WHAT IS A FORWARD PRESS?
The forward press is simply a device that gets us from the
passive into the active stage smoothly, without a jerk.
Standing in a stationary position, even for a few seconds,
is tiring.
THE TRUTH IS ....
We don't pass easily from a stationary position into
a big move.
The trick in golf is to go from the stationary position of
address to the big movement of the backswing without a
jerky effort.
UNDERSTANDING THE FORWARD PRESS
The forward press provides this transition. It is the little
move that leads into the big one.
It can be done in several ways, with the right knee, with
the hips, with the hands, with a turn of the hips.
THE LATERAL MOVEMENT OF THE HIPS
We want a lateral movement of the hips, no turn. It is a
slight pushing of the hips to the left, laterally, about an
inch or two.
This press is in the opposite direction from the big move.
But as the hips come back from their little pushing motion,
they keep right on sliding and go into a lateral turning
motion to the right--the beginning of the backswing--and
we are off.
This makes for the smoothest transition of all.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
"Soften" Your Swing
Most high-handicappers have a few things in common:
1. A white-knuckled strangulation grip on the club during
address...
2. Gnashing teeth while simultaneously holding the breath on
backswing (a great skill to have while snorkling, but not so
much golf)...
3. A sudden and severe tightening of the all muscles during the
downswing and impact...
Okay... the solution is to (as the pros say) "soften" your
swing.
Watch any world class sprinter. What's he doing just before the
race? He's loosening his muscles, isn't he?
You have to do the same in the golf swing. It's a chain
reaction that starts from the ground, then moves through the
pivot into your arms, down the club shaft into the golf ball.
The idea is to STORE power until the exact right moment. Let
the "chain reaction" work it's magic (don't rush it for pete's
sake), and keep your muscles soft so that power can be
delivered to straight into the ball.
Pow! It'll feel effortless too.
In the end, I'm not just talking about loosening your grip
pressure, but releasing the tension in your shoulder area and
neck. Yes... you need a structured swing but not all the
tension.
So here's what you should do before you drive the ball:
1. Do a quick body scan... notice where you're holding your
tension...
2. Take three deep breaths (but please, not so deep that you
pass out). Remove all the worry and tension out of your
muscles...
3. Keep your swing soft and slow. Allow the pivot do all the
work.
The sprinter knows relaxed muscles fire stronger and more
effectively -- and now you know too. Let that chain reaction of
power happen in your swing and keep it all soft as a baby's
butt.
1. A white-knuckled strangulation grip on the club during
address...
2. Gnashing teeth while simultaneously holding the breath on
backswing (a great skill to have while snorkling, but not so
much golf)...
3. A sudden and severe tightening of the all muscles during the
downswing and impact...
Okay... the solution is to (as the pros say) "soften" your
swing.
Watch any world class sprinter. What's he doing just before the
race? He's loosening his muscles, isn't he?
You have to do the same in the golf swing. It's a chain
reaction that starts from the ground, then moves through the
pivot into your arms, down the club shaft into the golf ball.
The idea is to STORE power until the exact right moment. Let
the "chain reaction" work it's magic (don't rush it for pete's
sake), and keep your muscles soft so that power can be
delivered to straight into the ball.
Pow! It'll feel effortless too.
In the end, I'm not just talking about loosening your grip
pressure, but releasing the tension in your shoulder area and
neck. Yes... you need a structured swing but not all the
tension.
So here's what you should do before you drive the ball:
1. Do a quick body scan... notice where you're holding your
tension...
2. Take three deep breaths (but please, not so deep that you
pass out). Remove all the worry and tension out of your
muscles...
3. Keep your swing soft and slow. Allow the pivot do all the
work.
The sprinter knows relaxed muscles fire stronger and more
effectively -- and now you know too. Let that chain reaction of
power happen in your swing and keep it all soft as a baby's
butt.
Friday, January 4, 2008
3 Secrets of a Consistant Golf Swing
The information you are about to receive is not theory or
conjecture but science. Ooooh, you say, this sounds complicated.
Well it isn't, it is simply the laws of force and motion that
govern our entire lives and day to day living. Once you understand
these simply laws your golf game will forever change...for the
better!
Secret #1: A Flat Left Wrist
Because the golf stroke involves a golf club, a left arm, and a
wrist in between, it is called a "lever system". The left wrist
acts as a "hinge pin" much like the old time "flail" used to beat
wheat. This "hinge pin" can rotate, cock or uncock but NEVER Bends!
Golfers however routinely bend the left wrist causing the clubhead
to reach the ball before the hands do. This causes a "quitting"
motion, adds loft to the clubface, points the face to the left of
target, makes the clubhead swing upward disrupting the downward
motion that ALL good golf shots MUST have. Good players DELOFT the
clubface at Impact. Poor players ADD loft to the clubface costing
them distance, direction, and trajectory.
A 5 iron, for example, has approximately 8 degrees for "forward
lean" when soled properly. At Impact with good players the "lean"
is approximately 15 degrees. This turns the 5 iron into a 4 iron.
Poor players reach Impact with a "backward" leaning clubshaft
thereby ADDING loft and turning the 5 iron into a 6-7 iron!
Secret #2: A Staright Plane Line
You only have two choices when it comes to the swing plane, you are
either on or you're off. There is no middle ground!
