**Updated At Bottom
It occurred to me that the whole idea of swinging with a lifting heel versus a “planted heel,” as I like to term it (deliberately pressing the leading foot into the ground so that the heel doesn’t lift) has become a tiresome debate.
This may be due to the fact that I don’t think a proper swing has anything to do with whether the heel lifts a lot, a moderate amount or even a minimal amount.
I hadn’t done this before, but I was shocked by what I found when I researched the standard weight of the Momentus Power Driver to compare it to the standard modern driver.
What I found was that it wasn’t just the head that weighs more – the entire Momentus driver has a mass of – are you ready for this? – 500 grams, which is actually more than one pound of weight!
Byron Nelson’s only swing “flaw” if I were to call it that, was the shifting of his head on the back swing, although it is related to what I was talking about in yesterday’s posting, so it was really not a “flaw” but a compensation to avoid shanking the ball.
I have said before that “restricted hips means ‘shank!'” and for the same reason – when you swing with the hips and legs, you will tend to shift forward (to the left) and therefore you will come into the ball early – welcome to Hosel City.
If you want a simple pictorial illustration of why MCS is the optimal model for the golf swing, let me show you simply how it harnesses leverage over muscle power, creating the effortless-looking swing that you can create with it.
I’ve talked about the “dropping the hammer” concept and how it helps to set up the impact position at address, but when I took it a step further and worked with it a little to combine it with a previous method of setting up the address, something very cool occurred.
The main difference between MCS and Modern Golf Swing theory, of course, is that the MCS swing theory has an over-riding principle when it comes the swing.
That principle is that a swing model must be mechanically-sound, or else it shouldn’t be used, let alone taught or encouraged.
That is an element sorely missing in Modern Golf Swing Theory, as coaches and players alike will freely admit many times that the model they use is harmful to the body.
If you’ve seen the jumping and twisting leading feet and legs of the modern golf swing players, you’ll know what I’m talking about here.
There is a tendency for swing analysts on TV, from what I’ve seen, to explain away mechanical flaws in the swing by declaring that the compensations or manipulations in the swing are responsible for power or speed.
It’s pure and simple, that the actual “secret” to a proper golf swing has always been in the address position, or the “Fundamentals Trifecta,” as I have called the Stance, Ball Position and Grip for years.
It’s the true formula, and while there have been many golfers in history who might have played brilliant golf with iffy stances, you’ve seen what I have laid out in recent years ago the historically best players and swingers have had strikingly similar stances.
If you need any convincing that the technique for producing speed in the swing is the same for power, then have a look at two swings I have made recently with different drivers.
The swing on the left was with the Momentus Power Driver swing, so of course the technique for this swing would have to be one that provides power and leverage to move the much heavier club than a standard one.
**Update At Bottom
A tip of the hat to everyone who emailed me on this… I actually read it shortly after it was posted, in my morning golf sites browsing.
You’ll all remember how enthused I was about Brandel Chamblee’s book last year on the classic golf swing, “Anatomy of Greatness,” and he has returned with a piece he wrote for GolfWRX.
The Modern Golf Swing industry (and Golf Digest’s Alex Meyers) are whom I’m referencing here, of course – they always pay lip service to the greats of the Classic Golf Swing era while completely ignoring what made them greats to begin with.
Before I get to the Golf Digest laugher, what made them great? The way they swung, either in the game or how they taught it, and Harvey Penick is one, in his first “Little Red Book“ on the swing.
