The Cock and Fire Golf

Cock as in cock the gun. However the intent is really for golf.

The Cock and Fire Golf technique separates the back swing muscles to the forward swing muscles. It postulates the two-piece swing technique and that most golfers get the swing technique completely wrong.

Let us in a nutshell first give the description for each type of golf shot:

1. Putting - the shoulder brings back the putter and the hands hit the ball.
2. Chipping - on the fringe and almost like putting, use the putting technique above. Other chipping, back swing is done by the fingers, forward swing is done by the clasp hands.
3. Pitching - same as full shots.
4. Full Swing - the back swing is done by the shoulders, the forward swing is done by the hips (no hand action at all).

USE THE SHOULDERS INSTEAD FOR A REPEATING SWING UNDER PRESSURE

The common denominator for all good golf shot is the firm last three fingers grip.

Let us start with the putt. Keep the last three left fingers firmly holding the putter. Do the usual routine, the shoulders brings back the putter, the right hand hits the ball. Actually it is not the right hand but the "roped" arms that hits.

Let us go to the full swing. The last three fingers firmly hold and together with the firm wrist lift the club off the ground (ala Nicklaus) and joins the club to the "roped" arms (ala Hogan). The left three fingers are kept tight from start, the hit, and the finish. You can put a penny in between the club and the fingers and it will never fall off - if the action is executed correctly (ala Palmer).

And this resulted in the Abad golf swing used for all - putting to the full swing.

1. Hold the club firmly with the left last three fingers. Lift the club with the left wrist and keep it in balance before the ball.
2. Now feel the roped feeling of the arms. Feel how the left wrist connects it to the hovering club. Feel the dynamic connection between the two - a feeling like both are connected by a firm spring, ready to bend at the backswing and ready to hit bounce back to the ball.
3. With the left arm, bring the club head along the hitting path and up - to the bring the roped arms up. 9/15/2009: SORRY BUT NEED TO CHANGE THIS BECAUSE UNDER PRESSURE, IT DOES NOT REPEAT. USE THE SHOULDERS INSTEAD TO SWING THE ARMS AND CLUB - ALONG THE PLANE AS HOGAN SUGGESTED. (confirmed when BIPI championship match was won on 9/17/2009)
   
4. The roped arms will now pull the left side muscles.
5. The pulled left side muscles will now start the push to the left foot and the ensuing turn around of the body which also at the same time the roped arms are brought down automatically and the spring bounces back the club head to the ball - and around automatically.
6. Finish is automatic. 9/15/2009: THE LEFT LEG WILL PULL THE HIPS TO START THE DOWNSWING.
   

This is the move to be used for all shots if possible. On chips or putts, just roped arms will do the hitting.

Hogan's Modern Fundamentals of Golf Disected

Hogan said in his book, "I began to feel that I had the stuff to play creditable golf even when I was not at my best, my shot making started to take a new and more stable consistency. The basis for this progress, let me repeat, was my genuine conviction that all that is really required to play good golf is to execute properly a relatively small number of true fundamental movements."

Now we know that what I have been looking for is in Hogan's book, we can now assume that all the secrets of the golf swing written in the book are correct. I have now decided that my Search for the Perfect Golf Swing is over.

I will now continue to try to improve my golf game by reading his book, interpreting it and assimilating it with my own swing.

1. This method teaches that each action is the direct result of preceding actions in the chain-action sequence of the swing. The problem I noticed about this statement is how the parts are interconnected. I think this is where stiff body and arms (of Tiger) come into play and becomes the glue to hold the parts together. A good example is the roped arms of Hogan which is the glue that binds the grip and the club to the body. With the club held by the Hogan grip and stiffened up ala "alive" grip, Tiger just drops his arms towards the ball. The average golfer is entirely capable of building a repeating swing and breaking 80, if he learns to automatically intertwine a small number of correct movements and conversely, it follows, eliminates a lot of movement which tend to keep the swing from repeating.
2. The grip is very essential but not the way Hogan talks about it using where the V points. The grip is important and the V's created is not essential. What is essential is that the hands are positioned in a way that both hands are clasp to deliver an extreme backward cocking of both wrists. The right hand might even be used to be able to deliver an extreme cock. THIS IS THE SECRET THAT I HAVE MISSED ALL THOSE YEARS. BACKWARD WRISTS COCKING TO THE EXTREME IS NEEDED FOR MY GOLF SWING.
3. The elbows should be tucked in, not stuck out from the body. At address, the left elbow should point directly at the left hip bone and the right elbow should points directly at the right hip bone. Furthermore, there shoulb a sense of fixed jointness between the two forearms and the wrists, and it should be maintained throughout the swing. You will notice that the pocket of each elbow - the small depression on the inside of thejoint - will be facing towards the sky, not toward each other. When your arms are set right at address, it makes it immeasurably easier to get the proper function out of them. You will get the feeling that the arms and the club form one firm unit.
4. On the backswing the order of the movement goes like this: hands, arms, shoulders, hips. The hands start the clubhead back a split second before the arms start back. And the arms begin their movement a split second before the shoulders begin to turn. Just before the hands reach the hip level, the shoulders, as they turn automatically start pulling the hips around. As the hips begin to turn, the pull the left leg in to the right.
5. When you finish your backswing, your chin should be hitting against the top of your left shoulder. (This is my number ONE fault, not making a full turn. Therefore, for me this means EXTREME COCKING of the BOTH WRISTS BACKWARD. And extreme cocking means the wrists are cocked backwards - not at right angle - so that the resulting effect is a DELAYED HIT.) It is this increased tension that unwinds the upper part of the body. It unwinds the shoulders, the arms and the hands in that order, the correct order. It helps the swing so much it makes it almost automatic. Entrust your swing not to your hands but to your arms and body. THE RIGHT HAND AND WRIST CAN BE DOMINANT. It does not matter because the delayed hit self corrects my golf swing.
6. The hips initiate the downswing. As the shoulders turn the hips on the backswing, the muscle tension on the left body si increased. The greater the tension, the faster the hips can move back. They can't go too fast. Incidentally, the backward cock makes this move more automatic and natural.
7. To be continued.