1213 replies to this topic

[marte]

SQUISH...I'm really having trouble grasping the concept of the raising of the right (back) heel in a "clockwise" direction.  Please be patient.  Let's say, at address, the inside ankle bone of my right foot is at  8 o'clock.  If I raise my heel and twist it in a "clockwise" direction it's going to move towards 9-10 o'clock forcing my right knee to move from 12 to 1 o'clock (right knee rotates to the right away from my left leg.  When I do this the clubface stays open.  When I raise my heel and twist it "counter clockwise" the inside ankle bone moves from 8 o'clock to 7 o'clock and my right knee rotates in toward my left leg.  This feels comfortable to me.  So are either of these right or wrong or am I totally misunderstanding the whole raising and twisting of the right heel idea?  Maybe someone has a video or diagram of how this works?  Thanks.

[Squish]

 Ricco, on 18 April 2012 - 08:36 PM, said:

I felt really strange doing this and I'm playing good golf right now. I'm 58 and play to a 5. Best in my life. I took over 20 years off from the game and returned about 6 years ago with a vengeance . I am never satisfied and am willing to change my swing if something makes sense. This does to me. Anyway the heel movement was difficult at first. I thought I was pretty flexible but when I tried this the first time my left foot felt paralyzed. Thought I was going to have to reach down and move it. Easy to flair out the left foot, I play that way but to move the heel in was foreign but I did it and I'm thinking about taking this to the course. What I'm really excited about is the driver. I play a 9* and always deloft it at address and play the ball off the inside of my left heel, never occurred to me to use the manufactured loft and let it lay flat. It looks open this way but moved up a bit it will be square. Going fishing for 5 days so will have to wait till I get back. Love this forum and the people on it

Ricco

You lucky dog, all that space.
I have an area up to a full wedge or easy 8 irons.
I swing every day.

I only hit one ball then chase it like a dog for a little exercise.

[Squish]

 marte, on 20 April 2012 - 11:16 AM, said:

SQUISH...I'm really having trouble grasping the concept of the raising of the right (back) heel in a "clockwise" direction.  Please be patient.  Let's say, at address, the inside ankle bone of my right foot is at  8 o'clock.  If I raise my heel and twist it in a "clockwise" direction it's going to move towards 9-10 o'clock forcing my right knee to move from 12 to 1 o'clock (right knee rotates to the right away from my left leg.  When I do this the clubface stays open.  When I raise my heel and twist it "counter clockwise" the inside ankle bone moves from 8 o'clock to 7 o'clock and my right knee rotates in toward my left leg.  This feels comfortable to me.  So are either of these right or wrong or am I totally misunderstanding the whole raising and twisting of the right heel idea?  Maybe someone has a video or diagram of how this works?  Thanks.

Raising the heel is simply detaching it. I should be off the ground only 1/2 inch or so with ankle leaning left.
That clockwise action sags the right knee lateral toward the left, and the inside of the heel is always seeking the ground.
It stabilizes the swing center. and keeps you from spinning out.

I will get some visuals I had posted last year for you.

[PingG10guy]

 Squish, on 17 April 2012 - 06:15 AM, said:

"Turn the front heel inward. (Turning the front toe outward would be a different action.)"

By turning the front foot out, one is craving for a cut or slice, as it puts the weight left with open hips.
It promotes over the top.

The stance is 12 to 15 inches heel to heel.
I find with closed heels and square toes, the flight is always straight to draw, with the hip still able to clear....
IF..... one torques the right foot from the top, away from the target, to begin the transition.
That's the squat.

So you'd just be turning other muscles on or off?  Does this automate internal rotation of the lead hip?

[Squish]

 PingG10guy, on 20 April 2012 - 11:31 AM, said:

 Squish, on 17 April 2012 - 06:15 AM, said:

"Turn the front heel inward. (Turning the front toe outward would be a different action.)"

By turning the front foot out, one is craving for a cut or slice, as it puts the weight left with open hips.
It promotes over the top.

The stance is 12 to 15 inches heel to heel.
I find with closed heels and square toes, the flight is always straight to draw, with the hip still able to clear....
IF..... one torques the right foot from the top, away from the target, to begin the transition.
That's the squat.

So you'd just be turning other muscles on or off?  Does this automate internal rotation of the lead hip?

Good to hear from you Ping.

