Here is the corresponding one-armed swing action to go with yesterday’s right-arm motion.
Again, you see that, with a stable swing-point, you take out a large degree of risk of mis-hitting the ball with a proper motion.
Whereas the right-arm action is akin to a throwing motion:
… the left or leading arm action more resembles a Frisbee throw or back-handing a ball at waist-height.
Notice as well, the full and free release at the bottom without trying to push or move the leading hand and club down the line:
Now, with regards to the fixed swing point – if you watch the base of my neck as the shoulders turn back on the pivot, and then as I reverse direction – if you have the ball set up where it should be (for any club, not just driver), it is very hard to miss the ball much when swinging down and through.
The only real risk of mis-hitting comes from the grip – too weak, you will slice it, too strong, you will hook it.
But with a stable swing point and the proper position, you see that the back pivot can be almost ridiculously easy to perform, using both arms in the way I’ve isolated them each:
The above pivot is still Ben Hogan’s “Perfect Pivot” action, albeit the one with the higher heel lift, but you can see the elegance in the motion when you do it the way he did it.
Here’s a swing of mine with the lower heel action that I will be explaining:
And I will add, for emphasis’ sake, that I am swinging the Momentus Heavy Driver with this pivot action and was generating 160+ mph ball speed with it – so yes, lots of power in this action, even with the lower heel lift.
I will ask you all for your patience as I complete this video project – having already been working on failed attempts for weeks now, watching and re-watching finished videos taking copious notes, trying to snip clips to stitch together has been a mental drain and I’m doing my best to stay focused and get through it.
It will definitely be finished in a few days to a week if I can avoid any more delays, but the process will take as long as it takes, because I won’t put out anything I’m not satisfied with just to get it out.
The work continues!
DJ
WAX Golf 
How would you describe which muscles activate on the backswing and downswing for the arms specifically?
Since the legs & hips are driving, the shoulders and arms just need to synchronize correct?
Which entails for the shoulders, the leading and trailing delts / pecs activating?
And for the trail arm, an effortless coil to top (momentum folds it naturally as the lead arm stays pretty straight?) plus a delt raise to get the arms to the top, while the downswing becomes a lat pull down into impact position?
Good question, Kaushal – but my answer will likely disappoint you. I don’t talk about specific muscles because I’m not an anatomist, nor do I think it’s necessary. In fact, when I have heard the swing described in anatomical terms, my eyes tend to glaze over and I begin to nod off.
It’s a good way to sound like you know what you’re talking about – “the trailing shoulder performs internal rotation while the pronation of the blah blah blah…” and that’s what it sounds like to me.
Let me ask you a question, and I’m not being facetious – dead serious question. How much talk of muscles do you imagine a 10 year old Jack Nicklaus heard from Jack Grout when he was learning the golf swing under the latter’s guidance? Probably none at all, right?
When I was learning as a youngster to play football (soccer), baseball, hockey, basketball, badminton, table tennis, volleyball – I don’t remember any discussion of muscles whatsoever. The focus is on motion, and everyone knows motion. You visualize the motion and the muscles react.
If someone asks you to pass the salt at the table, do you focus on what muscles you are going to use, or do you just lean over, grab the salt shaker and pass it down?
I try to explain the swing in these types of terms. Of course, there will be the usual muscle groups involved in a motion, such as the biceps and the lats in a back swing motion, but the action or motion is what should be focused upon. It is precisely this type of over-focus on muscle movement that has today’s players swinging robotically and without feel.
I have participated in sports almost since I began school as a lad, and of all of the sports I’ve learned (throw in games like darts and billiards), the most “technical” thing ever discussed was actual technique. I got pretty good at whatever sports I took up, because I had a singular focus on technique.
That’ exactly how I figured out swing models – I would look at a swinger’s position or setup, watch their motion and try to copy that until I saw them being identical or very close. Take my Hogan pivot action compared to his – you’d be hard-pressed to point out a difference in the motion, but I got it not by Hogan telling me what muscles to use, rather just by watching his motion.
If you trust what I’m telling you, you’ll find that that visualizing motion will be far better than trying to figure out which muscles to fire in the swing.
The pass the salt analogy is so good 😂 why overcomplicate something that can be visualized as basic motions
Thanks for the sanity check will do hahaha
When you get into the Hogan pivot, Kaushal – you will be very happy that it involves nothing more than simple visualization. 🙂