twistaway

[Dr Sagacity]

I guess I don't understand the issue. Isn't the twistaway synonymous with getting a flat left wrist at the top of the backswing and then holding through the shot? If so, this seems to be a very solid move for the "stop hooking" move. In fact, I went to the range today to work on the move, back, up the wall, down the wall and rotate to get out of there. The flat left wrist took the stop hooking move into a very solid straight shot (which fells like a fade to me).

In the stop hooking move, I was originally going for very passive hands, allowing the arms to drop and then rotating. However, every once in a while, I was just leaving the clubface wide open. So, I started twisting right at the top of my swing so I had the flat left wrist. Drop and rotate home and bam. Shot after shot perfectly straight. If I want to cut it, just start with it a bit more open. The best part, I probably hit 150 balls like that and only had one hook (where I hung back and didn't get to the firm left side).

 

[Brian Manzella]

Isn't the twistaway synonymous with getting a flat left wrist at the top of the backswing and then holding through the shot?

You can get a flat left wrist at any point in the swing without a "twistaway."

The genesis for the twistaway was what I saw on the lesson tee early in my teaching career. Their was a propensity of average golfers twisting the club shaft in the open direction on the backswing.

A student of mine uttered the term during a lesson where I was adjusting his backswing. "So, you want me to twistaway?

Yes sir.

It later developed into a whole swing move, all the way to the finish. It will kill a slice dead.

But, you OBVIOUSLY do not have to do it to hit a straight ball or a draw. So, we have adapted. Now we have other ways as well.

If so, this seems to be a very solid move for the "stop hooking" move.

You can hit a "leakage hook." A hook that occurs because you bend your left wrist too soon.

Or more likely, make a funny coupling point move or pivot.

In fact, I went to the range today to work on the move, back, up the wall, down the wall and rotate to get out of there. The flat left wrist took the stop hooking move into a very solid straight shot (which fells like a fade to me).

Ah, the Never Hook Again pattern.

It works.

In the stop hooking move, I was originally going for very passive hands, allowing the arms to drop and then rotating. However, every once in a while, I was just leaving the clubface wide open. So, I started twisting right at the top of my swing so I had the flat left wrist. Drop and rotate home and bam. Shot after shot perfectly straight. If I want to cut it, just start with it a bit more open. The best part, I probably hit 150 balls like that and only had one hook (where I hung back and didn't get to the firm left side).

Awesome.

Lots of ways to get it done.

You have found a good one.

 

[cwdlaw223]

Great thread. I find it hard to hold the twistaway as well in the downswing. It doesn't "feel" powerful which is why our brains (incorrectly) assume the shot won't be as powerful if we roll the clubface open in the backswing and close it in the downswing (think two plane theory). That feels more powerful but that doesn't mean the impact dynamics are more powerful. I feel like there's less hands with the twistaway than getting my hands up in the backswing without the twistaway.

 

[Dr Sagacity]

On Sunday night I was hitting golf balls in my basement and I realized something. When I think about my left hand, the twistaway feels odd because I am twisting the opposite direction of my move away from the ball. But the "twist" was the sensation when I was thinking about my left hand. When I focused on my right hand (instead of the left), it didn't feel like a twist, rather the right hand just bent back (the same direction as I am moving my body). The act of cupping the right wrist in sequence with the takeaway made it feel natural and allowed me to get into the straight left wrist at the top position. Again, it was the same move, just a different focus. Take the club back along the wall, drop and rotate out of dodge. It's such a simple move. The flat left wrist causes a lower ball flight (since I am not flipping) and it closes the face just enough so that with no effort to release the club and the body rotation makes this move something I am confident will standup when I am under pressure.

On Monday, I got a chance to put it to the test. I watched the video once. I went to the range once. Then I took it to the course. All I can say is, "BEAUTIFUL". It's the first time I remember playing a round and having a complete belief that my shot wouldn't go left. For me, the twistaway is the secret sauce that makes the no-hook swing pattern such an easy move. The best part is, it's exactly the same move for every club in the bag even chipping and pitching.

I am here to confess. I am no longer going to be a flipper and I am going to use the never hook again swing pattern as my standard shot. The twistaway is just part of the setup for me to hit that swing pattern.

 

[Dr Sagacity]

Great thread. I find it hard to hold the twistaway as well in the downswing. It doesn't "feel" powerful which is why our brains (incorrectly) assume the shot won't be as powerful if we roll the clubface open in the backswing and close it in the downswing (think two plane theory). That feels more powerful but that doesn't mean the impact dynamics are more powerful. I feel like there's less hands with the twistaway than getting my hands up in the backswing without the twistaway.

I think the reason this twistaway has come so easily to me is because I have always hit my chips and pitches this way. I normally set the lowercase "y" and hold it through the shots. In other words, I let my pivot hit the shots. I would think that if you start hitting pitches, then simply move to 40-50 yard shots then 100-150, you will find it's incredibly easy. I really get the sensation that I am hitting the ball with my chest/sternum) and the club just kind of lags behind. That is the beauty of the move. There is really no timing of the release. I have had this idea before, but until I watched the no hook video, I didn't have the information in terms of taking it back along the wall. When I tried hitting longer shots in the past, I made the mistake of letting the club work inside on the backswing.

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

Dr.

Brian put me into a pattern once that included essentially a twistaway move + the never hook again pattern (because i hadn't really learned clubface control yet) and it worked great for me. Howeever at some point, you probably won't have to consciously twistaway; it will eventually be learned and if you continue to twistaway you may over do it.

Just a warning for the future if the hooks creep it, it may not be a leakage hook just too closed face.

 

[Dr Sagacity]

Thanks Jim.

I think I am already there in that the twistaway doesn't require any thought. There are two things that seem to aid me in making this transition.

1. A few years ago, I spent an entire year working on the one-plane swing (rotary swing).
2. My pitching/chipping technique is exactly the same as the never hook swing (this is the reason that the flat left wrist is so familiar).

Now, I struggle to understand technically how I could ever hook the ball from this position given the following:

1. Stay on plane (straight up/down the wall).
2. Let the arms stay passive and rotate out of dodge.

I can see coming over the top causing a pull hook. I can also see having a hit impulse. . .failing to allow the arms to fall behind the rotation of the torso. As it turns out, this is exactly the same problem I had with the one-plane swing. There is one big difference between the one plane swing and the never hook pattern it is the path of the club on the way back. With the one-place swing, the path was very inside out and because I was coming from inside, I often thought I had to save the shot. With the no hook, I am not stuck behind me, so my initial thoughts are that there is no need to save it. . .

Sorry, I will start a new thread on this topic. But again, thanks.

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

Just a minor note, i am not talking about the takeaway i am talking specifically how much YOU use the "twistaway" to get a flat left wrist for you.