The Anti-Tip Theory...

I have a theory....
For every tip, there is an equal and opposite anti-tip.

I'm not just being silly here.. I actually think it's true.

For instance, a classic example would be..

- "keep your head down".. this is one of the oldest ones. The anti tip for it would be "let your head come up" (annika, woods). There's even a school of thought to "lift your head up, before you even hit the ball". I've done them all and they've all helped at different times. The last one actually helped me finally get a balanced and full follow through and finish position, finally, on my driver swing, that I was happy with, and helped my swing speed quite a bit, which I last clocked on my trusty radar at 105. But I'm sure you'd agree that this swing thought (to lift up) would be considered heresy by more than a few golfers.

More recently I've run into something similar with regards to the amount of tension in the hands wrists and arms in the swing, especially on the left side. Whereas I used to believe, as was popularly taught, that you couldn't be loose enough, and tension was the enemy to clubhead speed and accuracy, I now am coming to believe, crazy as it sounds, that rigidity is the main key that will get me to the next level in golf. I've learned recently that rigid arms can actually force me to use my large muscles, turn more, and force flex in the shaft into impact which is my new goal for swinging, as opposed to generating clubhead speed. So, yet another anti tip that has proven itself to me.

Once I saw this thing about tension in golf had merit, I actually applied the same thinking to singing (i try to sing classical tenor) and it helped me increadibly, because I was a victim of the same kind of faulty thinking that was just as defeating. So i thought about all the things that I was trying to keep "loose" and "relaxed" and tried working them the other way (whatever the opposite was). The results were uncanny. I actually think there's hope for my singing now.

What is really annoying to me is that I need someone to tell me that something is ok before I buy into it. Then I try it and it works and I'm happy. But until that point, I will carry around some old notion in my head that stymies me-- a once beautiful swing thought that might have helped me tons at one time has actually become my foe and is keeping, unknowingly, often below the conscious level, from improving. I should know better because when I was younger I basically memorized the Inner Game of Golf .. but it clearly didn't really help me. Tim Gallwey said that if we had no tension in our body we would fall down. So it's obviously not about not having tension, but having the right kind of tension at the right time.

So, I hereby now decree, that for every tip, I will honor the anti tip fully. And be fully open to what it has for me learn from.

Interesting thought. That is why I have never put too much stock in magazine tips. Once month they are telling you to try one thing, then the next, it is the opposite. I guess it is just whatever works best for the individual. As long as you put the right tips together, it would probably do some good.

I will disagree with you on the 'keep your head down' tip, or at least look at it from another way. My Dad used to tell me this all the time. I have always interpreted this advise wherein it wasn't so much about the position of you head, just that you need to be looking at the ball in order to hit it. When someone hits a wormburner off the tee, the likely cause was that they took their eye off the ball. Regardless of what their head is doing, Annika and Tiger are looking at the ball when they hit it. The same goes for kicking a football, or hitting or throwing a baseball. If you are not looking at it, it won't go where you want. Pretty much anything in sports is the same way, you have to be looking at what you are doing.

Annika Sorenstam dips slightly and comes back up before impact. At impact, the level of her head is the same as at it was at setup.

Tiger Woods dips a lot and does not come back up until way after impact in the follow through.

Thanks for that 'jumping' thought.. I'll definitely have to look into that one. Nice points about tips in general. Clearly continuing to rely on a tip, holding onto it, religiously, long after it's use has faded is truly pathetic. But I know I've done it more than once. 'Overcooking' is a great error that's made more often then most of us will admit. We just can't let go of something because we're so invested in it's "rightness". I am definitely a particularly guilty practictioner of this... was that way recently about "looseness" vs "firmness". The anti tip will cure the error of continuating the original tip after it's usefulness is gone and has become detrimental, but I also think that the anti tip can develop something unique, completely of it's own and unrelated to the movement brought about by the tip.

I have a tip: I think that there's nothing wrong with 'tips' per say.. it's the way most of us learn. But the next time you land on a tip that really helps you, immeidatlely identify the anti-tip, the exact and completely opposite concept, the absolutle contradiction, as unnerving as it might seem. Then try it. Maybe not immediately, but soon. See what happens. (and let me know). I'm curious. Like George.

By the way, there's an instructor in the U.S. named Ron Del barrio that teaches a 'lifting up' move (google him and check out his site). When I tried it in chipping it helped me immediately, and as I mentioned it helped my driving. I recommend trying it highly, at least as an experiment.

Here's another example of a tip / anti-tip pair. "Let your right leg straighten". The stack and tilt swing features this, and I also heard Bobby Jones mention it in his movie "how I play golf" (recently got the DVD set) and clearly Snead and many old timers did this knee straightening move. Then there's the anti tip version I heard all the time growing up: "maintain the same flex in the right knee"... I used to look at Seve Ballastero's knee and how it was basically frozen in time, and was absolutely sure that this was the key to a great backswing.

