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Any of ye believers in this X-Factor thingy?


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In My latest lesson the pro has me trying reduce my lower body movement as much as possible while still trying to turn back the same distance on the back swing and this seems to be giving me far more club head speed through impact with what feels like even less effort.
As I always like to understand the whys and hows of any swing changes to give me the confidence to stick with it, it seems that this is what the X-Factor attempts to teach a golfer. Working for me so far so gonna keep with it. Anyone else use this?
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I'm working on resisting with my hips and lower body. This creates a power powerful coil, but it's important not to turn more than your body is able to as it can result in bad rhythm.

Take a look at Fred Couples. He's got one of the smoothest swings on the tour, and he swings with very little effort. Still he can hit it a mile. If you look at the video below, at 1:30 there's a slow motion of his drive. From Adress to the top of his backswing there is very little movement in the lwoer body. His hips turn a little and his left knee move a bit towards his right knee. Big resistance in the lower body, big wide arc and a beautiful whipping motion during the downswing.

The point of turning the arms is to build resistance, like pressing down a coil. The arms take it away and pulls the rest of the body slightly with it. If the body follow and turn over, you don't get any resistance, no power, the only thing giving power to you swing is the effort of your arms and hands. It's the coiling that create power, and it doesn't take much effort compared to trying to pound the ball with your arms.

Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23º | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15º | Titleist 910 D2 9,5º | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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I would contend that the X-Factor is important. However, I don't believe that X-Factor is really measured on the backswing, but should instead be measured on the downswing. In other words, the amount that your hips turn related to your shoulders isn't particularly important. You should turn your hips however much you need to in order to make a full shoulder turn (it so happens that Tour players are extremely flexible and often don't need a lot of hip turn to do this). What is important is the separation between your hips and shoulders on the downswing. Leading the swing with the hips and lower body is what creates this separation and what will create the centripetal force necessary to accelerate the golf club through impact.

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I noticed when players try this, they often stop swinging and lose the moementum that they are trying to build or they or get stuck behind themselves at the top. Many good and great players do well with big hip turns. Im a big beliver in doing whatever feels natural to you.
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I would contend that the X-Factor is important. However, I don't believe that X-Factor is really measured on the backswing, but should instead be measured on the downswing.

Good observation. The Xfactor idea is decent but the attempt to get it like McLean wants it will be a direct path to a chiropractor. Zeph - do you really think Couples swing is effortless? I would contend that a swing with a "coil", or pivot, is less effort than all arms. Do you think hogan, sergio, camilo, etc.. had no effort in their swing? They have some of the best pivot actions in the game and drive that move harder than anybody. To make your pivot rotate hard takes almost all the effort and strength you have.
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The X-factor 'thingy' was something that may have been before its time. Its a Brand name for a stage of the proper kinetic link... the proper body movements. The idea is that the shoulders and hips must seperate in order to create tension within the body so that the muscles can stretch and then shorten - which causes power!

If you can stand in your golf stance, cross your arms across your chest, and move your shoulders independent of your hips and then move your hips independent of the shoulders, you can make this move. If you can't do this, then forget about proper sequencing and the Xfactor. Some people aren't strong enough in the core to do this and others have simply not done this before so the movement pattern is foreign. Try this exercise at home.
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I noticed when players try this, they often stop swinging and lose the momentum that they are trying to build or they or get stuck behind themselves at the top. Many good and great players do well with big hip turns. I'm a big believer in doing whatever feels natural to you.

I agree. Take Vijay Singh as an example, he can hit it a mile but it's quite obvious he isn't "resisting" with his lower body. People will take both sides of the argument. I tend to drive my hips too fast and hit a mega-block so trying to create tension to make my hips turn faster would be folly.

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We're not searching for resistance in the backswing through hips and shoulder seperation, we're trying to achieve an effect seperation the way down. The easiest way to demonstrate this is to take your swing to the top, and without the shoulders or arms moving, Can you turn your hips back towards the ball? They won't go far but if you can get a bit of this, you're on your way.

The seperation of hips and torso cause a stretch to the muscles (both obliques, the trans-ab, lats, hip flexors, etc) and this stretch happens in the transition from backswing to downswing. A great stretch can only cause a shorten of the muscles (one of the stretch/shorten cycles) which causes the shoulders to work they way down. When the hips then slow down, its pulls the shoulders and creates one of the links in the kinetic chain.

I agree with "doing what's natural". It's an athletic sport so it should be as natural as pitching a ball... so try to make this move by throwing something. In the gym, we have thrown medicine balls, and if you throw a 15 or 20 lb medicine ball in a rotational fashion - from one side of you to the other - without making it an arms throw.. you Will get the feeling of using the ground and your legs and hip to get the med ball to fly hard. For best results, do it from a slightly crouched or seated stance.
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The first person I think if when reading this is Ben Hogan.

Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23º | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15º | Titleist 910 D2 9,5º | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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Note: This thread is 5492 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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