Cupped hand, cock, Norman wrist trainer, hip turn, delayed hit

What does this all have in common? What can a wrist cock, Hogan's cupped left hand, Greg Norman's plastic wrist cock trainer, delayed hit and a right hip turn have in common? The main thing is they are all describing the same golf move in different ways and in different perspectives.

Let me go directly on how to describe this to myself so I can remember this move. After developing the body turn hit as described in previous postings, I noticed that one thing missing in my technique is power. Since I have heard from a few golfers and books about the right hip providing the added power to the golf swing, I tried searching for how to execute - of course, as an enhancement to my upper body turn technique. I could not figure it out. I tried and could not figure how to do it.

Last Saturday, November 1st, 2008, Rene Jose came and played golf with me. After the game, he showed me the Greg Norman contraption that is supposed to teach the correct swing, the one that forces the hip turn. When I wore it on my right hand, I was amazed for two reasons.

First, it mimicked and felt like an acquired way of me gripping the club lately. It is the right hand pressing on the handle and acting like a slight dip forward - more like a forward press but done as part of the gripping of the club. I noticed that whenever I do this, my hits become solid but I did not want to encourage myself to using it because it logically seems that I am weakening my grip too much. However, it does help the swing so I use it when I feel like it.

Second, when I wore the Norman grip trainer, I realized that not only does it resemble this grip but it actually forces you to bend the right hand much farther backwards, yes backwards but wrist-breaking backwards! Rene said that this will force you to hit with the right hip because that is the only way the club will square itself to the target - by turning the hip. He said try it first with chips because this is where it is very apparent - whatever that is.

Let us digress for a moment on what happened when I tried chipping in my bedroom. Because of the necessary hip turn, it opened my eyes to how the club comes in more on the heel and while the hips is turning, it also turns the club face around - all in the same golf action. This realization now made it possible for me to do what Anthony was trying to teach me - the Norman chip. The Norman chip is the club is left open to the extent that one may look like he is trying to heel the ball with the club. But because of the hip turn, like Anthony's explanation, the ball really rolls from the heel to the toe of the the club. Realizing and learning this technique, it made it so easy for me to know how the professionals lob chips the ball as what I had seen them do at the Connecticut tournament.

Going back to the previous topic, I went to the driving range to figure out how to apply this to my swing. As usual, I started with my body twist. After a few trials, I figured that to implement this together with my body swing, I had to grip the club the same way as before (like the forward press) but I had to to go from light to heavy cocking while the club is being brought up - on the upswing. THE LEFT HAND IS ACTIVELY PART OF THE SWING. It steadies the club from upswing to downswing - even sort of pulls the club on the downswing. The result is a more powerful swing. But it is more than that. It just like what Hogan said, you cannot over do it - it is possible to give it all you got and still it will be correct.

It is noteworthy to say that the swing is still my body turn swing, not done by the hips. However, there is a pronounced late hit where the body is forced to turn - because the mind knows that the club has been brought back and the face of the club has to be brought back to square. What I am trying to say is the technique is still the body turn (hit) but mentally, I am forced to finish. No more finishing of my right foot!

The left hand is an active part of my body swing. I meant to document this before but I had not done so. I'll document it here. Because I was not keeping the left hand active, my body turn swing caused an injury to my right shoulder. It pulled the shoulder muscle joint. I guess this is like the tennis elbow - this time a "golf shoulder." In order to prevent injury, the left hand and arm must take full control of the swing.

The left hand and left arm must be the dominant holder of the club - like Anthony Kim. And like Anthony Kim, the left hand grip must be low so that there is a feeling of the left arm in total control of the club. At impact, the left hand drops the club head to the ball.

Golf Techniques Unification Theory

Why would there be so many teachings and different techniques espoused by so many professional golfers? Is there a golf teaching or golf technique that will unify all? Maybe...

Let us make this posting as the graduation event of all my postings.

If we can take the previous posting and say, take those instructions and then forget them. Just make a golf swing using the shoulders - by feeling - and hitting as hard as possible, what may happen? Well,

• if we kept the grip as Hogan instructed, the club resting on the two middle right hand fingers
• made the left arm a little stiff (tied up feeling)
• and turned with the shoulders as far as the upper body can be twisted.

What would happen is this:

• the double wheel theory of mine would be in play
• the AJ instruction of opening and closing the hands would be in play
• the nun chuck or the two-piece stick grass cutter would be in play
• maybe this is how Hogan, Tiger and Nicklaus - hitting as strong as possible with the shoulders and the hands just a reaction to it.

