|
Three categories.
-- hp12 - ( Changed 27/09/2007)
So how do the golf swings differ, well there
are three ways to carry out a golf swing.
Golfer (A) - Top Class Golfers.
The consistently successful professional
golfer utilise the following method of carrying out the golf swing.
At the address position, the
arms are held so that the elbows
remain as close together as is physically possible, thus forcing
the arms to remain
totally passive to the movement of the shoulders and the hands
remain in a totally passive condition.
Once this upper body is formed
it must remain in this condition throughout the complete golf swing,
until well
after the ball has been struck.
The set up of the lower part of the
body is equally important.
At the address position the leg muscles,
the thigh muscles and the buttock muscles are held in a firm condition,
so that it feels as if the toes are gripping the ground, in
addition, the right leg is held in a permanently rigid but slightly
bent condition and the heel of the left foot remains firmly on the
ground.
From the address position, first and
foremost the golfer focuses
the eyes intensely on a particular mark
on the back of the ball, before positioning
the head
slightly behind the ball.
They then use
a combination of the muscles
of the lower back to rotate a very compact shoulder/arms-unit
and the shoulder muscles in order to place the hands in the correct
position at the end of the back swing movement.
The back swing movement is performed
at a relatively slow speed and as the shoulder/arms-unit
rotates into the back swing movement the golfer also concentrates
on the left
shoulder to have over-all control , but importantly the forearms
do not rotate.
As the shoulders rotate to the end
of the back swing movement, the muscles of the legs and the thighs
are kept in a firm condition and the heel of the left foot is kept
firmly on the ground so that the lower part of the body puts up
the maximum resistance, however as the shoulder rotate to the end
of the back swing movement you must concentrate on performing a
pivotal movement
of the hips.
Down Swing
The down swing movement
begins by pressing down on the ground with the left foot and simultaneously
rotating/pivoting
the hips towards the target area.
As the hips rotate/pivot
towards the target area it forces the twisted body unit to rotate
about its axis, thus automatically returning the shoulders to the
original address position.
(From this point onwards, the hips remain
in total control to the completion of the golf swing movement.)
Throughout these lessons I keep
repeating about how the hips must assume control over the movement
of the twisted body unit during the down swing movement and from
that point onwards the hips and whole twisted body unit must move
in complete unison, therefore get this movement right and you will
see a dramatic improvement in the quality of your golf shots.
( Harvey Penick, an old time golf coach, described what he called
a magic move, and I quote from his book. "You have heard it
from me many times by now, but I will say it again - start your
downswing, let your weight shift to your left foot whilst bringing
your right elbow down to your body. This is one move, not two"
- The quotation goes on to say, "There
really is no one magic move"
However, as the shoulders automatically
rotate back to the original address position,
the shoulder muscles
move the arms independently of the shoulders in order to accelerate
the arms/golf club into the contact area.
Therefore the down swing movement
must be judged so that the hands return to the original address
position and simultaneously the club head makes contact, at the
precise moment the shoulder return to the original address position.
At the precise moment the shoulders
return to the original address position and simultaneously the club
head makes contact with the ball, the shoulders must stop rotating,
albeit for a milli-second, whilst the
shoulder muscles continue to accelerate the passive arms to
the bottom
of the swing arc, thus performing the Key
Movement,
(It is absolutely vital that the shoulders remain Parallel to the
Target Line until both arms are fully straightened.)
Whilst the arms are interacting,
the whole body must also quickly turns to fully face the target
area, and simultaneously the right shoulder is forced to rotate
under the chin, thus pushing the interacting
arms into the follow through movement.
You cannot turn the body to face the target area too quickly once
the club head makes
contact with the ball.
(However it is important to understand that as
the shoulders rotate back into the down swing movement and into
the follow through movement, it is vital that you continue to keep
the elbows
drawn as close together as it is physically possible, so that
the triangular shape of the upper body is maintained until well
after the ball has been struck.
The
rotational/pivotal movement of the hips must be the controlling
element whilst the twisted body unit plays a totally passive role
to the conclusion of the golf swing movement, regardless of what
the shoulder muscles do.
But importantly, as the shoulders automatically
rotate into the down swing movement, the elbows
remain held as close together as it is physically possible so
that the upper body unit remain firmly held together as compact
one piece unit and the hands
must remain in a totally passive condition.
If I said that this method is successfully
used by golfers such as Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, you can see for
yourself that this is the preferred method of playing very good
golf.
Because of this, I consider this
type of swing to be the most reliable and consistent way to play
very good golf.
Golfer(B) -Low handicapped golfer.
This level of golfer has learnt
that in order to play very good golf it is important that the shoulders
and the arms work together.
Throughout the complete golf swing
the shoulders and the arms work in conjunction with each other.
This method delivers the club head
into the back of the ball on a consistent swing path.
However the danger for this level
of golfer is that as the golfer comes under pressure, unless the
movement of the arms in relation to the movement of the shoulders
is strictly controlled, the speed of the arms may increase which
creates a possible situation where the club head makes contact with
the ball before the shoulders have returned to the Parallel to the
Target Line position.
Therefore when you have a situation
where the club head reaches the golf ball before the shoulders have
fully returned to the original address position, the forearms will
also have already begun to roll in an anti-clockwise motion and
therefore the club face will be in a slightly closed position at
the precise moment of contact with the golf ball, thus causing the
golfer to "hook" the shot.
Similarly, if the shoulders are
over active, the shoulders may rotate beyond the Parallel to the
Target Line before the club head makes contact with the golf ball,
which leaves the clubface in a slightly "open" position
at the precise moment that the club head makes contact with the
ball, thus causing the golfer to "slice" the shot which
is why golfers such as Seve Ballesterous and John Daly who are basically
"arms and shoulders" golfers, can be absolutely brilliant
on some days, but on other days when their timing is slightly out
of synchronisation, they can spray the ball all over the course.
The majority of amateur golfers
carry out the golf swing by using the "arms and shoulder"
method and although most of the top class golfer carry out the golf
swing in a similar manner, it is the ability to carry out this type
of golf swing movement with precise timing, coupled with the way
that they set themselves up at the address position that allows
them to play very good golf on a regular basis.
Golfer (C) - High handicapped golfer.
This level of golfer basically
uses the muscles of the arms to lift the golf club to the limit
of the back swing movement and whilst doing so it eventually causes
the shoulders and the hips to get involved in the swing process.
Then from the top of the back swing
movement the golfer uses a combination of the arm and shoulder muscles
to return the clubhead back to the ball.
Therefore because the arms and
the shoulders are working independently of each other, the golfer
can suffer two serious faults.
1) The golfer will never have a
consistent swing path.
2) By using a combination of the
muscles of the shoulders and the arms to return the club head to
the ball, the muscles of the shoulders nearly always adopt the dominant
role during the down swing movement.
Unlike lower handicapped golfers
who are more susceptible to "hooked" golf shots, the higher
handicapped golfers are more likely to "Slice" the ball.
What happens is that during the
down swing movement, the shoulder movement gets ahead of the arms
movement, so that by the time the clubhead makes contact with the
ball, the shoulders have rotated beyond the Parallel to the Target
Line, thus causing the clubface to be in an open position as the
clubface makes contact with the ball -- resulting in a "Slice"
Please Note.
If you have any comments relating to this page
please contact :- Gorfett@aol.com
Site Map
|
|