mandrin, austi

[shootin4par]

mandrin, austin

hey mandrin
from your scientific perspective how did austin hit the ball so far when in videos his hips and shoulders look very square at impact. maybe Not perfectly square, but pretty close compared to most pros. So with such little body movement how did he generate so much speed? I talked with one of the A.I.'s about austin and he said it was amazing to watch the guy hit 280 yard 1 irons with such little effort.

 

[Erik_K]

hey mandrin
from your scientific perspective how did austin hit the ball so far when in videos his hips and shoulders look very square at impact. maybe Not perfectly square, but pretty close compared to most pros. So with such little body movement how did he generate so much speed? I talked with one of the A.I.'s about austin and he said it was amazing to watch the guy hit 280 yard 1 irons with such little effort.

Neil,

While it may look like Austin didn't try very hard, looks can be deceiving. It looks like Ernie Els barely has a pulse while playing, but his ball and clubhead speed are very similar to Tiger's (who often looks like he's going to swing out of his shoes).

Also, Austin was a very strong guy.

 

[JeffM]

I don't know how anyone can say that Mike Austin had a small amount of body movement.

He had a huge amount of body movement, far above average.

See - http://perfectgolfswingreview.net/MA.jpg

Note that at the end-backswing, he has >90 degrees shoulder rotation and >45 degrees hip rotation. He is also pivoting beautifully over the right leg and only the toe portion of his left foot is in contact with the ground.

1) Then, at the start of the downswing, he replants weight onto the left foot, and rotates the right hip back to square and shifts the entire pelvis markedly to the left, thus causing a large degree of axis tilt. That's a huge amount of body movement. One can also imagine his central torso muscles (abdominal obliques, chest intercostal muscles, shoulder girdle muscles) torquing his shoulders around to a square position, thus powering the central torque generator in synchrony with the lower body shift-rotation movement.

2) Also, note that his right arm gets pulled alongside his torso by the shoulder girdle muscles at the very start of the downswing, and the right elbow is in close approximation to the torso (images 2 and 3).

The body movements produce torque at the central hinge joint (double pendulum swing action model).

In image 4, one can sense his right forearm muscles bulging, implying that he was "hitting" after he reached the delivery zone (from a time period just before his hands reach the delivery zone to after impact). I suspect that he was one of the few golfers who could efficiently apply additional active force at the peripheral hinge joint in such a synchronised manner that it supplemented the power generated at the central higne point (double pendulum swing action model).

Although Mike Austin didn't rotate his hips in the immediate pre-impact phase of the downswing, because he was a two-planer whose arms passed across the front of his body, which remained parallel to the ball-target line, he had an inordinate degree of axis tilt due to a marked degree of lateral hip shift. I suspect that the very large amount of lateral hip shift supplements the power generated by the torque generator at the central hinge point.

Jeff.

 

[golfbulldog]

I agree with Jeff, alot of hip rotation and hips are open at impact... in fact from photo 3 to 4 i think they continue to rotate from release to impact...hence the change in his right knee position...

I know that there has been talk about momentum transfer and pivot stopping for maximum efficiency.... but the real point, surely, is when do they stop???

if your pivot drags right shoulder downplane then you will get snap release and hips slowing in an open position ( like Mike Austin, Ben Hogan )

People whose pivot stalls too soon will have momentum transfer too soon in downswing and right shoulder will be high, hands will flip... because their is no other way of squaring clubface ...

 

[shootin4par]

my first post might not be clear as to my main focus on his body motion. I do understand hat his hips moved quite a bit. I am talking more from the standpoint of rotation. get a down the line view and he is not very open at impact. if I had to estimate what it looks like from slow motioning video down the line, his hips must be less then 15* open at impact and maybe less then 10, his shoulder look less then 5* In a swing such as tiger, he has a good amount of hip shift and a lot more rotation. Yes Austin was very strong, look at his forearms. but we are talking of a man in his upper 70's hitting 280 yard 1 irons. strength can only account for so much, the way in which someone swings the club is more important then strength. combine a good swing with strength and you have the best of both. The AI who used the method said he never hit it better then when he used the Austin swing, and it did not hurt his back. there is a saying, why do some pros look like they are not swinging that hard, cause they're not

 

[puttmad]

he had an inordinate degree of axis tilt due to a marked degree of lateral hip shift. I suspect that the very large amount of lateral hip shift supplements the power generated by the torque generator at the central hinge point.

Jeff.

Jeff,

Mike's lateral hip shift is caused by two things: 1) trying to raise the right heel whilst the weight is still on it (produces automatic lateral shift onto the left leg)..and, 2) quick compression of the right lower back muscles (quadratus lumborum and spinea erectae), or as he repeatedly said, "try to touch your illiad crest with your lowest rib," which produces the pronounced rearward tilt, automatically brings the right elbow into the body and sets up the correct plane for the clubhead to traverse the downswing..

 

[Bigwill]

my first post might not be clear as to my main focus on his body motion. I do understand hat his hips moved quite a bit. I am talking more from the standpoint of rotation. get a down the line view and he is not very open at impact. if I had to estimate what it looks like from slow motioning video down the line, his hips must be less then 15* open at impact and maybe less then 10, his shoulder look less then 5* In a swing such as tiger, he has a good amount of hip shift and a lot more rotation. Yes Austin was very strong, look at his forearms. but we are talking of a man in his upper 70's hitting 280 yard 1 irons. strength can only account for so much, the way in which someone swings the club is more important then strength. combine a good swing with strength and you have the best of both. The AI who used the method said he never hit it better then when he used the Austin swing, and it did not hurt his back. there is a saying, why do some pros look like they are not swinging that hard, cause they're not

It may have something to do with his understanding and application of human physiology; I think he said that his swing is easier on the body because the joints move in the way they are designed to move. So maybe that could explain the efficient, effortless power, even into his later years?

 

[shootin4par]

any thoughts or insight mandrin?