[Weetbix]

Very nice . . . thanks . . . . So question WHEN do you jump from the top? Start down? Impact? And how would you describe the jump? Straight up? To the left? Also . . . . How would you jump AND and keep the proper trajectory of the right shoulder and not get the club moving off plane?

Got any descriptions of the exercises or is that double top secret stuff?

Thanks . . . nice thread going here.

Ummm ... not sure if you're being funny or if I'm completely missing the point!?! You don't jump in a golf swing. I was using what your leg muscles do when you do a standing leap as an example of an SSC. It's not an SSC that you would actually involve in your golf swing!

As I understand it the SSCs that you activate in your golf swing are across the front of your torso and in the back of your left shoulder (and maybe in front of your right shoulder). There may be others that I don't know about (there is a lot that I don't know about!) All of the Short Stretch Cycles happen in the downswing only, as best I understand it. They start from when your centre of mass starts to move back to the left, which I suspect is best to happen before your arms complete their backswing.

So the SSCs themselves. The torso is activated when your hips rotate back to the left (right if you're a lefty). The hips move before the torso/shoulders which creates "separation" and stretches the muscles as they run from your right shoulder to your left hip. In a proper movement pattern your hips would only need to move a few degrees (so a 10 degree movement would see your hips turn one thirty-sixth of the total 360 degree circle). They hips should then stop (this is one of those things that you can never do consciously and so needs to be trained). This would create the separation and stretch. The muscles across your torso would then fire (this is the short stretch cycle in action). They would shorten which causes your torso and shoulders to turn rapidly around your fairly stable spine.

As you can imagine the turning of your shoulders creates another strech in the muscles at the back of your left shoulder. This is because the arm and club will not immediately move at the same speed as the shoulders (in the same way the shoulders did not immediately move at the same time at the hips). If you think about it this is a process of creating and releasing lag. Lag between the hips and shoulders. Then lag between the shoulder and arms. Then lag between the arms and clubshaft. This is good TGM!

So now we have a stretch at the back of the left shoulder. Proper biomechanics mean that these muscles quickly fire in another SSC and accelarate the arm, dragging the club along for the ride.

The final piece is when the hands stop around the bottom of their arc. This releases the clubshaft and all that lovely built up lag into the back of the ball, sending it flying long and straight down the fairway. Beautiful!

The reengagement of your hips and momentum will then pull your whole body around to the finish.