May 1st, 2009 | 
Author: 
The 84 Degree Secret! (Part 4)
Body position is the most important factor influencing impact and the quality of the golf shots you are hitting.
In the illustration notice how Annika’s right side seems to form a straight line. From the outside of her back foot all the way up her right side to the right side of her head can be covered with a straight line laying at 84 degrees. This indicates the 84 degree secret.
Mickey Wright
It is quite amazing how many of the top golfers obey this ‘84 Degree Secret’!
To be clear this is not Stack and Tilt which actually encouraged the golfer to feel as if they are leaning towards the target. Here the upper body remains steady/centered while the body pivots to the top without drifting across the line.
The ‘84 Degree Secret’ is essential to achieving a correct impact as it makes it simple for the golfer to get to the proper hit position. Think of it this way; if you move the upper body six inches off the ball in the backswing, you now have to find a way to get it back to where it started, at exactly the right time, and in one third the amount of time it took to get it out of position.
Keep the upper body centered/over the ball and you will start to compress the ball like never before!
A recap of the last four articles and how they pertain to a great impact:
- A strong grip allows the handle to lead the club head with the club face remaining square.
- A ‘vertical’ set-up where the head is centered between the feet and there is minimal shoulder tilt prepares the body for the proper pivot.
- A steeper shoulder pivot keeps the upper body centered and allows for a descending attack into the ball.
- The 84 degree secret! Eliminate lateral motion and keep the head over the ball to make for a simplified transition into the hit.
Should you have any questions or queries please feel free to post a comment!
Things to ponder:
- Tiger is in for a battle this weekend! Good for golf and good for us.
- Quail Hollow has the look and feel of a US Open, but trust me it is not even close. There are six holes on the course where I would be thinking birdie! Now the other twelve are a different story……
- There are over 15 million active blogs available online. Thanks for reading this one!
- I like what Stuart Appleby said about the 17th at Quail Hollow, “Bad design!” I second that motion.
- Phil seems to be working out and in better shape, yet how does he always manage to look a little chubby to me? Amy needs to up his shirt size me thinks.
- Please post a comment – I am heartbroken that there have not been any thus far………
- Stay well!
Posted in Long Game, Swing Philosophy | 
Tags: annika, centered, impact, phil, quail hollow, tiger, transition
Great information, very informative. Don’t you think that golf on TV distorts the viewers ability to truly understand the golf swing? Next, with Phil being Phil on the back nine at Augusta, don’t you think that Bones, his caddie has to accept some responsibility? How many times have you ever heard Tiger say that “he wasn’t committed or that he was fooled on a putt”? And how does Bones let Phil hit 9-iron on 12 vs. a soft 8-iron…you can make a par from long on 12 but you can’t make a par from the water?
Great website and blog. I look forward to reading the new posts every week. Andrew, what are your thoughts on redirecting the club on the downswing? Thus shallowing out the swing into impact. (ex. Nick Price and Sean O’Hair) Keep up the good work. Thanks.
Hi Wayne,
Thanks for looking into the site.
Firstly, any shallowing out that occurs, should not be done with the hands and arms initiating the move but, be a result of the hips, thighs and knees driving to the target. The body takes on a ‘curved’ look at impact when positioned correctly (a reverse ‘C’ to a certain degree). Secondly, shallowing of the club is only required when the club has gone back in a fairly vertical fashion. For example, Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer had no shallowing in transition due to their backswings being fairly flat to start with. O’Hair is actually currently working on taking the club back less steep; watch tomorrow as he’ll be battling Tiger and Co. at Quali Hollow.
Thanks Wayne and I hope your game is good.
Andrew
Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for coming down the other day; I thought it went well.
To your first question – yes, in every way! It gives people unrealistic expectations, gets them to believe they can do things they more than likely can not and it does give them a fair amount of misinformation swingwise.
Regarding Phil – the classic example of a caddie dropping the ball, was the 72nd hole of the Winged Foot US Open. All Bones needed to get his boss to do is lay-up. If he does so Phil makes 4 or 5 and he either wins or gets in an 18 hole playoff having won the two previous majors! Bones lets him go for broke which brings 6 into the equation and we know the rest. The 12th at Augusta is easier for a lefty I believe as a right miss goes longer vs. the opposite for a righty. I cannot comment on the club selection as much as the miss: we all know you simply must not miss that shot to the right.
It does surprise me that very little has been written about Bones’ role in what amounted to a back nine meltdown!
Thanks for posting and check back.
Andrew
Howzit, what do you think of the Euro pro tour? 2 of my cousins play in the tour…
Cheers,
Harvs
PS still waiting for you to fill in the blanks on the ‘picture’
The European Tour is a great tour. If two of your cousins play on the tour you should have some great golf genes! We both know something went terribly wrong there.
Come on laddie – give me a real question like, “How do you hit a 5 iron into a Northeaster coming the around the mountain from about 60 metres?”