Controlling the Clubface in the Golf Swing
Two Things Control the Clubface in the Golf Swing
Controlling the clubface in the Golf Swing is easily achieved from having a correct grip and by keeping the elbows down throughout the motion. A neutral grip can be found by letting the arms hang from the golf posture as the wrist joint of the left hand will automatically line up with the elbow and shoulder joint. Putting the left hand on the club in this position, relative to a square clubface, means that when centrifugal force pulls the club out the face will remain square at impact as these three joints line up. We grip the club for impact. But as shown by Sayaka Carpenter in the follow picture, the more open the hips are at impact the more the shoulders and clubface are opened and so this player will require a stronger left hand grip, or more on top, so as to maintain a clubface at impact.
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The other thing that controls the clubface are the elbows and their job is to stay down through out the swinging motion from start to finish. Keeping the elbows down maintains a square clubface but also allows the golfer to swing swing the club on plane and with speed for as the right arm folds in the backswing the clubface will naturally open to a neutral position and as the left arm folds in the through swing the clubface will close to a neutral position allowing for use of the lower body.
So any golfer can have complete control over the clubface by keeping the elbow down throughout the swinging motion and by having a grip that matches the speed of the hips.
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The Four Dimensions of Height, Width, Depth and Sequence Golf swing and its four dimensions is a measure of its direction with height, width, depth and then how these directions are sequenced born out of a correct setup. Each direction or dimension needs to occur at the correct time and amounts according to body type, facilitated or offset by stance, posture, grip, ball position and aim & alignment. The direction or dimension of width in the backswing is a result of arm swing for when the right arm folds, it shortens allowing the left arm travels to the right as far as it can. As the left arm folds in the through swing the opposite occurs now with the right arm traveling as far as it can as the left arm shortens. The following pictures show the effect of arm swing. Height is caused by the torso tilt at address. This can be easily demonstrated by swinging …
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Face Determines the Path Cure for the slice in the golf swing is from a clubface and path that produces a draw found from a correct setup and swinging motion seen as in to out path. But anytime the face is opened unnecessarily, either in the setup or swinging motion, the path will have to be out to in so as to square the face at impact. This out to in path with an open clubface is the source of any slice. The fix is to return to having a clubface, one that necessitates an in to out path. And with this clubface one can also relearn to release the club and use the lower body resulting in a draw. Here is a simple drill that reverses an out to in path to one that is more in to out. This drill also changes the need for holding off the face to releasing it, a move that puts the legs back …
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Jordan Spieth’s Hit Hold Move Jordan Spieth’s hit hold move is considered by many to be a secret move, one that gives him an advantage over the field. Lets take a look at his swing in slow motion to see what is happening. The first thing one can see is that he does not have a straight left arm at the top. And it is not straight coming down, into the ball or afterwards. This shows how the golf swing is based on momentum rather than through positions. With his dominate hand, the right, he is getting the right arm as long as possible through the shot. With the right arm fold at the top of the backswing it straightens down to the point where both arms are straight. This is the point of release and it is past the ball as the body is somewhat open. It is also …
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The Posture is Adjusted to Match the Clubshaft Golf swing distance Vs direction requiring only a simple adjustment with the posture as the club changes from short and steep to long and flat. This posture change will allow any golfer to easily move from one club to the next or from the two extremes of wedge to driver, this done without any concern on the part of the golfer to modify the swing so as to make the club work. Here’s how. From Wedge to Driver the clubshaft progressively changes from very short and upright to longer and flatter. When short it will swing more straight back and through and when longer it will swing more around. As the shaft becomes shorter the posture will become more bent over with the torso or more lowered down from the knees and hips, done to ideally get the clubshaft at right angles to the spine at address. The longer …
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I was watching “On the Range” with Phil Mickelson. Apparently the reason for his great play in the Phoenix Open was due to slight swing adjustments. He was made to turn his shoulders more level in the backswing. By doing this he could capture more width and, in his downswing, post up more easily on his left side. (remember he is left handed.) Ok, as correct as this is, this really doesn’t tell me anything. Let’s look at this more closely. The shoulders can only turn at a right angle to the spine. This means that if the posture is correct, (for the individual and club,) so are the shoulders. However if Phil’s right knee collapses in the backswing he will over swing, for Phil, which will give the appearance of a shoulder tilt due to a shorting of the right side. This leads to a hang back, in the …
