Hi Mandrin
Thank you very much for this very interesting article.
After reading TGM a short while ago, I fancied myself as a hitter. Working on COFF, I've been struck by my difficulty in hitting crisp chip shots unless I apply a little force across the shaft through the ball (i.e., difficulty in getting any juice from hitting it with my pivot). I also read (on this amazing forum) that it's ideal to apply force along the shaft from the top until the club is vertical, then apply force across the shaft. Does your article suggest otherwise (pull from the top and just let it go)? I'd be really interested to know your thoughts on this.
Btw, the only thing I'd take a bit of issue with is your implication that "inertial reaction forces" - i.e., centifugal force, exist - surely this is simply a perceived effect of inertia a la Newton's first law (the tendency of an object to remain in a state of rest or uniform motion in a STRAIGHT line unless acted upon by a force).
Again - thank you for the great and interesting post. This could help me a lot!
John
John,
Thanks….I really do appreciate finding my article interesting. Your comments highlight somewhat the difficulty of discussing meaningfully, posting on forums. When simple people ask complicated questions. When complicated simplicity is requested. Discussing general principles practical details are put forward. It is difficult to cover all angles.
Don’t throw everything into the same mix. There is a big difference between analyzing the mechanism of kinetic chain action and teaching how to hit crisp chip shots. Discussing kinetic chain mechanism is not about how to improve your swing in 5 easy steps but about the efficiency of the motion producing a golf swing. Golf being a game of paradoxes, many will indeed score better with a mechanically inefficient swing.
If you take a look at golf instruction you will find often the advice that hands should not play an active role, be passive or something similar. There is very little instruction around like that by given Tommy Armour. However, golf is not simply mathematics and the matter of feel is forever obscuring each and every argument used in golf.
There is a consensus that for most golfer’s hands should be taken out of the equation, therefore going in the same direction as suggested by kinetic chain action or Bobby Jone’s freewheeling, but again as usual not all is cast in stone. An active wrist torque applied just prior to impact, but feel wise likely a bit earlier, is increasing club head speed. My article however is about efficiency not club head speed.
It should clear that I am not teaching anyone the details of how to swing a golf club but rather analyzing simply the basic mechanism of an efficient golf swing. Hence, someone struggling to get some distance muscling his driver might try on his own or with an instructor the approach suggested by the kinetic chain mechanism, fire early and let go through impact.
John, with regard to your comment re. reaction forces I simply suggest to widen your perspective somewhat and start thinking a bit more about the implications of Newton’s third law, especially the matter of the point of application of forces. Simple questions: the very large inertial reaction force produced by your skull, when hit by and deviating a fast moving heavy object, is it simply a perception? Also, do you figure that the very large linear joint inertial reaction forces acting through the wrists during a golf swing are just a fancy of the mind?
