Golf Loopy Deck 2: Setup, Stance, Club speed and weight transfer Flashcards
The Absolute Beginning. This program is based upon three integrated parts.
- Swing Pattern: The correct way to move body. The what and why.
- Swing System: How to do it.
- The eight week program: Framework to build a great golf swing.
This is an eight week program, three, ten minute sessions, six days a week.
Note: Distance is determined by swing width. Not feet width apart. Proper feet width prevents you from tearing up your body and getting injured.
At your perfect stance, your weight is balanced on the insides of both ankles
What is your basic posture and what is your perfect stance width?
Basic posture is ankles hip joint [not hip width] distance apart. Hip joint is about 2 fingers inside the crest of hip bone when viewed from face on.
Perfect stance width is:
- ankles hip joint distance apart plus
- 2 golf balls each side wider.
This perfect stance prevents lateral head movement from occurring during the swing.
How do you get great distance from a golf shot?
To hit a 300 year shot, you need massive clb head speed. Putting your weight behind it will NOT help.
The best way to fast speed is by imparting angular momentum and pulling against the weight of the club through impact; just like a ball on a string.
You use centrifical force to accelerate the club head, pulling it towards the center of your rotation, and NOT linear force pushing on the grip on downswing.
Pushing on the grip is like hitting a giant Gong. Centrifical force is like throwing a Discus. [Picture the long drive champion loaded swing for a visual aid on what this would look and feel like.]
Just like cracking a whip through impact. You cannot brute force a whip crack! To have impact power, you must be rotating quickly and be tightly centered. Your head must stay centered in order to keep the bottom of your swing ARC consistent.
Perfect stance width enables you to transfer weight without forcing upper body to shift laterally.
The most common fault with stance width is, it is too wide. You must be over your left hip at impact, and you cannot bump Left hip past your left ankle! So too wide a stance means you have too far to travel getting your weight over left hip. This will also cause injuries by means of over-extending tendons and muscles.
How else can I generate more club head speed? What about weight transfer?
Weight transfer is inherent in all athletic throwing and hitting movements. It creates some initial momentum, which is quickly turned into angular momentum (rotation), it enables you to push into the ground to leverage the big muscles in your legs, and it and stretches out the big muscles in the left side of your core. All of these things are necessary in order to generate maximum club head speed.
Some small lateral movement of your lower body is desirable at the start of the downswing to facilitate a proper weight shift, but your head must stay centered in order to keep the bottom of your swing arc consistent, and thus strike the ball cleanly and consistently. Good ball-striking becomes increasingly difficult if your head moves off the ball.
Correct stance width is necessary to enable you to transfer your weight effectively without forcing your upper body to shift laterally.
What is wrong with a wide stance? I feel so balanced, it feels right.
A wide stance is good for bracing yourself against lateral force on your body, or for when you need to be prepared to dive in either direction. Neither of these is particularly useful in the golf swing. You need stability and to stay centered. And although the momentum of the arms and golf club does generate a lot of centrifugal force, the golf swing is essentially a rotational motion, and the action of the body pulling against the golf club is enough to balance the forces and keep us centered without needing a wide stance.
Sliding
With a wide stance you have to move a long way to get back over the left hip. This slide is very difficult to time properly (it’s one of the main causes of a slice), and it saps your swing of power.
A slide is also unhealthy and potentially unsafe, as it places a lot of undue stress on the left hip, knee and the lower back.
Timing
The wider your stance, the bigger the shift to the left required, and so the more time it takes and the harder it is to synchronize with the rest of your body.
Getting stuck on the right side
A wide stance feels powerful and stable, but one of the key problems for most golfers is that they never get back onto the left side properly in the downswing. They get “stuck” on the right side. Getting your weight fully transferred to the left, getting stabilized and braced on the left hip, glute and ankle, is vital for swinging the golf club effectively.
If you don’t get your weight back to the left properly, then you can’t rotate and use your lower body effectively. You can’t rotate your hips out of the way and pivot around your left side. Your hips become locked into the ground, and you’re forced to use mostly your upper body to swing the club instead of the big muscles in the legs and core.
Moving off the ball
On the backswing, a wide stance will mean that you need to move your head off the ball in order to shift your weight. This movement is an unnecessary variable that adds yet more timing issues and compensations to your swing.
Balance
You need to complete your follow-through in a balanced position over the left leg.
An unbalanced finish is a sure sign that you’ve mistimed your swing and that you’ve had to introduce numerous compensations in trying to get your swing back on track.
If you’re not balanced, you can’t be consistent.
Golf Swing 102b. Setup: The Perfect Golf Ball Position
What is my perfect ball position?
Is Ball Position Dependent on Club Selection?