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The Backswing and Downswing Plane do not need to be the Same Over the top with the golf swing is a term that should be redefined. It was said of Brendon de Jonge’s golf swing that he is over the top with the golf swing implying that his swing possesses something wrong and that perhaps this is where golf swings go to die. Ok but it seems to me that we need to ask our self’s what does it mean to be over the top with the golf swing? Yes his downswing plane is definitely over his backswing plane however, golfers do not hit the ball with their backswings. It seems to me that this comment is a perfect example of trying to impose a preferred look on the golf swing. Instead would it not be better if we put the preferred down and embrace that every swing is unique to the individual and …
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Golf Swing Tempo Golf swing tempo. As golfers we can all appreciate the effortless unhurried power found in the swings of an Ernie Els or a Phil Mickelson. How do these golfers acquire this perfect tempo even when hitting a 300 yard drive? The answer is that they swing the club and they swing it at their natural tempo. This is good news because if this is the case, what they are doing is incredible easy to do quite simple and requires absolutely no effort on the part of the golfer to do it. Let’s start by going to the dictionary and looking at the definition of the word Swing. Here it defines the word swing as: unrestricted uninterrupted continuous backward and forward motion. Now comes the easy part. The only part of the body in position to swing the club are the arms and since they are attached to …
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Seeing Vs Reading Putts
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A comment was made this week in response to a golfers shot going left of his intended target. It was said that, in his downswing, his body stopped turning, resulting in over active arms, wrapping, closing the face. This implies that the arms are doing more than they are supposed to and that they are at fault here in the shot going left, evil and in need of disciple. Such is NOT the case. The role of the arms in the golf swing is to swing the club and when they do this they close the face in the downswing. Closing the face in the downswing IS their job. It is not their fault if the body stops turning. The body’s job, (lower), is to bring the club forward and to OPEN the face in the downswing. This now becomes a match as the arms close the leg and hips …
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Sand Wedge Bounce Defined
Posted on November 2, 2014 by Warren Raatz in About Golf, Golf Instruction, Newsletter | No CommentsA new definition of bounce Sand wedge bounce defined with the elements of degree of bounce, sole camber, sole width, and the sole grind, contribute to a perfect fit. These variables are adjusted to match the turf conditions that you are playing, how you want to use the club as well as your angle of attack specific to how you swing the club. Lets take a look at these elements so that we can see how they can contribute to the bounce of any sand wedge and give the golfer a wedge that can both facilitate and offset how one swings the club. Bounce: This is the angle of the bottom of the club or sole, measured from the leading edge while including the other four elements of sole radius, sole camber, sole width and sole grind. Bounce gives this club a resistance to digging as it lifts the club out of the ground not unlike …
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Simplifying the Golf Swing
Posted on July 28, 2014 by Warren Raatz in About Golf, Golf Instruction, Newsletter, Swing Analysis | No CommentsSimplifying the Golf Swing is a Result of Bending to the Ball Simplifying the golf swing is easily achieved from a correct posture and then allowing the arms to swing on the line of the shoulders. By bending backwards from the knees and forwards from the hips one can lower down to the ball putting the torso on an incline that places the clubshaft at a right angle to the spine at address. With this torso tilt the shoulders are put on a parallel incline with the clubshaft and since the arms can swing very nicely on the line of the shoulders it is now very easy to swing back to the ball. With this the club will naturally go up in the backswing and then down in the downswing to the ball without any effort on the part of the golfer, the arms have room to swing on the line of the shoulders, the …
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Putters face balanced or toe weighted are designed for ones individual stroke as one naturally arcs the putter or swings it more straight back and through. This means that not only are there two kinds of putters but there are two kinds of putters. So lets look at both the putters as well as the one who is putting. The next two pictures show the two different weightings of the club heads. The first picture is of a toe weighted putter. When this club is swung back and through it is designed to swing on somewhat of an arc and as it does this the club will stay square to the arc opening in the backswing and then closing in the through swing relative to the target line. To facilitate this the clubshaft is longer and a bit flatter making it easy to capture this arcing motion. On the other hand …
