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Lesson
3 --The Back Swing.
--- (Changed - 06/05/2008)
It is absolutely
vital that the back swing is performed so that the upper body unit
rotates around the central core of the spine as a solid one piece
unit and importantly, without consciously allowing the forearms
to rotate.
This will allow the movement of the hips to rotate
the twisted body unit, (whilst still held
as a solid one piece unit) back to the
original address position, thus automatically returning the club
face square to the ball.
Upper Body set up
At the address
position the elbows
must be drawn as close together as it is physically possible,
thus forming the shoulder/arms-unit
into a very compact unit.
These actions have the effect of pulling the uppermost part of the
arms closer to the body, but importantly it bonds the shoulders
and the arms together as a single unit and assists in keeping the
arms in a totally passive
condition, whilst the rotational movement of the shoulders
push the arms to the end of the back swing movement.
( Imagine the shoulders and the arms and the hands fully encased
in a plaster cast - this is how firmly the shoulders and the arms
must be held.)
Once you have formed the shoulders and the arms
into a very compact unit, tilt the upper body to your right, using
the waist as the pivotal point, but ensuring that the left shoulder
is slightly higher than the right shoulder.
Check to see if the shoulders are parallel to the target line, with
the head positioned so that it is slightly behind the ball and finally
check to make sure that the uppermost part of the right arm is pulled
against the upper body.
(Once you set the upper body in this position,
it must be maintained until well after the ball has been struck.)
You cannot hold the shoulders and the arms too
firmly together as you perform the back swing movement and whilst
holding the upper body unit in this condition you may feel that
the back swing is restricted, but I can assure you that the closer
you keep the elbows together and totally resist the urge to rotate
the forearms, the better.
However the most important point to make is that
you must not fall into the trap of lifting the arms to the end of
the back swing movement as this will only produce very erratic golf
shots.
Therefore in order to make a
correct back swing movement it is the use the rotational movement
of the shoulders that
push the arms to
the end of the back swing movement.
Lower Body set up
It is vital that you form the muscles of the
legs, the thighs and the buttocks into a firm condition so that
the lower part of the body totally resists the movement of the upper
body and and you must keep the heel of the left foot firmly on the
ground.
The Back Swing.
Before I begin the back swing movement,
I go through a small routine of first of all gripping the golf club
correctly but ensuring that the first finger and the thumb of the
right hand holds the golf club very firmly, I then place the club
head directly behind the ball and fully focus directly on the back
of the golf ball.
Therefore the back
swing movement is performed very slowly whilst holding the shoulder/arms-unit
very firmly together and simply using the left shoulder to control
the movement of the shoulder/arms-unit as it rotates around
the central core of the spine (until the golfer`s back is facing
the target area) thereby using the rotational movement of the
shoulders to literally push the passive arms/golf club to the end
of the back swing movement whilst not consciously rotating the forearms.
But importantly, during the back swing movement
the arms are also pushed with slightly upwards motion, so that if
you view yourself in a mirror at the end of the back swing position
the arms will appear to be quite upright in so much that if you
extended an imaginary line parallel to the left arm, the line would
point directly to the ball.
Therefore it is important that whilst the shoulder/arms-unit to
the end of the back swing movement, you must ensure that the elbows
remain held as close together as it is physically possible, however
the muscles of the arms must remain
in a totally passive condition throughout the back swing movement
and importantly, the forearms
must not be consciously rotated.
( As the back swing movement is performed
the right arm will gradually begin to fold, which automatically
causes the forearms to rotate in a clockwise motion.)
Back Swing Sequence.
Whether
it is me or the professional golfer performing the back swing movement,
what you cannot see is how the left
shoulder controls the rotational movement of the shoulders thus
pushing the totally passive arms
to the end of the back swing movement very slowly - no other action
is used to complete the back swing movement.
However, notice how the head is positioned so that the left
eye is slightly behind the ball throughout the back swing movement.
- But equally important, as the shoulders rotate to the end of the
back swing movement, the hips rotate/pivot away from the frontal
facing position so that at the end of the back swing movement the
whole body has achieved a twisted condition.
I.e., the heads remains held firmly in position so that the
left eye is slightly behind the ball, the heel of the left foot
remains firmly on the ground whilst the hips have swayed slightly
to the right thus moving the weight of the body slightly onto the
right leg.
(If the picture does not have an active element, click the mouse
whilst it is over the picture and refresh the page )
Therefore whilst the back swing is performed you must adhere
to the following points:-
1) The head
must held so that it remain slightly behind the ball.
2) The arms and the muscles of the arms
must remain totally passive to the rotational movement of the shoulder/arms-unit.
3) The elbows
must remain as close together as is physically possible.
4) The forearms must
not be consciously allowed to rotate.
( As the right arm begins to bend, the forearms will automatically
begin to rotate.)
5) The heel of the left
foot must remain firmly on the ground.
Do not worry too much about achieving the perfect back swing
position of having the golf club pointing to the target area, simply
use the left shoulder to control the very slow rotation of a very
compact shoulder/arms-unit until the torsion of the muscles force
you to stop.
As the shoulders rotate to the end of the back
swing movement, the upper torso will also fully twist,
thus achieving a full rotational movement of the shoulder/arms-unit
so that at the end of the back swing movement, the whole
body has been formed into a
twisted condition.