It is a retro action, all I do from this closed heel stance is draw the right knee in and back, to the top.
Draw the left knee in and back at transition, like linkage.
The torquing of the opposing legs supplies resistance to keep the swing center.

[Squish]

Marte,

Ping is raising his heel proper.
It's a reaction to the contraction........of the QL.


 av-77622.jpg   4.03K   72 downloads

[marte]

"Raising the heel is simply detaching it. I should be off the ground only 1/2 inch or so with ankle leaning left."

That clarifies.  Thank you!  Looking forward to the visuals...appreciate you taking the time to do that.

[Squish]

 marte, on 20 April 2012 - 11:49 AM, said:

"Raising the heel is simply detaching it. I should be off the ground only 1/2 inch or so with ankle leaning left."

That clarifies.  Thank you!  Looking forward to the visuals...appreciate you taking the time to do that.

Great,
The tibia and fibula are turning clockwise to tether the side of that heel.
At the same time the fibula is rotating CCW.
Because it can, it is perfectly natural. The torquing keeps the weight centered as it generates the turn.

If one were to push off the rear foot at the top, the center moves ahead and forces a flip to catch up.
Staying back lets the clubhead lead.

[Squish]

All these moves are reactions hitting the ball while in balance, counterbalanced front to back side to side.
So they are subtle and fleeting.

The old Scots used to say... "Let your body into it ! "

"Let".. means allow... not put."

http://books.google...... golf&f=false


Tension is a swing killer.

Setup rules.

Edited by Squish, 20 April 2012 - 08:35 PM.

[Yozz76]

This thread is gold.  However, would it be controversial if I was to say that too much focus is being placed on the role of the right foot?

For me, the description of the left heel (RH golfer) being turned towards the right foot is where the focus should be.

This doesn't mean that the left foot needs to be flaired out overly.  Golf shoes have spikes (soft or steel) for a reason!

Am I wide of the mark to say that the action of torquing the left heel towards the right foot is to create an elastic feeling from the ground and up through the left leg enabling to hit/swing against a firm left side?  Whenever I watch Hogan swinging on Youtube, this is what I see.

[Squish]

 Yozz76, on 20 April 2012 - 06:01 PM, said:

This thread is gold.  However, would it be controversial if I was to say that too much focus is being placed on the role of the right foot?

For me, the description of the left heel (RH golfer) being turned towards the right foot is where the focus should be.

This doesn't mean that the left foot needs to be flaired out overly.  Golf shoes have spikes (soft or steel) for a reason!

Am I wide of the mark to say that the action of torquing the left heel towards the right foot is to create an elastic feeling from the ground and up through the left leg enabling to hit/swing against a firm left side?  Whenever I watch Hogan swinging on Youtube, this is what I see.

The focus on the right is my fault by using raise the heel vs. detach the heel.
I took me a while to get the Idea across to my friend Marte. It is clear now, and I will use the latter.

I defiantly torque the left in, and draw the knee cap back at the transition, turning into the left instep.

For balance.

[megaprimatus]

I may not understand all of Squish's concepts; however, I have been applying some of his principles. Recently, I have been working on forcing the medial rotation of the right arm from the top through impact. Yesterday at the range I was surprised at the power created by doing so. I noticed a high frequency pitch to the sound of the balls being struck.

Just got back from playing nine holes. Created a super high frequency pitch. Collapsed the face of my driver.

I am very interested in the calibration aspect of the methodology described here. I need to learn how to dial this thing in.

Thanks for the sharing all the great concepts Squish.

Edited by megaprimatus, 20 April 2012 - 07:52 PM.

[Squish]

 megaprimatus, on 20 April 2012 - 07:51 PM, said:

I may not understand all of Squish's concepts; however, I have been applying some of his principles. Recently, I have been working on forcing the medial rotation of the right arm from the top through impact. Yesterday at the range I was surprised at the power created by doing so. I noticed a high frequency pitch to the sound of the balls being struck.

Just got back from playing nine holes. Created a super high frequency pitch. Collapsed the face of my driver.

I am very interested in the calibration aspect of the methodology described here. I need to learn how to dial this thing in.

Thanks for the sharing all the great concepts Squish.

OH s***
Forgot to tell you, I collapsed my Callaway Ruger Ti 8.5* GBB and a SMT Nemesis 7* and an FT-3 9.5.
SMT are unconditionally lifetime guaranteed including a new head cover and shipping.
Felt gulity and bought a carry bag shaft and a set of grips from Mike at SMT.

