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Lesson
4
The Down Swing.
(Changed
- 29/07/2010)
The down swing movement begin as soon as the torsion
of the core muscles are at their absolute maximum and
at that point pressure is applied to the left foot which
causes the hips to reverse its slight rotate away from
the ball and begin to rotate towards the target area,
thus forcing the shoulders to follow.
Therefore the purpose of the down swing movement
is to use hip movement to cause the shoulders to rotate,
but whilst the shoulders rotate back to the original
address position you must judge the correct moment when
to utilise the magic
move and subsequently when to activate the shoulders
muscles to swing the passive arm/club head into
the contact area.
(You must delay the use of the shoulders muscles to
pull the passive arms/club head into the contact area
for as long as possible.)
However, the down swing movement must be judged so
that the swinging action of the passive arms/club head
reach its maximum speed and the club head strikes the
ball at the precise moment the shoulders return to the
parallel to the target line, but in order to perform
this function correctly, you must only use the shoulder
the muscles to assist in the swinging action of the
arms.
(The movement of the shoulders and the arms during
the back swing movement is performed whilst they are
held very firmly together as a compact unit.
However during the down swing movement the rotational
movement of the shoulders are totally controlled by
the rotational/pivotal movement of the hips, whilst
later on in the down swing movement, the shoulder muscles
swing the passive arms into the contact area.)
The main object of the down swing movement is to
ensure that the shoulders are parallel to the target
line a fraction of a second before the club head strikes
the ball, thus ensuring that the shoulders are still
basically parallel to the target line as the passive
arms/golf club swing through the contact area.
( Once the passive arms/club head begin to swing
into the contact area, the arms are moving at a much
higher speed that the shoulders are rotating, thus theoretically,
enabling the shoulders to remain parallel to the target
line whilst the passive arms/club head swing into and
through the contact area.)
During the down swing movement, the
shoulders must remain totally passive to the rotational
movement of the hips and the arms must remain totally
passive to the rotational movement of the shoulders.
Therefore as soon as the hip movement
force the shoulders to rotate into the down swing movement,
the arms will slightly
lag behind the movement of the shoulders.
However this lagging effect is put to good use during
the down swing movement and enables to golfer to use
the rotational movement of the shoulders to inject extra
speed into the club head speed by literally slinging
the passive arms/club head into the contact area whilst
simultaneously performing the magic
move.
However at the precise moment the
hands return to the original address position and simultaneously
the club head strikes the ball, the arms interact and
simultaneously the whole body quickly turns
to fully face the target area -- at the same speed that
the club head swings through the contact area.
However to most important fact to
remember is that the movement of the hips must remain
in total control over the rotational movement of the
shoulders to the completion of the golf swing movement.
The hip movement is the driving force
of the down swing//follow through movement.
At the end of the back swing movement
you must instigate a slight pause in the upper body
movement whilst the left foot is pressed to the ground
thus forcing the hips to reverse its movement.
( You must not allow the head
to have any lateral movement.)
Down swing movement.
After a nanosecond, the reversal
of the hip movement will literally force the shoulders
to follow the movement of the hips and begin to rotate
around the central core of the spine,
(The movement of the hips must be remain in over-all
control over the movement of the shoulders throughout
the down swing and the follow through movements.)
As the movement of the hips force the shoulders
to rotate around the central core of the spine the arms
will lag
behind the movement of the shoulders and must continue
to lag behind the movement of the shoulders until a
fraction of a second before the shoulders return to
the original address position and at that point the
shoulder muscles begin to pull the passive arm/club
head into the contact area.
However to maximise this lagging effect, as the shoulders
rotate around the central core of the spine, the right
elbow is pulled in tighter to the body as it is physically
possible. ( This is called the Magic
Move.)
( To be successful, the elbows must remain held
close together whilst allowing the arms
to swing freely and the right heel must remain on
the ground until the precise moment the club head strikes
the ball.)
But importantly, you must continue to focus with
intensity on the back edge of the golf ball and keep
the head behind the ball.
Therefore the down swing movement must be must be
timed so that shoulders return to the parallel to the
target line a fraction of a second before the club head
strikes the ball, thus allowing the shoulder muscles
to pull the passive arms/club head through the contact
area whilst the shoulders are parallel to the target
line.
However at the precise moment the club head strikes
the ball, the whole body must quickly turn to face the
target area - at the same speed that the club head swings
through the contact area, but importantly, whilst the
whole body turns to fully face the target area, the
arms interact,
but the head remain held in the frontal
facing position.
So remember, the arms are forced to interact whilst
the whole body quickly turns to fully face the target
area.