Once again, conventional wisdom is wrong. Do you really want to have 13 different swings, one for each club? Changing the ball position changes the timing of your swing and the way that your body needs to move in order to strike the ball properly.
It is true that we want a steeper angle of attack with the shorter clubs, but this is achieved because we hit the ball at the same point before the bottom of the swing arc with every club. A shorter club means a smaller radius, and thus a steeper angle of attack. We’ll discuss this more in later articles.
In the Swing like a Champion System, ball position is constant. It is based on science. It is based on anatomy and on the physics and the biomechanics of where the optimum impact position should be.
Your body doesn’t change depending on the club you’re using. And it’s obvious that we’d like to have just one full swing for all standard shots — the game is difficult enough as it is, without having to change your swing all the time!
Why is Ball Position So Important?
Our goal is to strike the ball cleanly, accurately, powerfully and consistently.
To do this we must strike the ball before the ground, striking down on the ball with a forward-leaning shaft, hitting the ball with the sweet spot on the club face, and striking through to take a divot after the ball.
And yes, you should take a divot in the same place after the ball with every full swing shot played off the ground, with every club. Your divot with a 3-wood will be a lot shallower than with a pitching wedge because of the wider swing arc and the resulting shallow angle of attack, and because of the design of the sole of the club. In fact you may only scuff the turf rather than dig into it, but you still strike down on the ball and you still take a divot in the same place.
What is the Perfect Golf Ball Position?
The perfect golf ball position for every full swing shot is with the back of the golf ball two golf ball diameters inside your left heel.
This assumes you have the perfect stance width, as described in Golf Swing 102a – Setup: The Perfect Golf Stance Width.
For most golfers, this will place the back of the ball level with your left ear. As we’ll see in the drills, it is better to use the left ear as a final reference point, rather than the heel, because it is consistent, whereas the heel position may vary slightly due to uneven ground or slight errors in your setup.
This position is the same for every standard full swing shot played off the ground.
When you tee the ball up, use the same ball position. Tee it low, at most ¼” (0.5cm), and take a divot in the same place as when played off the ground.
Why is this Ball Position Perfect?
Perfect ball position is about optimal delivery of that power to the ball — putting the ball in a position where it “gets in the way” of your swing at a point where you will achieve the best possible results.
“Impact should be incidental to the swing” — Ben Hogan
This is key to a good golf swing, and something that most golfers never properly appreciate — the golf ball is never the focus of your swing, it simply gets in the way of a good swing.
A great swing will result in a divot that bottoms out 3 golf balls (4 to 5 inches) ahead of the ball. It will be shallow (deeper with shorter clubs, but not the size of a small badger!) and about the size of a dollar bill (4 golf balls / 6 inches long
For perfect ball striking, the best ball position is just before where the club strikes the ground and the divot begins. This results in striking the ball before the ground, striking down on the ball with a forward-leaning shaft, hitting the ball with the sweet spot on the club face, and striking through the ball.
Ball Position for the Driver
With the driver, you may have slightly different goals than with a standard full swing shot off the ground.
In order to hit the ball a long way with the driver**, you need a higher launch and less spin. For most golfers, this means hitting the ball with a **slightly positive angle of attack (hitting the ball after the bottom of the club’s swing arc), and making contact on or slightly above the sweet spot on the club face.
So, when maximum distance counts with the driver, tee the ball a little higher, widen your stance slightly and place the ball level with your left heel.
With a 3-wood off the tee, we recommend using the standard ball position and stance width, and teeing the ball up about ¼”.
Ball Too Far Back
Most amateur golfers place the ball too far back in their stance; most often in the center, in front of their sternum.
Ball Too Far Forward
Placing the ball too far forward in your stance is a much rarer fault, but can be just as destructive.
This causes excessive secondary axis tilt (see later articles), which again affects the path and plane of the swing. It also places undue stress on the spine throughout the swing.
You will subconsciously compensate for this by sliding your left hip more towards the target, placing enormous stress on your left hip and knee through impact.
This slide, as we’ve mentioned before, will result in significant power loss as the lateral movement destroys the tightly centred rotational movement that we desire. It also stops using the ground for leverage in order to generate power and stability.
What are the Perfect Golf Weight Distribution and Balance?
The human body is designed to be at its most stable when you are balanced over your ankles.
As we’ve discussed previously, in correct posture, from down the line (side on), your joints should be aligned so that you can draw a straight line down from your ear, through the center of your shoulder, your hip joint, the back of your knees, to the center of your ankle.
Laterally, your weight should be on the insides of your ankles when you’re taking your golf stance.
Finding the Perfect Golf Weight Distribution and Balance
Assume your basic posture,
Now rock slowly forward onto your toes, keeping your body straight, than back onto your heels. Focus on feeling your balance shift and on the shifting pressures on your feet.
When you finish, relax and let your balance settle where you feel most comfortable and stable, over your ankles.
