Posted by: tom.guerry (tom.guerry) on Tue Jun 26 08:52:54 2001

dm-

Quick fixes are difficult,moreso without seeing the swing.Trying to figure out what the root cause is often a chicken/egg type problem-what comes first?Poor weight shift,poor rotation,chicken wing(front elbow comes up),premature handpath extension,something else?

The swing needs to adhere to Jack's principles-stationary axis from initiation to contact,tight connection at contact,circular handpath.

I find the common denominator is poor torso rotation-the torso turns around an axis that is not stationary,and tilts back as the swing proceeds accompanied by chicken winging the front arm and weight shift back over the back foot-a poor type of rotation that doesn't accept energy well from the lower body.I think the egg/primary cause in most cases is being overactive with the arms trying to rush the arms into action and extending the handpath prematurely(loss of circular handpath/lack of tight connection)which then makes it impossible to shift weight appropriately and rotate around a stationary axis at initiation.As the swing proceeds there is likely to be compensatory bathead dropping/chicken winging and uppercutting-the classic loopy swing.To correct this,when the front foot comes down,balance should be reestablished with the hands still back.When the hands start forward,they must be well connected to the torso so that torso turn drives handpath acceleration in a circular arc.The head has to stay back with maintenance of what golfers call the "spine angle"-the degree of bend at the waist-which must be maintained through contact.Smoothly accelerating tempo must accompany this sequence.The quickest fix is often whatever cue is necessary to keep the arms from actively extending the hand path at initiation.Once this is focussed on then other minor corrections(cues) having to do with stride/weight shift/head position/tempo may be necessary.When corrected there is usually a much more pronounced feel of powerful buildup of hip/torso rotation preceeding quick hands.