What exactly is the swing plane? The plane is the angle of the
clubshaft as it sets at address - period! It is NOT Hogans plane of
glass as many would have you to believe. There are only three
planes available;
1. Horizontal - a wall
2. Vertical - the floor
3. Inclined somewhere in between
As golfers you and I use the Inclined Plane to swing the club back
up and end, down out and forward, up back and in making the Golf
Stroke three dimensional.
The clubshaft, actually the sweetspot of the club, may travel to
any other plane angle during the swing as long as it DOES NOT cross
the base of the plane. Here is a simple way you can know if you are
on plane or not. Whichever end of the club is nearest to the ground
MUST also point at the base of the plane from horizon to horizon.
If neither end is nearer then the clubshaft MUST be horizontal to
the ground and parallel to the base of plane.
Secret #3: A Lagging Clubhead
Lag by definition means "trailing". When the clubhead passes the
hands coming into Impact there is no "lag". Without "lag" the golf
ball cannot be compressed, we cannot hit downward, and we have a
tremendous power loss. Clubhead lag promotes a steady and even
acceleration giving us a dependable way to control distance.
Look at any picture of your favorite player at Impact. The left arm
and clubshaft are in ONE LINE! Never two lines. This means that the
player is utilizing "lag". When a ball is struck with "lag" it
explodes off the clubface! Without this "lag" the sound turns into
one of mush, a soft Impact instead of a driving Impact.
------------------------------------------------------------
If you follow this outline, learn these three "Secrets" you will be
hitting the ball with more compression than you ever thought
possible.
For example, a Driver striking a golf ball with a 2 degree
"backward" leaning clubshaft at 100 mph with 9.5 degrees of loft
produces a launch angle of 6.4 degrees and a carry distance of 230
yards.
By changing Impact to a 2 degree forward leaning clubshaft the
player produces a launch angle of 10.4 degrees and a carry of 251
yards. A 21 YARD INCREASE WITHOUT buying a new Driver and simply
having clubhead lag!
conjecture but science. Ooooh, you say, this sounds complicated.
Well it isn't, it is simply the laws of force and motion that
govern our entire lives and day to day living. Once you understand
these simply laws your golf game will forever change...for the
better!
Secret #1: A Flat Left Wrist
Because the golf stroke involves a golf club, a left arm, and a
wrist in between, it is called a "lever system". The left wrist
acts as a "hinge pin" much like the old time "flail" used to beat
wheat. This "hinge pin" can rotate, cock or uncock but NEVER Bends!
Golfers however routinely bend the left wrist causing the clubhead
to reach the ball before the hands do. This causes a "quitting"
motion, adds loft to the clubface, points the face to the left of
target, makes the clubhead swing upward disrupting the downward
motion that ALL good golf shots MUST have. Good players DELOFT the
clubface at Impact. Poor players ADD loft to the clubface costing
them distance, direction, and trajectory.
A 5 iron, for example, has approximately 8 degrees for "forward
lean" when soled properly. At Impact with good players the "lean"
is approximately 15 degrees. This turns the 5 iron into a 4 iron.
Poor players reach Impact with a "backward" leaning clubshaft
thereby ADDING loft and turning the 5 iron into a 6-7 iron!
Secret #2: A Staright Plane Line
You only have two choices when it comes to the swing plane, you are
either on or you're off. There is no middle ground!
What exactly is the swing plane? The plane is the angle of the
clubshaft as it sets at address - period! It is NOT Hogans plane of
glass as many would have you to believe. There are only three
planes available;
1. Horizontal - a wall
2. Vertical - the floor
3. Inclined somewhere in between
As golfers you and I use the Inclined Plane to swing the club back
up and end, down out and forward, up back and in making the Golf
Stroke three dimensional.
The clubshaft, actually the sweetspot of the club, may travel to
any other plane angle during the swing as long as it DOES NOT cross
the base of the plane. Here is a simple way you can know if you are
on plane or not. Whichever end of the club is nearest to the ground
MUST also point at the base of the plane from horizon to horizon.
If neither end is nearer then the clubshaft MUST be horizontal to
the ground and parallel to the base of plane.
Secret #3: A Lagging Clubhead
Lag by definition means "trailing". When the clubhead passes the
hands coming into Impact there is no "lag". Without "lag" the golf
ball cannot be compressed, we cannot hit downward, and we have a
tremendous power loss. Clubhead lag promotes a steady and even
acceleration giving us a dependable way to control distance.
Look at any picture of your favorite player at Impact. The left arm
and clubshaft are in ONE LINE! Never two lines. This means that the
player is utilizing "lag". When a ball is struck with "lag" it
explodes off the clubface! Without this "lag" the sound turns into
one of mush, a soft Impact instead of a driving Impact.
------------------------------------------------------------
If you follow this outline, learn these three "Secrets" you will be
hitting the ball with more compression than you ever thought
possible.
For example, a Driver striking a golf ball with a 2 degree
"backward" leaning clubshaft at 100 mph with 9.5 degrees of loft
produces a launch angle of 6.4 degrees and a carry distance of 230
yards.
By changing Impact to a 2 degree forward leaning clubshaft the
player produces a launch angle of 10.4 degrees and a carry of 251
yards. A 21 YARD INCREASE WITHOUT buying a new Driver and simply
having clubhead lag!
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