All of the above is performed the heel
of the foot remains firmly on the ground.
Hips.
Whilst using the left shoulder to control
the rotational movement of the compact shoulder/arms-unit as it
rotates around the central core of the spine, the hips will automatically
follow the movement of the shoulders and will be forced to rotate
away from the frontal facing position, thus leaving you to concentrate
solely on performing a pivotal
movement of the hips, but as the
hips rotate/pivot they must also sway slightly away from the ball
in order to maintain the balance of the body.
(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 consciously rotated.
The forearms will automatically
rotate in a clockwise motion as the right arm gradually begins to
bend..
It is absolutely vital that you
use concentrate on the left shoulder to control the rotational movement
of the shoulder/arms-unit as it slowly rotates around the central
core of the spine, thus literally pushing the
passive arms with a slightly upwards motion to the end of the back
swing movement, however as the shoulder/arms-unit rotate to the
end of the back swing movement, you must also ensure that the elbows
remain as close together as is physically possible, thus maintaining
the upper body as a very compact unit.
( Most high handicapped golfers lift the
arms to the end of the back swing movement.)
But importantly,
as the shoulder/arms-unit rotates to the end of the back swing movement,
it is
vitally important that
the hips remain firmly held over the centre of the stance whilst
they rotate/pivot and that you
keep the heel
of the left foot firmly on the ground in order to build up the torsion
of the muscles to their maximum.
Therefore it is absolutely vital that these actions
are strictly adhered in order to perform the perfect back swing
movement because when the correct back swing movement is performed,
it allows the down swing sequence of movements to be performed in
the correct order.
(You must ensure that you concentrate on using the
left shoulder to force the shoulder/arms-unit to slowly rotate around
the central core of the spine and thereby use this rotational movement
of the shoulder/arms-unit to literally push the passive arms to
the end of the back swing movement, because if your golf shots are
erratic it is probably because you are incorrectly lifting the arms
into the back swing.
I can assure you that I have fully tested this
theory, because I have noticed that when my shots become wayward,
it is because I have slipped into the habit of lifting the arms
instead of using the rotational movement of the shoulder/arms-unit
to move the arms, however as soon as I correct the situation and
use the rotational movement of the shoulder/arms-unit to literally
push the arms to the end of the back swing movement, the accuracy
of the shots improve immediately.)
The most obvious problems that will
prevent a successful back swing movement are:-
a) Not keeping the elbows held as
close together as is physically possible, thus allowing the arms
to become uncontrollable.
b) Lifting the arms to the top of the back swing movement.
c) Consciously allowing the forearms
to rotate.
d) Allowing the heel of the left
foot to lift off the ground.
c) Having an incorrect golf
grip.
d) Allowing the arms to move around
the body in a flat-ish plane, rather than making sure that the arms
are in an relatively upright position at the end of the back swing
movement.
e) Not rotating/pivoting the hips
as the back swing movement is performed.
f) Not pausing as the shoulders
reach the end of the back swing movement.
Body Position at the End of Back
Swing.
As the end of the back swing movement the body
position is as follows :-
1) The whole body has adopted a
twisted condition with the arms in a very upright position.
2) The heel of the left
foot remains firmly on the ground, regardless of the torsion
of the body trying to lift the left heel.
3) The hips have been forced to rotate/pivot
and also sway away from the frontal facing position as the shoulders
reached the limit of the back swing movement.
4) The elbows
remain held as close together as it is physically possible ,
thus holding the shoulder/arms-unit firmly held together, but importantly,
the arms and the muscles of the arms remain in a totally passive
condition.
5) The muscles of the legs,
the thighs and the buttocks continue to resist the rotational movement
of the shoulders, but importantly the right leg remains in the original
address condition of being slightly bent, the left leg is slightly
more bent than the original address position, thus ensuring that
the hips have pivoted
to their maximum.
6) The forearms
have rotated in a clockwise motion, but
this has not be a conscious action,
it is simply caused by the folding action of the right arm.
7) The wrist joint of the left hand has been
fully cocked, but the back of the left hand and the left forearm
remain in a straight line.
8) The hands are positioned so that the left thumb is directly
under the golf club and the club face is perpendicular to the ground.
9) The head
remains firmly positioned slightly behind the ball with "pinpoint
accuracy".
( I cannot over emphasis the need to keep the head
firmly positioned behind the ball at all times.)
10) The upper
body angles have been strictly maintained.
11) The weight of the body is balanced slightly
in favour of the right leg but the head remains held so that the
left eye is slightly behind the ball.
In order to perfect the correct back swing movement
I suggest that you begin by using a nine iron - develop the correct
swing movement with this iron and slowly move through the clubs,
perfecting the technique with each different club until you are
using the same technique with the driver, as you were using when
using a nine iron.
I can assure you that as the shafts get longer, there is a tendency
to swing the golf club with a much flatter swing plane rather than
pushing the arms upwards, but you must learn to also push the arms
in a upright motion, even when playing a driver.
Remember, you must ensure that the rotational
movement of the shoulder/arms-unit push the passive arms to the
end of the back swing movement in an upright manner -- failure to
do so will only result in very erratic golf shots.
Please Note.
If you have any comments relating to this website,
or if you want anything clarified about the golf swing as described,
please contact me:- Here
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