This could get expensive.

Edited by Squish, 20 April 2012 - 09:19 PM.

[idiotbox]

so i took this to the range this evening. just wow.

i hit 3 balls with the driver that gave me a feeling that i haven't had in the 9 yrs i've been playing golf. it felt like hitting a home run with a wooden bat. the ball got off the face in a hurry and traveled downrange in the same hurry.

it will take some work to get this concept down but i am excited to put in the time.

also, i am a visual(spatial) learner so any graphics and/or videos would be much appreciated.

i don't believe i have said thank you for sharing this so let me take the time to do so.

[Squish]

 idiotbox, on 20 April 2012 - 08:49 PM, said:

so i took this to the range this evening. just wow.

i hit 3 balls with the driver that gave me a feeling that i haven't had in the 9 yrs i've been playing golf. it felt like hitting a home run with a wooden bat. the ball got off the face in a hurry and traveled downrange in the same hurry.

it will take some work to get this concept down but i am excited to put in the time.

also, i am a visual(spatial) learner so any graphics and/or videos would be much appreciated.

i don't believe i have said thank you for sharing this so let me take the time to do so.

You are welcome.

Balance and timing. Try to keep the tibias and fibulas up right by drawing the kneecaps back.
This will allow one to counter balance the shoulders against the rump.

Timing is positioning the sequence of events.
That starts at address with a square toe line and closed heel line for an inside square approach.
From back there you have more time to build velocity.

Edited by Squish, 20 April 2012 - 09:28 PM.

[word]

Forgive me if I am not 100% anatomically correct, but I was wondering... I was trying this out in the living room and concentrating on the contraction of the quadratus lumborum. And the "swing" took on a different feeling than I ever had before. I was feeling a contraction on the left side on the way back and the right side on the way back down. Then I had a couple questions: If contraction of the quadratus lumborum is the goal, is the detachment of the right heel a "side effect" of this contraction, instead of the cause, hence the focus on it? At first I was trying to "raise the right heel and drop the right shoulder". But I think I was pushing off the right instep by doing so. "Detachment" made it a completely different move. And if the detachment is a side effect of this contracting muscle, is this why Bobby Jones raised the left heel on the way back and the right heel on the way through? And is this why some great (and long) ball strikers are off both heels at impact?Is the raising the heel and dropping the shoulder just a way to get the feeling of the contracting quadratus lumborum, and not the actual moves? And is this contraction the trigger for the spine engine? I felt as if the quadratus lumborum was twisting the base of my spine, whipping my arms through impact as my head stayed pretty still.

[Squish]

 word, on 21 April 2012 - 04:53 AM, said:

Forgive me if I am not 100% anatomically correct, but I was wondering... I was trying this out in the living room and concentrating on the contraction of the quadratus lumborum. And the "swing" took on a different feeling than I ever had before. I was feeling a contraction on the left side on the way back and the right side on the way back down. Then I had a couple questions: If contraction of the quadratus lumborum is the goal, is the detachment of the right heel a "side effect" of this contraction, instead of the cause, hence the focus on it? At first I was trying to "raise the right heel and drop the right shoulder". But I think I was pushing off the right instep by doing so. "Detachment" made it a completely different move. And if the detachment is a side effect of this contracting muscle, is this why Bobby Jones raised the left heel on the way back and the right heel on the way through? And is this why some great (and long) ball strikers are off both heels at impact?Is the raising the heel and dropping the shoulder just a way to get the feeling of the contracting quadratus lumborum, and not the actual moves? And is this contraction the trigger for the spine engine? I felt as if the quadratus lumborum was twisting the base of my spine, whipping my arms through impact as my head stayed pretty still.

100% correct, A++

When I was asked What the squish in "squish and turn" was, I said; "Compressing the QL".
I was not understood How to do it.
I stated "when one raises the heel as they drop the shoulder they do it"
One does it when they walk or climb stairs.
When you see a lady swinging her hips walking down the street, watch and take a lesson in balance. It's a beautiful thing.
The slight outward twist of the foot, Heel leading, is a reaction to the swing of the spine. The lateral flexion advances the hip.
Women have baby making hips, so they are wider, and the compression is exaggerated with a women's higher COG.

