Hand action in Basic motion
 

I was looking at Yoda's basic motion sequence in the Gallery.
I was surprised to see the right arm barely moving past the hip on the back swing.
It seems like the backswing in this basic sequence is merely a hand motion, primarily a bend of the right wrist, which is of course sustained on the through swing. Is this correct?

Basic Motion: 2 feet back and 2 feet through.

The bent right wrist is set (clamped) at address and does not change.

Bending and straightening of the right elbow alone powers the motion. Any further accumulators are factored in under Acquired Motion, hence the term "Acquired".

Clubhead 2ft back and 2 ft through? or hands?

Arm Power Versus Hand Power In the Basic Motion Curriculum
 

Basic Motion (Stage One of the Basic Motion Curriculum / Clubhead two feet back and through) employs either (but not both) of the Arm Power Accumulators, i.e., the Left Arm (Swinging) or Right Arm (Hitting). The Right Shoulder is part of both the Power Package and the Pivot and therefore can drive the Swinger's Left Arm without violating the Basic Motion's Zero Pivot requirement.

The Hand Action Power Accumulators (Left Hand Turn and Roll and Left Wrist Cock and Uncock) are not employed until the Stroke proceeds to Acquired Motion -- Stage Two of the Basic Motion Curriculum -- whose boundary is from two feet back and through to Right Forearm parallel to the ground.

:golfcart2:

Right Shoulder Responsiblity
 

"the right shoulder...can drive the swinger's left arm" caught my attention.

Is this only in Basic Motion or does this occur in all 3 motions for the swinger....can "drive" be better defined... does it mean "directs" or "powers"?

Thanks for any help:)

Right Shoulder Thrust of Left Arm
 

The Right Shoulder drives the Swinger's #4 Accumulator (Left Arm) in all three Stages of the Basic Motion -- Basic, Acquired and Total. In fact, in the first three TGM editions, unless the Right Shoulder provided the initial Thrust of the Left Arm during the Start Down, Power Accumulator #4 was considered Zero-ed.

:salut:

Ok once again I am lost. I do not understand how the right shoulder can do this without going over the top.

Does the action of the right shoulder takes place AFTER the left hip moves toward the target and the hands drop down -- then the right shoulder goes into action?

On Plane Right Shoulder Turn Thrust
 

The Hip ACTION (7-15) pulls (and even throws) the Right Shoulder Downplane -- toward the Ball (and not "over the top") -- as directed by Educated Hands.

:salut:

This thread has some nice lines already...thanks Yoda and all!

The role as right shoulder in swinging is something I have always struggled to feel as an active component...always found it easy to feel acc.4 release..just never felt the right shoulder drivie it...but now Yoda writes about the hip action pull/throw the right shoulder I sort of get it.

Thanks Scottgas2 for raising this question.

Well, I have reviewed the Yoda Basic Motion pictures ... I certainly have just spent 2 weeks and about 2000 balls doing 'basic' shots that were not basic ... I was going back way further than the Master ...

It seems to me that Yoda's right arm does not move at all ... look at a tiny piece of the bush behind him just above his right elbow ...

The back of his right hand does not seem to move past the inside of his right thigh ... so the only way he could do this is by bending / cocking his left wrist ?? - Looking for clarification here please.


Re. 2 foot back and 2 foot through:

I went back out - got my 2 dowels - got out the tape and measured 4 foot - stuck the dowels in the ground 4 ft apart - on the target line - placed the ball precisely in the middle -

And it felt terrible ... totally stunted type of 'stroke' staying within these parameters ... clubhead hitting the rear dowel so quickly that it seems impossible to play any kind of fluent stroke - for me anyway ...

I only had about 4 attempts as I had to head for work ... so maybe I could develop something with practice ... but would appreciate if somebody else could try this set-up to see how it feels.

It is done with the #1 power accumulator only - bending and straightening of the right elbow.

You must appreciate that this is the most basic of all golf shots. Whilst it does have an application on the golf course it is primarily a drilling process to learn control of the hands. The hands are merely clamps and add nothing to the power of the basic motion shot - no cocking or bending of left or right wrists. Back, up and in; down, out and through.

You will be pleasantly surprised once you master basic motion and the sound of impact will tell you when you have done it.

