Alex
Morrison: ''The swing starts from the center of the body, under the
influence of centrifugal force." The
bio-mechanical center of any swing movement is a point located roughly at the
intersection of the collar bones and the breast bone in the upper chest/neck
area. The movement of the arms is a result of the rotation of the
shoulders. The arms are a connecting link between the shoulders and the
club head ... at the conscious level they are nothing more than an extension of
the club. Any muscle activity in the arms should be sub-conscious, reflex
action. Conscious effort is unnecessary! The movement of the lower
body is a response to the position of the upper body. As the center of the
swing moves laterally, the lower body "shifts to the left or right" to
maintain balance.
The
golf swing is made from the swing center out to the arms and on to the
clubhead AND the golf swing is also made from the swing center down to the
feet. The movement of the swing center controls the swing!
Bobby
Jones: "The proper order of movement is body, then then arms, and last
the club head." As Hebron states in the
title of his book, the inside is moving the outside. It is interesting to
note all the comments about how Jones' swing was made from the ground up in
light of his own words.
Ben
Hogan: "The action of the arms is motivated by the movements of the
body, and the hands consciously do nothing but maintain a firm grip on the
club." The hands are passive connectors, not
active hitters. Their true role is to connect you to the club in a
bio-mechanically efficient manner and to provide the sensory feedback
required for learning.
Ben
Hogan: "The main thing for the average golfer is to keep any conscious
hand action out of his swing. The correct swing is founded on a chain action. If
you use the hands when you should not, you prevent the chain action."
This
is a continuation of Hogan's previous statement. It is the origin of the
"big muscle swing".
Ben
Hogan: "Next time you see a good player in action, note how his body
appears to drive forward before he hits the ball." This
sentence has caused more problems in the teaching of golf than any other.
New teachers have looked a Hogan's picture perfect swing and have concocted any
number of "theories" about the swing. One disastrous theory is
that the legs "lead" the swing. This was further extended into
the "swing is made from the ground up". All golfers have been
suffering ever since.
Ben
Hogan: "To start the downswing, forget about the shoulders, arms and
hands. One thing this means is to get
"creatively stupid" ... to clear your mind and to focus on something
specific.
Paul
Runyan: "The swing is entirely controlled by the shifting and turning
of body weight. We respectfully disagree
with the sequence of this statement. More correctly, the body CAUSES
a shifting of the weight. As stated, the tail is wagging the dog!
Paul
Runyan: "It is my experience that as you 'cease' consciously directing
the swing by the use of shoulders and arm muscles, you establish an automatic
grooved swing." One of Mother Nature's best gifts
to golfers everywhere ... centrifugal force.
Paul
Runyan: "Do not try to uncock or snap your wrists. This is an automatic
motion caused by the natural flow of the club head as maximum speed is
attained." This is a comment that validates the
idea that Mother Nature (centrifugal force) can direct and coordinate the swing
a lot better than you. The time it takes for a neural signal to travel
from a sensory receptor up to the brain, be processed and then travel down to a
muscle is much longer than the time it takes to make a downswing. In other
words, you cannot control the swing no matter how hard you try! This is
true even if you "pre-focus" your mind on a specific "que".
Carl
Lohren: "Whenever the arms and hands are involved in your mental
concept, they will steal the show. If the hands and arms move first, they will
not direct the club in the proper direction." More
of the same idea. Where you focus your attention is what will generally
happen while the club is moving. Today, we can compare this to selecting a
computer file before pressing the enter button to load the file. This is
nothing more than ordering your mind to run a saved program. Obviously
it's not that simple and things could go wrong. To have any influence on
the swing, your que must be related to a point no higher than the 3/4 position
in the backswing. Again, the time it takes for a neural signal to travel
from a sensory receptor up to the brain, be processed and then travel down to a
muscle is much longer than the time it takes to make a downswing. For most
golfers, the best thing to do is to focus on a que related to the
takeaway. If you are in a correct pre-swing setup, and if you can get the
club moving in the right direction, there's a pretty good chance it will find
the correct position at the top of the backswing ... and if a frog had wings, it
wouldn't bump its butt every time it hopped!
Assuming you have
mastered the movement and timing of the backswing, there is one thing you can do
to influence the forward swing. You can "aim" at a specific
spot. Look at your target and visualize a clock face. Before the
swing, focus on a specific "time". On the forward movement,
"sling" your thumbs (the club's grip) at the time you have
selected. If your hands finish lower near 9:30, the ball will draw. At
about 10:00 o'clock, the ball will got relatively straight. At 10:30 the
ball will fade. This technique assumes you have mastered the whole swing
motion required to produce a free flowing sling.
Carl
Lohren: "As you start, exert no influence on the club with the hands
and arms. Do not be afraid that they will not go where they are supposed to
go." This is a most excellent statement that
is 98% correct! The strong and correct implication is that the shoulders
must begin the backswing. More
specifically, the left shoulder should be focal point for initiating the
backswing. This said, it is also important to note the role of the so
called "one piece takeaway". One piece means the left shoulder
and arm a connected and both move as a single unit. The shoulder, left
hand shaft and clubhead are "pushed" back, away from the ball.
Note the word back. Back does not mean down! The left shoulder does
not "dip", it turns BACK. There should be no teeter-totters in
golf!