alignment. Or, better said, misalignment. Mr. Whippy's soft Shaft -- please hold those jokes! -- has so little inertia of its own that it cannot prevent the Clubface from coming in 'Hooked.' That's because the Shaft can't keep up with the Sweetspot as it strives to maintain its 'Line of Centrifugal Pull' with the No. 3 Pressure Point.

So, it is quite possible -- even probable -- that you can skillfully apply the wonderful Flat Left Wrist Horizontal Hinge Motion that is consistent with the Swinging Procedure -- and still Hook the Ball off the world. And the more Power applied -- such as with the Automatic Snap Release (10-24-E) -- the further left the Ball will go. That is because the greater the Power, the greater the torque in the Shaft, and hence, the greater the misalignment of the Clubface.

The key to Mr. Whippy is a S-L-O-W Pace and the Low Clubhead Speed of the Full Sweep Release (10-24-A). These will help avoid any powerful stressing of the Shaft. Remember, the more Clubhead speed you generate and the better you are at executing the Closing Only Clubface of a pure Horizontal Hinge Action, the more problems you are going to have with Mr. Whippy.

In fact, good players may find themselves having to forego -- consciously or unconsciously -- the Full Roll of the Horizontal Hinge Action. Instead, they may start applying the No Roll Angled Hinge Action with its uncentered, Slice-producing, Simultaneous Clubface Close and Lay Back. And they will have to abandon (or at least 'rev down') their Automatic Snap Release. Not exactly the Component Variations that a good player wants to gain "Squatter's Rights" on his Computer.

Interestingly, poor players -- who are mostly Short-Hitting Slicers -- can grow to love Mr. Whippy! That's because they may find the Ball going straighter than their normal shots and perhaps just as far. But, other than smoothing out their normal 'jerk,' Mr. Whippy is not improving their Swing. Naah. He just loves their Low Clubhead Speed, Throw-from-the-Top, Full Sweep Release. And, their Open-Open Stance Line and Plane Line (10-5-D in any combination). And their No-Roll, Bending Left Wrist Procedure. Ahh, the Joy of Short and Sliced!

Perhaps in gratitude for the Sweep Release, the Open Plane Line and the Bending Left Wrist, Mr. Whippy obligingly closes their Clubface! The player may now experience a Pulled Shot, but -- lo! -- his Slice has now become a gentle Fade or even disappeared completely.

All of which, of course, the Slicer finds out on his next links tour with his 'regular' Clubs. Without the dutiful assistance of Mr. Whippy, it's...

Fore right!

Larry,

I must say that this Mr. Whippy discussion has me intrigued.

First, let me reiterate what I said in an earlier post regarding the Jones Swing (or any other Centrifugally-Powered Stroke, for that matter). Namely, that the concepts of "swinging a rope" and "drag loading" are central to the Swinger's Flail in 2-K. And the Left Arm Stroke and Left Hand Control of the Clubface are all pure Golfing Machine techniques as well. I even wrote a post some weeks back called The Wrecking Ball in which I recommended attaching a piece of twine to a large whiffle ball and Swinging it continuously back and through for the Feel of the true Centrifugal Swing. This is the same kind of homespun device that Dr. Melvin made with a rope and towel prior to rolling out his first Whippies. So, no conflict there.

That said, the analysis in my "Mr. Whippy" post was written with a "different" Mr. Whippy in mind -- one from 15 or 20 years ago and that I thought that was the one being referenced. I can't remember the name -- something like a "Mr. Whippy" though -- but it looked like a small-headed five-wood with a shaft about as long as a four-iron. And, of course, it had a very "whippy" shaft, which I took to be some sort of fiberglass material (like the old Shakespeare shafts). That shaft was the same diameter as normal golf shafts.

Anyway, with that particular version, I have been on the practice tee and watched some of the greatest players in the world, including all-time great Super Swinger Sam Snead, try numerous swings and the results were all the same: Left, Left Left. This was due to the reasons I cited in my post and the Left, Left Left continued until the adjustments I also cited were made. Snead was finally able to get one almost straight by applying an exaggerated Slice Swing.

The central benefit of that club -- as with the current version -- was to teach Pace (Tempo) and to allow a true Centrifugal Force to both Power the Clubhead and align the Clubface for Impact. All, of course, emphasizing the Swinger's Left Arm Stroke and Passive Right Arm and Hand. Nevertheless, the woeful demonstration by some of the best Swingers -- not Hitters -- in the game revealed the considerable limitations of that Mr. Whippy.

However, based on what you said about the non-hooking aspect with good players, I knew there must be a case of mistaken identity. So, I visited their website at www.tempomaster.com and found that we do indeed have a different animal, a Son of Whippy so to speak. The shaft is much thinner and appears to be even whippier, but having never swung one, I cannot say.

Nevertheless, it really shouldn't matter, because the Laws are still the same, i.e., the Sweetspot is still trying to get in line with the first joint of the Right Trigger Finger. And at speed, a weak shaft will lag and the distorted shaft will cause the Clubface to close in relation to the original hookface built into the Club. That is not a new phenomeon: it has plagued good golfers for centuries. Not until the advent of the modern steel shaft was the problem minimized.

But here we have a mystery. A Mr. Whippy whose weak shaft purportedly does not distort the Clubface alignment even when swung at speed. That means one of two things or both: (1) The pencil-thin Shaft (aided possibly by its material) is permitting the Shaft to act much more like a piece of string, i.e., it is not producing the abnormal torque of old that closed the Clubface; or (2) the Whippy's Clubface is set more open than for normal clubs. I've got an email out to the company asking for clubface specifications. If they provide them, it may shed some light on the situation. Do you know of anything that could help with the above two points?

Meanwhile, I'm going to nose around a bit and see if I can find one. Nothing like a little test drive to get a feel for the road.