Sometimes there is a small observation described in golf books that - "it has been observed with high speed photography that pros slow down their body turn during the hitting zone." And then the book continues on to another subject.
But why?
I have never seen any further commentary on this point except in Theodore Jorgensen's book - The Physics of Golf.
After testing this aspect myself, I know there is a lot to be said and explained here that is not included in standard golf teaching.
OK - what is it?
It is all about SNAP!
In other words, it is understanding how to use the whole body as a whip, and how to transfer energy / power from your large leg and torso muscles thru the arms and hands down to the clubhead.
When the lion trainer snaps his whip in the circus cage, the whip DOES NOT make the cracking sound by the tip hitting back into the body of the whip. Rather, the whip snaps because the tip has just BROKEN THE SOUND BARRIER. Yes, the tip of the whip is traveling at MACH 1!!! - like military jets. And that was all powered from one arm movement! This has been proven by scientific experiments. The tip is traveling at a speed greater than the speed of sound when it cracks. The crack is a sonic boom!
Imagine a children's game. There are five children and they all line up next to each other in one long line and holding hands. The whole line, all 5 children, start to run forward together.
First, the first child on the farthest left side stops. Because the children are still firmly holding hands, the second child is soon forced to stop by the action of the farthest child on the left. And so down the line thru children 3 and 4. What then happens to child nr. 5 on the right? He or she FLIES thru the air.
Why?
Because the accumulated momentum (a type of energy) has been transferred from child 1 to child 2 to child 3 etc. until much of the accumulated momentum of the 4 previous children are transferred to child 5. And that momentum is so so large that the child literally goes flying thru the air.
The same also happens in a whip. The hand moving the handle brings the total whip into one long pulling movement. The whip is still fairly straight and the hand is simply pulling it. Then suddenly, the hand changes direction and creates a WAVE in the whip. This WAVE of ENERGY runs down the whip transferring more and more momentum (energy) down to the tip of the whip. When all of the energy has reached the tip of the whip, the tip end is traveling so fast that it BREAKS THE SOUND BARRIER!
What does this have to do with the golf swing?
Why do pros look so slow but hit is to far? Why does high speed photography show pros SLOWING DOWN THEIR BODY TURN in the hitting zone?
The answer that is not described in any golf book except Jorgensen's. What I want to clearly communicate right now, is that after the initial downswing phase of accelerating the whole body, the pros start moving their bodies like a coiled up whip and transfer energy (clubhead speed) down to the clubhead, by a coordinated process of first slowing down their hips, then their shoulders, and then their hands to allow the SNAP to happen thru the body and then down thru the hands down to the clubhead.
This concept is new and must be trained. It will feel unusal at first. You need to get the feeling of transferred energy from your hips and shoulder turn DOWN INTO THE HAND AND THEN INTO THE CLUBHEAD. SNAP is the mental key. Feel the SNAP and you will be on the way to more distance. SNAP is almost invisible to see but it is there and greatly increases clubhead speed. Don't believe me! Try it!
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
