[Daryl]

The Aiming Point Concept uses variable Release Points (Hands controlled Pivot). Each club length has a different Release Point. This allows the Golfer to use the same Pivot for each club Length. Longer Clubs need more time to Square the face than Shorter Clubs. This procedure uses a Flat single Plane on the Downstroke so that the Right Elbow location at Release can differ for each length club. The longer the ClubShaft, the farther forward the Release Point. For me personally, the Release Point for hitting a Draw with the Driver has my Right Elbow almost to my Navel. While hitting a Fade with a nine Iron my Release Point has my Right Elbow just at the front of my Right Hip. With Hands Controlled Pivot, the Release Point of the Right Elbow changes location to accommodate various Club Lengths while using the same Pivot and Stance.

Hogan is a great example of "Fixed Release Point". Hogan, rather than varying the Release Point, varied his Pivot. Longer Clubs have a wider Stance and Right Foot farther from the Plane Line (Closed Stance). With each progressively shorter Club, his pivot stance varied an equal amount. (Pivot Controlled Hands). See 10-24-F 6th Edition, paragraph #2. With Pivot Controlled Hands, the Release Point of the Right Elbow has the same body Location while the Pivot and Stance varies to accommodate different Club Lengths.

You probably have listened to golfers complain that on one day, their "Driving" was excellent but that their scoring irons failed them. The next day, their scoring irons were great but they couldn't hit a fairway from the Tee Box. These Golfers use "Fixed Release Points" and their failure to strike long and shorter clubs equally well on any given day is directly related to not compensating the Pivot.

If you don't vary the Release Point, then you need to vary your Pivot.

It may help everyone by reading this section from the "First Edition".

10-24-F. AUTOMATIC FLIP RELEASE This procedure causes Impact (with all Clubs) to occur by an automatic "Flip" -quick or lazy¬ when the Hands reach a certain point in relation to the body, on the basis of Feel. This is usually a subconscious procedure and is indicated by the inability of a player to hit well with all Clubs, from a Square Stance. It faces the same problem of Club length that requires the Aiming Point procedures to move the Aiming Point fore or aft. The longer Clubs just take longer for the Clubhead to arrive at Impact location and position.

So the Open and Closed Stances are employed to vary the ball location in its relation to the body, to compensate for Clubshaft lengths. Maximum Open and Closed Stance positions, and the gradations in between, will differ per individual and must be worked out by experiment (see pictures in Chapter 9-1-1).

Open and Closed Stances are, of course, optional with the other Releases. But with the Flip addict it is a must. Even the Flip procedure itself can be utilized by any non-Flip addict who happens to prefer it and has the ability to switch from Aiming Point Releases. The Flip release is the result of the fact that the Right Arm (Accumulator # 1) will start to straighten, naturally and automatically, at any point in the Downstroke that the Left Arm begins to move away from the chest¬ which it always must, sooner or later. Regardless of where this occurs, the player's habitual Pivot procedure will bring the Hands, quite dependably, into Impact position at the same point relative to the body. But the slightest deviation in the Pivot procedure always affects the Line and sometimes the distance too.

For this Release type, the Left Heel is placed an inch or two forward of a line drawn, through the ball and at right angles to the Line of Flight, regardless of Stance. This affects -differently for each Club- the Plane Line selection (10-6) which, in turn, governs the Pivot selection and, consequently, all the Pivot Components (Zone I). Fix and Address will vary on the same basis. Few Components escape this influence. Exactly the same laws and procedures apply, but most Variations are dictated by which Club is being used. This requires a separate Stroke Pattern for every Club-for Zone # 1 at least. And Short Clubs tend to pull the ball while Long Clubs tend to push. It seems the simpler procedure, to correct this by adjusting the Grip toward a Hook Grip for the Longer Clubs and toward a Slice Grip for the Short Clubs, than to adjust the Plane Line, Plane Angle, etc. Also, the Flip tends toward Left Arm Power, Arm Throw Trigger and Pressure Points #2 and #4.

This Flip Release is quite widely used, because it has a "Feel" that most neophytes can "identify with." But it does not lend itself to the simpler Stroke Patterns of the "Aiming Point" procedures.

There is little attempt to discuss Components and Variations in connection with this procedure, elsewhere in the book, because the only real differences are (1) the fixed Hand location for Impact, and (2) the variable Plane Line for different length of Club.