Thanks Burner - but I cannot understand the 'bending and straightening of the right elbow' move in this instance ... bending it which way? ... And I cannot see any move by Yoda doing this in the pictures ...

I do not wish to be a pest but this is stopping me in my tracks ... if I use the 2 foot dowels alignment, as I set out above, there is no room to bend anything before you crash into the rear dowel.

Don't bend anything or else you'll crash into the dowel! :confused1

Hey Irish, I feel your pain, confusion and anxiety.
To start your journey in Golfing Machine-dom, you must have the Holy Grail to guide you along the way; and “Basic Motion” is the Holy Grail of Golf Motions. It’s your map to learning Golf, and when you’re lost, it will become a beacon to guide you safely on the ‘right track’ again. :happy3:

But, you must ask yourself; “Should I remain as I am, on the Darkside; continue reading golf magazines, watching the golfing channel, laugh like others at a tournament announcers jokes and not accept fault for a bad shot because ‘the wind got-a-hold of that one’? Or, should I leave that blissful ignorance behind by learning ‘Basic Motion’, crossover to the Light-side, where the painful truth of reality and knowledge may be your only reward?” :(

So, you must make this choice, "You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." :)

Basic motion teaches you the #4 Accumulator, extensor Action Take-away, how the hands train the ‘Right Shoulder’ to drive the ‘levers’, ‘Hinge Action’, ‘three dimensional impact’, and much more.

In this exercise, you’re going to fan your right hand (Extensor Take-away) at start-up which will pull your straight left arm straight and also against your chest (#4 pressure point) and then use your right shoulder (part of both the Pivot and Power Package) to Drive against the #4 Pressure Point which will guide your arms and Hands and Club through impact without moving your arms and hands independently (the alignment of your hands and arms and shoulders at the end of your take-away do not change until your hands reach the line-of-sight to the ball).

Do not move your shoulders on the backswing to take the club back (especially your left shoulder). Only fan your right arm/hand. Feel your Left Shoulder and Torso resisting. Feel your Left Arm pressing against your chest at the end of the Take-Away. Trace the Plane-line during the Take-Away so that your hands stay on-plane (use a bench to rest the Clubshaft on and guide (teach) your hands to trace the Plane-line, a must for beginners) otherwise when your right shoulder moves toward the ball, your off-plane hands will have no chance. Train your Pivot (right Shoulder) to comply with the path that your hands need to be on (Hands controlled Pivot). Do not train the Pivot to steer off-plane Hands though impact (Pivot controlled Hands).

Do not move your head, hips, knees or feet.
Do tilt your right shoulder at address as you would for normal strokes.

At the end of the take-away, make your right shoulder move toward the ball in such a way and fashion that your hands (Clamped onto the Club) will move toward impact and after they enter your line of sight to the Ball, your Clubhead will strike the ball. This is known as training your right shoulder to move the Hands where the Hands want to go. Your Hands want to trace the Plane-Line. So, teach your Right Shoulder How to move so the Hands stay on track. Hitters can straighten the right Elbow as the Hands reach the Line of Sight to the Ball. Swingers will let the Right Elbow unbend naturally.
Once the Right Shoulder and Power Package are trained to move the Inert Hands, then you can apply more power by moving your right shoulder more forcibly.

Remember, that once the end of Take-away is reached and the Left arm is pressing against the chest, keep the pressure (#4 PP) as your right shoulder drives. Your right shoulder will propel the left arm away from your chest soon after the thrust begins.

Remember that your arms and hands don’t move forward independent of your right shoulder until your hands reach the line-of-sight to the Ball.

How many days will pass before I learn Basic Motion? Anywhere from 3 days to 30 days.

Daryl, thanks for taking the time to write that comprehensive reply ... yes, I have achieved that magic sound of compression, but not repetitively ... have printed out your post and taken my pills ... back to basics.

Thanks, Darryl

Your confused? :dontknow:

Irish Maverick,

Its only a very little, almost imperceptible, piston like, bending and straightening motion and not easy to spot unless you pay very close attention.

The club head has to rise a little bit in order for it to be able to travel down and out to low point.

This elbow action takes the (potentially destructive) hands out of the equation.

