Air-time

[airair]

I have finished Percy Bommer's book. Now I'm starting to read Tommy Armour's book: How to play your best golf all the time.

I'll copy up something Yoda wrote to keep in mind:

...

There are many gems in Tommy Armour's book. And since the book remains true to its title How To PLAY Your Best Golf All the Time [Emphasis added], not all of them relate to the Golf Stroke itself. However, there also are a few pitfalls:

1. Be sure to interpret his Swinger's 'Right Hand Hell-Whacking' as the Right Forearm and #3 Pressure sensing Clubhead Lag Pressure and Acceleration -- a very strong correct sensation -- not as a Right Wrist Flattening through Impact ('False Feel' Wrist Action and Throwaway per 6-D-0).

2. Do not overdo the Knee Motion idea (on either the Backstroke or the Downstroke). [You won't if you use the illustrations as a guide.] The Knees and Feet 'anchor' the Stroke. They do move, but only to the extent required to support the motion of the Hips. Their principal function is to keep the Head steady and mantain Balance (two of the Three Essentials).

3. The recommended Grip is a bit '10-2-D-ish' (Left Hand Turned, not Vertical), but not exaggerated. If you've got to err, that's the side to err on. Just be sure to heed the advice and illustration of the Double Cocked Wrist Action at the Top (10-18-B / Cocked and Bent).

[airair]

Looking at Yoda's many different vidoes, it seems important to use a walking/mark time motion together with the right forearm takeaway in the backstroke. That means lifting the left heel. This is probably a good thing because it makes it easier/more natural to to put the heel down again and do the necessary weight shift in the downstroke? (together with a little hip slide to the left and bringing the right elbow (more) into the right hip area (for swingers). I wonder if I'm on to something here. If not, please intervene.


Any comments from my learned friends?

[airair]

For me angled hinging in the basic motion feels like hitting and

horizontal hinging is more swinging like?

Vertical hinging feels akward, but is maybe done easier by opening up the clubface and stance making it into a semi cut shot?

Any comments from my learned friends?

[airair]

It seems like ALEX CEJKA has made an albatross (or double eagle as you perhaps call it) on his first hole today!

http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/04...2011/r005.html

[airair]

One month to go. This off season has been long. November and December were record cold. January was mild - so too the first 10 days of February. But the cold has now come back again. In addition I have been blessed with a 14 days flu.

I don't think I have made any improvements these last months compared to what I experienced in October. Not got much worse either, I hope. So it will be interesting to see what will happen and what new things - or a better understanding or better motions will show up to bring my golf to the next level, whatever that may be.

Experience tells me that it is the amount of bad shots - OB, in the water, short fat shots, lousy putting etc that ruins a round. So it's not just about the few very good shots - it's more about getting rid of most of the bad shots and being more consistent. I guess good alignments and rhythm are keystones in that respect. Something to think about the next 4 weeks..

[airair]

Looking at Yoda's many different vidoes, it seems important to use a walking/mark time motion together with the right forearm takeaway in the backstroke. That means lifting the left heel. This is probably a good thing because it makes it easier/more natural to to put the heel down again and do the necessary weight shift in the downstroke? (together with a little hip slide to the left and bringing the right elbow (more) into the right hip area (for swingers). I wonder if I'm on to something here. If not, please intervene.


Any comments from my learned friends?

My learned friends shine by their absence. Too bad.

[airair]

There's been a lot of talk about a hands controlled pivot. That's in the backstroke - or in the downstroke as well?

Is it fair to say that the backstroke starts with the upper body and the downstroke with the lower body?

We have learned the importance of swinging the hands - not the clubhead. That has bearing on the pivot in some way I guess ...

[BerntR]

If you do everything correct, lifting the heels is partly a function of how wide stance you use and how much knee bend you have at address.

With a narrow stance and deep knees you can turn and shift without lifting the heels. I never lift my left heel in the back stroke. The right heel stays on the ground almost till impact. Sometimes it stays on the ground in the follow thru as well - even with a driver. But then I am perhaps guilty of coasting a tad to much.

Heel lifting or not is not a fundamental IMO. Do something with it if it causes problems. Leave it alone if not.

There may be good reason for widening the stance more than I do, in which case you may have to lift the heels to make a proper motion.

I think one of the points of the MacDonald drill is that you have the synchronisation of the pivot and the arms in you already - in your walking pattern. Just try to adopt that walking pattern to the golf stroke. It shouldn't be necessary to think of whether you lift your heels or not.

[airair]

If you do everything correct, lifting the heels is partly a function of how wide stance you use and how much knee bend you have at address.

With a narrow stance and deep knees you can turn and shift without lifting the heels. I never lift my left heel in the back stroke. The right heel stays on the ground almost till impact. Sometimes it stays on the ground in the follow thru as well - even with a driver. But then I am perhaps guilty of coasting a tad to much.

Heel lifting or not is not a fundamental IMO. Do something with it if it causes problems. Leave it alone if not.

There may be good reason for widening the stance more than I do, in which case you may have to lift the heels to make a proper motion.

I think one of the points of the MacDonald drill is that you have the synchronisation of the pivot and the arms in you already - in your walking pattern. Just try to adopt that walking pattern to the golf stroke. It shouldn't be necessary to think of whether you lift your heels or not.

As usual - you shed interesting light on the subject. Thanks.

[BerntR]

Hands controlled pivot:

The whole point with this expression is that ideally you want your pivot to work as an extension of your hands.

When you pick up an object from the ground with your hand you:

• aim for the object
• bend your hips
• bend your knees
• lower your upper body
• straighten your right arm according to aiming point procedure, straight towards the object
• straighten each of your fingers in a simultaneous straigthening procedure, called open your hand. This must happen before the hand has reached the object
• place your hand right above the object
• bend all your fingers around the object - the picking up procedure
• and so on

But if you apply a hands controlled procedure to do this you simply pick the object up with your hand without thinking about every little detail every part of your body must contribute to.

Equally, when you apply a hands controlled procedure in golf, you either hit the ball or swing at the ball with deliberate hands. Most things pivot related happens as a response to your hands but even if you have one or two pivot related swing keys you think of.

So hands controlled pivot has a lot to do with how your ball striking skills are organised in your brain. But there has to be some mechanical backup too.

Pivot controlled hands: The golfer either has focus on the pivot and / or the pattern is such that the hands aren't able to what you want them to do. For instance an involuntary flip release.

Pure speculation from my side but: I think a lot of golfers who struggle to take their swing from the range to the course do so because they play pivot controlled hands on the range, but when they get on the course they bring a hands controlled mindset that is not compatible with the stroke pattern they have rehersed.