More Balance - the ignored essential
 

I think that most people see "balance" as a result of good mechanics....commentators always talk about a "balanced finish" and stuff like that... it is seen as a external manifestation of sound swing mechanics. ie, a "description of the result" rather than something that can be used as your primary tool.

You have parts of you brain which are highly specialised in balance and generally act in an unconscious manner to allow us to do the clever things like write poems, kill people etc...

I am starting to feel that balance is actually the very core of the swing and hence fully deserving it place as an essential ... not merely some afterthought... but as an active conscious part which we should seek to use.

All the old books ( Hogan, Snead, Morrison etc ) in the pre video era have alot to say about footwork..they always go on about it..photos...feet rolling etc.... you hardly ever see as much on footwork in a modern book!!

Why... i think the problem with video cameras is the have allowed us to focus on mechanics and people have forgotten about balance. We already have balance built in as a standard in Homos Sapiens...no need for an upgrade!!! Just need to tap into it...keep something stationary and really feel your footwork whilst directing your loaded lag on plane... just thinking about this recently has dramatically improved my impact. ( both where my hands are at impact and the way the ball flies off the clubhead...it decreases any intention to flip...my focus is on managing forces whilst maintaining balance...what? hit the ball?? no need to worry about hitting it now!!...it runs into my clubhead like a lemming waiting for death!)

Consciously feel your balance and do your imperatives.... wow!

Any comments???

I agree,it can feel like a" no power "swing.
But if you are in balance you have much more chance of getting that lag pressure delivered-effortless power.

Yes, I agree it feels easy "effortless power" type thing... but what i am saying is that rather than just "Being in balance"...actually use BALANCE TO DRIVE your swing.

Balance is an engine...a key part of your brain...always listening to your body and having rapid message pathways back to your body to make it stay in balance...even when your steady state balance is under attack from variable forces ( as in golf swing) ... your balance centre is already connected to all the bits of the body it needs to control....it will do the work if you focus on force and balance...

A steady lower body, correct footwork etc are results of using balance to drive/power your swing....the problem is that golf is being taught by people who teach the result ( stable lower body) rather than teach the cause which is using your in-built balance engine to create the results...

The balance engine needs to be educated to the task...and that is understanding the forces and orientation required in a G.O.L.F. stroke. Teach forces and orientation and imperatives...

Balance DRIVES.... not balance IS...

Yes, i have been re-reading Shivas Irons' thoughts recently...

No, I have not been using any illegal and/or prescription medication...

But the doors of perception have been smashed wide open...

Just my 2 cents...please take with salt as required...:laughing9

Master of balance
 

Ernie Els is always described as having smooth tempo, great rhythm and balance....

He does whole body waggles... not just moving the clubhead prior to hitting the shot...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCD-52z0vW0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsf-M9VkIZU

Most people skip over this passage in Ben Hogan's "The Modern Fundamentals of Golf"

page 40 my edition...Chapter 2 Stance and Posture...

"Many golfers make the sizeable error of thinking of the stance as that preparatory part of the swing in which the player merely lines himself up on the target he's shooting at. While one of the purposes of the stance certainly is to set up the direction of the shot, it also has quite a number of other functions that are much more important. Power and control must be combined in a good golf swing, and the stance is that step in which a golfer sets himself up so that 1) his body will be in balance throughout the swing, 2)his muscles are ready to perform fluidly and , 3) as a logical result, all the energy he pours into his swing will be channeled to produce maximum control and power. When you see a fine player making little individual movements of his feet or his knees or his shoulders as he settles into his satnce, do not mistake these for empty gestures of nervousness. And they're not movements, either, that precede his arriving at a static, fixed position. What he's actually trying to do is to feel that everything he will be calling on in his swing is in balance and poised for action"

Now go back and watch the Els footage and see him feel his balance...or perhaps see his balance feel his body and clubhead....

I tell you "true gravity" is there for all to use...

You mean, inner ear controlled, hands controlled pivot?:confused1 :laughing9

Like - "hit the ball with your inner ear". :laughing1 :happy3:

I think we need a more well balanced opinion from Edz than my humorous(?) musings.

