Limitations of theory 2

Continuing on the limitations of theory theme, I discovered something during yesterday's round; the (somewhat obvious) fact that one's level of tiredness will affect the interaction of the core and the arms. That is: the more physically tired I am the harder it is for me to turn through the ball with my hips and the more my arms come into play - causing hooks and duck hooks.

Apart from getting fitter, I can't see any obvious way of overcoming this, because even trying to swing more easily doesn't help, in fact, it tends to promote greater wrist action, resulting in even more pronounced hooks.

Anyway, I'll have to work something out. Perhaps I'll work on my alignment and also try to make sure I don't toe the ball, the latter being a cause of yet greater curvature of my full shots.

Back to putting. A friend has given me an interesting idea for taking some of the variables (such as pulled putts) out of the equation. This is the idea of weakening substantially the left hand (for right handers) on the grip - that is, turning the left hand under the grip - so that the left wrist cannot easily hinge in the direction of the putt. The result is what seems to be a more stable (less waggly) club face and a feeling that you can't pull the putt. Not sure if this will work on the course, as it does in practice, but I'm going to give it a go.

Limitations of theory

A good theory is only as good as the results that emerge from its implementation. The results so far from my recent 'hips open' theory have been encouraging, if not conclusive.

I have no doubt that the secret of good ball striking is closely related to the sequencing of the golf swing and this is central to the open hips theory. That is, open hips at impact (to varying degrees, but more than most golfers achieve) is an indicator that the lower body has (correctly) initiated the swing.

Players who predominently use their arms can hit the ball reasonably well and straight, but are losing the additional club head speed provided by proper core body rotation (at the right time).

My view is that players who have not previously managed to sequence their swings effectively in the past need to visualise and then feel their hips open to the target line at impact (say 30 to 45 degrees). This will tend to produce a swing motion that incorporates body rotation through the ball and effectively delays the 'hit' with the arms and hands.

As implied above, however, there are some issues with this theory; including the fact that the timing of the body movements still come down to the skill of the golfer to initiate them at the right time. It is important to know that the hips must be used, but another thing to use them is exactly the right way. Even great golfers occasionally get overactive with their lower body and push the ball, or overactive with their arms and pull / hook the ball. No one has perfect timing - not even Rory.

Having said that, the open hips feeling at impact is, I believe, a feeling worth striving for. It should, of course, be accompanied by a resolution to swing within oneself and swing to the target (not at the ball). Getting these things into one's game are worth a bit of effort and are really not all that hard to work on.

On a completely different subject, I've been having putting issues, mainly with short putts. I've tried some alternative grips (hand holds, not equipment type grips) and concluded that it is not the grip, but the gripper that is the issue. A good green read and a smooth, confident stroke will work no matter how one holds the putter. Again, there is no magic bullet, what's needed is a bit of determination to swing the putter freely and put out of mind the possibility of missing (no matter how short or long the putt).

Every swing cannot be perfect; not every putt can be made. Numerous books have been written about this over many years - I'm just a slow learner, realising at last the limitations of theory.

PS. I intend to play the ball slightly back in my stance tomorrow and change my alignment - not sure if this is theory, but it is something I've been thinking about for a while.

Eureka, maybe …?

After a week off, I tried my new-found impact-position theory (visualising impact, with hips somewhat open to the target, relaxed arms and wrists, etc.) and played exceptionally well.

Now, this could be a one-off, a swallow that doesn't make a summer, or I could be onto something.

Of course, with golf, nothing is ever certain, no-one plays well all the time, everyone has strange days - good and bad. However, there is a new development in golf analysis that might be relevant here.

The golf swing and its various components are now open to precise measurement. That is, the movements of the various components of the golf swing - hips, arms, hands and club - can be measured in milliseconds and the precise sequence or timing of these movements can now be recorded.

This means that we now know that the most efficient (club head speed producing) full golf swing has a certain sequence of moves that is common to all good golfers. These players start the swing with the lower body, with the other components of the swing catching up at just the right moment (at impact).

These moves or movements can be plotted on a graph and seen (albeit sometimes with some difficulty) when swings are photographed in slow motion. However, many average golfers are blissfully unaware of this science and probably have no real desire to consider it, even though they marvel at the effortless power of the top pros.

My take on this has been to look at the impact position of good golfers and ask why are they in such an open position at impact and how do they get their trailing elbow tucked in such a powerful position at impact. I had been slow to realise that when you are turned quite open at impact your rear elbow will be close to your hip - unless you have a terribly over-the-top swing.

Once I realised that this open position is created by considerable hip turn before any significant arm swing, I knew that the Paul Wilson body turn concept had merit. The problem then was how to control that hip turn; how to turn consistently and in a controlled way - something I hadn't been able to master.

This was when I realised that I needed to concentrate on achieving the correct impact position with my hips by actually thinking of them as being stationary at that point, which they almost are. In fact, everything in the swing, having accelerated up to and just beyond impact, does suddenly decelerate. This is the moment when the arms straighten and the weight stabilises over the front leg as it straightens.

It's difficult to describe all the actions leading to this moment and to describe in words the impact position; you need to see or visualise it. I now try to visualise this impact position, without thinking about my backswing or any other technical aspect of my swing. I should emphasise that I don't think about stopping my swing either. I still swing through the ball, but I try to focus on my body position rather than my arms etc.

There will be further research needed; much can happen week to week in golf.

I should quickly add that my recent good round was partly due to two other factors: not trying to do more than the club being used would normally allow (i.e.. not over-swinging) and also playing sensible golf (no heroics, taking my medicine if in trouble, staying calm and thinking clearly). Good scoring depends on these factors as much as a good golf swing - no eureka moment required.