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Basic
Movements of the Golf Swing. - (hp
01 - 05/02/2007)
Back Swing Movement.
The back swing movement is basically
a rotational movement of a very compact shoulder/arms-unit
around the central core of the spine that pushes the arms as far
as possible, but to enable a fuller rotation of the shoulders,
the upper torso is forced to twist
to its maximum.
However as the shoulders reach the absolute limit of its movement,
the shoulder muscles move the arms independently of the shoulders
in order to complete the back swing movement.
All of the above is performed whilst the muscles of the legs and
the thighs remain in a very firm condition and the heel of the foot
remains firmly on the ground.
As the shoulders rotate to the end of the back swing movement, the
hips will automatically follow the movement of the shoulders and
rotate away from the frontal facing position, leaving you to concentrate
solely on performing a pivotal
movement of the hips.
(At the end of the back swing movement,
as long as you keep the muscles of the legs in a taut condition
and the left foot firmly on the ground, the compact shoulder/arms-unit
will rotate
about 80/90 degrees away from the address position, however the
hips will only rotate approximately 35 degrees away from the frontal
facing position.)
Although the wrists have fully cocked,
the forearms have not
been allowed to rotate and the hands remain in a passive condition.
(The biggest threat to making a successful
back swing movement is not keeping the elbows
held as close together as it is physically possible, thus allowing
the arms to become uncontrollable.)
Down Swing Movement.
The down swing movement is initiated
by pressing down on the ground with the left foot whilst
the shoulders are still rotating to the end of the back swing movement
which causes the hips to begin
to rotate/pivot/sway towards the target area.
However as soon as the hips begin to rotate/pivot/sway
towards the target area, it is absolutely vital that the twisted
body unit also rotates about its axis, an action that automatically
rotates the shoulders back to the original address position.
Therefore it is important to understand that
as soon as the hips and the shoulders begin to move into the down
swing movement, the two components must move in complete synchronisation
to the completion of the golf swing movement.
From the moment the shoulder/arms-unit
begin to rotate into the down swing movement, the passive arms will
immediately begin to slightly lag
behind the rotational movement of the shoulders and because
the shoulder/arms-unit is firmly held together as a very compact
unit, this slightly lagging effect of the passive arms will remain
at a constant level unless action is taken to counteract the inertia
effect.
Therefore a fraction of a second before
the shoulders return to the parallel to the target line, the shoulder
muscles begin to move
the arms independently of the shoulders in order to counteract
the inertia effect
upon the arms but also to accelerate the passive arms/golf club
into and through the contact area.
Therefore the golfer has to synchronised the down swing movement
so that the club head makes contact with the ball at the precise
moment the shoulders return to the parallel to the target line,
whilst the head remains slightly behind the ball. ( Impact
Position.)
It is important to understand that as
the club head moves into and through the contact area it is vital
that you continue to keep the elbows
drawn as close together as is physically possible so that the
upper body unit remains firmly held together as a very compact unit
until well after the ball has been struck.
( If you carefully watch the professional golfers as they perform
the golf swing, you will note that in the majority of cases, the
golf swing appears to be exceptionally slow and yet the ball goes
tremendous distances, for instance, notice how slowly Ernie Els
swings the golf club and yet he still hits the ball a long way.)
However you must continue to hold the elbows
as close together as it is physically possible and perform these
important actions during the down swing movement and the follow
through movement.
1) Ensure that as soon as the rotational/pivotal
movement of the hips force the twisted body unit to rotate about
its axis, the two components must continue to move in complete synchronisation.
2) Watch
the club head strike the ball.
3) Ensure that the head
remains slightly behind the ball.
4) Ensure that the shoulder muscles pull the arms
across in front of the body whilst the shoulders are parallel to
the target area, thus accelerating the arms/golf club to the bottom
of the swing arc .
5) Ensure that the arms
remain in a totally passive condition to the completion of the
golf swing movement.
6) Ensure that the hands
remain in a totally passive condition.
7) Keeping the head in the Fixed
frontal position until well after the ball has been struck.
8) Maintain the upper
body angles so that the right shoulder rotates under
the chin as the follow through movement is performed.
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