Passive Lower Body In The Golf Swing

If you are taking lessons from a golf instructor that tells you must have a passive lower body in the golf swing. RUN! The golf swing is no different than any other upright motion of the body. The lower body must be involved and it should be the most aggressive part of your golf swing. In this article I will show how your lower body must be involved and where to find help to do it properly.  

Even though we don’t realize it, from throwing a ball to swinging a tennis racket or just walking, the lower body initiates the movement. Anytime the upper body does anything, something lower is involved. It always seems to have a relationship to what we call gravity. A simple example could be opening a sliding door. You don’t think about it, but when sliding the door all the strength used in moving your hand and arm is transferred to your feet and ground, which gives leverage to move the door. If you are pushing or pulling the door to the left most of the pressure is transferred to the right foot when pushing to the left. The heavier the door, the harder you push.

The example above is the same method used in swinging a golf club. When at the top of the back swing the weight is on the foot and leg opposite the direction you are going swing, (if you are going to swing left the weight will be on the right foot). The down swing is initiated by pushing or transferring the weight to the other foot which basically causes you to turn you hips, then your shoulders, then your arms, and finally the golf club. The more aggressive the lower body is the faster the golf club will swing. If you are wound up properly on the back swing the sequence above will happen simultaneously.

A passive lower body in the golf swing will encourage the upper body to unwind too quickly and create a reverse weight shift, throwing your body backwards. Rotating the shoulders without hip movement first can also cause an over the top move.

The leveraging of the body from the ground up is not all there is to swinging a golf club. Other criteria are necessary such as: posture, grip, and aim, these are the basic fundamentals of the golf swing. Other factors, such as hand and eye coordination and confidence come from practice.

The main purpose of this article was to have you understand that if you are in an upright position, the lower body is never passive. You may not be aware of what it is doing, but it is not passive, it is doing something. The movement of the body in the golf swing is natural. Don’t make it hard. Practice! Your golf game will improve and you will enjoy it more.

If you are having trouble achieving the required movement of the lower body check my site below it may be helpful in solving some of your problems. As mentioned earlier there is a device to help you obtain the position of the legs and lower body needed to get a natural thrust from the ground up. Click on the link to view. http://bit.ly/hc8sD0.

Dale Bartlett, PGA member, golf instructor and author.

http://dbart5.blogspot.com/

Lead Arm Straight

How important is keeping the lead arm straight? First of all, let's change from straight to extended lead arm, straight seems to create tension. Keeping the lead arm extended determines the size of the circle you are trying to create. The larger the circle, the faster the club head will travel, and speed equals distance.

The length of club increases by 1/2 inch as the number of the club decreases, (4 iron is 1/2" longer than a 5 iron, etc.). This means that a 4 iron swung with the same effort as the 5 iron is moving faster because it has farther to go in the same amount of time. If the lead arm is bent slightly with the 4 iron and extended with the 5 iron, then they could conceivably be traveling the same speed, both making the ball go the same distance only one higher than the other because of difference in loft of the clubs.

The disappointment that most players have is they expect a 4 iron to go 20 or 30 yards farther than their 5 iron when they are designed to go about 5 to 10 yards farther.

The only thing that should change, in swinging different clubs, is the radius of the circle created by the length of the club. Arm length and posture should remain the same.

Play well and have fun.

Dale Bartlett, PGA professional
http://dbart5.blogspot.com

Weight Transfer

Weight transfer is something we do everyday with every step we take. Simply moving the weight from one leg to other. In golf terms we want make the transfer while turning our body away from the target and then toward the target, keeping our hips from swaying outside the insteps of our feet.

In the back swing the weight transfer is started by the rotation of the shoulders away from the target, moving the weight to the back leg, The downswing or forward rotation is created by pushing the weight from the back leg to the front leg causing the hips to turn, then the shoulders.

Remember the hips stay inside the insteps of the feet on both the back swing and the downswing.

Make a comment below. See you next time.

Dale Bartlett

Drop The Club In The Slot

Most all golfers have heard the term "dropping the club in the slot" but, do most know what it means? Some know what it means but don't know how to accomplish it. It is simply a matter of letting your arms fall naturally on the downswing.

The problem arises in most players at address position. They setup by reaching their arms outward (away from their bodies), not realizing that on the downswing they to have force their arms out and away from their body to get to the ball..
 