The golf swing in my mind in performed from the bodies external members inward.
That is why it is important to focus on the pad at the base of the right forefinger against the handle.
That single contact point provides all the feed back to the brain as to the orientation of the face, and Lets the body react in the most efficient manner to support it.
Not to drive it.
In short, Swing the club head. Follow the clubhead. Throw the club head.

Yozz76 mentioned swinging hitting into a firm left side.
That is how he perceives it. If he is simply allowing the turn from the top, arresting any lateral target ward, yes it will work.
It is a squish and turn not a squish then turn. It is a Compound action.
Detaching the heels allows the hips the turn with the swing of the spine
The slight clockwise torqueing of the of the tibia and fibula (the squat) supplies resistance to the forward intention, one's Balance.
Any lateral movement of the top of the spine toward the intended line of fight, or into the shot with the upper body serves to d-accelerate the clubhead.

Hogan was rumored to have said to turn from the top. Well, where are you at the top?
You are on your right side. Thats what we are explaining here.

Edited by Squish, 21 April 2012 - 08:27 AM.

[idiotbox]

is there anyone accomplished enough in this theory to shoot us some video explaining the intricacies?

[marte]

Hey Squish...thanks for everything..so far.  Got another question...bear with me.  I'm  trying to put this all together but have to simplify.  Can you grab a club, make your regular backswing and then to start the forward swing...pull the  inner ankle boneS back and towards each other staying in balance.  Is this kind of the lower body feeling we want to experience???  What I've been doing is...this ankle thing while  simultaneously turning the area below the bottom right of my right ribcage down towards the ball and rotating  all of my right arm.  Feels good and I have absolutely no awareness of actually swinging a golf club...everything just happens-fast.  Pulling the ankles back and towards each other achieves the idea of pulling the knees back during the swing but I don't have to think about that-it just happens.  Only problem doing this is I'm not sure if the right heel detaches (raises) soon enough although of course it eventually does.  I guess, when it comes to the golf swing, I'm more of a how does something feel guy than mechanical or visual or technical.   Hope I'm right with this thought-sure simplifies things.  Thanks very much for taking the time to share with us.

EDIT..EDIT...Squish....no need to reply to the ankles thing...seemed to work before I made this post last nite but fooled around more seriously with this idea  after posting and again this AM and it's not going so well.

Edited by marte, 22 April 2012 - 10:21 AM.

[Yozz76]

Squish, I think I now understand what you are explaining with the raising of the right heel.  I have always been a good ball striker with my bad shot being a push hook (driver mostly).  However, I went to the range today with the intention of gaining an understanding of the raised right heel.

Basically, I stuck to my feeling of a left foot/heel inward torque but raised my right heel no more than a few millimetres so that only the ball of the right foot was in contact with the ground (not obvious to the naked eye).  Anyway, I have to admit that I felt more of a load in the backswing and the grounding of the right heel was triggering the the transition.  Don't know if I'm explaining it correctly but I've always compressed the ball quite well and this seemed to go up a gear with no push hooks!  For that I thank you.

It is now my opinion that people need to understand/feel the left foot/heel torque before trying to understand/feel what Squish is conveying about the raising of the right heel.

[marte]

 Yozz76, on 21 April 2012 - 06:44 PM, said:

Squish, I think I now understand what you are explaining with the raising of the right heel.  I have always been a good ball striker with my bad shot being a push hook (driver mostly).  However, I went to the range today with the intention of gaining an understanding of the raised right heel.

Basically, I stuck to my feeling of a left foot/heel inward torque but raised my right heel no more than a few millimetres so that only the ball of the right foot was in contact with the ground (not obvious to the naked eye).  Anyway, I have to admit that I felt more of a load in the backswing and the grounding of the right heel was triggering the the transition.  Don't know if I'm explaining it correctly but I've always compressed the ball quite well and this seemed to go up a gear with no push hooks!  For that I thank you.

It is now my opinion that people need to understand/feel the left foot/heel torque before trying to understand/feel what Squish is conveying about the raising of the right heel.

Yozz76...Question if you don't mind...so you get into the closed heel position..are you feeling a bit of tension/pressure in the inside ankle-heel area at setup...do you keep that tension there throughout the back and forward swing???  I don't think this method is as complicated as I'm making it, but,  this old dog is having a hard time learning new tricks and am obviously finding it problematic grasping certain parts.  Thanks.

Edited by marte, 21 April 2012 - 08:08 PM.

