Squish n turn – Instruction & Academy – GolfWRX

Posted in the forums by member: Vision54

“Squish” said…

Once one understands the 7th cervical as the swing center, it proves that golf is not a left or right sided game.

One must visualize the spine as a pendulum, with the fixed point in space being 7C. The sacrum or tailbone swings only a distance of 12 inches from the top of the swing, within the boundaries of the knees.

The sacrum swings six inches from address to the top, and twelve inches to the finish. That’s not much movement. The sacrum must be allowed to swing, aided via gravity. It is not a bump, slide, push or pull, but a swing of the sacrum and hip. From the top of the swing, the first move must however be a turn. So it is a compound action, a compression of the side coupled with a turn, therefore a swing and turn, not a swing then turn. The free turn of the shoulder girdle around C7, coupled with a proper release, is the key to distance, power and accuracy. The rebound of on plane shoulder muscles supply the oomph. The release or snap of the club head by swinging out, supplies the speed.

The turn of the hip does not produce power, the hip turn provides position. It is commonly mistakenly referred to as a clearing of the hip. There must be resistance to this return back to the ball, just as there should be resistance taking it to the top, to keep 7C stable or centered. This “resistance” is achieved via a torquing of the left tibia and fibula in the back swing and a Torquing of the right tibia and fibula in the return swing through impact. This torquing, from the knee down can clearly be seen in all elite swings. The eversion (coming out) of the heels, limits the hip turn in either direction.

What allows the hips to swing is a detachment of the heel of the opposing side. How the heel detaches is paramount to a sound swing. The respective side compresses with the contraction of the quadratus lumborum a sheet like muscle that attaches the twelfth rib to the crest of the hip. This muscle, because of it center location, equally drops the shoulder as it raises the heel. Raising the heel or dropping the shoulder independently will cause a train wreck.

If one can visualize the rotation of the shoulder girdle around C7 and the spine and sacrum swinging under C7, one can see how important it is to keep it centered on an X, Y, and Z axis. Any lateral moment in the downswing, of the top of the spine target ward, will cause one to decelerate the club head. One is trying to generate centrifugal force, via a minimal, centered, centripetal burst, by letting it go throwing the club out. The grip must be correct, the pressure must be maintained at the pinky of the left hand and most important the base of the right index finger against the handle.

Hitting up on the ball supplies compression. Because the spine swings up on the left side, the right side rotating shoulder girdle is coming down hard. So the faster one hits up, the faster the right comes down. This is not a rocking of the shoulders; it is a free turn of the shoulders coupled with an upward swing of the spine as the ball is struck.

The release is an action of the left humerus. It must be done with the left arm. From the top, coming into impact, the back of the left hand and the left elbow must be pointing target ward.

At the moment of impact, the left elbow should snap, now pointing down, as the back of the left hand continues on its path of the free rotating shoulder girdle. This action of the left humerus is done from the left rotor cuff. The humerus was rotate away and loaded from take away.

What I feel at the top is that I want to hit the ball as the weight transference occurs.

No thought to transferring the weight just turn from the top. and hit the ball.
The “hitting up” is a given as an effect of the swing of the spine.

If I get to the left side before the strike, all power is lost.

I want my weight behind the ball through impact. I finish left by standing up.

That allowed me to release.

Squish n turn – Instruction & Academy – GolfWRX