MarMill

Be Positive!
Albatross 2024 Club
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When you swing do you feel more pushing or pulling? Or is it all pulling but from lead or trail side feel?
 
Could you elaborate more? What portions of the swing?
 
Push on backswing, pull on down swing. Just following my instructors drills these are the feels I should have in my left side from the hip thru the shoulder and into my hand all in sequence.
 
Could you elaborate more? What portions of the swing?
It is a broad generalization because I think you do a little of both. Just an overall feel and what you think. Backswing and downswing. For me it feels like I use more trail side pulling through the hitting zone to my finish. When the lead side works more my swing gets out of sync.
 
I guess maybe pulling as my only downswing thought is clearing the left hip and it feels like the club is just along for the ride.
 
I've been told "pulling" on the down swing since the lead hand controls the the path of the club, while "pulling" the trailing club head through impact.

I have also heard the lead hand just guides the club path, and is basically just along for the ride.
This goes along with being told, the trail hand supplies the "push" for some of the swing speed generated at impact.

Perhaps its a 51%/49% type of thing that feels different to different golfers.

One thing I have always thought about, knowing what "I think" I know now, that being right hand dominant, maybe I should have learned to golf left handed at the beginning?
 
I don't feel like I push or pull in the backswing. I try to turn my body in one piece then at the top turn through. I guess there's a bit of a pull and then release on the down swing
 
On the swing, I feel like it’s a mixture. Starts with a pull at the top, moving to a push just before impact.
 
I was told “ It’s always easier to control the club face by pulling vs pushing”. Hands ahead of ball at impact implies pulling too
 
pulling.…...
 
Okay. The feels now for me is in transition I am pushing away from target and then it feels like everything gets pulled through!
 
I guess I feel the push on the takeaway and the pull through contact.
 
I don't really think about whether I push or pull. I got rid of most of the mental swing stuff some months back and simple change focus areas.
 
FWIW, my last instructor got some goofy thoughts in his head in the 2018/2019 off season and started having me try and "push" with my trail arm. OMG, it screwed my game up worse than a change ever has. It was so bad that I started the 2019 season at a 6.4 and after a few weeks of his instruction, I could not break 100. I ended up finding a new coach that actually knows my old instructor and he could not figure out why he would have me do that.
 
FWIW, my last instructor got some goofy thoughts in his head in the 2018/2019 off season and started having me try and "push" with my trail arm. OMG, it screwed my game up worse than a change ever has. It was so bad that I started the 2019 season at a 6.4 and after a few weeks of his instruction, I could not break 100. I ended up finding a new coach that actually knows my old instructor and he could not figure out why he would have me do that.
Oh wow - that is strange!
 
Oh wow - that is strange!
We had such a bad off season that he was not booking many lessons so it gave him time to come up with crazy theories. I worked with him for years and we did some really good work together. But last year, I fell off his rocker.
 
We had such a bad off season that he was not booking many lessons so it gave him time to come up with crazy theories. I worked with him for years and we did some really good work together. But last year, I fell off his rocker.
Wow. That’s crazy.
 
If I ever feel a push sensation in my golf swing I will give myself a slap. The slap becomes an upper-cut if it happens again.
 
Actually , you'd be surprised that there are quite a few promoting a push by the trail hand (some earlier in the swing as seen in the AMG video below from 3:50 onwards)



Bertie Cordle 'lag tension' theories where there is positive hand couple into impact (see from 29:40 onwards)



Mike Jacobs /Brian Manzella/Richard Franklin





Brian Manzella 'Out-Toss Maneouvre' with the driver (I won't bother including that video).

Personally , I think all of them are unconvincing golf theories and all of them can be proven wrong by physics.
 
Thought I'd might add that all muscles in the human body 'pull' even though it might sometimes equate to a push feeling when in contact with the object.

Here is a one-armed golfer that seems to just pull . One theorist would say he is the purest form of a 'A Left Arm Swinging' action but is he really only 'pulling' ?



If you look closely he does seem to have a very flat swing and is connecting his upper left arm to his left pec area. So is his left pec 'pushing' against the left arm too?

Theoretically we could say:

1. His upper body pivot and left shoulder socket is pulling his left arm down and out (like throwing a frisbee backhanded)
2. His left shoulder girdle muscles are helping to pull his left arm 'down and out ' too.
3. We have upper body pivot pushing his left pec against his upper left arm 'out' (for a certain small period of time).

So using some mix of point 1-3 , the golfer has intuitively found a 'way' (I suspect without knowing any physics of biomechanics or other golf theories ) to swing a golf club very efficiently with whatever capabilities he has at his disposal.

I think I have to agree with Shawn Clement philosophy that as humans, we are 'hard wired' to utilise forces/torques more efficiently (and safer for our body) if we let our CNS (Central Nervous System) do all the 'biomechanics' for us (ie. using our 'external focus intent on completing a task' ).
 
Thought I'd might add that all muscles in the human body 'pull' even though it might sometimes equate to a push feeling when in contact with the object.

Here is a one-armed golfer that seems to just pull . One theorist would say he is the purest form of a 'A Left Arm Swinging' action but is he really only 'pulling' ?



If you look closely he does seem to have a very flat swing and is connecting his upper left arm to his left pec area. So is his left pec 'pushing' against the left arm too?

Theoretically we could say:

1. His upper body pivot and left shoulder socket is pulling his left arm down and out (like throwing a frisbee backhanded)
2. His left shoulder girdle muscles are helping to pull his left arm 'down and out ' too.
3. We have upper body pivot pushing his left pec against his upper left arm 'out' (for a certain small period of time).

So using some mix of point 1-3 , the golfer has intuitively found a 'way' (I suspect without knowing any physics of biomechanics or other golf theories ) to swing a golf club very efficiently with whatever capabilities he has at his disposal.

I think I have to agree with Shawn Clement philosophy that as humans, we are 'hard wired' to utilise forces/torques more efficiently (and safer for our body) if we let our CNS (Central Nervous System) do all the 'biomechanics' for us (ie. using our 'external focus intent on completing a task' ).

Interesting. I do like Shawn clement with some of his thoughts for prepping before the swing. (intermediate point, ball flight).
 
Works for me. I gave up going to the range and trying various golf biomechanical theories and found I swung better and with less strain if I just swung to meet an 'external focus intent' . It was quite difficult to ingrain (and still is) because I'd brainwashed myself with 'biomechanical' movements and positions of body parts.
 
I’ve had success with:
1. Pull with both hands
2. Pull with the lead, push with the trail
3. Pull with the lead, trail arm is just along for the ride
4. Push with the trail arm, lead arm is just along for the ride
5. Pull with both hands til halfway down, then trail arm pushes.

My thoughts from having used all these approaches are:

I think that pulling with both hands gives you the best shot at getting into the classic impact position with open hips and open shoulders with the trail elbow slightly bent. The more you introduce the trail arm push, the more you will square up your shoulders and straighten the trail arm. I think the push also lends itself to an “active” and early release whereas most instructors promote a “passive” and late release. Active release can cause injury, so I’d steer clear of that.

Just make sure your grip is strong enough to square up the clubface passively. Weak grips leads to early active release or standing up through the shot to try to whip it to square it up. The left thumb should be about 30* to the right of top dead center.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Could you elaborate more? What portions of the swing?
I try to feel/focus on rotation in my core to start the swing and in the downswing, and not feel any push or pull. I feel a pull or push it usually translates into me doing it with my hands and bad things happen.
 
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