Getting the body out of the way!

[Julie H]

I have found I get so focused on cutting the grass, ramming rod etc, I forget to move my body and I am not getting the distance.
i found Shawn’s catapult video plus others and my problem is, I perceive from the catapult video after I get the ground “I should be turning the left bum cheek back as fast as possible so the arms catapult through” and from his other videos, I perceive it as a more rhythmic turn of the body so the arms come through.

Any advice? Thanks 😁

[Schrodinger]

Hi Julie

I think this is the video below.

But here is another example of how the trebuchet analogy to a golf swing is explained.

https://www.tutelman.com/golf/swing/golfSwingPhysics3b.php

There is a subtle difference between Shawns interpretation and the above article written by Rod White

Rod White says:

• The raised weight represents the torque applied through the shoulders,
• the long wooden beam represents the golfers arm,
• and the rope sling represents the shaft of the golf club.

Shawn says

• The raised weight represents the butt

Now Shawn could be right because if a golfer is very inflexible , the shoulders will just ride together on the 'turntable' of the pelvis . So the raised weight could be the 'pelvis/upper torso (including the butt and shoulders)' together as a unit.

But if you are quite flexible between upper torso and pelvis , Shawns 'butt' analogy might not work for you.

Check this out by Monte Scheinblum (its quite an eye opener claiming that hip speed has no correlation with clubhead speed).

https://rebelliongolf.com/hip-speed-does-not-equal-club-head-speed/

[Julie H]

Thanks guys....I try to throw clubs, it’s easier said than done, half the time they go flying up in the air to the left. Lol

Yes, Australia has been getting snow in our southern states, but I live in Far North Queensland which is a lot closer to the equator so our winters are very mild, cool in the morning and evenings, but still shorts and tee shirt weather during the day. (Perfect golf weather) so we get lots of tourists this time of year, escaping the cold.😁

[kid_fullerene]

Hi Julie

The 'out of the wayness' concept can get a little tricky. I grabbed your original remarks and dropped a few highlights to try and speak to.

have found I get so focused on cutting the grass, ramming rod etc, I forget to move my body and I am not getting the distance.
i found Shawn’s catapult video plus others and my problem is, I perceive from the catapult video after I get the ground “I should be turning the left bum cheek back as fast as possible so the arms catapult through” and from his other videos, I perceive it as a more rhythmic turn of the body so the arms come through.


A few things that I think I think.. and I'll try to give you some bits in a useful narrative and order.

1. if you're losing distance .. and your focus is working internally into finding/perfecting the analogy or analogous movement ..it's best to step back and reset your focus into a clear sense of where you're trying to direct the energy. Not saying it's easy.. but it's how the analogy helps you find the feel of connection of your energy into the target. Everybody works this out a bit differently .. but it's crucial to have a sort of 'match' of the where.. your alignment and the sense of speed/motion/blur that is that sort of 'goldilocks' of 'just right energy'. what worked for me when I began to try to sort this was a practice green with a bunch of targets and I did the One Leg Drill and hit a great many chips/pitches into very specific targets as best I could .. regrouped and did it again. Your path to this may vary and that's OK.. the key is a sort of practice that 'marries' the shot/alignment/into target.. as..

2. any real sense of speed has to do with a rhythmic turn of the body .. to borrow your phrase.. but a synchronization of the ACU to the turning body in WIG terms.. this can get pretty deep pretty quick .. but you have energy from the drop of the club (gravity) that falls into the turn (rotation) of the body that you can assist (again in WIG terms) like a kid on a swing .. the window for that happening is basically delimited by the speed of gravity .. you can't turn much faster than something can fall as then you get out of the necessary sync to find that 'snap'..

3. In WIG or similar body based or rotation based swings the timing of the swing is based on the turn .. so in a WIG paradigm it's 'plant - fall' 'plant - fall' .. So we have to back up a step and speak to the 'swing gorilla' hiding in the room .. that your timing and turn may not exactly work the same way an 'ideal WIG' swing model would .. which leads to:

4. Not all analogies will necessarily work for your swing .. they're different ways to find a feel... and your feel is likely to be based on how your body is moving (assuming a turn based swing and its subsequent timing) and clearing. From a WIG perspective .. you would have turned your hips out of the way .. and your arm club unit would be working a bit like a battering ram and be a sort of automated snap outward ..

5. That 'snap' basically takes rotation, the fall and weight of the ACU .. and sends that energy out into the head of the club .. which transfers it to the ball .. which compresses and then accelerates away from the club head. .. a way to think about it .. might be if you had a little ring at the bottom of the grip that would show the transfer of energy .. would zip from the grip right to the head of the club at the time of impact.. that's basically a visualization of the Newtonian forces at work ..

so back to analogies .. you're trying to find something that helps you accomplish that little energy journey where the heavy weight becomes the 'heavy hit' into the ball but more importantly into your target picture.

as to things like 'hip speed' and so on .. understand that for the physics to work their magic .. your hips once they have cleared are more or less either slowing or still .. and your torso is also slowing .. the arms and ACU are heavy .. but as they sync to your body will slow .. it's the clubhead that will suddenly get speed at release and most of the speed is after impact.

so back to your original premise - 'out of the way' .. think of it more as a sort of sliding scale .. there is no perfect amount of 'out of the way' .. but there is a sort of optimal amount of out of the way that will allow you best sync of the ACU to the turn of your body.

you can clear more or clear more faster.. but if you're doing either in a way that creates a timing issue or sync issue for your ACU .. it's effort wasted..

There's a reason Shawn emphasizes the Feet Together Drill . it's the key to the timing of this swing type.

I can ramble on .. but this is a good place to leave it for the moment..

cheers for now

k_f

[Ken Robie]

If I can interject a little from the "Average Joe golfer" I find that if I do not allow the completion of an effortless full body turn in the back swing that my timing is shot to hell and the ball does not do what I had envisioned. However if I let my body find the easiest (least amount of effort on Shawn's 1-10 scale) path to the point where I generate the full required amount of momentum needed for the shot I want to play, The returning effort through the ball is so much easier and more accurate. I would offer that when you practice take a moment and see if your lead shoulder rotates to the point you feel necessary to complete an effortless turn. If you find this does not happen your sequence to get back to the ball is a little out of time.