How Do I Learn To Hit Down?

[Yoda]

Great post yoda....that's why if you position the ball towards the middle of your stance and you truly drive the clubhead into the ground TO LOW POINT....you'll have one looooooooooooooooong divot

Right you are, Jim. At our Long Island school this past summer, Ted Fort and I passed on adjacent fairways. He holds up by its tail-end a bluegrass divot a full eighteen inches long, and says:

"Hey, Yoda. Look at this beaver pelt!"

Down South, we're used to Bermuda grass divots that basically explode. This was a whole lot more fun!

[birdie_man]

Here is a response to a Private Message that I thought could serve in this thread.



The geometrically-carved Divot is taken because the Club is descending correctly Down Plane to Low Point, not because there is a new Low Point. With the non-teed Ball (and with many teed Balls) positioned back in the Stance (Up Plane), Low Point is always in the ground.

If the Club does not descend all the way to Low Point, it is usually because the Left Wrist has Bent. When this happens, the Club immediately ascends, and the player has thus established a new Low Point (opposite the Bending Left Wrist, not the Left Shoulder). This mechanical disruption destroys the Clubhead's true Three Dimensional Orbit (Down, Out and Forward) and, unless intentional, will result in less than optimal results.

First off, thank you much for addressing my PM Lynn. Appreciate it.

....

I must be missing something though. If this is a mechanical disruption.....then why would anyone ever want to use anything but a "constant, single ball position" (off the left heel)?

Know what I'm getting at? Everytime someone hits a shot with the ball posistioned behind the Left Shoulder it can't be a mechanical disruption, can it?

I know there must be a reason...

-Paul

[6bmike]

Right you are, Jim. At our Long Island school this past summer, Ted Fort and I passed on adjacent fairways. He holds up by its tail-end a bluegrass divot a full eighteen inches long, and says:

"Hey, Yoda. Look at this beaver pelt!"

Down South, we're used to Bermuda grass divots that basically explode. This was a whole lot more fun!

Like this?




Now that's divot explosion G.O.L.F.

[Yoda]

Like this?




Now that's divot explosion G.O.L.F.

Neat photo, Mike. Ol' Yoda tearin' one out of the turf with a Swingin' Horizontal Hinge. Thanks!

[Yoda]

I must be missing something though. If this is a mechanical disruption.....then why would anyone ever want to use anything but a "constant, single ball position" (off the left heel)?

Know what I'm getting at? Everytime someone hits a shot with the ball posistioned behind the Left Shoulder it can't be a mechanical disruption, can it?

I know there must be a reason...

Low Point is independent of Ball Location. When the Ball located at Low Point, there will be no Divot. When the Ball is located on the ground and Up Plane from Low Point, there will be a Divot. And the further Up Plane and the steeper the Plane Angle, the deeper that Divot will be.

[birdie_man]

When the Ball is located on the ground and Up Plane from Low Point, there will be a Divot. And the further Up Plane and the steeper the Plane Angle, the deeper that Divot will be.

Okok. What I'm interested in though Yoda, is the WHY....

---what is causing the club to bottom out before Left Shoulder? (and not AT Left Shoulder). Steeper Plane Plane Angle?....if so, then WHAT does the golfer do to cause the Plane Angle to change?

...

....if you don't mind sprinkling more of that green Yoda dust this way.

[Yoda]

What I'm interested in though Yoda, is the WHY....

---what is causing the club to bottom out before Left Shoulder? (and not AT Left Shoulder).

Just because the Club has hit the ground does not mean that it has reached its lowest point. That lowest point does not occur until the Clubhead is in front of the Left Shoulder (and further Down Plane, i.e., further down in the ground).

Low Point is established by the player at Impact Fix. Assuming the Ball is on the ground (or a low tee), if you locate the Ball Up Plane from Low Point, you will take a Divot. If you locate the Ball at Low Point, you will not.

Maybe the piece you are missing is this: When the Ball is located at Low Point, the Left Shoulder is automatically higher at Fix than it is with the Ball located further Up Plane, i.e., back in the Stance. This Shoulder-to-Ball Radius is established using the geometrically-correct procedure discussed in 2-J-1.

[YodasLuke]

Right you are, Jim. At our Long Island school this past summer, Ted Fort and I passed on adjacent fairways. He holds up by its tail-end a bluegrass divot a full eighteen inches long, and says:

"Hey, Yoda. Look at this beaver pelt!"

Down South, we're used to Bermuda grass divots that basically explode. This was a whole lot more fun!

Three more like that one, and you could sod your yard.

[birdie_man]

Maybe the piece you are missing is this: When the Ball is located at Low Point, the Left Shoulder is automatically higher at Fix than it is with the Ball located further Up Plane, i.e., back in the Stance. This Shoulder-to-Ball Radius is established using the geometrically-correct procedure discussed in 2-J-1.

Aha! That's why! Left Shoulder has not moved up as much....I shoulda known that.

Thanks Lynn.

O....one more thing...

Just because the Club has hit the ground does not mean that it has reached its lowest point. That lowest point does not occur until the Clubhead is in front of the Left Shoulder (and further Down Plane, i.e., further down in the ground).

So are you saying that....

....with a shot taken where the ball is positioned, say- in the middle of the stance.....that really, one could try to swing to a Low Point under the ground/at the Left Shoulder? (you just won't reach it because you won't hit the ground before the clubhead has reached Left Shoulder).

I hope these thoughts aren't too out there.....

-Paul

[Yoda]

....with a shot taken where the ball is positioned, say- in the middle of the stance.....one could try to swing to a Low Point under the ground/at the Left Shoulder? (you just won't reach it because you won't hit the ground before the clubhead has reached Left Shoulder).

Paul,

Your Incubator is in full overdrive now, and somewhere soon in these exchanges, the truth will hit you like a ton of bricks. You will see it and say, "WOW!"

Meanwhile, keep turning these ideas over...

You do hit the ground before the Clubhead reaches Low Point (opposite the Left Shoulder). The Clubhead then travels Down Plane to the Lowest Point of the Stroke. That is why the Divot is taken.

Hang in there, my friend.

The gates are about to be opened.