Six Keys To A Great Backswing

[bunkerputt]

Flexibility is good, but it's not all there is to speed.  Being too flexible can sap your muscles' ability to contract quickly.  Or so I remember recalling from an article about Bill Wallace and his foot speed vs. flexibility.  Tiger's got more muscle and it keeps your arms from moving that way simply because it's in the way.

[boogielicious]

Agreed.  Tiger's power comes from his core and strong legs as well.  I don't have the flexibility, so I am working on improve the core strength and using my legs for more power.

[tm22721]

[Deryck Griffith]

In regards the right leg "straightening" point, I really don't understand why people cannot wrap their head around the fact that "straightening" doesn't mean LOCKING.

On the backswing, the right knee getting "straighter" or "less bent" (not LOCKED) is a natural movement that almost every single player does on tour, obviously, at various extremes.  Heck, even though Tiger says that he keeps his right knee as bent as it was at address, if you look at his knee in the picture closely, it's obvious that his knee has gotten "straigher" or is "less bent" that it was at address which is ironic and amusing all at the same time.

Because the straightening of the knee is a natural movement, forcing yourself to keep it "bent" takes that natural element out of the backswing and will be more of a hinderance than a benefit.

[naflack]

tiger would do well to take the advice of butch harmon some 8+ years ago to which the original post was based.

until tiger goes back to being more of a 2 plane golfer he will continue to be middle of the pack, he is not a 1 planer and hank haney showed us he never will be.

the only thing i would suggest is that some can't get the shoulder under the chin without a slight lifting of the left or lead heel due to genetic flexibility limitations.

there is a reason to this day butch harmon is the best teacher going...

he teaches solid, basic, understandable, time tested fundamentals that dont require un-natural / contrived body positions and endless lessons to play productively.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by naflack

until tiger goes back to being more of a 2 plane golfer he will continue to be middle of the pack, he is not a 1 planer and hank haney showed us he never will be.

the only thing i would suggest is that some can't get the shoulder under the chin without a slight lifting of the left or lead heel due to genetic flexibility limitations.

The second line is completely silly. We "taught" a guy for two minutes in Phoenix and two minutes later he screamed out on the range "I can see the ball!" Plus his shoulder turn increased 30 degrees. How? Tilting left. It's almost never a flexibility limitation.

Hank's method was, in parts, horrible. The problems with that swing had nothing to do with it being a one-plane(-ish) swing. "Hands out, clubhead in" is literally advice he's given for the takeaway... blech.