I am going to keep stirring this pot....
 

Hi Burner, i agree - waiting for some other opinions to discuss this further. This is my second thread on balance and i am threatening a third unless we get some activity on this thread! :laughing9

If you consider that the book has only 3 imperatives and 3 essentials....do a search for each and balance comes out near the bottom in terms of threads.... why..because it is unimportant?? or we just do not get it...what it really means...

There were some old photos of Brian Gay on a balance ball thing making swings with yoda in front of full length mirrors... now i am not sure exactly what the drill was... but i bet Brian was thinking balance!

I think that the reason that balance is overlooked is that it isn't as sexy as the other stuff. Maybe it's because golfers are looking for things to "work on", and they consider balance something that will take care of itself, believing that a loss of balance only occurs as the result of a bad swing (instead of being the potential cause of a bad swing).

As an aside, while I was preparing for a longdrive competition a few years ago, one of the main things that I focused on at address was being in a completely balanced position, as if I were just standing around, relaxing. My reasoning was that if I were absolutely balanced, then my body wouldn't have to expend excess energy trying to regain or maintain my balance; everything could be dedicated to trying to split the ball in half.

insatiable ...
 

I am going to keep on ranting on this thread...:laughing9

Only after thinking these balance crazy thoughts did the "tripod" concept seem to make sense....

Now i have revised my opinion...from tripos as a desirable goal which might work albeit at a sacrifice of distance .... to something that is near -mandatory to make the whole "balance driven / on plane force aware" swing.... or B.D.O.P.F.A.S as i like to call it... successful!

OK - so G.O.L.F. might be better....:laughing9

Bigwill , the bit I underlined, italicised and made bold is the mistake that I think millions have over-looked!!

Learning golf = learning to do all the complicated stuff and then balance will come.... WRONG!!!

Challenge your balance to deal with lag pressure and a straight plane line.... and all the complicated stuff will come for free!!!!!!!!!

I thought I said that (in few words) in my previous post !:pumpkin:

Balanced Bookends
 

The Golfing Machine begins and ends with Balance.

Per the 45-item Mechanical Checklist of All Strokes (12-3-0):

12-3-#1 Stance and Balance;

12-3-#45 Body Position and Balance.

And per 1-L:

"Off-balance force is notoriously erratic."

:)

Thanks Yoda, balance envelopes the swing, but I guess that you are not convinced that it drives the swing... i shall continue my experiment with B.D.O.P.F.A. Swing and report back wih results...I will withdraw my threat of further balance threads until i have more evidence....I suggest not holding your breath....:laughing9

Balance
 

Is it the person who should be in balance or the club that should be in balance?
Tiger Woods tells us in “How I Play Golf” - “Let’s start the full swing by setting the club into motion correctly. Notice I said the club, not your body. The reason you’ve worked hard at positioning your body the right way is so it can transport the club on the proper path and plane throughout the swing”
If Tiger is correct then concentrating on the body parts and their positions may be studying the effects not the cause. Could it be that the imperatives of the golf stroke are encapsulated in the dictates of the club, not the dictates of the body? Is so, what are the imperative precision alignments of the club during the golf stroke and are they observable and/or measurable in Iron Byron?

Re-order the words

"force driven on plane/balance aware"

and I think it has a more tangible meaning.

Balance, imho, is not a driver but the desired result of an efficient motion made by a well organised, cohesive and co-ordinated G.O.L.Fer.

Balance is Zone 1
 

9-0 Zone 1 Body Control: Pivot Body Balance

Pivot Rules

Practice pivot until balance is maintained.

This is essential.

Pivot Rules!

Old school view Burner!!! Come the revolution...:laughing9

Just wait.... your out-dated bourgeois views regarding balance will need to be reprogramed.... :) :golf:

Maybe...:laughing9

Not sure about Iron Byron...but the prime consideration of the movement of the club( shaft/head/face...and hence sweetspot) is the heart of TGM - no doubt.... but the club movement is permitted by the body... interacting though lag pressure.

Nobody argues that a club moving in an unbalanced fashion will NOT cause the body to become unbalanced ...but why not use balance to move the lag pressure... and then see how the club moves... i suspect that it will be moving as Tiger would like...

