Impact is but a Fleeting Thing

Posted under Impact is but a Fleeting Thing

However, this registration of weight on the right foot at impact is but a fleeting thing. This diagonal stretch action of the left side is a quick, speedy action-it has to be in order to put into the motion of the downswing the power that is needed to drive a golf ball. This sensation of a pressure on the right foot as the ball is being hit is nothing new. In many cases players have stated that they push themselves off the right foot as they hit the ball.

But this same kind of push action can be felt on the left foot as the backswing is made. However, there is no great force being extended or applied as the club is being raised to the top of the swing. Hence the pressure on the left foot as the diagonal stretch of the right side is being made on the backswing is not very intense. But when the ball is being hit, the diagonal stretch of the body with the left side is a powerful, forceful move.

Consequently, not only is that pressure actually felt in hitting the golf ball, but it would register emphatically on the scale setup on which the UCLA tests were conducted. In conclusion, I must say that I personally am pleased with the report that the team of Snyder and McIntyre made in regard to the weight shift. I think that once and for all they have settled this matter of weight shift.

They definitely proved that in driver and iron shots there was a definite shift of the weight to the right for the backswing, and there was a definite reshift of the weight to the left foot for the downswing and follow through. However, there was evidence of a style which I personally disapprove of, a style to which I have personally objected. In 20 cases out of 84, the players addressed the ball with more weight on their right foot than on the left.

In the wood shots, 9 players had more weight on the right foot at the address, and 17 players made no forward press action (25 players did make a forward press).
With the irons, 11 players at address had more weight on the right foot; 12 players did not make a forward press, but 30 players did make a forward press.
As previously reported, this balancing oneself on the right foot at address, and the tendency to eliminate the forward press, is encouraged by the suggestion of simplifying golf through the one-piece golf swing theory.

But this type of golf play is very apt to cause a twisting body action which in turn can produce twisted knees and sacroiliac disturbances. As also stated in this book, the elimination of the forward press destroys the opportunity of injecting into the backswing that very necessary cocking of the club. And if the player does not have a sense of where and how the club is cocked, there is no point in swinging it.

I must say that many players do play that way, but I also say that they would be better players if they did use the forward press. Anyway, Dr. Snyder and Mrs. McIntyre should be congratulated for their fine and valuable report. They are working on other aspects of the golf swing and will soon come forth with other interesting conclusions.

A MOST HARMFUL GOLF THEORY
Without a doubt the most common fault in golf is slicing. But as most players do not understand the need or the mechanics of shifting their weight, they are forced to use their left side in a sort of turning motion to take the club away on the backswing. This left side action of the body carries the club to the outside of the line of flight.

Add to this the common suggestion of a tight grip with the last three fingers of the left hand and you have a hand action which will throw the face of the club open. What can the player do but pull the club across the line of flight as the club is brought into the ball? After one or two such slices, everybody in the foursome becomes a coach and the routine advice offered is this: “You are pulling your club from the outside in-you are coming across the ball from outside in-now what you must do is to swing from the inside out.”

They continue: “Imagine that the ball is sitting on home plate and you are driving it to second base-but don’t try to swing straight through the second base, swing from inside out-swing out towards first base.” And I see many golfers doing exactly this-and they have cured their slice but they have the most annoying, sickening hook you ever saw because they just replace one error with another error.