Ground Reactive Forces and "Jumping" for Power

[Leftygolfer]

Originally Posted by iacas

At setup? I suppose it could, but you'd have a heck of a time getting set up comfortably because your distance to the ball would change, necessitating a wildly different arm angle at impact versus setup, and so on.

So I'd say that within a small range, sure, but once you get out of that it's not worth it.

Could be that you've overdone it and you're having trouble timing things.

Yes at set up.  I think my spine being to vertical has hurt me bad.  I turn my shoulders so flat my head gets in the way and the club is behind me.  I have also lost power.  I think for me it is worth it to make a change that isn't confortable.  Heck, it couldn't get any worse :)

[ggolokin]

i've always thought jumping at it was a bad thing...  or maybe our definition of 'jumping' during a golf swing differs...

recently went to the range, recorded about 3 swings on my crappy iphone4 camera, what i noticed is that my left foot leaves the ground slightly at impact, is this what you mean by jumping? [1 of those shots was thin, the other 2 were pure]. - i've always thought this was one of my many swing flaws.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by ggolokin

recently went to the range, recorded about 3 swings on my crappy iphone4 camera, what i noticed is that my left foot leaves the ground slightly at impact, is this what you mean by jumping?

No. You should read the first post to see what I mean by "jumping." :-)

[mvmac]

Yeah, we "jump" while keeping the head relatively level.  Extending the legs and pushing the hips forward

[ggolokin]

well my head keeps quite level in the video, but the left leg comes up a little bit, i think this was a big problem when i was a kid, trying to hit 200+, i'll upload the video when i come home from work, this is bothering me now.

[threejack]

i think Rory and Tiger show it really well. they really drive their legs into the ball and extend at impact, I've been working hard on implementing it into my swing and it feels very and natural, controlled, and powerful

[mchepp]

Originally Posted by mvmac

Yeah, we "jump" while keeping the head relatively level.  Extending the legs and pushing the hips forward

Hi mvmac,

Why must the head stay level? What does "relatively level" mean?

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by mchepp

Hi mvmac,

Why must the head stay level? What does "relatively level" mean?

The less the head moves the less compensations we need to make.  We swing in a circle, picture our sternum is the point of a compass.  That center moves around we have to make up for it somehow.

I say "relatively" because no one keeps it perfectly stable throughout the swing.  Closer the better.  We stay level due to the hips sliding forward, releasing the first tilt and creating the secondary axis tilt while the legs are extending.

[jclifton]

This has been a very good thread! I have implemented "jumping" into my swing and really like it. Really drove the ball well yesterday with a lot of power and control. I started off by pushing off hard with my left foot with great power but little control. I backed off, started into it a little easier and have worked my way up to where I can push or "jump" into it with power.

Thanks for posting this thread!

[Beachcomber]

Ok - so I was working on my Pivot - and 'jumping' and ground force reaction came into my skull.  I did a search and found this thread.  Thanks!  Makes a lot of sense to me... And appreciate the details.

[natureboy]

Many of you will remember the many times I've said I almost couldn't care less about Tiger's head "dipping" during his swing. Many of you might not have known why I thought this wasn't a problem, and some of you knew... What's some schmuck on the Internet know when Peter Kostis, Nick Faldo, Johnny Miller, Brandel Chamblee, and goodness knows who else were all talking about what a bad, terrible thing it was?

Is it only their heads that are dropping in the transition / initial downswing or their c/g as well? Probably not the latter, because gravity adds almost nothing in the golf swing, right?

[iacas]

Is it only their heads that are dropping in the transition / initial downswing or their c/g as well? Probably not the latter, because gravity adds almost nothing in the golf swing, right?

Way to misinterpret (or confuse) things , man.

These are two very different things.

[natureboy]

Nice slowmo of Mr. Nicklaus jumping into impact :15 to :25

Great video. Haven't seen that one before.

Does anyone else see the moment (around :07-:08) where his L toe actually shifts position on the ground / kicks out a hair? Looks to me like he momentarily unweighted the entire left foot! I doubt I'm coordinated enough to do that effectively.

@iacas : Peter Kostis regularly contradicts himself. Sometimes you gotta fill the dead air, I guess. Also, dead link to the OP abstract.

[iacas]

@iacas: Peter Kostis regularly contradicts himself.

I'm not sure what the point of your entire post is, but let's keep things on topic.

[Slowcelica]

This is a pretty good video that shows what Rory does.

[jclark]

I like when some long hitters say your legs don't help hit it far so they get on their knees and bomb one. They say it's rotational force and arms that create speed. What I find funny is if what they say is true then hoist them off the ground a few inches so that their feet aren't touching the ground and let them try again. I bet their ball will not go half as far. The truth is we use the ground for leverage AND releasing energy. When those guys get on their knees and hit a drive THEY ARE STILL USING THE GROUND FOR POWER, just on their knees and not standing.

[iacas]

I like when some long hitters say your legs don't help hit it far so they get on their knees and bomb one. They say it's rotational force and arms that create speed. What I find funny is if what they say is true then hoist them off the ground a few inches so that their feet aren't touching the ground and let them try again. I bet their ball will not go half as far. The truth is we use the ground for leverage AND releasing energy. When those guys get on their knees and hit a drive THEY ARE STILL USING THE GROUND FOR POWER, just on their knees and not standing.

They also hit it shorter off the ground, and are deprived of using their knees changing flex to generate power.

They do hit it shorter (and have slower clubhead speeds) from their knees (some really just swing really hard to try to close the gap, of course).

[natureboy]

I "jump" a lot, and often it causes problems, in terms of extending my leg, which caused my torn ACL. My head pops up a good 2" or so. Not surprisingly, I can generate a lot of power. What about that, is there such thing as too much?

How much was your lead foot flared out / angled relative to the target line?