Hardy talks about "grouping" swing thoughts for 'one planers' vs 'two planers'.. like a unified theory of golf. I prefer my tip/anti-tip theory, sans grouping.

I think that the greatest golfers clearly learned early on not only to not get too attached to any method, and to feel free to waffle and easily jump right to the opposing camp. We all know that Nicklaus swore by the upright swing and then claims he later "deepened it". I think he basically just jumped a sinking ship; and had no qualms about doing it. Most of us are familiar with Bobby Jones' claiming he did "whatever worked best, last". I bet he thought alot about anti-tips.

On that note I was watching golf yesterday and noticed. Angel Cabbera definity straightens his right knee in his backswing. I thought that was interesting.

i have to say i kinda disagree that golf tips are harmful or useless or whatever negative connotations they associate. i think tips should be viewed with caution and if used carefully and appropriately, key points emphasized by expert golfers can be of tremendous help and possibly lead to breakthroughs in terms of understanding of golfing techniques at a given stage of learning. heck, reading this forum i am learning everyday tip by tip.

tips in a golf mag have no idea who are going to read them. it is up to the folks to decide for themselves whether the tips are appropriate at a given time. people trying to break 100 should focus on issues pertinent to them, not those for breaking 70s. further, very often, as with anything else in life, our own interpretations may not be that correct at first, so be patient and think them through. i am not saying there is certain level of responsibility we have to take when learning. on a second thought, i am saying that:). we have to learn to decide what is right for us. that is part of learning. :)

and when issues like "releasing the club" arise:), ask ourselves what work the best for us.

as far as the seve's right knee is concerned, i would like to reserve some judgement because one, the lighting is not that great on his leg and second, his body was rotating toward the right side, so the camera view might have given the illusion that his right knee straigtened when in fact it was hidden by the "dark" leg. regardless, one thing we can appreciate is that his head is quite still, up and down wise,,,

I hear this a lot when describing Anthony Kim's swing.

Thanks for that vid iacas..
I would have to agree with you, it's straightening all right. Your points make sense. It seems like a crazy thing to do now, but I used to try to do that move because it was so heavily touted. I guess someone was helped by it at some point. I think that John Daly talked about that move. But then one day I noticed that Davis Love didn't do it, so I stopped trying to do it.

I also agree with the idea that a tip is often used like a crutch.
So I guess when I use the word 'tip' I'm also talking about 'swing thought' or 'method' or 'technique' or 'way' or any kind of concept on how to do a golf shot. We need some kind of blueprint to follow. I still think there is merit to the premise of the frequent usefullness of examining an exactly opposing technique.. only because I've seen so many examples of it being true. But that's probably just because I'm old...

The best ball strikers are aggressively moving into the left leg which appears as a squat ie a dip of the head. Then they rise up onto their left leg at impact. Those trying to emulate it as a jump would typically come out of the shot.

Yes, otherwise you're twisting the vertebrae, not the hips. Some people have said this is better, and called it "X-factor", but I think it's B.S. What are your thoughts on that?

The point here though, is that you should not have excessive straightening of the right knee, which some how got translated into "none."

One of the best players I know, a 15 year old who just owns his game, has a very visible "jump" move as he comes down.

The head movement is present on a lot of good players, especially women for some reason (Creamer, Gulbis, etc).

Continuing talking about the "jump," I think this is actually a type of feint motion, I.E. a slight movement before a movement in the other direction. Think about how when a car goes to make a hard right turn, often, the driver makes a small left turn first to get the extra arc. That's feint motion. I believe the jump is a feint motion to help the player drive their weight

down . --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, here's another anti tip. Everyone tells you to take a full turn, right? Well, I turn way too much and go far past parallel when I do that. I focus on taking a short and abbreviated turn, and come all the way to parallel!

Point of the thread was that every tip had a anti-tip, which is correct. As Erik pointed out, you can always err on different sides of an ideal.

Taking the club too far to the inside - Taking the club too far to the outside
Too much hip action - Not enough hip action
Too strong grip - Too weak grip

that is an interesting proposition then. with that logic, we can argue over things till the cows come home. :)

simply because there are 2, scratch that,,many sides to a coin does not mean all sides of that coin cannot be and should not be explored. the whole process of learning is about expanding our cranium. it is not too much work. it is clinical research on ourselves by ourselves. that is how life works! and, guess what? making mistakes is fun! until and unless we experience on ourselves and thereby conclude for ourselves what tips work and what not, we will never own the progress we make.