I am still shaking my head about the ridiculous claim by Peter Kostis on CBS’ Masters Saturday broadcast, claiming that top club head speed will occur well before impact, and if you still need proof of this, I have it below.
He showed a clip of Brooks Koepka, if you’ll remember, claiming that the analysis machine had B.K.’s top club head speed at 126 mph about 18″ or 45 cm before impact, and an actual club impact speed of 120 mph.
I am still waiting for conditions in this area to allow some good swinging and video-taking, but while doing so, I’ve been getting my swing muscles back into shape after a long season off (I haven’t hit a ball in about 9 months to date), and I discovered something surprising today.
I’ve been working on the speed aspect of the pivot, just trying to get raw speed with the SwingRite, and take a look at the top position of my absolute fastest swings through the bottom:
I’ve been talking about how I tightened up my pivot action and got a lot more pop in my down swing over the winter, and there’s a process you can follow to get the same results for those times you feel you really “got hold of one” with a swing.
I don’t like the process of trying to convey one’s “feels” to another, but for yourself, the “feels” are the key to your own swing.
Whether you’re swinging a Driver or wedge, the key to a proper and smooth release is to swing down and through, without trying to actually strike the ball itself (which will make you ball-oriented and prone to reacting to it instead of just swinging).
I’ve talked about how you don’t swing at the target, but you also shouldn’t swing to “hit down” on the ball with irons and wedges either – down and through in one continuous motion is the way to get your best results.
Here’s what I saw when I went looking for Brooks Koepka’s 6 mph decrease in club head velocity between 18″ pre-impact to impact, and it should be plain to see for anyone who analyzes motion.
I’ve said before, been saying for years, actually, that when you squat into the address you will restrict hip turn, and when you restrict hip turn on the back swing, your hips will reach impact position before the upper body.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier with Modern Golf Swing concepts and junk science, I saw something this weekend that literally had me shaking my head and laughing during the segment.
I had actually forgotten about it, so silly was the premise, but Walter brought it back to mind yesterday in a comment.
Well, I’m done predicting tournament outcomes!
I never thought TW would come back from two strokes down in the final round to win another Green Jacket. In fact, I didn’t think he’d ever win another major after all of the back issues.
Update: Well, I got one thing right and a couple of things wrong – I didn’t think Molinari would lose the Masters with a two-stroke lead into the final round, I didn’t think Tiger Woods would win a 15th major… but what a weekend of golf watching!!! /update
It doesn’t matter who wins the Masters this year, it should be a great finish with the current Leaderboard.
So many stories abound, with the players just at -6 and if recent history holds, the group at -7 from which the winner is favored to come (Francesco Molinari, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen), and I’ll tell you my reasons why.
J.S. sent me a clip of European Tour winner Van Phillips explaining his take on the “using the ground” meme so prevalent and so misapprehended in the golf world.
First of all, he does get it right in the beginning when he talks about shifting weight, because that’s exactly how one applies force to the ground.
I’ve been working on my own setup and pivot mechanics all winter, as you all know, because until it’s perfect, you can always make it better, and even if you never get there, it’s a fun journey to improve over time.
I would say that this “feel” for me at address gives me a great feeling of down swing speed and the gravity factor coming down makes the actual swing feel effortless through the bottom.
