By Tim Dietrich
The great Ben Hogan said that the biggest fault in the average golfer is that they don’t start down with their lower body from the top of the swing.
Why is the transition so hard? Well first of all it occurs at the moment when the golf club is most vulnerable to be knocked off plane. When the club changes direction from the backswing to the forward swing for one instant the club is still and therefore unstable. If we hit from the top using our hands and shoulders, inevitably we move the club and arms outside of the ideal swing plane. We break Hogan’s plane of glass. This leads to all kinds of problems. To get a real understanding of what I mean, think of when someone pushes a child on a swing. We can’t push the child when the swing is at the top of the arc, we have to wait until the swing starts down and re-establishes its path and the chains become taut before we push.
A second reason is that the average golfer in their attempt to hit the ball as hard as possible simply lacks the patience to delay their arms and shoulders until they are in the “delivery position.” This position is when the hands are about hip height in the forward swing. They fire everything at once instead of sequentially. There is no time to allow the lower body to get ready for impact. The backswing starts with a shoulder/arm movement, but the through swing needs to be triggered by a different part of the body, namely the lower body.
A third reason why the transition is so challenging is that many people can’t separate or feel lower body movement (hips and legs) from upper body (shoulders and arms) due to an over-tightening of the entire body which stifles kinesthetic awareness.
And finally, and maybe most importantly, starting down with the lower body just doesn’t feel as fast or powerful as using the shoulders and arms. This however is entirely off. How far could you throw something while sitting on a chair? Now I know you are thinking that there are trick shot artists and paraplegics that can hit the ball a long way with just their arms but believe me, they would hit it even farther if they could use their legs as well. A boxer can’t throw a penetrating punch without stepping in and a baseball player’s swing always starts with their lower body. Like all of golf’s moves, you need to understand it; visualize it; feel it; practice it and trust it before you will make the transition move your own. But once you do your golf swing will “transition” to the next level.
Mahalo for reading!
Great description of the swing and the reason why someone like myself is so inconsistent.