Originally Posted by MJCB
Please could someone recomend some drills to stop the head moving backwards away form the target during the downstroke. I have been hitting balls with a straw in my mouth to monitor the head position. On video if the head stays relatively still I tend to lose my height through impact. Any help would be appreciated.
MB,
Moving the Head backwards during the Downstroke is a Sway (the Fourth Snare 3-F-7-D), and it is the product of a malfunctioning Pivot. Before diving into work on that problem, though, make sure your head is set properly to begin with.
Do you set your Head position first at Impact Fix, and then attempt to keep it Stationary? Or do you, like most people, start with your Head in an Adjusted Address position that ignores a proper Impact Fix position (and therefore cannot possibly be maintained through Impact)? My guess is the latter.
So, what is a good Head position at Impact Fix?
First, a plumb line from your chin to the ground should fall precisely between your Feet. Your Head should form the tip of an isosceles triangle whose base is the Feet. Most people hang back -- probably in response to instruction that emphasizes that the Head should be 'behind the Ball' and even 'over the right knee.' Consequently, their Head and Feet form a right triangle.
Second, the Head should be located a good deal lower than most people's 'normal' Address position. The exact position will be dictated by the amount of Knee Bend and Waist Bend. In turn, these are determined by the distance the Hips must move to enable the Right Forearm to return precisely to its pre-selected Impact Fix Angle of Approach (pointing at the Plane Line well in front of the Ball).
Bottom Line: Most people -- even good players -- move their Head entirely too much during the Stroke. And one of the primary reasons is that they have failed to set it properly in the first place.
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Yoda
So Impact Fix will influence knees and hips, lowering the head as the Angle of Approach is considered. Then the head is made Stationary.
ICT
__________________
HP, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Progress and not perfection is the goal every day!
Last edited by innercityteacher : 01-18-2011 at 03:43 PM.
As nearly as your current skill allows, assume a static position replicating your precise Impact position and alignments:
1. Body position (comparatively squared away with the Head between the Feet).
2. Arms position (the Flying Wedges with the amount of Knee and Waist Bend necessary to allow the Right Forearm to point at the Plane Line).
3. Hands position (Impact Hand Location with the Left Wrist Flat, Level and Vertical).
Wherever your Head is located now...
That is where it should remain until the end of the Follow-Through (Both Arms Straight position).
__________________
Yoda
Clarity is a great thing!
ICT
__________________
HP, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Progress and not perfection is the goal every day!
Last edited by innercityteacher : 01-18-2011 at 03:44 PM.
Response by Yoda
Magic Of The Right Forearm Elbow Action
Quote:
HungryBear wrote:
OK, I take that to mean substantial lag pressure from #3 at impact is good. So if I may extend my question? At the top and during delivery I have little lag pressure, just enough to feel the alignment. The acceletation at the top and much of the way down is "pulling" of the left ahnd due to #4 . This is another problem in my old computer I am trying to get out. For years I had pulled with the left hand to long and wand up with a left arm in lign with the shaft. That was very wrong? becayse thye left wrist winds up as uncocked and the right forearm point beyond delivery line. By emphasing the right forearm on plane the left arm must point inside/below the plane so the left wrist remains flat and passes thru level at impact? What is "strange" in this new feel is that acceleration seems to switch from left hand at start down to right hand near (below waist level) and thru impact. OH, I do use #1 pressure point to "stretch my left arm throughout the swing, but I do not use it i a way that acts on the club-shaft. Can it be assumed that this extension pressure at all times is good?
HB,
The Lag Pressure Feel is good not only at Impact but from Start-Down all theway down to the Both Arms Straight Position (Follow-Through 8-11). And I domean you should feel like you are going down, down down all the way to BothArms Straight. On my best Strokes I feel Lag Pressure to the very end of myFinish. Remember, the Clubhead Lag has no release point (6-C-2-A).
Everybody thinks they understand the Plane Line. You know...We 'trace' it. We'point' at it. We swing 'along' it.
Here's my message: Obliterate it!
You don't swing 'down along it!' You swing down and through it. Remember, thisis just a line on the face of an Inclined Plane that actually extends into theground. And in that ground is another Plane Line, the Low Point PlaneLine. You don't 'see' that one on the top of ground.
