Did you know your left side should be dominant?

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, Rainmaker said:

Little golf blurbs and tips like that are hilarious, I think.  There's a reason why, for just about every golf tip, there is an equal and opposite golf tip. 

For me - I can't say I feel that either side is dominant or that I feel necessarily like I'm pulling or pushing.  I just spent several minutes trying to see what it feels like.  Beats the crap out of me....for me it doesn't feel like there's that much going on in my arms.  Not that I feel "dead-armed", either . . .I don't know.  Weirdness.  It's working good right now, though, so . .whatever, lol. 

Newton's third law of golf?

[Ernest Jones]

15 hours ago, FlatLeftWrist said:

She is absolutely right.  Left side should lead the golf swing.  The minute you push with the right hand you lose all your lag and you scoop through the shot.  It is counter intuitive and that is why almost no one truly compresses the golf ball like the pros do.

And yet Ben Hogan said he wished he had three right hands at impact and Jack Nicklaus something to the effect "the longer you play, the more you realize that golf is played with the right hand."

Feel ain't real. 

[JetFan1983]

56 minutes ago, Ernest Jones said:

And yet Ben Hogan said he wished he had three right hands at impact and Jack Nicklaus something to the effect "the longer you play, the more you realize that golf is played with the right hand."

Feel ain't real. 

Definitely like that quote... That feel has worked great for me lately. Where'd you hear that one? Googled for it and couldn't find its source. 

[Ernest Jones]

3 hours ago, JetFan1983 said:

Definitely like that quote... That feel has worked great for me lately. Where'd you hear that one? Googled for it and couldn't find its source. 

I don't remember, possibly on The Golf Channel? Pretty sure it was something I overheard rather than actually read. 

My point was it doesn't really matter, because some may feel the complete opposite and still kill it. 

[JetFan1983]

5 hours ago, Ernest Jones said:

I don't remember, possibly on The Golf Channel? Pretty sure it was something I overheard rather than actually read. 

My point was it doesn't really matter, because some may feel the complete opposite and still kill it. 

Lol, you definitely didn't need to explain the point to me. 

Thanks for the reply though. It's a great quote. 

[nevets88]

It's like everyday life/media facets of extremism has snuck into the golf swing. You need a whole lot of this, 10K hours of that, total immersion.

To me, the swing is sort of an organized Rube Goldberg contraption. Everything has to fire at the right time and place. You fire something harder, something somewhere else has to counteract.

[Missouri Swede]

14 hours ago, Lihu said:

Newton's third law of golf?

More like Murphy's law. For every bad tip there's a completely wrong opposite tip.

[billchao]

6 hours ago, nevets88 said:

To me, the swing is sort of an organized Rube Goldberg contraption. Everything has to fire at the right time and place. You fire something harder, something somewhere else has to counteract.

Methinks you think too much. It's just a swing, man. Hit the damn ball 

[nevets88]

5 minutes ago, billchao said:

Methinks you think too much. It's just a swing, man. Hit the damn ball 

In a way, I'm like Luke Skywalker. 

 

[natureboy]

19 hours ago, Lihu said:

1 minute into this video shows Mike Austin replacing the lead arm with a strap of some sort.

No lead arm.

No lead arm muscle applied, but the strap's a stand in for the role the lead arm plays in attaching the end of the grip to the lead shoulder / lead side.

In Mike's setup with the strap he is using his trail arm extension to keep the strap taut on the downswing. It's interesting that he didn't do a one-handed, trail arm swing with no strap. Though I expect he could do a decent job, I would also expect it to have less power than a one-handed lead arm swing.

Edited May 9, 2016 by natureboy

[SavvySwede]

38 minutes ago, natureboy said:

No lead arm muscle applied, but the strap's a stand in for the role the lead arm plays in attaching the end of the grip to the lead shoulder / lead side.

In Mike's setup with the strap he is using his trail arm extension to keep the strap taut on the downswing. It's interesting that he didn't do a one-handed, trail arm swing with no strap. Though I expect he could do a decent job, I would also expect it to have less power than a one-handed lead arm swing.

From what I've seen of actual one handed players it doesn't really matter. They can crush the ball either way.

[natureboy]

59 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

From what I've seen of actual one handed players it doesn't really matter. They can crush the ball either way.

Do you mean from either side of the ball or using a lead arm or trailing arm swing? I haven't seen many one-armed trail side swings by long-hitting golfers myself. You may have.

I'd expect more like below, but that doesn't mean Mike Austin's feel wasn't 'real' for him. Just not universal. Some people do better with a lead side 'pull' feel. Even the guy below may feel like he's pushing / throwing with his trail side. I'd have to ask him.

Just found this and some of the trail side hits look pretty solid. Still anecdotal evidence.

 

Edited May 10, 2016 by natureboy

[SavvySwede]

2 minutes ago, natureboy said:

Do you mean from either side of the ball or using a lead arm or trailing arm swing? I haven't seen many one-armed trail side swings by long-hitting golfers myself. You may have.

