This article establishes implications that will prepare you to grasp the importance of further advice.
- Tension is the most common cause of error in the golf swing. Quite obviously, there must be some tension in any athletic movement. Athletic tension occurs as a result of motion. This axiom is directed at tensions established before the motion begins, stemming from an improper understanding of hand pressures and how to apply them to the handle of the golf club. Pre-established tensions disallow an athletic motion. Sam Snead said that if golfers held their forks like they hold a golf club they would starve to death.
- Manual effort produces fleeting result. This axiom is directed at a conscious effort to produce muscular power helter-skelter. Indeed, there is a place for muscular power in golf that shall be explored, but without conscious involvement. There are two possible paths back to the ball from a player’s top condition that are dynamically correct: linear and circular. The faster a golfer tries to swing a club as an independent unit, the slower the club goes.
- The secret of golf is to eliminate intent to hit at the ball. This axiom comes from Ken Venturi: in his book, The Venturi Analysis (1981). Athletic motion is one made with a tempo that does not disrupt balance. Athletic motion produces a constant path upon which the clubhead travels. The key word here is constant. Achievement of a constant path is the ultimate goal toward better golf. Attempts to hit at the ball preclude the possibility of a constant path. The essence of great golf is that a ball has been placed upon a pre-conceived path upon which the clubhead is allowed to slide during an athletic motion.
- Golf is not a hand-to-eye coordination sport. George Knudson made this observation. Ben Hogan said that Knudson had the sweetest swing in golf. Now, you may be saying to yourself: these axioms are basically the same. Tension, effort, and intent, not hand-to-eye: what is the difference? There is little difference, which opens the door to a truth that must be grasped.
There are three ways to move the golf club: actively, passively, or in-combination by some, but not all, of golf’s elite. These articles do not include instruction on the in-combination procedure, but does prepare those who would like to pursue it. A motion stimulated actively is of limited use in golf and is relegated to some less than full power shots: like punch shots, rap putting, and a few others. The basic motion of better players, for the most part, is the end product of torso rotation. There is a law in physics that claims rotation can produce up to five times more energy than muscle. The biomechanics of the human frame, of course, disallows us to reach that level of production but the golfer who would like to be the best they can be endeavors toward improvement in this area. Athletic Readiness is a first requirement in order to maximize this possibility and will be covered in the next article.
