Big discovery -- you fatties, listen up!
in [Golf]
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From: ""R&B"" on 12 Mar 2007 16:19 Okay, so I'm not exactly built like John the Pflagstick Pflum. I cast a much wider shadow. Played golf this weekend for maybe the first time since the new year. If I've played since Jan. 1, it was so unmemorable that I've forgotten all about it. Anyway, I haven't played much since the cold weather set in back before Christmas. But we had a beautiful, sunshiny, 70-degree weekend here in the south, and I'd been working at all hours of the day and night for nigh on to three weeks tweaking my website and learning a few new technology tricks. So I made up my mind that at the next warm weather opportunity, I was gonna take a break and get out and play some golf. I really needed the fresh air. Saturday's round was unspectacular for many reasons. I didn't play horribly (and some might say I even played fairly well considering how little I'd played in recent months). I hit enough good shots (okay, marginally good shots) that the day wasn't a total bust. And I chipped and putted surprisingly well, considering that my short game is usually the last thing to come around after a layoff. (My putting is never far from excellent, but my chipping often goes into hybernation in the winter.) But on this day, and most days in the past year or so, my driving was horrendous. A big ugly slice seemed to appear out of nowhere Saturday, and repeated its ugly self consistently on almost every drive. Hell, I never slice. Not like this. These were big ugly banana slices. Some were so short, I felt like I could have run out there and caught them with my bare hands. I've thrown frisbees farther and straighter. And my iron play and fairway woods were not much better (I've long considered my fairway woods to be among the most dependable clubs in my bag). I couldn't make solid contact on any full swings. They were all "bone-rattlers." If I didn't play Callaways, I would have been in traction that night. Then on Sunday, it was more of the same. Both days I hit a nice long, straight drive on #1. But after that, the ball was taking a sharp right turn while in flight. My iron play was even worse than on Saturday. Couldn't hit a solid shot to save my life. And on Sunday, my chipping -- a strength only a day earlier -- had suddenly gone south for the winter (and didn't seem to realize that winter was taking the weekend off). On days like this, if I couldn't putt, I would hate this freakin' game. But then, on one shot in mid-round, and again late in the round on Sunday, I made a few swings that suddenly produced my old, more predictable shot shape. A nice high straight trajectory (with maybe a slight draw), that while not long by most "big boy" standards, is plenty long enough for me. It's exactly the kind of shotmaking I used to make when I used to play pretty well not so many years ago. What did I do differently on these shots to produce this different result? Sadly, that has too often been a question I've asked myself in the past whenever I've produced sharply different (and more favorable) results without much of a clue as to the answer. But on this occasion, I knew EXACTLY what I'd done differently, and once I tried it a few more times toward the end of the round in a successful attempt to repeat it, it switched on a huge, bright light bulb above my head. For years since first learning about "connection," my set up to the ball always included a move with my upper arms to get them out in front of my chest -- to sort of lay them on top of my front side, rather than just letting my arms hang to my sides before I began my takeaway. In this way, I could get my elbows closer, something we've all seen recommended by many experts. And indeed, several years ago when I first started playing this way, I got very good results. In recent years, I've put on a few pounds (more than a few, really), and as a result, have become...uh...shall we say, a bit "rounder" up top. I had noticed that most of my poorly struck shots were hit out on the toe, so I would try to compensate for this by inching myself ever closer to the ball at setup, figuring I just wasn't standing near enough to the ball at setup. But with my upper arms out in front of my rather round torso, I could only move so close before the hosel of the club would be aligned right behind the ball (not exactly the setup that inspires confidence, even if Fuzzy Zoeller did make a career of doing it -- I am not Fuzzy Zoeller). Honestly, I felt as if I had already moved my setup as close to the ball as it could comfortably be. Yet still, my mis-hits were mostly toed shots, something I could verify most clearly on par threes when my divots were almost always decidedly closer to me than the tee that was left in the ground after the ball was struck. But on these shots that were hit much more authoritatively Sunday afternoon, I didn't bother with the move to put my upper arms out in front of (or on top of) my chest at setup. I just let them hang to either side. Of course this "wider" setup with my arms at address flies in the face of the "elbows close together" setup advocated by such experts as Ben Hogan (who, not so coincidentally, *was* built more like John The Pflagstick Pflum). With my arms hanging at either side, there was decidedly more space between my elbows, but this change seemed to make all the difference in the world. What I suddenly realized was that when I had been putting my arms in front of my chest at address, this old setup had been forcing me to swing more "around" my round upper torso, and more importantly, put my right elbow in a position at address that was considerably farther toward the ball than it would be when