That first Plane Line is easy. You're always reminded of that one because itusually sits on top of the Target Line. And when we get to it we usually justskim right along it! But this one -- this LowPoint Plane Line -- you've got tothink about and then take the Lag Pressure all the way down to it. It's one ofthe best things you'll ever do for your game.
Now, even though you now know this, the problem isn't going to automatically goaway. Two stumbling blocks remain:
1. You've got learn to do it subconsciously, and that takes purposeful practiceand Translation per 1-J and 3-A/B;
2. Your Magical Right Forearm/Elbow Action (7-3) is no doubt nowhere nearwhat it could be. Therefore, you don't have a 3-dimensional Backstroke(Up, immediately as well as Back and In). As a result, you don't have a truly3-dimensional Downstroke (Down, Out and Forward 2-F). Read that lastparagraph in 7-3 until you know it by heart.
And then do what it says! Practice that Right Forearm/Elbow Action fromFix. First without a club. Then with a club -- or better yet a headlessshaft or a wooden dowel -- but without a ball. Then with a Ball but only withthe Basic Motion (12-5-1). Again, start from Impact Fix (8-2 and 7-8 )and get the Club Up and Back with your Right Elbow and Forearm.
Stay on your Left side as you do this. Stand still. Stationary Head. With yourLeft Wrist Flat and your Right Wrist Bent (Impact Alignments), use that RightElbow to take the Right Forearm Flying Wedge (6-B-3-0-1) Up the face ofthe Plane. From the Top, Load the Lag, and Drive the whole Power Packageassembly and its Lag down to the Both Arms Straight Position. These arethe Key moves.
When you have it, go to Stage 2 (Acquired Motion). Hit thousands of ballswith your sand or pitching wedge with no bigger Stroke than 12-5-2. Thinkabout that Magical Right Forearm and Elbow. Take the Club Up in StartUp. That's why it is called Start Up!
Feel the Lag Load at the Top. Take the Lag all the way down tothe Both Arms Straight Position. Make sure at the Finish that your LeftWrist is still Flat and your Right Wrist is still Bent. You can't thinkabout all those things at the same time! Choose one, and work on it for awhile. Then move to another. But The Golfing Machine is all about obliteratingthe Plane Line with your Loaded Lag and your Flying WedgesAssembly with its Flat Left and Bent Right Wrists. Once you've got thatdown, Total Motion (12-5-3) is a piece of cake.
Your thoughts on Extensor Action (6-B-1-D) are good, but do you reallyunderstand the Flying Wedges (6-B-3-0-1)? Those alignments are crucialto your understanding your Machine, how it all works together and how you canutilize the Power Package structure to Drive the Lag Down and Through.
Finally, read 3-F-6 and do your best to get better and better at those things.
You won't get better all at once. But get better you will. And it will graduallydawn on you that you really are doing it. And then the fun really begins!
I'm going to have to start understanding the most precise way to correctly form Impact Fix!
ICT
__________________
HP, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Progress and not perfection is the goal every day!
Last edited by innercityteacher : 01-18-2011 at 03:44 PM.
No Problem Lynn, I was just celebrating the details !
Originally Posted by Yoda
Hard to get more detailed than this, ICT! If I did, the post would be so long that few would have the time and energy to read it!
The only substitute would be a video. Which, of course, needs to happen.
There is plentT to work on in those posts. Good luck with your presentations and seminars!
ICT
__________________
HP, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Progress and not perfection is the goal every day!
There is plentT to work on in those posts. Good luck with your presentations and seminars!
ICT
__________________
HP, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Progress and not perfection is the goal every day!
__________________
HP, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Progress and not perfection is the goal every day!
I'll have to do the research, but I'm wondering how my "betters" feel about Sam's mention of rolling from the insides of the feet. I have tried that and my hands feel very vertical and quite free-flowing. I feel very close to the ground, very connected and very powerful!
ICT
__________________
HP, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Progress and not perfection is the goal every day!
I'll have to do the research, but I'm wondering how my "betters" feel about Sam's mention of rolling from the insides of the feet. I have tried that and my hands feel very vertical and quite free-flowing. I feel very close to the ground, very connected and very powerful!