Daryl,
That is what I was getting at in my first post on this thread, so thanks.
When you say fan the right hand, is that a bending back of the hand at the wrist?
How would you describe the right shoulder motion? It sounds like the left shoulder is the pivot point of the whole machine which the right shoulder powers.

By Turning the hands from Standard or Adjusted address (anticlockwise motion) whilst applying Extensor Action will give you a FLW and Bent Right Wrist AND a little bend in the right elbow. It may well be pretty close to what you wish to look like in terms of Flying Wedges at your Impact Fix you practice.

Yes and no. You must create the Flying Wedges which will give you structure for impact, so Flatten the Left Wrist (the right wrist will bend properly only if you have a Strong single action grip) but also fan your right forearm a bit. Your Right Elbow barely moves if at all as your Hands Fan to the right.

Remember that a Basic Motion Stroke in a way (Chipping), is a section of the Total Motion Stroke in that it represents the last two feet before and after impact. In other words, if you’re a Swinger, at Two Feet before Impact, if we were to cut this section out of a picture of the Total Motion Stroke, your left Wrist has already begun to Uncock and is within a fraction of Level (where it would be at impact) and your Hands have already Swiveled and your Right Wrist is Level and almost Vertical (Turned only a fraction). Your Right Elbow is in front of your Right Hip and your Hands are about over your Right Knee (Fanned Right Forearm). If you’re a Hitter, Then Your Right Elbow is at your side, your Hands are above your Right Knee and your Right Wrist is Level and Vertical.

Both Swingers and Hitters have the Cubshaft in a straight line with the Left Arm (as always), but a Swingers Clubhead may be a bit to the right of the Hitters because of the Swingers very slightly Turned Hands (about a quarter of an inch turned).

Ahh. The Head is the Center (pivot point), and must be between your feet. The Left Shoulder is the center of your left arm (primary lever) so when your Right Shoulder moves toward the Ball it forces the Left Shoulder Up and Back because the Head was the Center Point of the Rotation. If your Left Arm is snuggly against your chest then it will move when your left shoulder moves and be pulled in the direction of your Left Shoulder. So, to have your Left Arm Snuggly against your chest you should use Extensor Force (Right Triceps pulling your Left Arm Straight and across your chest).

Don’t pull up and back with the left shoulder during or to initiate the Downstroke. It has nothing to aim for. The Right shoulder can aim at the plane-line and keep your hands on-plane. Your Right Shoulder will push your left shoulder around the Pivot Center (Head).

At the end of the two foot backStroke, the Clubhead is trailing your hands. Keep that Alignment into and past Impact for a three dimensional impact. Even after impact your hands are still leading your Clubhead (until two feet past). If you keep the structure that you had at the Two Foot Backswing, then your Clubhead will move evenly down, out and forward simultaneously. If you jerk your hands or move your arms independent of your shoulders, then they won’t move down, out and forward evenly and you won’t have an even three dimensional impact.

Your right shoulder should be lower than your left shoulder at the start. Your Right Should will rise a little by the end of the two foot take-away, then go down again to drive the Downstroke.

There is a difference between a Hitter and a Swinger during Basic Motion type stokes (Chipping geometry), but very little (what Powers the Stroke, action). Most of the differences stem from the Right Elbow Location. For a TRUE BASIC MOTION swing, you should zero out the #3 Accumulator and keep the Left Wrist Flat and Level, Right Wrist Bent and Level throughout. If you use it for Chipping, then later on, adjust for swinging or Hitting if desired.

One of the Major differences between Basic and Total Motion is Angle of Attack. In Basic Motion, the Angle of Attack is so slight that if you jerk your hands even the slightest, your clubhead will hit the ground before it hits the ball.

Basic motion is learning a lot of things but one of the most important is to keep the structural alignments (structure and Geometry) of the Flying Wedges through impact. Your Right Elbow may not move on the Backstroke while the Wedges are created, but your right elbow should move on the Downstroke when your left arm moves away from your chest.

Felling the Giant Oak
 

Daryl,

Thank you for your many insightful posts these past few weeks. We here at LBG -- management and members alike -- have missed you. Your own TGM journey has been many years in the making, and we sincerely appreciate your distillations.

Q: Which axe blow fells the oak . . . the first or the last?

A: It takes them all.

Keep those posts coming!

Even Einstein needed a hundred blows. I have only 50 more to go.