the clubhead returned to impact the ball, when my elbow was tucked in more closely to my right side (not in front of my chest) as my hips cleared through the shot. This difference in path was easily a couple of inches (maybe more), which no doubt accounted for why all those shots were being toed before made this setup change. So the lesson I learned -- and will certainly apply when I next go out to play -- is to just play with my big fat body the way it is, and let my arms hang to either side of me rather than placing them at address in front of (on top of) my chest. While this "front/top" position may work well for skinny guys (and worked fine for me before I put on this extra weight in recent years), it causes a definite problem for players like me whose upper bodies occupy more cubic footage. Nobody who ever advocates this "front/top, elbows-close-together" address position in books and written articles ever bothers to mention that it works best for flatbelly golfers, but for widebodies like me, it won't work nearly as well, if at all. Now you know. In hindsight, what I realize now is that by swinging with the body I have (such as it is), I was better able to maintain structural connection, rather than letting the triangle structure that I'd laid on top of my chest at address slide one way and then the other during the swing, and completely fall to my side as my hips were clearing. In other words, a complete (and inadvertent rerouting on the way down). Not surprisingly, better connection produced more solid ballstriking, and for sure, kept the ball going straight for the remainder of the round. From the very first moment I started swinging this way, the slice disappeared immediately and I hit some of the best shots I'd hit in a year or two (including a sweet little hybrid-3 from around 190 to within about 5 feet of the hole that never left the pin while in flight). Fat boy is back. Randy
From: gp on 12 Mar 2007 17:16 Thanks for sharing your discovery. You'll enjoy this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwW9YPiqJ8w On Mar 12, 3:19 pm, "\"R&B\"" <noneofyourbusin...(a)all.com> wrote: > Okay, so I'm not exactly built like John the Pflagstick Pflum. I cast a > much wider shadow. > > Played golf this weekend for maybe the first time since the new year. If > I've played since Jan. 1, it was so unmemorable that I've forgotten all > about it. Anyway, I haven't played much since the cold weather set in back > before Christmas. But we had a beautiful, sunshiny, 70-degree weekend here > in the south, and I'd been working at all hours of the day and night for > nigh on to three weeks tweaking my website and learning a few new technology > tricks. So I made up my mind that at the next warm weather opportunity, I > was gonna take a break and get out and play some golf. I really needed the > fresh air. > > Saturday's round was unspectacular for many reasons. I didn't play horribly > (and some might say I even played fairly well considering how little I'd > played in recent months). I hit enough good shots (okay, marginally good > shots) that the day wasn't a total bust. And I chipped and putted > surprisingly well, considering that my short game is usually the last thing > to come around after a layoff. (My putting is never far from excellent, but > my chipping often goes into hybernation in the winter.) But on this day, > and most days in the past year or so, my driving was horrendous. A big ugly > slice seemed to appear out of nowhere Saturday, and repeated its ugly self > consistently on almost every drive. Hell, I never slice. Not like this. > These were big ugly banana slices. Some were so short, I felt like I could > have run out there and caught them with my bare hands. I've thrown frisbees > farther and straighter. And my iron play and fairway woods were not much > better (I've long considered my fairway woods to be among the most > dependable clubs in my bag). I couldn't make solid contact on any full > swings. They were all "bone-rattlers." If I didn't play Callaways, I would > have been in traction that night. > > Then on Sunday, it was more of the same. Both days I hit a nice long, > straight drive on #1. But after that, the ball was taking a sharp right > turn while in flight. My iron play was even worse than on Saturday. > Couldn't hit a solid shot to save my life. And on Sunday, my chipping -- a > strength only a day earlier -- had suddenly gone south for the winter (and > didn't seem to realize that winter was taking the weekend off). On days > like this, if I couldn't putt, I would hate this freakin' game. > > But then, on one shot in mid-round, and again late in the round on Sunday, I > made a few swings that suddenly produced my old, more predictable shot > shape. A nice high straight trajectory (with maybe a slight draw), that > while not long by most "big boy" standards, is plenty long enough for me. > It's exactly the kind of shotmaking I used to make when I used to play > pretty well not so many years ago. > > What did I do differently on these shots to produce this different result? > > Sadly, that has too often been a question I've asked myself in the past > whenever I've produced sharply different (and more favorable) results > without much of a clue as to the answer. But on this occasion, I knew > EXACTLY what I'd done differently, and once I tried it a few more times > toward the end of the round in a successful attempt to repeat it, it > switched on a huge, bright light bulb above my head. > > For years since first learning about "connection," my set up to the ball > always included a move with my upper arms to get them out in front of my > chest -- to sort of lay them on top of my front side, rather than just > letting my arms hang to