Golf Swing Fundamentals Downswing
Golf Swing Fundamentals Downswing
Golf Swing Fundamentals Downswing
However, note that the left hip joint has moved backwards towards the tush line more than the right hip joint has moved outwards away from the
tush line. It's a free fall, no tension and no pulling. Some golfers will generate their maximum clubhead speed using a great deal of torso-pelvic
separation, while other golfers will generate their maximum clubhead speed using a swing style that allows for a greater amount of pelvic rotation
during their backswing action ala Sam Snead. Note that the right upper arm has been pulled inwards against the right side of his torso and that the
right elbow is adjacent to the right hip in a pitch elbow position. Two handed basketball pass - from reference number [4]. Diagram showing Sam
Snead's reverse slot swing action - from reference number [10]. The right arm does not supply any push-power in a swinger's clubshaft-releasing
action. Aaron Baddeley's release swivel action - capture images from his swing video [1]. How does the professional golfer execute this
backwards move away from the body, away from the ball-target line of the clubhead in the early downswing. At EyeLine Golf, we commit all our
energy into giving you the tools you need to play your best. Keep your right knee braced. Note that the intact power package arm assembly left
arm loaded across the chest wall and bent right elbow with the right forearm at right angles to the clubshaft seemingly gets passively pulled down to
waist level. To better understand Hogan's " left hip clearing action " which is the pelvic motion that initiates his downswing action , consider this
overhead swing video of four famous golfers - Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Mike Souchak. Note that his right knee only
moves inwards slightly during this time period when he is shifting his pelvis left-laterally. It allows your spine to get in position so that the club and
your arms can fall on plane smoothly. The butt end of the clubshaft should point at the ball-target line point X indicating that the clubshaft is on-
plane. Consider a comparison of Tiger Woods swing from age 16 years versus age 24 years. Only valid in the USA. Then, the upper torso will
transfer that energy to the arms when the upper torso decelerates and the transmitted energy will cause the arms to rotate twice as fast as the upper
torso. The faster the hand speed at this time point and the "tighter" the hand arc turn radius - the faster the club will release. Note that the clubface
is open to the clubhead arc between the P6 position and the P6. I therefore prefer to think of PA 4 unloading as being primarily due to the
downward-and-forward movement of the left arm towards impact, and PA 4 unloading is deemed to start when the distance between the hands
and right shoulder starts to increase in the early downswing. If the clubshaft crashes through that imaginary glass wall above waist level , then the
clubshaft is too far off the "optimum" inclined plane and the clubshaft attack angle is too steep - frequently due to starting the downswing with an
OTT "upper body dive" move rather than a lower body pelvic shift-rotation move. There must be perfect synchrony between the rotating torso
action and the power package slotting action, so that the arms are essentially rotating at the same speed rpm as the rotating torso. Checkpoint 2
image 2 - when the left hand has moved down slightly further it is now on a shallower plane intermediate between the turned shoulder plane and the
elbow plane. Theoretically, that should allow a golfer to stretch-tighten the mid torso muscles, which should theoretically produce a greater force of
upper torso elastic-uncoiling in the downswing partially based on the idea of the muscular stretch-shorten cycle principle. Clubshaft path - from the
delivery position to the end of the followthrough position. It is also more likely that golfers who have their clubshaft on a shallow plane through the
impact zone like Sergio Garcia have a more bent-over posture and more lateral lateral bend of their spine through impact, while golfers who have
their clubshaft on a steeper plane through impact are more likely to have a more erect posture more "standing-up" posture through impact. Is it a
good idea to start the downswing by kicking-in the right knee? I believe that the left knee moves automatically, and without any need for conscious
thought, as a result of the weight transfer to the left that occurs when a golfer shifts weight back onto the left foot and shift-rotates the hips. I will
describe the process of how that power is generated and transmitted to the swinging club in the downswing in the next section of this downswing
chapter. Note that the right elbow drops below the left arm on its way to the right hip area - due an active adduction of the right upper arm
towards the right side of the upper torso. One technique uses a dowel stick, and I demonstrate that technique in the swing videos that accompany
my review paper on How to Move the Arms, Wrists and Hands in the Golf Swing. Image 3 shows him in his mid-downswing and one can see that
his rear buttocks has pulled slightly away from the tush line, while his lead buttocks is now abutting against the tush line. Most professional golfers
have their clubshaft near the elbow plane either just above the elbow plane - nearer the TSP, or just below the elbow plane - nearer the hand plane
when their clubshaft is traveling below waist level in the downswing. I will demonstrate the biomechanics of this square technique using Jamie
Sadlowski as a role model. Downswing Start the downswing smoothly, as you did taking the club back. Lots of great players have had loops in
their swing, weird grips and open stances, and yet seem to re-route the club just right to achieve great impact alignments with their body and club.
His second solution is even more ridiculous! In other words, the downswing should start with the lower body moving first, and the upper body
moving second. I also don't believe that energy is transmitted from the rotating torso to the swinging arms across the shoulder joint space according
to the principle of conservation of momentum - like energy is transmitted down the length of a whip when a lion tamer cracks his whip in a circus
ring. Here is an excellent video lesson by Robert Baker on his O factor concept, and he demonstrates how the initiating pelvis shift-rotation
movement causes secondary axis tilt, and how that increased degree of rightwards spinal tilt allows the right shoulder to move downplane when the
shoulders start to rotate around the rightwards tilted spine. Consider some of these factors. However, the hands are essentially passive in the
modern, pivot-driven downswing, and the clubhead first moves backwards away from the body, away from the ball-target line because the first
downswing move is a lower body move.