ICT
I wondered if Fred Couples got some of his golfing inspiration from Sam Snead. I'm not sure I know but the smooth flowing, simple swing is so cool!
An old Yoda post
I went to the TGM archives because I remember a post from Lynn which was all about Freddy
Quote: Response by Yoda
Watch Fred Couples.
He stands there...his Stationary Head centered between his Stationary
eet.
He picks the Club almost straight up to the Top. His Head remains
stationary and his Left Foot remains Flat. He is in perfect Balance.
He delivers the Club almost straight down into Impact. [Talk about
our small Pulley Wheel encounters (2-K #6)!] His Head remains
tationary and his Feet maintain his perfect Balance.
He remains, at the age of 44, one of the longest Drivers of the Ball on the PGA TOUR and has won $1,820,495 year-to-date.
No 'move to the right.'
No Heel Lift on the Backstroke.
No exaggerated 'leg drive.'
Just the smoothest Swing in Golf producing some of the longest Shots
and lowest scores in Golf.
Go figure.
Yoda
So, I have discovered more insights around Stationary Head besides "rolling feet," and that is, again, RFT, and Small Pulley, head position established at Impact Fix or the selected Address, oops, forgot Angle Hinge since I think my shorter left leg and its steeper angle would be neutralized by more club layback.
ICT
__________________
HP, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Progress and not perfection is the goal every day!
Last edited by innercityteacher : 01-18-2011 at 03:45 PM.
So, I have discovered more insights around Stationary Head besides "rolling feet," and that is, again, RFT, and Small Pulley, head position established at Impact Fix or the selected Address, oops, forgot Angle Hinge since I think my shorter left leg and its steeper angle would be neutralized by more club layback.
ICT
One of the things I have learned on this site, is that there are details to the necessary "causes and effects" of all things G.O.L.F. Here are some important details that only a very good teacher of professional rank would know I think.
Originally Posted by bray
I personally do not believe a "people-shaped golfer" can keep there head stationary. In fact Golf Digest did a study on the head movement in 1962 and found that from address to the top of the backswing the head moved about 2" to the right for the right handed golfer, and from address to impact the head moved about 3". This study was done on 31 American Tour Professionals hitting three drives each.
Answer by Yoda!
Can anyone clarify what Mr. Homer Kelly meant by a stationary head, and how it fits in with TGM?
The goal -- the ideal -- is indeed a Stationary Head. If it is not humanly possible to achieve it precisely, then as lttle movement as possible is the next best thing. Most players -- even professionals -- move their Head far more than is necessary. There are two primary reasons for this:
1. Faulty Pivot. Instead of the correct Weight Shift and Turn beneath a Stationary Head, they Sway and Bob. One of the biggest misconceptions in the Game is that, to shift the Weight, the upper torso must move to the right. In the correct action, the Weight Shift is accomplished by the Hip Shift. This involves Hula-Hula flexibility -- the ability to separate the movement of the Hips from the movement of the Shoulders. With the Head held Stationary, the Spine (the Axis of the Shoulder Turn) does not Sway laterally. Instead, it Tilts (toward the Target on the Backstroke and away from the Target on the Downstroke). Be aware that the good player's Top of the Backstroke 'look' can obscure what is actually happening. Here Extensor Action stretching out the 'wobble' of the Left Arm and Shoulder Girdle is often mistaken for upper torso lateral movement. For a visual conception, check out the Top positions of history's greatest strikers, e.g., Vardon, Jones, Hogan, Miller and Nelson.
2. Poor Address Head Location. The Head Position should be established during the Address Routine, specifically in Section 2 of the Stroke (Impact Fix). For most, this Impact Head Location is lower and more left than at their current Adjusted Address. Once set correctly, the Head should remain as Stationary as possible at least through the completion of Section 11 (the Follow-Through or Both Arms Straight position).
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Does the rolling of the feet or ankles, by Snead and Nicklaus and maybe Freddie couples activate the Hula/Hula?
ICT
__________________
HP, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Progress and not perfection is the goal every day!
Last edited by innercityteacher : 01-18-2011 at 03:46 PM.
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