my sides before I began my takeaway. In this way, I > could get my elbows closer, something we've all seen recommended by many > experts. And indeed, several years ago when I first started playing this > way, I got very good results. > > In recent years, I've put on a few pounds (more than a few, really), and as > a result, have become...uh...shall we say, a bit "rounder" up top. > > I had noticed that most of my poorly struck shots were hit out on the toe, > so I would try to compensate for this by inching myself ever closer to the > ball at setup, figuring I just wasn't standing near enough to the ball at > setup. But with my upper arms out in front of my rather round torso, I > could only move so close before the hosel of the club would be aligned right > behind the ball (not exactly the setup that inspires confidence, even if > Fuzzy Zoeller did make a career of doing it -- I am not Fuzzy Zoeller). > Honestly, I felt as if I had already moved my setup as close to the ball as > it could comfortably be. Yet still, my mis-hits were mostly toed shots, > something I could verify most clearly on par threes when my divots were > almost always decidedly closer to me than the tee that was left in the > ground after the ball was struck. > > But on these shots that were hit much more authoritatively Sunday afternoon, > I didn't bother with the move to put my upper arms out in front of (or on > top of) my chest at setup. I just let them hang to either side. > > Of course this "wider" setup with my arms at address flies in the face of > the "elbows close together" setup advocated by such experts as Ben Hogan > (who, not so coincidentally, *was* built more like John The Pflagstick > Pflum). With my arms hanging at either side, there was decidedly more space > between my elbows, but this change seemed to make all the difference in the > world. > > What I suddenly realized was that when I had been putting my arms in front > of my chest at address, this old setup had been forcing me to swing more > "around" my round upper torso, and more importantly, put my right elbow in a > position at address that was considerably farther toward the ball than it > would be when the clubhead returned to impact the ball, when my elbow was > tucked in more closely to my right side (not in front of my chest) as my > hips cleared through the shot. This difference in path was easily a couple > of inches (maybe more), which no doubt accounted for why all those shots > were being toed before made this setup change. > > So the lesson I learned -- and will certainly apply when I next go out to > play -- is to just play with my big fat body the way it is, and let my arms > hang to either side of me rather than placing them at address in front of > (on top of) my chest. While this "front/top" position may work well for > skinny guys (and worked fine for me before I put on this extra weight in > recent years), it causes a definite problem for players like me whose upper > bodies occupy more cubic footage. Nobody who ever advocates this > "front/top, elbows-close-together" address position in books and written > articles ever bothers to mention that it works best for flatbelly golfers, > but for widebodies like me, it won't work nearly as well, if at all. > > Now you know. > > In hindsight, what I realize now is that by swinging with the body I have > (such as it is), I was better able to maintain structural connection, rather > than letting the triangle structure that I'd laid on top of my chest at > address slide one way and then the other during the swing, and completely > fall to my side as my hips were clearing. In other words, a complete (and > inadvertent rerouting on the way down). > > Not surprisingly, better connection produced more solid ballstriking, and > for sure, kept the ball going straight for the remainder of the round. From > the very first moment I started swinging this way, the slice disappeared > immediately and I hit some of the best shots I'd hit in a year or two > (including a sweet little hybrid-3 from around 190 to within about 5 feet of > the hole that never left the pin while in flight). > > Fat boy is back. > > Randy
From: AKA gray asphalt on 13 Mar 2007 00:56 Here's another clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vxaiw03YIg
From: David Laville on 13 Mar 2007 19:09 On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:19:12 -0400, "\"R&B\"" <noneofyourbusiness(a)all.com> wrote: >But on these shots that were hit much more authoritatively Sunday afternoon, >I didn't bother with the move to put my upper arms out in front of (or on >top of) my chest at setup. I just let them hang to either side. Arms on top of your chest is just the surface issue, you have to look below the surface. If you put your arms on top of your chest you can never get your right forearm to trace the proper lines and geometry it needs to. David Laville, G.S.E.M. The Golfing Machine Authorized Instructor TB-8982
From: cja on 15 Mar 2007 08:06
On Mar 12, 4:19 pm, "\"R&B\"" <noneofyourbusin...(a)all.com> wrote: > So the lesson I learned -- and will certainly apply when I next go out to > play -- is to just play with my big fat body the way it is ... > Here's an idea: lose some weight! Get in shape! Why is that not an option? Inertia is powerful, and it's easy to be lazy. There are any number of excuses people have for not making time for their health and fitness, beginning with the sad fact that most of us spend a great deal of our time and energy at work. I don't want to tell people how to live their lives, but I know that staying in shape improves my quality of life and my enhances my ability to do my job (which is all mental, by the way); most importantly, my golf game benefits as well. - cja |