Ok, well I no doubt have a good understanding of the idea of the Pull Back, Run Up, and Jump. But how exactly to I work on the Run Up, and the Jump portion? I Believe the Pull Back I make is alright. (Considering I could work on club/hand/elbow position, no doubtfully). But what do I do to work on that transition of the Run Up and Jump?
The way I am understanding this is; My swing goes from Pull Back, straight to Jump? The Run Up portion, or transition portion of the weight moving back to left side, is not happening in my swing? Or at least not happening at the correct time?
I believe you are understanding it correctly. However, the dynamic quality of the sequence may be such that if one of the three of these elements is missing, you are missing more than 1/3 of your swing. In other words, it may very well be that the "whole is greater than the sum of its parts"- a synergistic system.
For instance, in the case where someone is missing the Jump (a pretty powerful, explosive component), it likely also means that the Run Up is not as pronounced (or missing) because the club would in fact go straight into the ground. The reverse would also be true; if the Run Up seems to be missing, then the Jump cannot be nearly as explosive or visually dynamic. In this 3-element model, the backswing seems to function to prepare and set up the system in gathering potential energy, the Run Up seems to function in loading the system to deliver the energy, and the Jump functions to magnify and deliver the energy carried into impact (the ultimate objective). Brian mentions VJ Trolio in regard to Hogan's shift to the left during the backswing. He has a book and video called Final Missing Piece where he details what Brian terms the Run Up. Get a good Run Up by loading down into the left side and an explosive Jump will be necessary.
Now, allow me to rant almost endlessly:
When I mentioned these three elements to my uncle (kinesiologist invovled in college sports), he said it sounds
a lot like the Long Jump elements. There are 4:
1. Run Up- Gathering Speed is the goal but also tempo and rhythm are important so that you build speed/momentum
gradually and peak at the right point. The last 2 strides of the run up are separated from the rest of the runup and are called the
Amortization Phase- the hips lower and the first of the 2 strides is noticeably longer but more 'bouncy' than the the speed building strides preceeding it. The second stride is a bit shorter stride to better coordinate the Take off
2. Take Off- the end of the runway where you step on a precise spot called the board to
Jump into the air and convert some of the horizontal enrgy into vertical energy
3. Flight- self-explanatory but still has technique
4. Landing- same as above
It reminds me more of the phases of Plyometric power training. There are 3 stages:
1.
Pre-stretch- elastic energy is generated and stored
2.
Transition Phase- the brief pause between stage 1 and 3. The shorter it is, the more powerful the the contraction in stage 3. Wait too long, and you lose too much stored energy from stage 1
3.
Concentric Phase- the explosive phase where quick muscle contraction releases all of the stored energy
Great parallels in terminology.
