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Twisting the
torso. ( Changed
- 25/04/2012)
A correct back swing is performed by using the back muscles
to twist the upper torso to its maximum whilst the hips remain in
the frontal facing position and the heel of the left foot must remain
firmly on the ground.
There comes a point when it is impossible to continue to twist
the upper torso without the hips being forced to rotate away from
the frontal facing position, but this hip movement must
be kept to an absolute minimum when it is performed.
(Imagine someone holding your hips very firmly in place so that
the hips are unable to rotate away from the frontal facing position
until the rotational forces of the upper body force the hips to
rotate.- this is how it must feel as you make a back swing movement.
During a full back swing movement the left knee should
only move slightly forward from the original address position and
the right knee should only move slightly backwards from the original
address position as the hips rotate away from the frontal facing
position for a few degrees.
See Video
Notice how the hips are held in the frontal facing position and
the heels of the both feet remain firmly on the ground whilst the
back muscles rotate the compact upper body around the central core
of the spine, thus keeping the lower part of the body perfectly
still. As the upper body unit rotates futher the hips will begin
to rotate away from the frontal facing position but this video shows
that a substantial rotation of the upper body can be achieved --
before the hips are forced to follow.
A golfer who is an absolute classic example of how the hips
are held perfectly still on the back swing is John Huh, a twenty
one year old, young and up and coming golfer on the American PGA
- Check him out.
This ability to twist the upper torso in this manner increases
the torsion of the muscles between the upper part of the body and
the lower part of the body as you perform the back swing movement,
thus giving you extra power to be released as you perform the down
swing movement.- therefore it is important that you understand this
technique.
The important point to make is that during the back swing movement,
the first movement you must make is to achieve a fully twisted condition
of the upper body unit - thereafter the whole upper body unit will
continue to rotate a few move degrees before the resistance of the
lower part of the body ends the back swing movement.
If you can hold the hips in the frontal facing position for
as long as it is physically possible, you will hit your golf shots
straight down the middle as long as you watch the ball until the
club head strikes the ball and the head is firmly held in the original
address position until well after the ball has been struck.
Therefore it absolutely necessary for you to understand that
whilst the heels of both feet remain firmly on the ground and the
hips are firmly held in the frontal facing position, the only way
to make a fuller rotational movement of the shoulders is twist the
upper torso to its maximum.
To have a better understanding of this technique, practice this
movement whilst sitting on the edge of a chair.
Raise both arms up to shoulder height and hold the shoulders
and the arms as a solid unit. Therefore whilst sitting on
the edge of the chair, slowly begin to rotate the shoulders around
to the right of your body without allowing the hips to move.
At the first attempt you will only rotate the shoulders for
a short distance, but slowly and surely you will gradually increase
the amount of rotation of the shoulders that you are able to make
without any movement of the hips.
When you fully understand how the upper torso can be twisted,
try to repeat the movement of twisting the upper torso whilst standing
but with your back side leaning against a wall.
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