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Sergio Garcia Swinging Like Ben Hogan Sergio Garcia swinging like Ben Hogan is a much talked about comparison. In transition from backswing to downswing both Ben and Sergio are seen to flatten the club shaft and increase the angle. This is a fair likeness but there is something far more significant that makes their golf swings comparable and it happens in their delivery to the ball. In Hogan’s “Five Lessons the Modern Fundamentals of Golf” he talks of: “the turning of the hips inaugurating the downswing. This movement of the hips automatically lowers the arms and hands to a position just above hip level.” Essentially this is a tucking motion similar to baseball. The batter, starting with the hips, tucks the right elbow flattening the bat and leveling the hands to deliver the handle of the bat towards the ball. With this delivery the right elbow passes the right hip …
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The Longer the Lever the Longer the Shot The golf swing is a type of lever where a weight is on one end of a beam, a fulcrum is on the opposite end of the beam and a force is applied to the center of the beam. All levers possess these elements of a weight, a beam or rigid rod, an applied force and a fixed hinge or fulcrum but how they are arraigned determines their advantage and therefore how they can be used. There are three types of levers: A form 1 lever has a fulcrum somewhere in the middle of a beam, a force on one side of the fulcrum and a weight on the other side of the fulcrum. This can be a crow bar and depending on where the fulcrum is placed can have a mechanical advantage less than or greater than one. After all it has been said that if one had a lever …
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The World of Long Driving The long drive championship was hosted by eight incredibly athletic finalists, each one capable of hitting drives upwards of four hundred yards or more. Looking at these swings one can see some rather obvious similarities. The first is that most of them are truly beasts or at least slightly different. Not only are they large and or powerful individuals but all used drivers measuring 48 inches, the maximum allowed creating a wide swing base and prodigiously long drives. All had very strong grips especially with the left hand. This makes since as it gives one more clubface control and allows for use of the legs and hips. However Joe Miller, the linebacker of a golfer, had very much an upper body dominated motion and with slow hips was seen to jump as he delivered his release to the ball. Here is a golfer who uses vertical forces when …
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There are Two Ways to Look at Impact With the Golf Swing The golf swing has two views of impact with the first being an almost instantaneous club to ball event of some 50 milliseconds . With this view one can see that there is very little time for any personal involvement by the golfer in controlling the shot. Now the sum total of an entire round of golf is less than a few seconds! But with new technologies many important events can be easily revealed and measured within this brief moment of time. Simulators offer a most comprehensive and accurate club-and-ball tracking. A few degrees can mean the difference between hitting a fairway or green or can impart a desired fade or draw. Here shot distance is measured, how far the ball has traveled. Carry distance is the distance the ball flew in the air. Club head speed is the speed at which the …
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Ground Forces Ground forces power the golf swing with vertical, rotary and linear motions. And any three of these to all of these can be used as a dominate force. They become layered in varying degrees based on the individual to create maximum acceleration on the ball. Golf swings develop momentum from the ground up with a chain reaction of legs, hips, shoulders and arms. This chain develops from a transference of energy that works up through the body; accelerations created from braking actions, not unlike a car when moving at speed, applying its brakes is felt in the restraints of the seat belts. Beginning with the legs before each part of the chain has finished the next part has already started to accelerate, causing the forces to sum as they add to each other vertically through the body. As the swing begins back to the ball the stored energy, …
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X Factor can be viewed 4 ways Golf swing and the X Factor is a term used to describe the difference in turn angle between the shoulders (upper body) and the hips (pelvis), in the backswing. Added to this is the X Factor Stretch which is an increase in the X Factor at the beginning of the downswing produced by the hips starting down before the shoulders. This new revved up version, referred to as downswing loading, intensifies the coil created in the backswing. OK everything here is completely correct and horrible wrong at the same time. From this definition it is saying that good golf is directly proportional to how much differential one can achieve between the upper and lower body. And also from this, every golfer is obligated to start the downswing from the hips, that you as a golfer must actively be involved in doing this or one will suffer the consequence …
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What it means to release the club Releasing the club in the golf swing is no different than it is in any other sport. Looking at the basketball player the athlete first hinges the right wrist back while cocking and loading the right arm putting everything in position to release to the target. Once the arm has loaded it simply straightens to the target with the wrist going to flat or past. When the pitcher throws the ball the arm is loaded and then straightens from the word go. Both of these players are releasing to the target with neither trying to delay the release. But with the pitcher there is a rotation from the body and because of this there is an appearance of a delay due to an inward pulling from the legs and hips. Now the harder the ball is thrown the faster the body rotates …