The fix:  At address position your upper body should be tilted forward about 30-35 degrees, bending at the hips, From this position simply let your arms hang straight down from the shoulders. Notice how close to your body your arms are hanging, that is where the should fall on the downswing. THAT IS THE SLOT.

Most players would say "that's too close to my body, the ball is too close to me". That is because they start the downswing wrong. They start with their hands, arms and shoulders, instead of starting the lower part of their bodies first, and just letting their arms simply fall in the slot.

Watch the Ben Hogan video clip on the right to see how the club starts down. Notice; I did not say "how to start the club down". I said "see how the club starts down".

The Golf Grip

The golf grip is a major fundamental of the golf swing. Golf grip, (position of hands on the club), allows the club to return to the hitting position without manipulation of the hands. If we wanted to manipulate the club you could hold it anyway you wanted but consistent shots would be hard to duplicate. The club is always held in the fingers of both hands. Hold the club for now just in the left hand with your body in golf posture position and arms hanging straight down from you shoulders. When you look at your left hand you should be able to see the first two knuckles. Now bring your right hand toward your left and wrap your fingers around the grip, the lifeline of your right hand should cover your left thumb. Both v's created by the thumbs and forefinger should be pointed to the right shoulder.

Big Muscle Golf

There is a mistake in golf that the majority of players make and that is making the swing with the smaller muscles of the body, namely the arms and shoulders. A powerful golf swing is generated by the leg and back muscles, and in the next few minutes you will understand what I mean by big muscle golf.

This phenomenon occurs more in men golfers than in women golfers. Men have larger upper body muscles and try to power the club with their hands, arms, and shoulders. Most people that watch a golfer swing concentrate on the upper body, and unfortunately so do a lot of the instructors. Golf instructors for the most part have grown up playing golf and the movement of larger leg muscles has been taken for granted without much thought about their workings. It is pretty much the same with every athletic move. When you swing a baseball bat you don't think about pushing off your back foot toward the oncoming ball, or in shooting a basketball pushing with your legs. What we watch and think about is the upper body movement.

An example of using the large leg and back muscles involves a weightlifter. All weightlifters know the importance of using leg and back muscles. In order for a weightlifter to lift enormous weight he bends over and extends his arms down grabs the bar while bending his knees. His first move is to straighten his legs and back. Now he has the bar at about thigh height, again he flexes his knees and pushes upward with his legs while moving his arms under the bar. Now with another leg flex and push with the arms he gets it about even with his chin. Every leg flex and arm movement gets harder, and the worst is yet to come. One last leg flex is all he has left and bar is about face high. From here it is all arm and shoulder movement and this move determines if he is successful or not. It is the hardest because he is using the smallest muscles in the lift, his hands, arms and shoulders.

Like the weight lifter, golf is played from the ground up. If your feet were not stable you wouldn't be able to coil your body on the back swing. When you coil the body you stretch the back muscles, then the leg muscles. If you start the down swing with your shoulders, arms, and hands, you have released your power way too soon. Use your legs to turn your hips, which will turn your shoulders, arms, hands and ultimately the golf club.

Golf"s Over The Top Move

One of the most dreaded moves in the swing is golf's over the top move. This move is what 80% of the players do to cut across the ball. We are going to discuss the cause and the cure to make your golfing experiences more enjoyable. For discriptive purposes all actions are for right hand players

The most common cause is the club moving on the wrong swing plane. A lot of players, the first time they swung a golf club, was on the correct plane swinging toward the target.But, because the face of the club was not square (aimed to right) the ball started almost straight and then sliced right. As a result the next time they changed their setup more to the left and the swing plane was left, starting the ball left of the target and slicing back to the target. Club makers realizing this started making off set clubs to compensate for this action, and making it easier to square up the club face at impact. It helped but it didn't cure the swing flaw.

The action of pulling the arms across the body still existed causing the player to set up slightly to the right and swinging the club across the body putting it on plane toward the target. The outside to in motion across the body was still there.

The reason that players come over the top move is because it is the quickest line to the ball. Club head speed is what we want to create. To create club head speed it takes time and distance, so the farther a club travels the faster it will go. Quick is not what we want. An example is two cars drag racing for ¼ mile the one that gets there first will win, although when the other crosses the line it may be going faster. The winning car used its speed early in the race, the second car was accelarating later creating more speed. In a longer distance race the second car probably would have won the race. In drag racing it is best to be quick. In golf, fast is what we want. Anyway back to golf's over the top move.

