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The Golfing Machine
   
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HOW TO BUILD YOUR GOLF SWING
This process is multi fold
Learn what YOUR neutral grip is The CORRECT ball position for
every club The CORRECT swing shape How far back YOU can take the
club How to play within YOUR style You will have many options to
choose from and we'll show you how to find the ones that will
work for you. Once you have all of your "components" you won't
need to experiment any longer!
WHERE TO START - GRIP AND POSTURE
While this may be obvious to some you would be surprised by the
number of people that work on their swing without starting with
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their grip. There is a neutral grip for any golfer! That grip isAll writers are creative types, with cluttered desks, and messy piles, right? To be a good writer, one lives on coffee and stale potato chips only coming up for air .....
where YOUR arm hangs down from the shoulder socket and the angle
of YOUR target side hand. It makes no difference whether you use
an overlapping, interlocking, and ten-finger (baseball) grip.
What IS critical is the angle the club lies in your hand.
To find YOUR neutral grip, first take your address position, but
without a club, and let both arms hang downward from the
shoulder sockets with NO TENSION. Most golfers will find that
their target side arm hangs somewhere between the middle of the
target side thigh to the inside of the thigh (depending on the
width of stance and/or the width of the chest). As you look down
at your target side hand pay attention to the angle it hangs.
Some of you will see two knuckles of the hand, some will see
three, and some may even see four. It doesn't matter how many
you see! Whatever the number, this is YOUR bodies way of telling
you its natural tendency and that is the neutral angle for YOUR
grip! When you place your target side hand on the club it should
be at the same angle you just saw.
The club then runs diagonally from between the first and second
joint of the index finger to the base of the pinkie finger.
Close the fingers and then close the hand with the heel pad on
top of the shaft with the thumb to the backside of the shaft.
This supplies pressure from the heel pad downward and the last
three fingers exert pressure upward. Then take the lifeline of
the trailing hand, located between the thumb and heel pads, and
place it on the thumb of the target side hand. The lifeline
against the thumb exerts the pressure here; the right forefinger
should be separated, in a "triggering position", but with no
pressure. It is important to understand that the forefinger and
target side thumb both be on the same side and angle of the
shaft for the best support. The trailing thumb should be on the
target side of the shaft. You never want the thumbs to exert any
pressure. Finally, in order for the hands to work together, they
must be parallel to each other.
POSTURE
Regardless of the player's level of golf anyone can get into a
posture that looks as good as any Tour Player, it takes no
athletic ability to get into a proper posture! For full swing
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shots, other than a Driver, the inside of the heels should be asThe mere mention of golf training products is bound to cause trouble for you with many golfers. Garages right across the country are loaded with the stuff and yet the .....
wide as the outside of the hips (for a Driver the inside of the
heels as wide as the outside of the shoulders). Push the hips
sockets back and up so that the pelvis is at an angle, not
horizontal to the ground. As you push the hips back, and up,
this will lower the chest and place the weight toward the back
of the arch of the foot. Simply unlock your knees, you'll feel a
little pressure above the kneecaps, and let the arms hang limply
downward from the shoulder socket. There should be NO TENSION in
the arms or shoulders. Some players like to tilt their upper
bodies slightly away from target as the final set-up adjustment
and just because your trailing hand is lower than the target
side hand this is acceptable, just don't overdue it. Now you
have YOUR grip and posture.
BALL POSITION
Ball position is the most misunderstood portion of the entire
set-up. There have been many opinions about ball position. Some
say one position for every shot, others say move it around
depending on the club. All of the guesswork is taken out however
if the golfer would set the club at address as the manufacturer
designed it. All clubs, except for the Driver, are designed so
that the grip end of the club is ahead of the clubhead if soled
properly, this means the shaft leans forward, not vertical or
backwards! If you address the ball, with say a 5 iron, and the
shaft is vertical then even before you swing you've added loft
and turned it into a seven iron! That same 5 iron is designed to
have approximately 8 degrees of forward lean at address. The
best players in the world, using that same 5 iron, have upwards
of 15 degrees at Impact! This turns it into a 3 iron! Having
said that you have the option of setting up to the ball with the
shaft vertical as long as you can get into the proper Impact
positionthe shaft leans forward at Impact!
The player also has the "option" of starting with the shaft, and
hands, at a mid-body position. We also need to cover where the
ball is located in relation to the player's upper body, not the
feet. The width of the stance changes during the course of a
round but the width of the upper body does not. In addition, the
target side shoulder socket is the low point of the arc and the
fulcrum of the target side arm swing. Therefore the ball with a
wedge will be in the center of the chest, in line with the
sternum, for full swing shots, the 5 iron under the target side
of the chest, and the Driver at the low point, which is the
shoulder socket. This could vary depending on whether the player
has exceptionally wide shoulders, but for the most part these
locations will be fine for irons but the target side shoulder
socket IS the LOW POINT and the Driver MUST be played at this
location for straight shots! Back of this location produces a
fade, with no manipulation, and forward of this location
produces a draw, with no manipulation. You may see some players
playing the ball back, or forward, of the target side shoulder
socket but these players must either change the shoulder
location at Impact, by leaning backward with the upper body, or
must manipulate the clubface to hit a straight shot.
AIM and ALIGNMENT
As you take your grip you must be sure the leading edge of the
clubface square. The leading edge is the edge closest to the
ball. Always set the clubface first, perpendicular to the target
line, then set your feet, knees, hips, eyes, and shoulders
parallel to the target line.
