This installment addresses a second, or alternate, transitional move: either is viable and dynamically correct. The one the golfer selects as their procedure is a personal preference. The difference in the two procedures is that the Hands (Part 12) control the Pivotal Springing Action (Parts 11 & 12) in the first: as opposed (here) to the Hands being controlled by the Coiling & Pivotal Springing Actions.
Necessities in this second approach are: (1) Correct Athletic Readiness (Part 3). (2) A dynamically correct authentic grip, as stressed in Part 7. (3) A balanced Upper Torso Coiling that slightly lowers the body and bends the lead knee bent slightly toward the ball, with about 60 percent of weight on inside of trailing heel and about 40 percent of weight on inside of the ball of the lead foot. (4) The ball must be ideally located in the stance, and since the club is always closing and carries the ball for about ¾ of an inch: so its location should be somewhere in front of the lead cheek. Some great golfer’s have used the inside of the lead heel as a reference point for all full shots.
The basis of the move is the lead shoulder, as it is the center of the arc of the clubhead. As the center, its actions control the clubhead. Athletic Readiness and an Authentic Grip insure that the clubface automatically squares to the target under the center. Manipulations are unnecessary, so the hard part is to eliminate mental and physical efforts to control the club with the hands; but rather swing the weight of the clubhead freely with the pivot.
Exercise #1: Stand in front of a mirror with arms crossed and hands on chest to practice the feel of this procedure. Pigeon toe trailing foot slightly (a point that most Ben Hogan chasers seem to miss when discussing that great golfer’s “secrets”). Twist around the spine with a lead side shoulder/oblique move that turns the back until the lead shoulder is close to or at chin. The feel generated should include a slight withdrawal of the trailing hip. From an Athletically Ready start, a sense of lowering (Coiling) and the lead knee should bend toward the ball as prescribed should be felt or Athletic Readiness was not correct. The return is accomplished by returning shoulder/oblique unit in an under and up fashion, as if to Spring back and through the original address condition. Some teachers describe this move as an under-arm pitch. Hogan described the move as similar to throwing a ground ball in baseball.
Exercise #2: Try the move, first with short shots: with a ball upon a deeply plunged tee, and eyes closed. The feel to be striving toward is that the upper torso motion first starts the clubhead gently back (Momentum throws the weight upward if the turn is to that degree) and then drags it back through the ball. A dragging of weight should be felt in the hands, so the hands are always in front of the clubhead until the reach a point under the lead shoulder. The procedure could be said to one that let’s the clubhead do the work: or is a means of giving up control to gain control.