Players that pick the club up with their hands to start the back swing have a tendency to start the club down with their hands on the down swing. This move throws the shoulders out and the head forward before the lower body can move. The immediate pull of the hands makes the right foot the pivot point and stops the weight from transferring to the left.

The cure for golf's over the top moves.

Get a golf club and stand in an area where you can adress a ball. Before bending over to the correct posture position put club in your left hand only and make your shoulders level. Now bend over, your shoulders should still be level, reach your right hand down and place it on the club, your right shoulder should have dropped slightly. When your shoulder dropped your spine should have tilted to the right. Did your head tilt also, a mistake some players make is leaving their head straight up. Tilt your head in line with your spine. It will remain there the entire swing until after impact.

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Learn the proper sequence for the golf swing. While in proper posture position, the Y created with the arms and the club is turned back away from the ball with the shoulders (one piece). The shoulders turn back and start the hips turning. When the hips start turning you are wound up, this does not mean you must stop turning when that happens it means you can stop if you want. Being wound up simply means that if you turn your hips forward toward the target your shoulders and arms will move also, which is the proper sequence for the down swing. Turn your hips toward the target and let your arms fall.

To pass the test go to the second to the last paragraph tilt your spine and head, leave your head there and try to make golf's over the top move. Making the club move outside in across the line. Don:t break your neck.

Dale Bartlett, PGA Member, author and golf instructor

http://dbart5.blogspot.com/

Golf Is A Game Of Opposites

Do you ever wonder where golf gets it reputation of being a stupid game? Well you will hear it all right here. Can you figure out why it's such a mental game? You want to do something and your brain says “no” you are doing it wrong. That's because golf is a game of opposites.

You try to go under the ball to get it into the air, it rolls along the ground. So you get upset and really swing down hard on the ball and it goes up. You swing left, and you know the club face is square to the target but, the ball curves to the right. So this time you say to yourself, if it wants to go right I'll swing that way, and it goes left. Come on, your brain can only take so much of this. You gotta be stupid to play this game. Your brain knows logic, so now you've got to trick it.

When players get on the golf course and over a the ball ready to make a shot they start to think. I've got to keep my right arm straight, knees bent slightly, swing back slow, and accelerate through the ball. I'm here to tell you if you haven't figured it out before you get on the golf course you're not going to find it there. Think about these things at home or work and practice them in golf practice areas, so they are automatic and you don't have to think about them. At any rate think before you get over the ball.

Laws of physics are pretty cut and dried. If your club face is square to the target and the swing path is to the left, it will impart clockwise rotation, causing the ball to spin to the right. If your club is square and the swing is to the right it will impart counter clockwise rotation, the ball will go left. If the club face is square and the swing path is straight to the target the ball will go straight. Remember golf is a game of opposites.

Now we know cause and effect in physics law for swing plane, we've got one variable out of the way.

Most players wonder why when pro players take out a chunk of ground their ball still goes s good distance, but when they do it the ball doesn't go anywhere. The answer is when a pro player hits the ground it after he has hit the ball. Most players will hit the ground before the ball. In order to obtain the correct results, two actions have got to happen. The body weight has to have moved toward the left foot and hands must be ahead of the club head. So that the bottom of your swing circle is in front on the ball. If you are having trouble doing that, move the ball back in you stance a little.

Even though I poked a little fun at golfers and golf in general, it is a game we love. Oh, speaking of golf being game of opposites, it is one of the few games where you try to have the lowest score.

Enjoy this misguided game and have fun.

Dale Bartlett, PGA Member, author and golf instructor

HTTP://dbart5.bloodsport/

Buying the Best Golf Clubs

So, after determining that golf is the sport for you, a realization that you need tools and equipment to play the game. It's time to purchase and you want to know specifics in buying the best set golf clubs. One thing that you need to know is that you are investing in something that you can use for many years.

Should I buy an inexpensive set? A new brand name top of the line set? Or, a per-owned/used set of clubs? Depending on what you can afford, this should be your order of preference, and provided the irons you are purchasing are a matched set. 1) new top of the line brand irons, 2) a pre-owned/used set of top of the line irons, and 3) the inexpensive/economy iron set. The remainder of the clubs: putter, driver, and fairway metals should follow the same guidelines. Let's look at why we place them in this order.

Things to evaluate when buying the best set golf clubs:

1. 
   
