Today's video tip is about setup and the proper initiation of the Peak Performance Golf Swing. I think this is a really important tip because it gives me a chance to add some clarity around a point I make in the Foundations manual. Here's the question that came in on the website:
"OK, I'm a bit confused of the proper sequence of events. In reading your manual on page 60 you start talking how the shoulders and torso should start the swing, 'The club head's movement is begun by the turning of your torso and your shoulders. Meanwhile, the club is merely held passively in your hands. By this I mean that your hands and arms are put into motion by your upper body This motion of your torso and shoulders carries down to your hips, legs and feet." Then you go on to say the one piece takeaway is both shoulders and hips- "You can achieve the true one-piece takeaway by turning your hips and shoulders around your spine, setting the arms and club in motion.'
So, do I start the swing with my shoulders and let my hips follow or do I start with my hips & shoulders at the same time? I've tried both and get different results."
This is a great question. The point I make in the manual is that the hands are neutral agents in the initiation of the swing. The point I was trying to make, perhaps inelegantly, was that the hands don't move ahead of the arms and shoulders--they don't cup at the wrists. They are along for the ride, so to speak. I did not intend this statement to refer to the grip, which as you know is anything but passive. We want a firm grip, something akin to a good, firm handshake. If you had an imaginary grip pressure meter that had measuring points from 1 to 5 on its gauge, we would want to have enough grip pressure to register a "3" on the meter.
Now to answer this Surgite's question. To understand the mechanics involved, I want you to think of three squares and a triangle. The first square covers the area from our feet to our knees, the second from our knees to our hips and the third from our hips to our shoulders. The triangle base is formed with a line running parallel to the ground across our shoulders at the base of our neck with the two sides running down our arms to our hands.
When we set up correctly, we exert outward pressure on our knees with the express purpose of keeping this lower square quiet during our backswing. We want to particularly keep our forward knee from collapsing inward. Thus, the turn is initiated with the upper two squares turning together to move the triangle I described above as one unit. When done properly, you will sense that the club head begins to move first, rotating slightly to a toe up position as the club enters the area I call The Catcher's Mitt.
This is an oversimplified picture of what has to happen to make a good swing but if you hope to have good tempo and timing, this image of the upper part of your body turning as one unit is an important one to imprint upon your brain. Watch the video and you see what I mean.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge