Post by Pete Hurrikane on Jun 15, 2015 22:04:42 GMT -5
A well known, slightly out of condition, golf instructor is famed for stating, "All you have is the path of your hands, force along that path, and torque about that path." I really like this statement and would love to hear a simplified explanation of how it is efficiently achieved. Like I'm 7 years old and I definitely have no interest in physics. The aforementioned instructor talks about Alpha, Beta and Gamma Torques and D-Plane and it all sounds very clever (yawn) but I just want to hit the ball better. Please don't bombard me with complicated explanations of these terms, just give me simple drills that will help me achieve better ball striking.
A brief explanation of the terms I mentioned above...
Alpha Torque is maintaining hinge from the start of the downswing to where the lead arm reaches a position parallel to the ground. This is known as P5 (see image below) and a common fault at this point would be casting the club (throwing away the wrist hinge before P5).
Beta Torque is basically swinging from a steep shaft plane in the back swing to a flatter plane in the downswing while maintaining shoulder restriction and thus maintaining a backward leaning spine axis throughout the down swing. (This is not easy to explain in one sentence and I will be expanding on this later).
Gamma Torque is explained as a twisting of the hands from P6 to P7. I wouldn't advise my most hated enemy to try this. If the hands are set properly at address and aren't twisted during the back swing, then no twisting would be required during the downswing.
D-Plane is face orientation and club head direction through impact which determines path, face angles and downward/upward angle of attack. All of these conditions create flight path, launch angles, ball compression and back and side spin.
I have probably oversimplified these terms but I am glad to leave it like this. If, however, I am being misleading with any of these please feel free to correct me. Now that we got the complicated stuff out of the way, I would like to open the door for some discussion on how to achieve some of the swing characteristics seen in the images above.
A brief explanation of the terms I mentioned above...
Alpha Torque is maintaining hinge from the start of the downswing to where the lead arm reaches a position parallel to the ground. This is known as P5 (see image below) and a common fault at this point would be casting the club (throwing away the wrist hinge before P5).
Beta Torque is basically swinging from a steep shaft plane in the back swing to a flatter plane in the downswing while maintaining shoulder restriction and thus maintaining a backward leaning spine axis throughout the down swing. (This is not easy to explain in one sentence and I will be expanding on this later).
Gamma Torque is explained as a twisting of the hands from P6 to P7. I wouldn't advise my most hated enemy to try this. If the hands are set properly at address and aren't twisted during the back swing, then no twisting would be required during the downswing.
D-Plane is face orientation and club head direction through impact which determines path, face angles and downward/upward angle of attack. All of these conditions create flight path, launch angles, ball compression and back and side spin.
I have probably oversimplified these terms but I am glad to leave it like this. If, however, I am being misleading with any of these please feel free to correct me. Now that we got the complicated stuff out of the way, I would like to open the door for some discussion on how to achieve some of the swing characteristics seen in the images above.