I'd expect more like below, but that doesn't mean Mike Austin's feel wasn't 'real' for him. Just not universal. Some people do better with a lead side 'pull' feel. Even the guy below may feel like he's pushing / throwing with his trail side. I'd have to ask him.

Yes I've seen long hitters doing lead arm and trailing arm. Not sure where you found that video but it is definitely not the record. There is a guy I occasionally at the range 20min north of me that pumps them out there 250+ with a trail arm swing. I've cracked a few good ones that way myself.

[FlatLeftWrist]

Dominant doesn't mean no right side. It just means it leads the swing.  All of these one handed swings are driven by a pulling left side then a release of the right side at the ball.  If you go after the ball from the top of the backswing with the right side the swing is doomed.

[natureboy]

26 minutes ago, FlatLeftWrist said:

Dominant doesn't mean no right side. It just means it leads the swing.  All of these one handed swings are driven by a pulling left side then a release of the right side at the ball.  If you go after the ball from the top of the backswing with the right side the swing is doomed.

That's actually a very good clarification. Also, what did she mean by 'lead side'?

She may have meant the lead hip instead of lead shoulder or arm (though to your point these get involved even with a one-handed trail arm swing). And if you go by that meaning of 'lead side' then I think I agree with her statement (with your caveat). However, the 'feel' of getting the lead hip rotating and opening up can be a bit 'trail sided' too. But for power the lead hip seems to need to be out in front on the downswing.

1 hour ago, SavvySwede said:

Yes I've seen long hitters doing lead arm and trailing arm. Not sure where you found that video but it is definitely not the record. There is a guy I occasionally at the range 20min north of me that pumps them out there 250+ with a trail arm swing. I've cracked a few good ones that way myself.

Even it it's not the record, they all impress me. I did find one trail side player who seemed to club it really far. But I think @FlatLeftWrist makes a good point about the terminology of 'dominant' vs. leading.

[SavvySwede]

33 minutes ago, natureboy said:

That's actually a very good clarification. Also, what did she mean by 'lead side'?

She may have meant the lead hip instead of lead shoulder or arm (though to your point these get involved even with a one-handed trail arm swing). And if you go by that meaning of 'lead side' then I think I agree with her statement (with your caveat). However, the 'feel' of getting the lead hip rotating and opening up can be a bit 'trail sided' too. But for power the lead hip seems to need to be out in front on the downswing.

Even it it's not the record, they all impress me. I did find one trail side player who seemed to club it really far. But I think @FlatLeftWrist makes a good point about the terminology of 'dominant' vs. leading.

I don't think either of those things actually exist anyway. The hips and shoulders don't really move independently of one another. You rotate around the spine a whatever rotates on your lead side will rotate to an equal degree on the trail side. The pulling/pushing or "swinging/hitting" sensations are a case of feel ain't real IMO. 

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, FlatLeftWrist said:

Dominant doesn't mean no right side. It just means it leads the swing.  All of these one handed swings are driven by a pulling left side then a release of the right side at the ball.  If you go after the ball from the top of the backswing with the right side the swing is doomed.

Not all. . .

 

 

1 hour ago, natureboy said:

 

Half the guys in this video are using their trail arms.

My swing thought is more like throwing a ball than anything else, so I'd probably use trail arm as well. The main purpose of my lead arm is kind of to prevent my trailing arm from getting ahead of my body movement, and to fix the arc in my swing.

[natureboy]

21 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

I don't think either of those things actually exist anyway. The hips and shoulders don't really move independently of one another. You rotate around the spine a whatever rotates on your lead side will rotate to an equal degree on the trail side

They don't move completely independently of each other, but there is most definitely a lag between the motion of the lower body and the upper from one side to the other in an efficient swing...even a one-handed one. The rib cage does not attach to the hip bones.

21 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

. The pulling/pushing or "swinging/hitting" sensations are a case of feel ain't real IMO. 

I kind of agree per below. I think it depends a lot on prior physical experiences of the individual.

20 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Half the guys in this video are using their trail arms.

My swing thought is more like throwing a ball than anything else, so I'd probably use trail arm as well. The main purpose of my lead arm is kind of to prevent my trailing arm from getting ahead of my body movement, and to fix the arc in my swing.

I think you missed the point about the definition of 'lead side' being in question. It may not really refer to which arm is being actively used or thought about.

What physical sequence do you use to throw with your trail arm when you want to make the ball zip? Do your legs and hips move? Once the 'wind up' is done and the ball is above your shoulder, ready to go, what physically starts your throwing motion?

Take a look at some baseball infielder or pitching technique videos. That's why a 'feel' of the swing may be trail-sided for some even though the physical action seems to initiate in the lead side (hip). You've learned how to throw so you can put your attention on your trail hand / arm and let that lead side stuff happen unconsciously. The 'feel' is completely real to you, but it masks a lot that is happening below your conscious attention in other parts of your body. That's why the trail-side focused 'infield throw' or 'skip a stone' image or analogy can be helpful to many golfers.

 

Edited May 10, 2016 by natureboy