Brian Manzella
Administrator
There is always a good argument going on somewhere on the internet on whether you should hit UP on a driver or hit DOWN on it.
This argument is usually between people who teach methods who always advocated hitting down on a driver like TGMers—or one of the TGM spin offs, like S&T or MORAD—and folks like me. To be fair, some old school non-Trackman advocates also cling to the idea of hitting down on a driver.
And as is the case about 95% of the time, when I argue against something—like Handle-Dragging for example—it is something I used to teach but don't anymore.
I was the world's #1 advocate—at least online—for hitting down on a driver. I not only taught it to everyone, I did it myself. And I was VERY proud of the fact that I did.
Then one day about 6 years ago, I hit balls on TrackMan for the first time. First ball, BOOM! Hit my baby cut about 280 yards right down Main Street.
Next ball, hammered, slight pull.
Next ball, solid as a rock, further left—deadsville.
TrackMan says—0° path, 1.5° left face—1.5° CLOSED to the path—angle of attack? This time I looked......4° down.
Uh oh....I swung more down trying to swing more left.
So, I aimed more left, thn less left, then I used more carry, then less, then I said—I have had enough, I have a LOT of work to do.
So, I went back to English Turn and tried to figure out how to hit up on the ball easily.
And I did—I called it "Pattern 13" and started to use it on some golfers, with good results.
Soon I was armed with my own TrackMan, and I learned dozens of other adjustments to help folks hit up on it as much as they want to.
One of them learned to do it good enough to be the #1 most efficient driver of the ball on the Tour over the last few years and that year was one of the straightest drivers as well.
But, a funny thing happened on the way to writing this article. As I have evolved in my teaching to utilize more of POPSE (Project 1.68) information, specifically the Kwon-Como ground reaction force vectors in an Unrestricted Weight Shift swing material, and the Nesbit hub (hand) path information, just about every student doing those concepts winds up hitting up on it about a degree to 4°.
And some don't.
Some golfers simply hit their driver better hitting down on it—maybe 20%.
I continue to hit up about 2-3° and I've never driven it better.
So, back in the big arguments on the 'net, the new "evidence" that some teachers (and non-teachers) are using to "make" their point about the perils of hitting down, is about golfers like Zach Johnson, who have said they tried hitting up with much trouble and have either went back to hitting down with success like Zach, or are still struggling.
First of all, let me introduce you to Manzella's Rules of Teaching Golf #3:
To me, all of this is a simple little conundrum.
If you are making a swing—like the Bender pattern—that has positions in it that will produce a downward AoA by default. You'd better not mess with it....
If you do S&T to the letter, you'd better do your pattern and hit down on it slightly.
Remember, hitting up does not guarantee you more yardage, and some of the early leftward, forward handle+synced torso turns through the ball patterns can get their yardage by utilizing low spin lofts (the difference between AoA and Dynamic Loft) and the right driver.
But....
If you are too short to compete, you have NO option.
I increased the carry one of those pattern's competitive golfer's swing's carry 45 yards this summer. And they needed it.
Then you have golfer's with other patterns altogether using TrackMan without someone who knows how to move the numbers without bastardizing, and they are, in the words of Don Villavaso, in the "hands of the Philistines."
That would go for them trying to change any other numbers as well.
In general, going from 2° down to 2° up—if I am doing the teaching—gets a golfer about 20 extra yards. Sometimes more.
And sometimes, its worth it.
And sometimes, the pattern will produce it anyway.
And like Big Don also says...."As sure a Gawd made little Green Apples....," there will always be an argument.
To win.
This argument is usually between people who teach methods who always advocated hitting down on a driver like TGMers—or one of the TGM spin offs, like S&T or MORAD—and folks like me. To be fair, some old school non-Trackman advocates also cling to the idea of hitting down on a driver.
And as is the case about 95% of the time, when I argue against something—like Handle-Dragging for example—it is something I used to teach but don't anymore.
I was the world's #1 advocate—at least online—for hitting down on a driver. I not only taught it to everyone, I did it myself. And I was VERY proud of the fact that I did.
Then one day about 6 years ago, I hit balls on TrackMan for the first time. First ball, BOOM! Hit my baby cut about 280 yards right down Main Street.
TrackMan says—2.5° left path, 1.5° left face—1° open to the path—2° down angle of attack. Cool.
Next ball, hammered, slight pull.
TrackMan says—1° left path, 1.5° left face—0.5° CLOSED to the path—angle of attack? I didn't look, because I was going to make damn sure my path was further left this time.
Next ball, solid as a rock, further left—deadsville.
TrackMan says—0° path, 1.5° left face—1.5° CLOSED to the path—angle of attack? This time I looked......4° down.
So, I aimed more left, thn less left, then I used more carry, then less, then I said—I have had enough, I have a LOT of work to do.
So, I went back to English Turn and tried to figure out how to hit up on the ball easily.
And I did—I called it "Pattern 13" and started to use it on some golfers, with good results.
Soon I was armed with my own TrackMan, and I learned dozens of other adjustments to help folks hit up on it as much as they want to.
One of them learned to do it good enough to be the #1 most efficient driver of the ball on the Tour over the last few years and that year was one of the straightest drivers as well.
But, a funny thing happened on the way to writing this article. As I have evolved in my teaching to utilize more of POPSE (Project 1.68) information, specifically the Kwon-Como ground reaction force vectors in an Unrestricted Weight Shift swing material, and the Nesbit hub (hand) path information, just about every student doing those concepts winds up hitting up on it about a degree to 4°.
And some don't.
Some golfers simply hit their driver better hitting down on it—maybe 20%.
I continue to hit up about 2-3° and I've never driven it better.
So, back in the big arguments on the 'net, the new "evidence" that some teachers (and non-teachers) are using to "make" their point about the perils of hitting down, is about golfers like Zach Johnson, who have said they tried hitting up with much trouble and have either went back to hitting down with success like Zach, or are still struggling.
First of all, let me introduce you to Manzella's Rules of Teaching Golf #3:
If you are hitting it good—with competitive success doing it—get tested by every machine available, don't look at the data, and put it in a safety deposit box, only to be looked at if you can't hit your hat "anymore."
If you are making a swing—like the Bender pattern—that has positions in it that will produce a downward AoA by default. You'd better not mess with it....
If you do S&T to the letter, you'd better do your pattern and hit down on it slightly.
Remember, hitting up does not guarantee you more yardage, and some of the early leftward, forward handle+synced torso turns through the ball patterns can get their yardage by utilizing low spin lofts (the difference between AoA and Dynamic Loft) and the right driver.
But....
If you are too short to compete, you have NO option.
I increased the carry one of those pattern's competitive golfer's swing's carry 45 yards this summer. And they needed it.
Then you have golfer's with other patterns altogether using TrackMan without someone who knows how to move the numbers without bastardizing, and they are, in the words of Don Villavaso, in the "hands of the Philistines."
That would go for them trying to change any other numbers as well.
In general, going from 2° down to 2° up—if I am doing the teaching—gets a golfer about 20 extra yards. Sometimes more.
And sometimes, its worth it.
And sometimes, the pattern will produce it anyway.
And like Big Don also says...."As sure a Gawd made little Green Apples....," there will always be an argument.
To win.