Hmmm....

August 12, 2008 - YES, YES, YES!

Aggressive Wrist Cock Serves As a Learning Aid

For 99% of the golfers out there, taking a vigorous wrist cock may be the answer to understanding the correct golf swing. When the club is taken back and extremely cocked, the twisted body is pulled further. This in turn turns a switch in the brain to pull the club with the body rather than starting the downswing with the hands. The feeling of the over cocked clubs leaves the mind hopelessly incapable of flipping the club back with the hands. It (the mind) orders the body to un-twist first and at the desired moment when it feels it has control of the club, let the hands do its work.

The technique is sound, however, considering my physique, it may be better to let the left wrist to act in concert with the right hand (middle two fingers holding the club) to accomplish this extreme twisting. Let the left wrist start the movement by flipping the club towards the left and around - the right hand taking over somewhere and cocking the club. The right arm movement bringing the club tightly to the top will force an upper body twist. At this point at the top, the upper body will automatically recoil and bring the club head towards the ball.

It is best to imagine and "see" the path of the club head through the ball so that the left hand can bring the club head back along the same path and the upper body can recoil back to the same path.

The delayed hit with the open and close technique

I have been wondering why an 11 year old kid can out-drive and out-score me in golf. The memorable thing is his picture taken at the tournament with his arms fully extended right after impact. It is not the muscles that is out driving me; it is the technique. My swing is still a hit from the top - as described by most of the books I read. But how do I do it? How do I develop a nice follow through like this kid has?

On a closer inspection of the techniques employed by the professionals, it is apparent that there is an open and closing of the hands at impact. In the driving range, in order for me to get the ball reasonably straight, I had to shift my weight first but purposely snap (open and close) at the ball with my hands. This, however, I concluded is difficult for me since it is an unnatural move for me. This is just not the way to go.

What I had to do is change my mental image of my swing. When I changed my mental image of the downswing to the left hand pulling the club to the ball, this created the natural open and close hit of Hogan. In order to accomplish this naturally, I had to change the swing techniques enumerated on the preceding posting. Instead of the right hand doing the flipping back of the club, it has to be my left shoulder pushing the left arm and club around and up while at the same time the left wrists flips or cocks the ball upwards to the top (in a very pronounced way). If the cocking of the club by the left wrist is strongly done, you can feel the club inertia actually pulling and tightening more the coiled upper body.

This movement brings the club up where it is ready to be pulled down towards the ball. As a matter of fact, you can feel when you are at the top that there is no other way to execute the "pulling" by the arms - except starting it with the shifting of the weight to the left and turning the body towards the ball and around to a C finish.

Let me repeat: The pulling of the hands is done by the transfer of the weight to the right. The result is an automatic weight shift, a delayed hit and a perfect finish.

Working the flight of the ball

Now that the television networks can now show the ball tracking while in flight, it is now apparent that professionals do not "shoot straight." They actually work the ball left or right, intentionally and in every shot.

So from now on I will work my ball also. Usually, the common teaching to work the ball is to open or close the club face when addressing the ball. In my case, it works better if I turn my grip instead - weak or strong depending on what I want the ball to do.

Let me see if I update my previous posting.

ESSENTIALLY, THIS BACK SWING TECHNIQUE COMPLETES THE ESSENTIALS OF THE GOLF SWING.

1. Set-up: see other postings for stance, right knee warning, etc.
2. Grip strong for a draw or weak for a fade.
   
3. Backswing: Turn the head to the right like Nicklaus, look at the back of the ball, and push club head out with the left shoulder.
   
4. Flick, as hard as possible, the club head along the ground and around towards the back as far as possible and feel the weight of the arms and club loading up the left shoulder.
   
5. At the top, FURTHER TIGHTEN THE COILING MUSCLES by twisting the left shoulder until the club is felt at the top and ready for the unwinding motion.
   
6. Downswing: Release the coiled body towards the ball and around to a great finish.
   
7. NO ARMS INVOLVED IN THE HIT - JUST GRAVITY AND INERTIA EMPLOYED.

The ball flight should go left or right as intended - based on the grip employed.

Tough Shit! Or the BASIC GOLF SWING!

I keep looking for that swing technique that I had found but lost - and I thought I found again. The reason it took a very hard time trying to remember what I did when I thought I had it - is because it is something that was unconsciously happening to my swing. Although I was trying to do something consciously, the result was excellent but it was not really what I was working on directly - that is why it was hard to remember - because it was something I was not really aware of that I was doing.