   Buy new quality name brand golf clubs. They may be more expensive, but there is reason for this. The process for making quality golf clubs has been through research, engineering, and developed by people that have been educated and designing the products for years. This process comes at a cost. This article is not promoting a particular brand, but the top of the line golf clubs from most all major manufacturers use the same process. Two of the major factors that separate the premier golf club manufacturer from the inexpensive golf club manufacturers are: higher quality of materials used , and higher standards of quality control in assembly.
   Also, the top of the line clubs will have a higher trade in value, or resale value.
2. 
   
   The per-owned/used clubs should have the same attributes as the new quality brand names but at less expensive cost. These clubs may require some maintenance care. Like new grips, etc. They can retain value when resold or used for trade-in.
3. 
   
   There are a lot of less expensive clubs on the market that are of good quality. It is very hard to determine one from the other. Cloning and counterfeiting are copy and paste methods of mass production without quality or control. Because of this the resale or trade in value is very little and are found mostly at garage sales.
   Quality brand name golf club manufacturers use shafts, heads, and grips, that are constructed to higher grade specifications than the economy constructed clubs. A lot of the economy golf clubs are assembled utilizing rejects or flawed products from the brand name manufacturers.

Depending on your ability if you are a seasoned and accomplished player, when you are buying the best set of golf clubs you will probably want to go through a complete club fitting process. However, for players just learning, and haven't established a consistent swing pattern, static fitting is all you need. One thing to know is that each name brand iron has their own standard loft, lie, length, and grip diameter, which may or may not be the same. They will be close so it is safe to say the standard club is designed to fit 8o% of the golfing public.

If you are still concerned about buying the best set of golf clubs. One thing you need to know is that the club engineers design mainly for higher handicap golfers which is 80% of the golfers, (this is the majority of the people buying clubs,) and the face angle will be slightly offset due to a natural slice element of most players. Unless you have time to practice a lot and learn the proper swing plane the standard offset will be good for you. Happy shopping and have fun playing golf. A game for life.

Dale Bartlett, author and PGA golf instructor

http://dbart5.blogspot.com/

Golf Is a Hard Game

Golf is a hard game! Or is it? In this article we will try to analyze what motion is needed to make a good golf swing. How much of it is natural and how we mentally make it hard. Some of the terms in golf will be discussed, and what they really mean.

In the following information all pertains to right handed players. Reverse the process for left handed players.

The motion of the body in the golf swing is very simple. Follow this sequence! Imagine that are standing facing straight ahead with feet about shoulder width apart and weight distributed evenly on both feet. Leave your feet where they are and turn your shoulders 90 degrees to the right. (Your shoulders will move your arms and hands). Did your shoulders turn your hips about 45 degrees? Did most of your weight move to your right foot? Now, turn as if to walk left. What just happened? Did you turn your shoulders first. No, you moved your weight to the left foot, which started your hips turning. Your hips then made your shoulders turn which brought your arms and hands around. Your right foot rolled up on its toes, (in the golf swing the right foot goes no farther) just before you moved it to walk. Congratulations you just passed walking 101, haven't had to pass that test since you were between one and two years old. Pretty natural, huh?

In the above exercise everything was done in a straight upright position. Now we are going to find the correct golf posture position. But first, stand upright again and extend your arms horizontally away from your sides. Next relax your arms and let them fall, your arms will fall into your sides with your hands striking just below your hips. Remember how and what just happened. Now, bend at your hips about 30-35 degrees forward, keeping your back straight and your knees slightly bent. Extend your arms out horizontally as before, relax and let them fall. Your hands will meet right in front of your body with your arms hanging straight down from your shoulders. This is where you will put your hands on the golf club and ultimately where your arms will swing both on the back swing and forward swing. This is the set up or address position so remember it. Now, while in this position, staying in posture repeat the first paragraph Remember, golf is a hard game if you have forgotten how to walk.

Next we will discuss the position of the hands on the golf club. Nothing is mentioned about “grip” because most players will interpret that as meaning tight. The hands should grasp the club just tight enough that when your arms move the club does too. Again while standing straight up, relax your arms and let them hang at your sides. You will notice that the hands do not hang with your thumbs pointing forward, they hang at an angle. While retaining the natural angle in your left hand wrap your fingers around the grip (do not move the club to the palm of the hand) the thumb will be a little right of center down the shaft. Next, bring your right hand to the club with the “life line” following the thumb of the left, and wrap your fingers around the club. Your hands should be touching each other. There are three acceptable ways to connect the hands together. They are: full finger, overlapping, and interlocking. Full finger is basically the one just described. Overlapping involves lapping the little finger of the right hand and laying it between the index finger and the middle finger of the left hand. Interlocking laces the middle finger of the right hand and the index of the left hand. Use which ever you are comfortable with. Grip pressure should be not to loose and not to tight, half way between would be about right.