I found this quote by Yoda on another site...
my underlining and bold and italics...


"As Bobby Jones once wrote, "There is no virtue that cannot be exaggerated into a fault."

Per 7-17, the Address Position loading of the Feet is an even distribution between both Feet but with enough on the heels to allow the toes to be lifted up momentarily without altering the distribution between the toe and heel.

Throughout the remainder of the Stroke, the player's sense of balance and force rules. Per 1-L, "Off-balance force is notoriously erratic. The mechanical device has no balance problem but the human machine does, and mastery of the Pivot (Zone #1) is so essential for good Golf. "

I feel that an active balance sense is key part of zone 1 training but should not replace primacy of the hands in playing.

There's no position quite as secure as an entrenched one.:naughty:

My views change daily and depend on scores achieved rather than logic or reasoned argument; neither of which have proved to be more reliable in my case.:confused1 :laughing1

Only when the power swings to the extreme left Brother. 8-[

Balance is the 'glue' of physics - efficient force.

Most certainly the vast majority of folks do not pay attention to balance as much as they should.

Monitoring balance - simply holding your finish until the ball lands - is a goal worth focusing on.

Eyes closed, 'swing' a heavy club back and through, back and through.

Those 'effortless' swings are the times you are really balanced, not the times you simply 'think' you are balanced.

Yes I am reviving an old post. I see many, many students who come to me with bad balance and wonder why the ball goes sideways. :BangHead: I talk to them about balance and they want to rush past the topic for something more exciting. The body always seeks balance and it doesn't care if you are hitting a golf ball! There's a big reason balance is one of the three Essentials!!!:think:

Betwixt the Footses
 

How do you define balance? I still have a hard time nailing that one down. To me balance is all about "head control" i.e. where my head is at any given time in the stroke. The head being relatively heavy and very capable of movement it can change the balance of things! I have paid dearly for having my head too far right of low point at address

you can no more isolate balance in one body part than you can define the location of the soul or spirit.

It must be experienced as a whole.

It is dynamic. It can make things happen. Balance can drive your motion.

In one of the "On tour with LBG" threads, Yoda talks of working with Brian Gay who made swings on a buson (sp) ball.

I have a pair of agility discs that really make you unstable and once off them help you feel really 'grounded'. Making a full swing on them is very challenging for me, mostly I want to fall over after contact with ball (I only ever make practice swings with them) if one was there and the momentum is a forwards and out movement.

My question is, at what stage should one make use of these sort of aids? Should it be when you have a fully functioning G.O.L.F. swing or as you are building one?

Assuming the answer is 'as you build it', how often and for how long should one incorporate them into practice.

Thanks in advance!

:salut:

Physics, not metaphysics!
 

"Balance is holding the center of gravity of the body inside The Stance without moving the Head." Most people would benefit from "reducing" balance to keeping their respective heads between their feet thereby assisting in keeping the COG inside the stance. A floppy head seldom helps. Leave that alone, Crews! :naughty:

Well said Okie- Crews is definitely inside the gates and lurking, posting, causing problems- I'm working on deleting the virus but until then be careful!:hang:

Bucket Uses
 

If it were NOT for the zealous outworkings of HIS evil inclination how would we know if up is really up? Bucket is perhaps the default setting of the universe!:happy3:

I'm paraphrasing Ben Doyle but his definition of balance was something to the effect of cancelling out or

"cancellation of all forces by equal opposing forces."

When the ball starts going sideways remember "Off-balance force is notoriously erratic." 1-L

Check your balance at Basic Motion, then Acquired, etc.

balance
 

Ben Doyle illustrates balance by performing swing while standing on a plastic crate turned upside down. Improving core strength improves balance.

Tests for balance?
 

What are we checking for? I view balance from the perspective of an alignment i.e. tripod. I am sure there are more complete definitions. I have also noticed that the only way I can stand on a crate (like Mr. Doyle does) is to keep my head between my feet. I used to work on a "steady head" , but it was was seldom a centered head. Balance is indeed essentially without it there is little chance of a centered arc for impact etc.

