August 7th, 2010 | 
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Posts Tagged ‘body motion’
Speedchain – Dynamic Power for Golf
View the HD video lesson HERE
The speedchain is a tremendous teaching and training aid for just about any golfer looking to get a sense for what the body should be doing throughout the golf swing. And by now you should all know I am a big fan of getting the body to work correctly. While it may not be the easiest aid to use and “operate” it is superb at communicating the feel of the transition and downswing.
Ben Hogan has long been admired for his dynamic golf swing and the effortless ease with which he drove his weight up onto his front foot. It often looked like he was “cracking a whip” when he swung a club. Training with the speedchain will get you to sense the hip drive and weight shift - just prior to – the arms and the club completing the back swing. A necessity for delivering maximum power and snap into the back of the ball.
The speedchain is made up of a sturdy grip attched to a length (20′) of chain where the links get bigger and heavier as they extend out away from the grip. The weight of the chain forces the body to work as efficiently (correctly!) as possible. I would recommend using or purchasing the XX Strong Model (for all golfers) as the heavier chain limits the amount of whipping in the terminal end of the chain – it just seems a little safer.
Here’s a teaching/training aid that is guaranteed to help your swing and as a bonus it offers an excellent core workout as well - I cannot recommend it enough!
FYI – I am in no way affiliated with the manufacturing or selling of the speedchain.
For more information on Speedchains and purchasing click HERE
View the HD video lesson HERE
Posted in Long Game, Practice | 
Tags: ben hogan, body motion, core, crack the whip, dynamic golf swing, feel the swing, golf exercise, golf training, hip drive, impact, power, speedchain, teaching aid, weight shift, workout for golf | 
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The Shoulder Pivot in the Golf Swing
An important factor in getting the body into position for a great impact is the manner in which the shoulders pivot. Far too many golfers are trying to turn too much and get their lead shoulder behind the ball.
When the left arm is parallel to the ground (for a right hander), the right forearm is always slightly above it (when viewing from an image captured at waist height). I found this to be true for all of golf’s best. In some cases the right arm is against the side (Hogan, Snead) and in others it is away from the side (Nicklaus, Norman), yet due to the method in which the shoulders were pivoted, the right was always above the left.
It is vital for the shoulders to pivot on a relatively steep plane. 
Notice Nick Price’s right forearm and how it is comfortably above the left. This is all accomplished by pivoting the shoulders on a fairly steep plane. The higher the right shoulder, the higher the right forearm and so on…
In a correct pivot, the left shoulder’s first move is down and then slightly across. This is in direct contrast to what most golfers attempt to do with their shoulders, which is:
a. turn them as much as they can and
b. get the left shoulder behind the ball.
Very seldom do any of the top golfers get their lead shoulder very far behind the ball (notice Price’s lead shoulder!) when pivoting into the backswing (with an iron); an interesting observation when considering the fact that there should be little to no lateral movement with the head and upper body.
A point of interest: the best ball strikers tend to move off the ball very, very little (Faldo, Price, Hogan), and the golfers who relied more on heart and amazing short-game ability (Player, Ballesteros) tend to move off the ball slightly.
The fact that there is little to no lateral movement with the upper body seems to encourage the shoulders to work on that steeper plane.
You can also have tremendous success when you give golf betting a swing. Your new found swing can turn into extra money for more time on the course.
Posted in Long Game, Swing Philosophy |
Tags: body motion, impact position, nick price, shoulder pivot, shoulder turn, steep shoulder plane, turn behind ball |
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The 84 Degree Secret
The 84 Degree Line at Address
The manner in which the body works through the swing is integral to achieving a proper and productive impact position. In fact, body motion is the prime fundamental for striking a golf ball correctly. By pivoting and loading the body correctly in the backswing, you set off a chain reaction that automatically directs your body to where it should be at the moment of truth: impact!
Let’s start with the prime objective: To have your body weight 80% or more forward at impact while delivering a downward blow (at least with the irons and fairway woods) with your head over the ball.
In researching the great golfers, it quickly became apparent to me that there was something eerily similar about the manner in which they all pivoted or rotated their bodies to the top of the backswing. Their arms and clubs, however, were doing quite different things. I drew a straight line up the outside of each player’s back side. This way, when each player approached the top of their backswing, I could focus purely on their body movement.
The result was uncanny. Not only were the majority of the back side lines I drew at exactly 84 degrees – almost every player stayed not only inside that line, but flush up against it just prior to initiating the downswing. They were flush up against the 84 degree line prior to any part of the body initiating the downswing.
A few interesting points:
- In the past I taught golfers to get the weight into the back foot in the backswing. The 84 degree line does not advocate a reverse pivot, or moving the weight to the target in the backswing; it merely encourages keeping the weight centered throughout the wind up.
- I do believe the 84 degree line to be vitally important to any player’s game, because it keeps the body from straying too far from its final destination – impact.
- The more the body moves away from the target in the backswing the greater the distance it must travel in the downswing to get the weight onto the front foot.
- The 84 degree line also allows a player enough space to develop the necessary power for the shot without driving too far forward and in front of the ball.
The 84 Degree Secret is applicable only to iron swings. The reason for this is, as the stance gets wider, the line remains at 84 degrees, but that line gets pushed further from the golfers’ center, making it very difficult to get the full back side to press up against it.
With my new understanding that the golf swing is — or should be – all about impact, I now see that getting the body into proper position at address and at the top of the swing allows it to then glide down into a sound hitting position.
Set that chain reaction and allow the rest to happen.
- The 84 Degree Secret
Thanks for reading and I would love to hear your thoughts on the 84 Degree Secret.
Posted in Long Game, Swing Philosophy |
Tags: 84 degree secret, address, body motion, pivot |
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