Transcript The Whole SLING Movement

The Whole SWOMG
MOTION
CraftSmith Golf Academy
Online Presentation By
James F. Smith
Learning to Play Golf is a Team Sport
There are two people on the lesson tee … you, the person
who is being paid for both technical knowledge (diagnosis
and instruction of specific points of instruction) and for a
tactical learning plan AND the learner who will get the
concepts if they are properly presented, but will not
overlearn them to the degree required to use them in
actual play. This scientific fact escapes both teacher and
learner at times. Each player in this learning game has a
critical role to play. The learner is not there to simply let
go of some cash, try to do the things she is directed to do
and then walk away fat, dumb and happy with an
expectation things will get better.
What the Client Must Bring to the
Lesson Tee
The learner’s task includes much more than just cooperation
and effort on the lesson tee. It also requires much practice away
from the lesson tee in preparation for the next point of
instruction to be presented in at the next lesson. Even skilled
teachers cannot teach correct fundamentals in a single session.
The quick fix lesson is reserved for diagnosis and one or two
adjustments, or even band aid/gimmicks designed to hold up
until the problems can be properly addressed. It is the learner’s
job to practice until the skill is mastered. It is the instructor’s
job to design a learning program that leads from fundamental
to fundamental, pausing occasionally to tie the pieces of the
puzzle together. A “program of instruction” should be the goal
of both the instructor and the client.
Who Needs to Learn the Whole Swing
Poorly skilled or beginning golfers … this generally
means anyone who cannot control the flight oh his/her
ball to the degree that most shots: the ball gets airborne
9 out of ten times; may start offline, but in the general
direction of the target, have curve that is generally
limited to the 2/3 width of the target (fairway or green)
More skilled or progressing players who lack an
understanding of the fundamentals that form the effect
and cause of their success
Skilled players who are either correcting an error that
has creeped into his/her game or is making an
improvement to a specific flaw and needs a brief review
of effect and causal relationships
Types of Lessons
Poorly skilled and beginning players need an A-Z
program of instruction which means about 4-6 full
swing lessons plus a short game a putting and
regularly scheduled follow-up lessons for about a
year. These students are excellent candidates for
group instruction. The value of group instruction
is that players with poorly formed mental concepts
can see a variety of mistakes they may be making
in the future, thereby giving them a head start on a
more effective
Types of Lessons
Progressing players need the same basic instruction
taught in a shorter, less formal manner and with some
attention paid to individual differences. Depending on
the individual, this type of instruction may be shorter
than that of a poorly skilled player if the basic skills
are a product of knowledge and practice. The worst
case is when you get a “naturally” skilled, athletic
player who is producing g
Types of Lessons
Skilled players may be limited to one
diagnostic/review and one corrective lesson. A
skilled play is capable of digesting the crux of
the error and the solution as well as how the
correction will affect other interrelated
fundamentals. Hopefully, a more skilled player
will have established, effective practice habits
The Natural Golf Swing
Natural means your don’t have to learn a lot of
technical information or to TRY to coordinate a
bunch of complicated movements
All you have to do is initiate the movement and
not interfere with the what has be set into
motion.
Everything will go where it is supposed to go if
you don’t override what you have started
This is true even if your experience tells you NO
General Goals
Fundamentals are REQUIRED
All Movements ARE Executed From a
Fundamentally Sound Pre-Swing Position
The NATURAL golf swing is a by-product of a
correct pre-swing position
Individual Techniques allow you to adjust
your fundamentals within acceptable
limits
Follow a Learning Plan
Make an honest skills assessment,
golf fitness go back to square
one … develop correct preswing fundamentals
Improve “feel” by developing a
deadly short game
Break the whole swing down into
its critical positions and correct
specific errors
Put the swing back together by
improving your “timing”
fundamentals
Integrate every phase of your
game … putting, chipping,
pitching, sand and full swing
with one Master Pre-swing
Routine
Ordinary Things Can Help Us
Understand Golf Concepts
The power to move the club is exactly opposite of how
the girl on the swing is creating her movement. The
girl pushes with her feet against the ground to start
the movement, then gravity assists the continuous
movement. The golf swing isn’t a swing at all! The
moving force comes from the rotation of the shoulders
and the motion is a discrete (not continuous) event.
If axis of a merry-go-round is tilted (like your spine),
then the rotation of the platform is a good
representation of the movement of the shoulders as
they make the swing. The teeter-totter represents a
common error in the swing. When a player’s front
knee and shoulder “dips” (teeters), s/he is practically
doomed to “lifting” the club on the backswing
(totters) on the backswing. Weight transfer to the
back foot does not occur. On the forward swing, the
player is doomed to “fire and fall back”
Eliminate, Isolate and Concentrate
Eliminate the fear of failure by removing the
target, the ball and the club if necessary to get
the learner to focus his/her attention
This means using drills to teach various, correct
feeling for a given checkpoint of performance
Isolate your concentration to a single point of
performance then integrate what you have
learned with your existing skills.
