Unified theory or not

Having done further study of Bobby Clampett's 'The Impact Zone', Jimmy Ballard's 'How to Perfect Your Golf Swing' (not sure if that's the exact title) and thought again about Paul Wilson's 'Swing Machine Golf', I realise that the similarities in their ideas of the golf swing outweigh the differences.

For example, each of these golf teachers seeks to somewhat de-emphasise the role of the arms and hands in the golf swing. That is, they want the arms to work with the core of the body, shoulders, torso and hips, to move the golf club, especially in the full swing. That's not to say the arms and hands do not play a role, nor to deny the importance of the wrists, but it is essentially about increasing awareness of the need to start the swing with the lower body, to create and retain lag, and avoid the cardinal error that is casting or swinging mainly with the arms in an over-the-swing plane direction.

Wilson impressed me when I studied his 'method' several years ago because of the way he emphasised the need to make the swing effortless, using the core muscles and legs to drive the swing. Ballard's emphasis on connection, retaining the arm - shoulder triangle and use of the right knee and foot had a lot in common with Wilson's approach, though he warns against spinning out with the hips, something Wilson did not adequately address, in my view.

Clampett was, of course, heavily influenced by the incredible book 'The Golfing Machine' by the late Homer Kelley, and by Kelley's golf teacher adherents, such as Ben Doyle. His ideas on lag creation and retention are not too far away from Ballard's basic principles and, for that matter, not a mile away from Wilson's work. After all, we have 'The Golfing Machine' and 'Swing Machine Golf'; notice any overlap?

If you take each of these two 'Machine' approaches, however, and compare them you will find considerable difference in the degree of complexity each introduces into their theory. Kelley and his followers deal in complexity (power accumulators, P3, P4, etc., and a myriad of ultra-technical terms) whereas Wilson tends to try to simplify the golf swing exercise as far as he can. Neither approach is quite satisfactory in my view, but within each theory there are gems of wisdom that many golfers would do well to take note of and try to incorporate in their own games.

In particular, I believe the involvement of the lower body in initiating the swing is very important, as is the transfer of weight to the front foot during the swing and into impact. Both contribute to compressing the ball, promoting effective spin direction, and consistent ball striking in general. These three gurus would probably agree that most of the other elements of the golf swing taught by the many thousands of golf instructors are matters of style, with limited and only short-lived outcomes at best, and are the reason for the stagnation of golfing standards amongst the amateur golfing ranks over recent decades.

I would add that because a lot of golf instruction is about description, including the identification of faults and the postulation of 'cures', this form of instruction is failing to get to the crux of the issue - an understanding of the linked and sequential role of the legs, arms and torso or core. It is very hard to move from description to implementation, few people do it well; implementing anything is often the poorly conducted final stage of any developmental project. No different in golf; key issues are neglected or allowed to lapse. Frustration sets in. Progress is stymied.

I don't think there is one unified theory or method to be had; that is, a system that can be taught to anyone successfully. However, I think that by taking the key ideas from the three teachers mentioned above, and by thinking about one's own game and how to implement the key ideas or principles, a golf swing can be improved. I actually hit what I would describe as a 'real golf shot' in my last round. There was only one, but maybe one swallow can be a harbinger of the spring - or is that a swing.

Win and lose

Following my re-study of Bobby Clampett's 'The Impact Zone' I went out and won the next comp I played in. But in my next round after that, I played like a nincompoop. Why is it so?

The answer, I think, is because even when success comes quickly, regression to old ways, old habits, is always on the cards. Although I thought I had the 'dynamics' of the BCIZ down, I believe I forgot one or two crucial aspects of the approach in my second game.

I'm now intending to review, in particular, the way in which one retains the lag into impact. This is referred to by BC as 'lagging the load', after having 'loaded the lag' on the backswing. It is essentially making sure that you retain the bent right wrist (for righties) and the triangle with the arms that you set up on the backswing for as long as possible on the downswing.

Reviewing some other writings on lag, it seems that the right elbow and its positioning in front of the right hip (for righties) is very important in trying to achieve this retention of lag. I remember looking at countless slow motion swings and noting the way in which the trailing elbow passed close to the trailing hip on the downswing into impact, but probably didn't have much idea about what it was all about - i.e. relating to lag retention.

Moving on, the other IZ dynamics: flat left wrist (for righties), front swing bottom (ideally 4 inches in front of the ball) and aim-point and plane line concepts, are not quite so difficult to implement. When I say that, getting on the front foot and compressing the ball is a major difficulty for many average golfers, but it is not a difficult idea and I think to a large degree just by retaining lag and using aim-point this compression/front divot will be achieved.