Any way, enough of the prologue, let us now reveal what I discovered without realizing it. What I was doing before was I was flicking the right wrist, alright, to the right, using the plane formed by the shaft - along the plane formed from the tip of the shaft to the gripped hands. What I did not realize then was I was flicking (with a reverse scoop motion the club head) - and here it is - ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP OF THE BACK SWING! There was no stopping and executing the upswing with the shoulders - like I mentioned before in my previous postings. It was one single motion to the top. The club head is flicked around the apron all the way to the top of the swing. From that position, the body pulls the club towards the ball and the hit.

What is so different with this swing is because the club is flicked all the way back, when the body comes around, the hit is so delayed, that you can sense that the shoulders have turned all the way around without effort - at the end of the swing! Remember, I was trying to force turning the shoulders? Well, this does it automatically - plus the "inside to outside" path of the club head is automatic.

There are four self checks that must be felt to ensure that the desired effect is remembered:

1. This "inside to outside" effect should be a check to make sure the execution is correctly done.
   
2. Also with the short irons, when doing the practice swing, I can feel how Anthony executes his delayed turnaround after the hit - I should be able to feel it this also (another check)!
3. A third check (which is the needed effect) is the shoulders finishing completely turned around - pronouncedly more than just perpendicular to the target line.
   
4. Another effect of this technique (the fourth check) is the ease of the execution of the upswing. There is no extra effort to be done. It feels like the whole swing is one complete and rhythmic motion, all fluidly bonded into one collective motion.

ESSENTIALLY, THIS BACK SWING TECHNIQUE COMPLETES THE ESSENTIALS OF THE GOLF SWING.

1. Set-up: see other postings on grip, stance, right knee warning, etc.
2. Backswing: Flip, as hard as possible, the club head along the ground and around towards the back as far as possible
   
3. When the club head reaches the 5'oclock position, begin cocking the club up with the right hand.
4. At the top, FURTHER TIGHTEN THE COILING MUSCLES by twisting the shoulders until the right biceps is pushed back against the side of the body or until the body is fully coiled.
   
5. Downswing: Release the coiled body towards the ball and around to a great finish.

12/17/07: The preceding two paragraphs describe exactly my novel swing technique. However, to further assist in explaining the previous paragraphs and BUT ONLY IF THERE IS A CONFUSION ON THE EXPLANATION ABOVE, then read on. What is missing in the above paragraphs is the not-easily-noticed part of how the right hand (wrists) motion and the shoulder turn work together as one cohesive movement - each one doing its own independent job but both dependent on each other to accomplish the task of sending the ball on its way efficiently and accurately. In order to remember this technique, let us separately describe what each one is doing.

1. First, imagine that each one is a flexible wheel. The wrists' wheel is parallel to the ground while the shoulders' wheel is perpendicular to the ground. Imagine the wrist or grip as the hub and the club head as the perimeter. The shoulders' wheel has the neck as the hub and the club head also as the perimeter.
   
2. The wrists' wheel's ultimate goal is to turn the wheel (which is parallel to the ground) as much as possible clockwise to the right and, using its flexibility, to bounce back as hard as possible (towards the ball).
   
3. The shoulders' wheel's main goal is the same - clockwise movement (but upwards since it is perpendicular to the ground) and as far as possible and bouncing back as hard as possible.
4. Taken singly, it is difficult to execute (and awkward) but melding them together creates the effective golf swing, a movement, not up and down nor left to right and back, but along the golf plane and back as Hogan described.
   
5. Why is this golf technique accurate? Because the wrists only opens like a door and slams like a door - no other movement.
   
6. Why effective? You answer that. It is obvious once you have tried this technique.
   

Incidentally, while in Cancun (12/04/07) I experienced shanking with my short irons. If I had realized how to execute this technique then, I firmly believe now that it would not have happened.

CHIPPING basics

This is really the full swing technique but just to emphasize the importance of the right hand move I am classifying it as a chipping requirement. The reason is because it is very crucial to apply this instruction in chipping since it involves a mini swing and, therefore, errors are accentuated.

The right hand responsibility must only be to "apron-roll" the club head around and (clockwise in relation to the ground) towards the back - nothing else. It does not, it does not bring the club up. Bringing the club up is the responsibility of the torso (twisting upper body). The hit is also done by the unwinding torso.

Applying this technique to chipping results in creating the "slot" tantamount to the slot on the full swing. By the way, this also applies not only to the short game but to the full swing as well.