Perfect Practice
It’s better to NOT practice rather than to practice slop.
Perfect practice requires your full attention and
intention … a systematic plan! There are three
common reasons to practice.
First, there is practice for the purpose of learning.
This might mean unlearning prior to re-learning.
This type of practice is characterized by repetition.
Second, there is practice for the purpose of
maintaining a skill you already possess. This type of
practice is characterized by repetition AND novel
situations … practicing under game situations.
Third, there is practice for the purpose of integrating
skill into a game/competition package.
Pre-swing Fundamentals … Club, Grip, Point,
Aim And “Hangle” Pre-Shot Routine
Club … clubface is correctly soled
and aligned to the target
… even a slight misalignment of the
clubface causes major problems with both
learning and performance
Most golfers are sloppy with this
fundamental
Put the club in its place and leave it there …
the club becomes your “teacher” by
helping with posture and ball position
Pre-swing Fundamentals … Grip
Function of the Parts
Holding Parts … last three fingers of the top hand
Connecting Parts … index finger of the top hand and pinkie
of the bottom hand
Feeling Parts … first three fingers of the bottom hand
General Goals … Minimize and Maximize
Minimize Hand Action
Palms generally face each other
No gaps or levers
Forearms are balanced
Maximize Feel … grip pressure
Pre-swing Fundamentals … Grip
Key Checkpoints for the
Assembly of the Grip
Top hand, dot on top
Bottom hand, “taco” on the
thumb (thumb in the
pocket)
Third finger of the bottom
hand slides up against the
index finger of the top
hand
Pinkie finger of the bottom
hand “overlaps” (sits
directly on top of) the
index finger of the top
hand
Pre-swing Fundamentals … Grip
Common, critical errors
During the swing, bottom
hand separates from the
top thumb … results in a
“flying elbow” and over
length top of the
backswing position which
in turn leads to “casting”
from the top
“White Knuckle Death
Grip” … self explanatory,
results in no feel for the
movement which in turn
drastically slows the
learning process
Pre-swing Fundamentals … Point
Point … Ball Position and Forward Press
Ball Position between the Feet …
Short Irons
Mid Irons
Long Irons and Fairway Woods
Tee Shots
“Natural” forward press built into most clubs
Width of the Stance (balance)
Direction of the Toes (flexibility)
Distance from the Ball
Master Fundamentals
Alignment of the shoulders (gives the
natural swing direction)
Obviously, but overlooked or poorly
executed, bad alignment will cause the
swing path to be off line
Ball position (distance from the ball)
The most common error is "reaching" for
the ball which causes the swing path to be
from outside to inside the intended target
line
Master Fundamentals
Ball position (between the
feet)
The most common error is to
play the ball too far off the
left heel which causes the
swing path to be from outside
to inside the intended target
line
Whole Swing Fundamentals:
Master Fundamentals
There are several fundamental tasks, which every
golfer must master. Each of these tasks must be overlearned (the ability to execute without coaching)
before consistent and dependable performance can be
expected. These general learning goals include but are
not limited to:
Posture (creates the possibility for a natural, freeflowing swing)
The most common error is "sitting" back on the
heels which causes the hands to leave the clubface in
and "open" position, which in turn causes the ball to
curve to the right
Master Fundamentals
Make a Circle
Turn your shoulders in a circle around your nose.
Turning the shoulders CAUSES the arms and club to
swing. Looking at the ball gives the swing a "center"
to work around.
Maintain Your Balance
Allow your weight to naturally transfer from the
shoulders down to the feet. You do NOT have to make
a deliberate weight transfer. Weight transfer is
automatic and NATURAL (you don't have to learn
how and you don't have to try) when the biomechanically correct turning of the shoulders is
executed!
Pre-swing Fundamentals … Aim
Aim … alignment of the
shoulders and knees
Align your shoulders parallel to
the intended target line after your
bottom hand is on the club
Align your knees under
shoulders and ignore how the
feet look and how “closed”
you may feel … also ignore all
the helpful advice from the
mass of golfers who get this
critical fundamental dead
WRONG!
