There Is No Such Thing as "Automatically Uncoiling" in the Golf Swing

[iacas]

This will be a quick one.

It's been said many times, by many people both educated in the golf swing and otherwise, that you can "coil up" in the backswing and then let yourself "unwind" into the downswing.

I want all of you reading this to try something right now.

1. Go to the top of your backswing.
2. Go a little farther. Because… why not?
3. The muscles that you feel holding yourself there, "coiled" up… relax them. Stop holding yourself there.
4. Note what happens.

I'm willing to bet all I have that you don't "snap back" and "uncoil" rapidly into the golf ball. You're not a spring. You're not a rubber band.

Is a "big" and proper turn important? Absolutely! It gives you the time to build up rotational speed (speed you generate yourself from your muscles, not speed which is just a result of "unwinding" automatically). It lets your arms travel back so they have time and space to accelerate on the downswing.

But none of that comes automatically. None of that speed comes from "automatically unwinding" or "releasing the coil" or anything like that.

As with many things in golf, you don't get much "automatically." You have to make your muscles do what they need to do.

[Lihu]

It probably another feel is not real things. If you feel tight at the top of the swing something's wrong anyway.

[freshmanUTA]

3 minutes ago, Lihu said:

It probably another feel is not real things. If you feel tight at the top of the swing something's wrong anyway.

Yeah this is how I've always thought of it. You have to feel like you're loading your energy then you release it on the downswing.

 

But if the body did work like a spring/coil, the longer you held the faster you would swing right ;D

[ppine]

I am finding out about dated ideas in golf. The unwinding coil was a popular concept a long time ago. Now it obviously isn't.

[saevel25]

30 minutes ago, Lihu said:

It probably another feel is not real things. If you feel tight at the top of the swing something's wrong anyway.

I think it's more that people had no clue about the actual biomechanical movements of the golf swing. 

[Lihu]

1 minute ago, saevel25 said:

I think it's more that people had no clue about the actual biomechanical movements of the golf swing. 

True, and many people will argue based on what they feel against the science behind a good swing.

[newtogolf]

I agree with @saevel25 we're not rubber bands or springs but people think of muscle tissue and tendons as being similar but forget that it's the flexion of the muscle, not the coiling that generates the power.  There are a lot of golfers and instructors that still believe or at least describe the effect as coiling and uncoiling. 

[JonMA1]

4 hours ago, saevel25 said:

I think it's more that people had no clue about the actual biomechanical movements of the golf swing. 

 

4 hours ago, Lihu said:

It probably another feel is not real things.

Or... players and PGA instructors have been taking Hogan's Five Lessons a bit too literal since 1957. 

[Buckeyebowman]

Reminds of something I saw when Tiger was in his prime. He stopped his downswing when his hands were about waist high when a camera went off! When I go from the top I am fully committed! There's no stopping it! Makes me wonder just how much control these pros have over their golf swings!

Edited June 7, 2016 by Buckeyebowman

[Rainmaker]

This came up in a recent lesson for me.  I was coiling up into my back swing as much as I possibly could which was slightly bad for me.  Instead, I should "leave something in the tank", in the words of my teacher, so that when I change directions I can go even faster . . obviously by force, not "automatic uncoiling". 

Edit - "go even faster" is probably not quite what I mean . . ."apply even more force" is more like what I mean. 

Edited June 28, 2016 by Rainmaker

[natureboy]

On 2/21/2016 at 4:12 PM, JonMA1 said:

Or... players and PGA instructors have been taking Hogan's Five Lessons a bit too literal since 1957. 

Obviously there's no rubber band like or spring-like material in the body (let alone electric generators).

I think what Hogan ultimately was describing as important for his swing was more of a sense for timing. A slight feeling of tension may have indicated to him that he had turned 'enough' and it was time to go.

There is, however, something called the Stretch-Shortening-Cycle that might indicate why the kinetic sequence separation (leading movement) of the lead hip relative to the trail shoulder seems to be important in the golf swing as well as with pitching and batting in baseball as well as several other sports with similar basic motions. If it wasn't a potential contributor, you'd think that a pitch type motion where the shoulders and hips are synchronized would work just fine for the driver.

Edited June 29, 2016 by natureboy

[iacas]

Beside the point, @natureboy.

I'm also well aware of the stretch-shorten cycle.

[Hardspoon]

On ‎2‎/‎20‎/‎2016 at 11:08 PM, iacas said:

I want all of you reading this to try something right now.

1. Go to the top of your backswing.
2. Go a little farther. Because… why not?
3. The muscles that you feel holding yourself there, "coiled" up… relax them. Stop holding yourself there.
4. Note what happens.

Well, thanks a lot.  I tried this at the range, and shot upwards like a slingshot, bouncing off the ceiling before flying outwards into the back fence, 250 yards away.

Embarrassing.

[iacas]

1 minute ago, Hardspoon said:

Embarrassing.

Ha! I knew someone would fall for it!

[BeemerK12S]

250 yards is a great hit in my book 

[Rainmaker]

On 6/30/2016 at 6:36 AM, BeemerK12S said:

250 yards is a great hit in my book 

Agree! After reading this I went to my local range and tried the same thing . .I got into my good, coiled up position.  Then I coiled up some more because . .why not?  Then I let it go and ended up 150 yards out and 50 yards to the right.  Probably because I was wearing flip-flops.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Rainmaker