I'd say balance has much to do with the fundamental alignments of the pivot. You have multiple centers in the pivot working with the ultimate goal to keep the hands as close as possible to the selected plane and strike the ball with the proper relation to low point. Where the "multiple centers" are aligned at impact has implications on the path of the club and the face and the shaft location (face, head, shaft) . . . . so balance I'd say is way more than just staying "erect" (uh huh huhh uh huhh) . .. . there's an "axis" theoretically that were trying to pivot and move the move the club in relation to . .. . but with that hula hula motion of the hips, spine and shoulders there's a lot of stuff going on to make that happen and still hit the ball precisely while remaining "erect".

Dynamic Balance
 

I have a "Dynamic Balance System" similar to the one at PGA Learning Center.
It is very interesting to see the wide variety of patterns that appear using this system.
Everyone starts out with what is identified as their signature and depending on what changes might need to be made can begin to see a change or improvement to their dynamic balance. These changes come about as their awareness of what is causing the imbalance is dealt with and observed on the screen.
I have a library of some tour players patterns and some of them appear to be out of balance but are able somehow to repeat.

Signatures?
 

Sounds very interesting...care to share a bit more about individual signatures?

I'm with you on the multiple centers etc. Bucket o' Dead Poultry. How do we monitor balance or is that exclusive to the realm of feel?

Signatures:Re
 

When a student first swings on the Dynamic Balance System (DBS) they produce a signature which is actually a tracing type diagram of what their balance (core) did between their base. It shows directional movement - either to the toes or heels as well as any lateral movement. This signature will pretty much be repeated over and over unless they change it as per what they see or what they're told by the instructor. Most of the time they may not be aware of what is causing the imbalance without input from the instructor.

This system is an excellent way to monitor balance because small changes can produce instant feedback. It has a Practice Mode screen that allows the student to hit and then view the diagram for 10 - 15 seconds and then resets for the next swing, in this instance the student can begin to relate what they see to what they feel or vice versa.
www.sportsbalance.com

Please send me one of those balance monitors but please send the bill to Mr. Bucket. (please pronounce as bouquet so as not to annoy him).

Remember balance is not an Imperative . . . . Alignments come first . . . . So I'd say you could have a wacky swing and perfect "balance". Bottom line you have to "align" your pivot motion in such away that you can locate low point consistently in the proper spot. I'd say the Hula Hula basically is "balance" in relation to where the head or center of the pivot/shoulder turn is . . . so if you are "hangy backy" or Bob . . . you may be in balance but you may be sacrificing alignments and low point for perfect balance.

Mikey . . . I thought you were going to handle this one??? I know there are a lot of strip joints, goat ranches and old folks homes on 1-20 but you have to execute the mission. Mission first . . . perversions second.

A.G. If a strange indvidual shows up at your house in a rubber suit smelling like dandruff shampoo and monkey turds let him in . . . . he is not an Acorn representive. He has a "package" for you.

Mr. Bouquet, I can't help but laugh every time you post! I'm not sure which comedian is writing your jokes but please tell him to start using the funny stuff. Now that was just wrong wasn't it?!

In almost all seriousness, I heard Mikey was looking for investors to build a goat stripping retirement community. Sounds a bit odd to me but what you guys do in your time off is your business ;)

When Mikey does show up I have some "associates" who will be glad to help him.

Balance cont.
 

Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise. In your opinion do you think that a person's signature is simply a starting point, or an indication of innate athletic ability? Can we improve our sense of balance in a general sense? I have found especially gifted athletes to be minimalists in that they do just enough to get the job done, and care little for the positions of style golf. I think there is mental lesson in there somewhere!

Bucket - The primacy of alignment is HUGE. The better the alignments the better the balance? Things like setting your head at impact height...between your feet...right forearm take away eliminates superflous motion. So balance could be defined as the absence of irrelevant motion? Apt Yodism: "The idea is to take the bucking broncos and turn them into Tennesse walking horses."

I've seen enough perfect finishes with horrible impacts that I have to disagree. Fall over with a flat left wrist, straight plane line and clubhead lag and you can get a good shot. I agree with where Homer listed balance.