[innercityteacher]

Is the RFT mostly horizontal or flat in nature?

I learned a level handle, yesterday, and a full hip pivot. My back shoulder and elbow are thrown back into my side and the hands, arms, and shoulder feel to slide up plane while a space is created between elbow and hip.

Reversing the pocket sends everything down plane and left. How does RFT increase speed or power?

Pat

Bear
Ideally the Shoulders in Startup turn BACK, around on a flatish plane and the Hands and arms go UP. See the Vectors and the McDonald drills too, Wild Bill Melhourne etc etc. Lynn likens this to patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. Something we do all the time during the course of our normal day, reaching for things......multi levers, independent motions, scattered vectors..........but netting out with the Hands traveling towards their target.........the mug on the top shelf in your kitchen or whatever. You dont lock up and align your shoulders and arms to accomplish that. You dont even think about your shoulders really.............you just direct your hand to the target. Very Homer like isnt it?

-a rigid triangle normally includes a rigid right elbow. No bending, no cocking the left wrist with the bending right elbow, no Magic of the Right Forearm. The only way to get the club back is to turn the shouders (Pivot to Hands) and then LIFT the hands and arms up to Top. Its very common to do this as a left sided push away of the shoulders. A left arm and left shoulder push of the club back in Startup. With the left side " turned on" activated doing some work, it will do a reasonable job of pushing everything back , albeit under plane but once back about half way it is faced with getting the hands to Top. Something the left side is poorly positioned to do. Try swinging with just your left arm on the club and see how difficult it is to lift the hands to top with the left arm. Not easy at all. Hence Homers recommendation for a right armed Pick Up.


Perhaps this relates to your situation perhaps not. It was a huge problem for me a while back. My One Piece, rock the triangle, Pivot to Hands, shoulder turn takeaway , my heavy lifting, often got my left shoulder raising up. Keeping it down was actually a swing thought for me at the time. In the end it was symptomatic of a the muscles I was using to take the club back and up. Merely trying to turn it off of tone it down didnt stop it.

Now I have a Right Forearm Takeaway, my right elbow bends which cocks the left wrist and lifts and lowers the Hands. My left and right arms work independently of each other but in a co ordinated manner. My arms to body connections are free of tension to allow for my arms and pivot to travel in different directions. No more left side push away, no more heavy duty lifting.

RFT is a beautiful thing........but you have to get the left side out of it and loosen up the connections. No more triangle rocking. The right elbow can get a lot of stuff done, its simplification and automation as well. I used to struggle to cock my left wrist , now it just happens. Cant stop it really.


Here's a quick test: If you can hit reasonable little chips and pitches with just your right hand on the club but all hell breaks loose when you attach the other arm..........you have some left sided action getting into the mix. A left side push away maybe, a tight left shoulder and a shoulder turn takeaway maybe.............. I do sometimes, to this day...........but they used to teach this as a method way back when. Old habits are hard to break. And the seventies were filled with bad ideas about golf and hair cuts.