Pre-swing Fundamentals … Hangle
Hangle … Posture and balance check
…
1. Butt up … the knees are barely flexed
2. Chest down … bow over enough for your
shoulders to turn on an inclined “plane”
around your nose
3. Chin up and back straight … allow the
shoulders room to turn under the chin and
“kill the humpback whale”
4. Arms “hangle” down … allow the club and
arms to fall by relaxing the anterior (front)
head of the triceps (shoulder) muscle; your
arms will hang so the top thumb is directly
below where a necktie would point
5. Weight balanced evenly from left to right
foot and from toe to heel, you will sense the
ground pressing up against the ball of your
foot (behind the big toe joint)
Golf is a Target Game
ALL of the elements
presented on the
illustration are
required to hit a ball
straight and far. It is
easy to see how
“paralysis thru
analysis” creeps into
everyone’s game. The
key point of
understand is not the
size of the task to be
mastered, but the art
and science of taming
the beast until it obeys
your command!
Human Learning of Sports Skills
Expect to Succeed!
• 80% of all mistakes are made before the club ever
moves; 95% of all mistakes are made before the
club begins to move forward
• Pre-swing fundamentals require no athletic ability
• You have 100% command and control over preswing fundamentals
• The basic motion of the golf swing is a natural
movement once pre-swing fundamentals have
created the possibility for success.
GET COMFORTABLE WITH CORRECT!
• There’s a lot of things in golf that don’t
feel good at first
• Some things produce skilled performance
when they are mastered and integrated
with other fundamentals.
• As a teacher you will at times need to put a
learner in an uncomfortable position.
• This is a “sales” job that needs to be
handled with tact, but a sense of necessity
The 10-Ball Game
When working with an unskilled or even a moderately
skilled player, they are very likely to be making more
than one mistake.
The human brain is incapable of focusing on more
than one problem/point of performance at a time.
You task is to focus their attention to a specific
learning task.
Actually two fundamentals can be worked upon at the same
time, but it requires the learner to do something they will
eventually have to do anyway.
You can work on a pre-swing fundamental, have the learner
switch attention to another in-swing que and then execute
the swing or drill used to teach the feel for the what, how
and why given during verbal instruction.
Teach Practice Skills
Teaching the client how to properly practice outside of your supervision is
critical to effective progress. Typically, practice is not a lot of fun.
Making practice fun as opposed to work is a good teaching/learning
strategy. Teach the 10 ball game to make practice more like competitive
play than the mule work of practice.
First, separate ten balls into a group. Have the client focus ALL OF
HIS/HER ATTENTION on the learning task you have just taught (i.e. …
center the swing motion by looking down at where the ball was). That
single task becomes the focus of the learning activity. Hit a ball. Every
time the learner correctly executes the task, one ball comes off the pile of
ten. When the ten balls are gone, you can move on to the next
instruction. The objective of this technique is to focus and execute a
single point of performance.
10 Ball Drill
With the learner’s attention focused on the task at hand, you can then “test”
his/her concentration by asking pointed questions. For example, when
teaching the person to “look at the ball … look at where the ball was and let
your arms fly through your nose”, you might ask “Where was your nose”?
The correct answer is “it was down”. The wrong answer was “it was up”.
The worst possible answer was “I don’t know”.
If the learner fails to perform, two balls are added to the pile. If the learner is
not sure, three balls are added to the pile. You are the coach, if the learner
disputes your judgment, five balls are added to the pile. This of course is a
tricky/fun way to extend the length of this part of the lesson.
As a coach, you may want to deliberately create a dispute (in a fun manner)
… the technique might be for the purpose of review which you limit to
successful trials or it may be for the purpose of learning something new in
which case you extend the learning period. The learner can play the game
on his/her own when practicing independently of your lesson.
Ball Flight Analysis
Effect, 1st Cause, 2nd
Cause Relationships …
What you see the ball doing
in the air is a result of
What the club has done to
the ball
Which is what you have done
to the club
Which is indicative of where
you put the club at the top
of the backswing
Which is directly related to
how you set-up to the ball
Golf Physics produce … 9
Directional Patterns
Ball Flight Analysis
Initial Direction
The ball will always fly in an initial direction that is about ½ way between the
direction the club is swing and the direction the clubface is pointed. Both
swingpath and clubface direction act on the ball.
Direction of the Curve
The ball will always curve in the direction of the clubface relative to the swingpath.
The more the ball curves, the greater the difference between the swingpath and the
clubface. A small curve means the path and face were fairly closely aligned. A big
curve means there was a very large difference. A big curve is usually caused by
multiple pre-swing errors and how the hands have failed to (as they always will) to
correct respond.