Always keep in mind to stay relaxed. Nothing destroys a golf swing faster than tension. Golf is a hard game, mentally, if you let it be. The technique discussed above involved natural motions, with the exception of placing you hands on the club. Do what comes naturally.

Dale Bartlett, PGA Member,  author and golf instructor.
http://dbart5.blogspot.com/

The Basic Golf Swing

The basic golf swing is a creation of a circle around a fixed point. Like when drawing a circle with a compass the radius will remain the same if the center point is not moved. If the circle is vertical the lowest point is directly below the center point. In the golf circle the lowest point would be the ground.

The following will describe how that circle is altered in the golf swing.

In the design of golf clubs, there is an angle between the shaft and the club head. This is a requirement stated in the rules of golf. There is a tolerance allowed in determining this angle. Because of this angle a true vertical circle is not practical. So the circle in golf's basic swing is tilted. The angle of the shaft and the club head determines (but won't change) the tilt of the circle but it could determine a players posture. The process of optimizing this criteria is called club fitting. Analyzing that process will be discussed at a different time. For now we will remain with the basic circle.

In the opening paragraph a description of maintaining the radius of the circle was mentioned. What was not mentioned was how this radius is created. The two elements of creating the radius is the club length and the arms of the player. The lead arm, (left for right handed players and right arm for left handed players), must remain extended until well after the club head has reached the bottom of the circle in order to maintain the radius. This is relevant both on the back swing and the down swing.

How the basic golf swing circle is altered:

• 
  
  The radius of the circle remains constant until a natural cocking of the wrist occurs. The radius is then reduced. This usually happens between the mid point and the top of the back swing.
• 
  
  Because the wrist cock is not released at the beginning of the down swing and elliptical circle will be created.
• 
  
  The elliptical circle is maintained in the down swing until centrifugal force and gravity forces the wrists to release.
• 
  
  The wrist release will allow the forward arm and the shaft to re-align themselves to the original radius throughout the completion of the swing.

Although in the golf swing slight variances occur, (like tilting of the spine which moves the bottom of the circle forward slightly), all the swing consists of is a circle with the head being the center point.

Dale Bartlett, PGA Member,: author and golf instructor. To check out other golf related articles go to http://dbart5.blogspot.com/

About Golf Instruction

Thursday, September 16, 2010

What is there about golf instruction that makes players think they can do it just because they play?  Any kind of instruction follows a process.  What is most important in the teaching process: 1) knowing how much the student already knows. 2) know what their abilities and capabilities to learn what you are going to teach. 3) Your ability to communicate with the student at a level that they can understand. 4) understanding attention spans and when enough information has been relayed to the student.  Give them things to accomplish and give time to practice.

 Now lets look at the process:

• What does the player know?  How much as he played?  Does he have a grasp of the fundamentals?      Can he make an athletic move while swinging?
• What are his limitations?  Does he have any physical restrictions?  Are there any handicaps we need to be aware of?  Is he a fast, medium, or slow learner?
• What is your ability to communicate?  Can you transfer your knowledge to him effectively?  Are you    patient and knowledgeable enough to present alternatives to accomplish the task you are trying to achieve?
• What is their attention span?  How long should a session be?  When do they start getting frustrated?  When is there is too much information?

Most all people learning the game knows what a good swing looks like.  And, most think that they look the same way.  People learn the most visually and as a result their first swing can be almost flawless.  The result probably won't be.  If the result is good we think he or she is a natural.  For most it will be disaster, they may miss the ball entirely.  Instead of repeating the swing and allowing their hand eye coordination to improve, they change their swing.  Now they direct all their attention to hitting at the ball instead of swinging through the ball.

In golf, people will begin evaluating every shot, swing, and result, without knowing what causes the ball to react the way it does.  Learn the fundamentals of the golf swing.  Don't try to move along the process too fast.  Example:   If you were teaching someone to drive a car, would you want them to drive 100 mph when they can't drive it correctly at 10 mph.

All this information is about golf instruction.  In no way is it intended to be all there is to know about golf instruction.

There will be more posts and information coming soon.  If you find any of this helpful, please comment
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Golf article writer, golf instructor now residing in Arizona.
Dale Bartlett,.PGA Member

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