[innercityteacher]

What I needed, a good "butt" ressing of my concepts (careful out there kids)!

http://www.lynnblakegolf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6030&highlight=inside+quadrant#po st6030



[quote]#8
04-21-2005, 09:36 PM

12 piece bucket
Senior Member

Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Thomasville, NC
Posts: 4,377
Re: The Model - Mr. Hogan
Originally Posted by Bagger Lance
GG,

It is always a hand controlled pivot. Awareness of the hands is vital to a good golf swing and Homer gave us many ways to educate them.

That said, the hands will have a heck of time staying on plane if the pivot is not trained correctly. Fortunately it is not hard to understand the role of the pivot outside of accomodating the motion of the hands. There is really just one major function; weight shift.

The proper weight shift makes the start down automatic. For example, as the hands and club reach the "end" of the backstroke the weight is shifted laterally targetward by movement of the lower body, namely the hips. The hip bump is just a couple of inches targetward (assuming you haven't swayed). This does several good things. It "clears" the hips so there isn't any roundhousing, it fully loads most of the power accumulators, it provides axis tilt, and gets the hands in their on-plane downstroke alignments. Once the hands and right shoulder are put on plane by the weight shift, all thats left is taking the hands and right shoulder down and out. Some golfers like to drop the hands to a flatter plane at that point, but it's an option. Aim the butt of the club at the inside quadrant of the ball and take them down that line. The pivot will respond to the aiming of the hands by pulling them downplane through hip rotation. The key is that the hand alignments and speed are controlling the body turn. The straightening right arm helps and extensor action provides a constant speed. Mind in the hands. Awareness in the hands. The body responds.

It sounds like a lot, but it's all automatic once the weight is shifted and the hands are released on their assigned downstroke path by the turning hips.

So setting up for the weight shift is really important. I like Hogans model and so does Lynn. He showed me how to set up the pivot last November and it's made a huge difference.

Bagger
Bagger,

Could you please expand on "how to set up the pivot"? Thanks man!

Richard
__________________
Aloha Mr. Hand

Behold my hands; reach hither thy hand

#9
04-21-2005, 10:52 PM

Bagger Lance
Administrator

Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 2,325
Somebody order Pizza???
Aloha,

Setup is one of my favorite subjects so thanks for asking.

I feel relatively confident discussing it because everytime I visit the swamp, Yoda always comments on it. "I love that setup"...and..."you keep your head very still, we don't need to worry about that".

There are several analogies for the basic feel of it from a muscular readiness standpoint. Think of the following; a 1000M runner lined up at the starting line waiting for the gun, A linebacker preparing to rush the QB. It is a very athletic setup position. A state of readiness.

Anyone who lifts weights will recognize the muscular tension associated with preparing for a squat. Your body can be relatively relaxed with weight on your back, but the spine is perfectly straight to handle the weight, the kness are slightly bent, the weight is balanced across the feet, and the quads are in a state of readiness to accept the load. Ted has told me that after a day long range session, his left quad burns and can be sore the next day. I'm not suggesting you need to have a large amount of tension in the legs, just a state of readiness. My leg tension varies with the shot at hand and I've found a certain amount of muscular stability in the legs allows the rest of my body to relax. It's the platform to swing from.

In every case, you are set up "decidedly targetward" or as Yoda would say, "decidedly leftward". The weight isn't favored on the left side, it is balanced but the muscular readiness is targetward. My initial impression of it when I first started using it was that I couldn't differentiate the weight ratio left or right, but it felt like I was pressing the earth down with my left foot. From a muscular tension standpoint, my left quadricepts are much more activivated than the right. The right side presses into the left. But the weight is balanced. From there, I'm ready to take it back.

It's not stiff, but it's not loose either. As the body turns on the backswing, the left knee moves to accomodate the motion and the right leg can straighten slightly if you wish. At startdown, the hip bumps targetward, the left knee moves to accomodate the weight transfer. The weight is shifted into the left leg with the hip bump. The left quad takes a nice share of the load as you drive the left foot into the ground

Oh, one more impression. You feel like you can really rip the ball as you look down on it, and you will.

Aloha,