The Amount of Curve …It’s a Matter of Degree
The difference between a banana slice and fade or a duck/snap hook and a draw is
the size of the difference between the swingpath and clubface … one swing is under
control and the other is out of control
You don’t have to be perfect, but you do need to be consistent … a drive that curves
less than 20 yards
Play By Knowledge and Feel
Watch the Flight of the Ball
and Learn
Compare what you see with
what you feel with what you
know
Play By Knowledge and Feel
Watch the Flight of
the Ball and Learn
Compare what you
see with what you
feel with what you
know
Correct patterns of
mistakes, NOT
single errors
Ball Flight Analysis
What the body and arms do to the club will determine
swingpath
What the hands do in response to what the body and
arms are doing will control the clubface
The ball will start it’s flight about ½ way between the
swingpath and the clubface directions
Correction
Fix patterns of mistakes, not individual swing errors
Determine what your body and arms did to the club. Look first to
pre-swing fundamentals such as posture, balance and shoulder
alignment (you may have made a perfect swing in the wrong
direction)
The Whole Swing
Center the Swing
Look at the ball. You can't
hit what you can't see and
you can't see what you're
not looking at ... research
indicates there is a higher
probability of hitting
something when you're
looking at it
This is NOT the same thing as
“keep your head down” or “keep
your head still”
Characteristics of Basic Swing Skill
Ball gets airborne … a primary function of looking at
the ball
Ball goes in general direction of the target … a
primary function of good posture and shoulder
alignment
Ball has acceptable amount of curve … a primary
function of minimum and correct use of the hands
Solid contact … a function of gaining more control
and smoothly coordinating the interaction between
the critical parts.
The Whole Swing …Critical Swing
Positions
Address … start wrong and play catch-up the rest of the way
…get this right or go play ping pong
“Reach” (1/4) … you can shoot yourself in the foot before the
club moves 12 inches!
“Back” (2/4) … 95% of all mistake you might make can be seen
at this point!
“Up” …(3/4) … full weight transfer, elbow down and weight
balanced or you’ve got major problems!
At the Top … (4/4) … same place, same way, same rhythm every
time … put the club in the wrong place and you will pay
Swing Arcs & Plane
The Horizontal Swing Arc …
One arm is relatively straight on
each side of the swing and one are
bends. The rotation of the upper
body + having one arm straight
causes the clubhead to follow a
semi-circular path
The Vertical Swing Arc …
As the length of the shaft gets
longer, the “angle of attack become
more shallow … the critical point of
performance is to keep the head
level … do not allow the head to
“yo-yo” up and down
Swing Plane
Swing Plane is One of the Most
Over Taught Concepts in Golf
• Correct posture allows the arms to
“hangle” from the shoulders like a
pair of “Monkey Arms”
• The rotation of the shoulders takes
the club up to its NATURAL position
•The position of the club/left hand is
far more important
• There is NO ONE CORRECT
SWING PLANE
• Short people have flat planes
• Tall people have more upright
planes
Swing Plane
Swing Plane is One of the Most
Over Taught Concepts in Golf
• Correct posture allows the arms to
“hangle” from the shoulders like a
pair of “Monkey Arms”
• The rotation of the shoulders takes
the club up to its NATURAL position
•The position of the club/left hand is
far more important
• There is NO ONE CORRECT
SWING PLANE
• Short people have flat planes
• Tall people have more upright
planes
What about the “Critical Parts”
of the forward Swing? …
There are four positions that can be analyzed during the
forward swing
… release point, impact, follow-through and finish.
Analyzing any of these positions ONLY gives you information
about what has ALREADY gone right or wrong … analysis of
performance seen at this point in the swing is about effects, not
causes.
The swing is over, the ball is in the air and then you “feel” the
swing
… The forward swing in golf is a ballistic movement. In
scientific terms this means the movement is faster than the rate
of nerve transmission.
The Forward Swing
Release Point
Hold the release
(uncocking of the
wrists) as long as
possible
Keep the hands
“inside” the swing arc
Impact Point
Look at the ball …
you might hit it!
The Forward Swing
Followthru
• Continue to point your
nose at where the ball
“was” and let your arms
fly FREE through your
nose … as if you were
angry and just recklessly
“throwing the club away”
… you EARN this
freedom from the
discipline of correct preswing fundamentals
• Your left elbow folds
The Forward Swing
Finish
• Your weight transfers
to the outside of the
front foot
• Your hips and chest
“turn to” the target
• Your right toe “drags”
forward; 95% of your
weight is on the left
foot
Drills and Learning Techniques
Bow, Squat and Hangle … learning technique
for correct posture
Brick Wall … learning technique to teach whole
swing motion by converting “baseball swing”
into a golf swing
Shoulder to Shoulder … teaches weight transfer
Elbow … teaches swing path control
Split Hands/Staggered Release … cures ANY
slice in 5 swings