THESE LINES ARE PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER! NEVER AIM YOUR BODY AT
THE TARGET! What is the object of golf? To get the ball in the
hole with the fewest strokes as possible! To aid in alignment it
is imperative that you utilize a procedure called an
"Intermediate Target". The intermediate target is something
between the ball and the target. It could be a piece of
discolored grass, an edge of a divot, a broken tee, etc. It
should be within your peripheral vision, so that you don't have
to lift your head.
MOVING THE CLUB
Because we play golf on an Inclined Plane this dictates that the
club MUST move on an arc. That means the club head is only on
the base on the Plane Line approximately 2 inches during the
swing! It also means that the club always moves in 3 dimensions.
The Backstroke dimension is backward, upward, and inward all
simultaneously and On Plane. The keyword for Backstroke is
"BACK". The hands and arms control the backward and upward
movement of the club. Therefore, if you did not make a shoulder
turn the clubhead WOULD NOT move inside the baseline. The
shoulder turn moves the club inward, NOT back and up. So if the
player just turned their shoulders, without any hand or arm
movement, then the club would be inside but not back and up.
These two movements MUST work together to achieve the proper
sequence. The trailing forearm moves the club on Plane by
"tracing" the Plane. The bending, and folding of the trailing
elbow also raises and lowers the club and cocks and uncocks the
target side wrist. Never raise the arms and club by lifting from
the shoulders sockets!
The Downstroke dimension is downward, outward, and forward. Once
the player has reached full extension (follow-through) then the
club moves again upward, inward, and backward. This completes
the 3 dimensional swing.
LENGTH OF ARC
What does this term mean? Simply put, length of arc means how
far back YOU can take the club. Some players may be able to take
their hands high above their heads in the backswing while others
can only get their hands to shoulder height, or less. It doesn't
matter! However far you can take the club and still maintain
structure is the end of YOUR swing! You can increase your length
of arc by increasing your range of motion. (see your local
physical therapist for exercises to increase your range of
motion).
LET'S GET STARTED
Before every shot you play there must be a sequential order of
events. First of course we have to find our golf ball. Once the
ball is located we then must examine the type of lie we have,
the distance to the target, the shot shape desired, the wind
conditions (if any), how we're feeling that particular day,
whether to play aggressively or conservatively or somewhere in
between (this depends on our style), and finally choosing the
correct club for the type of shot. We can't call this a
"pre-shot routine" because there is nothing routine about a golf
shot! There are always factors to be decided and these factors
constantly change. So we would encourage you to use the phrase
"PRE-SHOT". Pre-shot may or may not include a dress rehearsal of
the swing, a practice swing. During the practice swing you're
getting a feel for the mechanics involved in hitting the shot
and visualizing the ball flight.
ADDRESS AND SET-UP
Once we have gone through our pre-shot we now start the initial
mechanical and mental programming procedures. Approach the ball
from behind and follow this order for success. Verify these six
Impact Alignments.
Clubface to Target Line Grip to Clubface Hands to Ball the Plane
Angle Pressure Points Position of the Trailing Forearm Balance,
Grip, and Plane Line MUST be verified before EVERY shot!
Now we're ready to start the backstroke.
BACKSTROKE
Once address is completed we can start the backstroke. As
discussed earlier, this involves two separate movements. These
movements are controlled from the waist up. The lower body
should be moved by the upper body if the player is flexible
enough, if not, then allow it to move freely in both directions.
The hands and arms the vertical plane The shoulders the
horizontal or inclined plane At this point we would like to
remind you that Address and Impact are NOT THE SAME! The only
thing that has not changed is the ball position.
You may use any backstroke procedure you choose and there are
basically three to choose from.
A one piece takeawayJack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods A two piece
takeawayErnie Els, David Duval, Karrie Webb, Anika Sorenstam A
three piece takeawayRaymond Floyd, Nancy Lopez Choose anyone
you wish that feels comfortable and natural. What initiates the
backstroke? Ask ten different instructors and you will get ten
different answers. Some player's feel it starts with turning the
shoulders, some feel it may be the hips, and still others think
and feel it's the hands. We believe it is a combination of the
hands, trailing forearm, AND shoulder turn that start the
backstroke. Earlier we talked about the role of the hands, arms,
and shoulders during the backstroke. They absolutely must work
together and synchronous if the club is to stay on plane!
As the club starts back the clubhead must point at the base of
the plane line until the clubshaft reaches parallel to the plane
line and horizontal to the ground. As the club starts upward
then the butt of the club must point at an extension of the base
of the plane until it reaches the top of the swing. If you can't
get the clubshaft to parallel, then the butt of the club Must
point to the base of the plane line. If you are one of the few
that can get the shaft to parallel, then it should be parallel
to the base of the plane line.
The hip sequence (how the hips move) for full swing shots is
always the same. They Turn, Slide, Turn. A great majority of
players think the hips slide in the backstroke (shifting
weight). While this certainly is an option it eliminates
creating any rotating force of the body. A better procedure
would be the one described above and is the option that the
majority of the world's best players use.
About the author:
One of 17 Teaching Professionals worldwide to hold the
designation of "Doctorate Golf Stroke Engineering".
Director of Instructor Training & Education for The Golfing
Machine