Golf Digest analyzes amateur's shot 80 once "extracurricular" swing

[zero]

I assume he did a drill, got excited about the results, and went live with it. Drills are good, but are not the goal IMHO. You don't see marathon runners doing full out sprint intervals during a race. It's to build a specific competency to incorporate.

[Kalnoky]

52 minutes ago, zero said:

I assume he did a drill, got excited about the results, and went live with it. 

There's something very humorous about this, if true. 

 

[GolfLug]

His swing from A5 (5th frame) as broken by @iacas onwards through flippy impact looks like any 19 handicapper's although overall torso stays fairly even throughout the swing so he has some sense of getting back to the ball.

I know plenty of 19s that have shot 80 once.

 

[Kalnoky]

5 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

I know plenty of 19s that have shot 80 once.

Sure. I shot 89 once w/ a weak handsy flippy swing. Imagine before the internet, or even before television, how many self-taught people figured out a way to shoot 80.

If he shot 80 once a week all summer with that swing, that would really be something.

[zero]

1 hour ago, Kalnoky said:

There's something very humorous about this, if true. 

 

I know I've done it in desperate times. Wouldn't let a video camera within a 10 miles radius though :)

[natureboy]

1 hour ago, GolfLug said:

onwards through flippy impact

Given his arm action it definitely looks flippy, but I'd be curious (like looking at a car wreck) whether the club head has passed his hands at impact. Ball doesn't know or care how you got there only that the vectors are right through impact.

[colin007]

1 hour ago, Kalnoky said:

Sure. I shot 89 once w/ a weak handsy flippy swing. Imagine before the internet, or even before television, how many self-taught people figured out a way to shoot 80.

If he shot 80 once a week all summer with that swing, that would really be something.

Shooting 89 isn't shooting 80.

[GolfLug]

14 hours ago, natureboy said:

Given his arm action it definitely looks flippy, but I'd be curious (like looking at a car wreck) whether the club head has passed his hands at impact. Ball doesn't know or care how you got there only that the vectors are right through impact.

Yes, technically, even with a flip, the clubhead can travel level enough in the impact zone which is all you need to get the ball in the air. Just can't do it all the time.

[Kalnoky]

17 hours ago, colin007 said:

Shooting 89 isn't shooting 80.

Indeed. Thank you Professor.

I was agreeing with @GolfLug that people occasionally play beyond their ability.  

[natureboy]

3 hours ago, GolfLug said:

Yes, technically, even with a flip, the clubhead can travel level enough in the impact zone which is all you need to get the ball in the air. Just can't do it all the time.

Technically, everyone who releases the club (does not hold it off) flips (lead wrist dorsiflexion) a bit. Good players just do it after impact and get their hands to the ball first.

[iacas]

21 minutes ago, natureboy said:

Technically, everyone who releases the club (does not hold it off) flips (lead wrist dorsiflexion) a bit. Good players just do it after impact and get their hands to the ball first.

Those aren't flips.

[natureboy]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Those aren't flips.

It's the same relative lead wrist motion (lead wrist dorsiflexion trail palmar flexion with some forearm roll). Not a flip in golf terms because they don't do it through impact.

You don't want to stop that physical motion of the wrists completely, just have it happen in the follow-through / finish, right? I think some newer golfers focused on avoiding a flip think any wrist motion = bad, but it's more a matter of correct timing. This guy may have found an ugly swing kludge to help his release timing.

The OP video and pics don't show the golfer from face on. It's quite possible his weird move allows him to keep hands ahead at impact, but not in an ideal way.

Edited September 16, 2016 by natureboy

[GolfLug]

58 minutes ago, natureboy said:

It's the same relative lead wrist motion (lead wrist dorsiflexion trail palmar flexion with some forearm roll). Not a flip in golf terms because they don't do it through impact.

You don't want to stop that physical motion of the wrists completely, just have it happen in the follow-through / finish, right? I think some newer golfers focused on avoiding a flip think any wrist motion = bad, but it's more a matter of correct timing. This guy may have found an ugly swing kludge to help his release timing.

The OP video and pics don't show the golfer from face on. It's quite possible his weird move allows him to keep hands ahead at impact, but not in an ideal way.

Ok, the fellow is 'scooping' in the OP, as in trying his damnest hard to have the club-head outrace his hands into impact.. Is that differentiating enough?

[natureboy]

1 hour ago, GolfLug said:

Ok, the fellow is 'scooping' in the OP, as in trying his damnest hard to have the club-head outrace his hands into impact.. Is that differentiating enough?

Right but given how far back the clubhead was to start, does he get there (scooped / flipped) at impact? His hands may have tied or won the race.

[GolfLug]

2 minutes ago, natureboy said:

Right but given how far back the clubhead was to start, does he get there (scooped / flipped) at impact? His hands may have tied or won the race.

Yep, it's a crap-shoot every time. 

[natureboy]

26 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

Yep, it's a crap-shoot every time. 

I'm saying he could well have built in an automatic 'delay' to his normal bad downswing that ends up working well enough repeatedly to make it much less of a crap shoot. A face on video would be more telling - and likely terrifying.

[iacas]

17 hours ago, natureboy said:

It's the same relative lead wrist motion (lead wrist dorsiflexion trail palmar flexion with some forearm roll). Not a flip in golf terms because they don't do it through impact.

Right, so why post pictures of someone's follow-through and say something like "these guys flip too"?

Pointless and/or confusing.

[natureboy]

On 9/17/2016 at 7:52 AM, iacas said:

Right, so why post pictures of someone's follow-through and say something like "these guys flip too"?

Pointless and/or confusing.

Many - not all - who struggle or are aware of avoiding a 'flip' equate that actual physical movement of the wrists with the fault of the 'flip' rather than the relative timing within the swing. Quite a few that I've seen fight really hard to 'hold off' the release rather than timing the release better to just through / beyond impact.

In terms of the OP swing like I said he may have found an ugly, inelegant kludge to consistently delay the clubhead from overtaking the hands at impact given his very armsy downswing. His approach may take a likely flip out of the equation for him.

The OP swing is clearly not ideal technique, but may work well enough and repeatably for him.