A lot of this IZ thinking is closely related to other ideas and methods, e.g.. Jimmy Ballard, but I think for now I'll just try to incorporate more of the IZ dynamics in my game and see what happens - win or lose.

The Golfing Machine and Bobby's Dynamics

I'm in my 9th year of researching the golf swing. This is chicken feed in comparison to the work some, even more obsessive, people have done in trying to distill the crucial elements of the golf swing.

Homer Kelley published the (allegedly unreadable) tome 'The Golfing Machine' more than forty years ago, and spent half a lifetime working on an analysis of the golf swing. The work he did was to describe a set of principles relating to the golf swing, rather than say how one should play golf, however, his work has led some golf teachers to refine some of their thinking on how the game should be played.

One of these teachers, Bobby Clampett, actually a student of one of Homer's 'disciples', Ben Doyle, fairly recently published the book 'The Impact Zone', which outlines his ideas on the crucial elements of the successful golf swing. I read his book several years ago and liked it at the time, but I didn't fully appreciated how important it is and continued to listen with rabbits ears (a term used on the tour to refer to pros who listen to too many tips and theories) to many more ideas about how to hit a golf ball.

Clampett, and others, including the great teacher from many decades ago, Percy Boomer, refer to many of these tips and theories as 'style' rather than what could be called substance, or what Clampett calls the 'Dynamics' of the golf swing.

When I read Bobby's book first, I already know that the hands have to stay ahead of the club head when chipping, but I didn't fully understand how to think about this, and I certainly didn't understand how to create and maintain lag, even though I could see it was important.

Anyway, upon a second reading, I am now much wiser and more sure that the dynamics Clampett discusses are the key elements that go a long way to good golf - both in the short game and the full swing. The following is my rough summary of these dynamics, with apologies to anyone who has read 'The Impact Zone' - I'm not trying to exactly reproduce Clampett's words, just express his ideas in my language:

Dynamics (as against style, i.e.. grip, length of swing, elbow position, knee bend, etc, etc.)

1. Flat front wrist at impact. Speaks for itself - critical in chipping in particular, but applies to all golf shots. Achieving this indicates that the crucial lag of the club head has been retained.

2. Divot low point after the ball. Good golfers hit the ball first (compress it) then take a divot. The poorer the golfer, the further back the divot will fall. 'Aim-point' theory is a key element here.

3. Load the lag. This is about cocking the wrists, athletic posture, positioning the club, etc., but not in a highly technical (stylish) way. It is preparation for the next job.

4. Lag the load. Retaining or regaining the flat front wrist is the task, together with retaining the bent back wrist, into impact is the challenging job at hand. The hands should stay in a cocked position (with conscious effort), but release of their own accord, with the club face squaring at impact.

5. Target plane (or words to that effect). This is about swinging to the target and is not a difficult concept though, in my view, there are aim-point issues, which anyone interested can research.

I'm not claiming a full understanding of 'The Impact Zone' or the concepts therein, but I think much of what Clampett says about the golf swing and how to go about developing a sound golf swing makes a lot of sense. I intend to research these dynamics on the golf range and course. It should be fun.

Further on the straight left arm

I've done some more thinking; dangerous I know.

The straight left arm can very easily become the taught and strained left arm. I think now I need to use a different term - extended rather than straight - because of the dangers and limitations of strain and stress in that arm.

In my next game, I'll try to think extend, not straight.

Quick update on latest theories

Straight left arm - OK, but still making some disruptive moves and still trying to hit too hard to compensate for my slightly shorter backswing. Playing the ball from centre is OK, but might need to move it an inch forward with driver because perhaps I'm putting too much spin on drives.

Rhythm - slow backswing not a great idea; far better to swing back freely without thinking about speed, while making sure that the transition to the downswing is not rushed. Relates to not hitting too hard.

Front foot - conscious of the need to move onto the front foot, but it's not a preoccupation. Hopefully, it has become ingrained, at least partially. I may need to revisit this 'fundamental' later.

Long putting - not bad; made a couple of good 4 metre putts, but left a few longer ones short. Not easy because of the previous nights rain and some uncertainties re speed. Using the shoulders is important here as in short putting, though for slightly different reasons.

Short putting - missed 2 short putts with lip-outs and maybe 2 or 3 other shortish opportunities. Reasonably happy with gripping down and using the Vardon grip. Need to continue to work on rocking the shoulders rather than using the hands and wrists.

Overall - not very good;  maybe 4 out of 10 for the last game. Will stay with the straight left arm and new putting theories for now.