Forrrre, a golf thread

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A brief description of my golf life.
I used to be a better than scratch golfer. Then life gets in the way and I didn't really touch a club for a couple of years. When I picked them up again, the magic had definitely escaped me.

My "glory days" swing was completely dependent upon feeling the weight of the club head and NEVER trying to influence it. But rather, I let the weight of the club head dictate everything during the swing. What this did was allow me to have a free wheeling, powerful and accurate swing. The struggle to re-capture that swing was very long (years) and eventually kept me from the golf course because of the dissatisfaction of the scores. It just turned into a basic over the top hit and hold through impact, with my hips and hands basically coming through impact at the same time, instead of the pelvis leading the way. I still had straight line accuracy but the distances were all over the place...one swing a 7 iron would go 155y and the next it would go 185y and they felt identical.

I knew I wasn't feeling the club head and could not for the life of me just allow the club head to impart its magic on me any longer. I was looking for the move that would, near the top of the swing, automatically create right lateral bend in my spine and get that feeling of the club almost touching my right shoulder on the way down...quite a feeling! Kelvin Miyahira used to write about this a lot and had some great videos of how the spine could and should work in a scratch level swing. But I still couldn't find the moves.

I knew that probably the biggest influencer in my golf swing was a little segment on the old Ed Sullivan Show that featured Ben Hogan. I found my glory days swing through the movement he made on that show. But I couldn't recapture it. Then one day I just found myself trying something and it all came back together... By making pitch shot length swings with my right hand in an over hand grip, I realized I had been stuck on...not getting stuck. I had been trying (subconsciously) too hard to get/keep my right elbow in front of me. What that did was take all the desire out of my core/lateral spine bend to drive the swing. My left arm was moving away from my body just enough to cancel any chance of letting the weight of the club head influence subsequent moves. With the right hand like this, I found that if I think of the left elbow as getting tighter to my body throughout the down swing, it gives me that magical split second of time where I can feel my pelvis turning towards the target while my arms and club head seem suspended in air and feel like they are still going back. Holding the club in this fashion forces your downswing shoulder turn to be more on an incline and less horizontal...(airplane prop v helicopter prop). That, in turn, forces your pelvis/hips/legs into "the mood" for rotation. You will end any desire to slide/sway your way through the ball. All of that keeps your upper left arm connected to your body...more than keeps it there, you find yourself knowing you want to do that and you can then allow your body to find it and just do it. You are now coming from the inside in a completely natural anatomical way, providing more power and accuracy than most have ever felt.

It turned out that one of the biggest AHA moments came when I realized this put my right elbow, in the down swing, a couple of inches further to my right and closer (darn near touching) to my body...right where your "abs end and your obliques begin". With the elbow there, it let me reconnect to an old feeling of the pressure point in my right hand being at the Butt end of my right forefinger pushing towards the ball/target. The old Ben Hogan home video of him hitting into the ocean, he describes this pressure point....search Ben Hogan Coleman video.

All of this leads to the elimination of any desire of early extension...we used to call it goat humping and does better to immediately demonstrate the pelvic movement you do NOT want in your golf swing. You now find yourself desiring to use your right leg/knee/foot action to "go and get it' with as much or as little speed/power as the shot requires. All the while, your right hip is not getting closer to the target line...you find the harmony between the push and pull forces at work. Think of a video lesson you may have seen of a tour golfer where they draw a line showing where his glutes are at address. At impact, while rotating at speed most only dream of, that whole pelvic region is still "back" in that position and has not moved closer to the target LINE.

So I get it, that is going way beyond what can be useful to the average weekend golfer. But some will find a nugget or two in there.

What the average golfer can do though, is still awesome...
Grab an 8 or 9 iron and get in the groove of a good chip or pitch shot with your regular grip. Do it until you can repeatedly brush the ground in the same spot.
Now put the right hand grip from the picture on the club...don't worry about how the right hand is on, just have an overhand grip.
When you make the chip or pitch swing like this, you should soon realize that you can and should keep the right elbow bent through impact. You will soon find that you can and should very much want the back of the left hand facing the target (not the sky) all the way through impact.
You should soon understand the sensation of your right shoulder going under chin (more airplane prop like). Whereas most golfers are out and around (more helicopter prop type)
You're spine is laterally bending to the right...a completely anatomically natural move that lends to rotation....search for Kelvin Myahira lateral spine movement...fascinating stuff for the golf junkies.

Can you feel how this will make your lower body get involved? Seek that.

So your left hand is in the coveted flat through impact position.
Your right elbow is still bent and your are down into the ball from the inside. You no longer feel the need to create the "imposter power move" of coming over the top.
With your left hand flat, your right elbow bent and a from the inside path, the club will HAVE TO BE in a lag type of position. This makes you WANT to go down and get it while having a great desire to maintain that lagged club by using your lower body rotation with the shoulders moving down and through much more than most will ever realize is needed.
So you now have an incredibly strong clubface and hand/arm package coming through impact.
This is where golfers have a real chance to feel what it is like to truly compress a golf ball.
Remember to have the feeling of getting/keeping the left upper arm and body connection tight. This greatly aids and can lead to the clearing of the left side.

This is obviously a drill to help you find the correct feelings. Don't misunderstand and think I am playing golf with an over hand grip.

That was longer than I wanted and probably killed this thread before it starts :eh:

Anyway, anything golf...jokes, stories, swing etc, etc
I am now hitting the ever loving crap out of the golf ball again. But, I am still pretty removed from the game. I am busy through the week, so I won't really frequent this a ton. But for anyone that wants to say anything about golf...
To me the best thing about that perfect ball strike is, no matter how many times you nailed it, every time feels like the first time.
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Re: Forrrre, a golf thread

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Don't have to know much about anything to see which swing has a HR chance It's made possible by the lateral bend. It doesn't matter what you are swinging. The elite players will all have the right upper lateral bend of the spine. Some folks just instinctively start swinging this way. For most though, it's more like the over the top swing of the first kid. So you have to learn that movement...first you have to know the move exists...

The overhand drill will invite you to find it. In that drill, you will quickly learn that you feel no real power or accuracy if your flip/slap at the ball with your right hand. This is where the snug upper left arm finds its balance to work in harmony with the pronation of the right wrist.

It should force you to come into impact from a shallower and more inside approach.

During the drill, let your right arm and wrist bend and fold naturally...envision Ben Hogan's drill from The Ed Sullivan Show while doing this.

When you go back to your proper golf grip you should seek to implement the pressures and pressure points felt during the drill into your normal swing. Try to mimic the right wrist pronation and right elbow location. You will need a flat or bowed left wrist to accomplish this. You will also need a more (probably) proper/functional pivot movement of the lower body.


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