Now widen your stance to your perfect stance width.
Now roll your ankles inwards, again keeping your knees as still as you can, so that your weight is on the insides of your feet. Rest with your weight shifted slightly to the inside of your ankles.
During the golf swing you are generating tremendous forces that will quickly pull you off balance unless you stay centered.
If you stay centered, over your ankles, this will enable you to easily counter-balance the forces pulling away from you as you rotate.
Staying centered will protect your back, knees, and hips from potentially severe discomfort and serious injury. Your body is designed this way.
Staying centered will also enable you to use the full power of your legs by activating your glutes.
What’s Wrong with Having Your Weight on the Balls of Your Feet?
With your weight balanced over the balls of your feet, the huge forces created by the golf swing can easily pull you forward and off balance.
For most high handicap golfers, just swinging in balance alone would cut at least 5 shots off their handicap.
What is the Perfect Golf Spine Angle and Balance?
For most golfers, perfect spine angle will typically be somewhere between 35 and 45 degrees.
The key to finding your perfect spine angle is achieving proper balance, bending from your hip sockets as you drop your hips back.
Having the weight centered over the ankles at address, rather than further forward towards the toes, enables you to balance the enormous centrifugal and inertial forces generated during the downswing. It also enables you to fully engage your glutes, providing a tremendous amount of stability and power for your golf swing.
As you address the golf ball, your knees should be flexed slightly so as to provide power and mobility while maintaining the correct balance. Your glutes and hamstrings should be activated, not your quadriceps.
Perfect spine angle – Wedge.
If your ankle line is closer to your tush line than to your shoulder line, then your weight is too far forwards, because halfway between the tush and shoulder lines (your center of balance) would be forwards of your ankle line. If your ankle line is closer to your shoulder line than to your tush line, then your weight is too far back.
What is the Perfect Golf Knee Flex and distance to the ball?
Perfect Golf Knee Flex
You should also see that another vertical line could be drawn from the back-center of your ankle joints to the back of your knees, which indicates the proper knee flex.
Too little knee flex and you won’t have enough stability, your glutes won’t be engaged, you won’t feel athletic, and you won’t be able to swing efficiently.
The more common fault, and the more dangerous one, is having too much knee flex at address.
It is imperative, to ensure your health and safety, as well as for efficient swing mechanics, that you do not have excessive knee flex in your setup.
Too much knee flex will cause you to feel tension in your quadriceps (the front of your thighs) as they are activated — we want the glutes and hamstrings to be activated instead, for much more power and stability throughout the golf swing.
Too much knee flexion will also encourage your weight forward onto the balls of the feet as you begin your backswing. This will cause you to engage your quadriceps throughout the swing.
What is the perfect distance from the Golf Ball?
Perfect Distance from the Golf Ball
The perfect distance from the golf ball is determined by your spine angle and the length of the golf club selected.
For now, just make sure that you have good posture, and your arms hang with the fronts of your elbows pointing forwards and your palms facing each other.
Note that your upper arms should hang more to the sides of your chest than in front of it, with the insides of your biceps touching the sides of your pectorals. Your shoulders should be in good posture, and you should feel connected. Your arms should be relaxed, not pressed towards each other.
Your spine angle will change slightly depending on the length of the golf club — your spine will be more upright the longer the club — but this adjustment is only very small.
The change in spine angle is only really noticeable with your driver, which we regard as a specialty shot, with which you will set up slightly differently; you will stand a little taller and your hands will be slightly higher at address
What is perfect distance from the ball Part 2.
Hands behind your chin, even with the driver.
Standing more upright will push your hands away from your body very slightly as your chest pushes against your upper arms (Figures 2and 4), but even with the driver your whole grip should be behind a line drawn vertically down from your chin at address .
A general rule of thumb, if you are in good posture, with your chin up and your neck in line with your spine, then you should bend over enough to look at the ball clearly past the bridge of your nose, and not have to look down the length of your nose to see the golf ball.
With your body in the correct position, the golf club should be addressing the ball correctly. You should never move your hands forwards or backwards, or adjust your spine angle or balance, in order to correct the position of the golf club. If you find that you are too close to, or too far from, the golf ball (you are not addressing the ball with the sweet spot of the club face), then stand up, adjust the position of your feet, and take your address position again from the beginning.
When you’re able to assume your perfect spine angle every time, after practicing Golf Swing Drill 103 – Setup: Perfect Golf Spine Angle for a little while, you’ll then quickly be able to instinctively stand the correct distance from the ball the first time, every time.
It is very easy to be lazy about this, which will quickly lead to bad habits and an inconsistent golf swing. Be rigorous and strict with yourself, work through the setup drills, and check your setup position regularly with photos or video — the best players in the world check their setup at least once a week, so should you.