(The movement of the hips must remain in control over
the rotational movement of the compact upper body unit
to the completion of the golf swing movement.)
You must maintain your focus on the back edge of
the golf ball whilst the shoulders are forced to rotate
around the central core of the spine, in addition, do
not allow the head to sway back and forth with any lateral
movement during the golf swing - it must be firmly held
so that the left eye remains slightly behind the ball
position.
It is also vital that the right heel must remain
firmly on the ground until the precise moment the club
head strikes the ball and the upper
body angles are maintained until well after the
ball has been struck.
It is vital to understand that most of what you
learn in this website will be absolutely wasted unless
you learn to watch
the ball until the club head makes contact with the
ball with every shot.
So the first thing you must do is to
learn this basic
principle.
At the point when the club head makes
contact with the ball, the left arm must remain in the
fully straightened position and the head must remain
fixed so that the left eye remains slightly behind the
ball, whilst the club head swing to the bottom of the
swing arc.
Photographs of the down swing sequence.
The
down swing movement is initiated by applying pressure
to the left foot thus forcing the hips to reverse its
movement and begin to rotate towards the target area,
but without allowing the head to sway.
This action automatically force the shoulders to follow
the movement of the hips but the arms will immediately
lag
behind the rotational movement of the shoulders.
( The majority of the down swing movement is performed
in slow
motion.)
From the very beginning of the down swing movement
the eyes remain fully focused on the back edge of the
golf ball and the head remain fixed in the original
address position.
(I ensure that the left
eye remains slightly behind the ball and my eyes
are fully focused
on the back edge of the golf ball.)
Therefore as the hips continue to rotate towards
the target area, it forces the shoulders to rotate around
the central core of the spine.
( I cannot stress too strongly how close the elbows
are held during the down swing.)
In
this second photograph, the rotational movement of the
hips continue to force the the shoulders to rotate around
the central core of the spine whilst the arms continue
to lag behind the movement of the shoulders.
However to counteract the lagging effect upon the
arms, the right elbow in pulled against
the body
.
( The movement of the hips and the rotational movement
of the shoulders are working together but the movement
of the hips are always in control of the upper body
unit.)
However, I continue to keep my eyes focused
on the back edge of the golf ball and also rigidly
hold the head in the original address position to ensure
that the left
eye remains slightly behind the ball and the heel
of the right foot remains firmly on the ground.
In this third photograph the hip movement has forced
the shoulders to return to the position where the shoulders
are parallel to the target line whilst the shoulder
muscles are pulling the passive arms/club head with
a descending blow into the back of the ball.
At this precise point the arms are forced to interact.
Therefore at the precise movement the club head
strikes the ball, the whole body quickly turns to fully
face the target area at the same speed that the club
head swings through the contact area thus forcing the
heel of the right foot to lift off the ground.
(Whilst whole body quickly turns to fully face the
target area, the shoulder muscles continue to pull the
passive arms/club head through the contact area thus
pulling the right arm into the fully straightened position.)
From the moment the down swing began, I ensured that
the left eye remained slightly behind the ball and the
eyes were fully focused on the back edge of the ball,
but importantly, without any lateral movement of the
head.
If you compare the above photograph with the address
position as shown in the photograph below, you would
notice that the upper body unit is identical to the
original address position - whilst the lower part of
the body is turning to face the target area.

The eyes have remained fully focused on the back edge
of the golf ball so that at impact I actually
see the club head strike the ball.
Down
Swing Movement animation.
The down
swing movement is initiated by applying pressure
to the left foot thus forcing the hips to rotate towards
the target area.
The hip movement force the shoulders to rotate around
the central core of the spine, thus automatically returning
the shoulders back to the original address position.
( See Magic
Move.)
But importantly, by keeping the
elbows close together, the club face automatically returns
to the original address position square to the target
line.
(This animated sequence stops at the precise moment
the club head strikes the ball with a descending blow,
therefore at the precise moment the club head strikes
the ball, the shoulders must also be to the parallel
to the target line.
But importantly, at the precise moment the club head
strikes the ball the arms must be forced to interact,
however the continual movement of the hips will ensure
that whole body quickly turns to fully face the target
area and simultaneously the right shoulder is force
to rotate under the chin.
If you want to increase the velocity
of the club head, simply increase the over-all speed
of the golf swing movement - But remember, the left
eye must remain slightly behind the ball and you must
keep your focus on the back edge of the golf ball..
(If the picture does not have an active
element, click the mouse whilst it is over the picture
and refresh the page.)
This brings us on to the follow
through position.
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