[megaprimatus]

 idiotbox, on 20 April 2012 - 08:49 PM, said:

also, i am a visual (spatial) learner so any graphics and/or videos would be much appreciated.

Id,

I'm a visual learner as well. Here are some of my recent musings.

This whole calibration thing seems underrated by many and yet to be defined by my mind's eye. Calibration demands precision. So, in an effort to further illustrate the concepts of Squish, I have spent a few additional moments preparing the following graphics for consideration.

Squish mentioned that the inside of the heels should be 12 to 15 inches apart to accommodate a sacrum swing of 12 inches. Perhaps my earlier graphic was not precise enough. It seems that the feet should be situated more like this...

Edited by megaprimatus, 21 April 2012 - 10:26 PM.

[megaprimatus]

To my novice eye, this seems too wide; however, if we consider that a human foot is roughly one foot in length (12 inches), then this should be correct.

Edited by megaprimatus, 21 April 2012 - 11:31 PM.

[megaprimatus]

Obviously, the burning question becomes...

Where do we put the dental floss?


 Squish's Feet with Dental Floss - A.jpg   128.93K   5 downloads


So, Squish, where do we put the dental floss? In the image above, the two pieces of dental floss have been placed carefully 6 inches apart, but where are they placed relative to the left heel? Is this image correct? (Inquiring minds want to know.)

Edited by megaprimatus, 22 April 2012 - 11:47 AM.

[Squish]

Over at the dental floss bush AGAIN!
Moving to Montana soon?
You could be a mental toss flycoon
Sir Zappa would honored.

But here is How I am doing it at the moment.
The line of the balls of the feet don't change.
I view the Balls of the feet as the flight line (adjacent line), and the acute heel line as the (hypotenuse) approach line.
I visualize it in right triangles.
More or less acute for driver or irons.
Viz the irons have a narrow steeper arc, the driver has a wider shallow arc.

If I need a push draw I close the flight line. (the balls of the feet adjacent line)
For a pull fade I open the flight line.

In my mind this closed heel line makes the swing elliptical vs. circular.
It allows more time to build velocity with an unblocked un-arrested return to the ball.

 Driver Irons.png   273.87K   12 downloads    Driver Irons.png   266.34K   7 downloads

Edited by Squish, 22 April 2012 - 05:29 AM.

[Yozz76]

[/quote]

Yozz76...Question if you don't mind...so you get into the closed heel position..are you feeling a bit of tension/pressure in the inside ankle-heel area at setup...do you keep that tension there throughout the back and forward swing???  I don't think this method is as complicated as I'm making it, but,  this old dog is having a hard time learning new tricks and am obviously finding it problematic grasping certain parts.  Thanks.
[/quote]

Hi Marte,

I torque my left foot/heel inward against the ground, I get a slight sense of tension/pressure from the instep to the heel but also on the the outside of the ankle.  The area in which I feel the most tension/pressure is the inside of the left knee but it is not stiff.  It feels elastic, I can still bounce up and down with my legs and maintain that elastic feeling.

I only maintain whatever tension/pressure there is until I start to feel the load on the inside of the right leg in the back swing.

Try this: set up with the left leg/foot description and only keep the ball of the right foot in contact with the ground.  Start your takeaway and keep the left leg/foot feeling.  When you start to feel the load on the inside of the right leg, notice how the right heel wants to return to the ground.  Let the heel return to the ground and you will notice that you no longer have any tension/pressure in the left leg/foot.  However, it is momentarily as the grounding of the right heel is triggering the transition.

It is a chain reaction of events that will enable you to compress the ball against an unconscious firm left side.

[Yozz76]

 megaprimatus, on 21 April 2012 - 10:04 PM, said:

 idiotbox, on 20 April 2012 - 08:49 PM, said:

also, i am a visual (spatial) learner so any graphics and/or videos would be much appreciated.

Id,

I'm a visual learner as well. Here are some of my recent musings.

This whole calibration thing seems underrated by many and yet to be defined by my mind's eye. Calibration demands precision. So, in an effort to further illustrate the concepts of Squish, I have spent a few additional moments preparing the following graphics for consideration.

Squish mentioned that the inside of the heels should be 12 to 15 inches apart to accommodate a sacrum swing of 12 inches. Perhaps my earlier graphic was not precise enough. It seems that the feet should be situated more like this...

Just in response to that visual.  Imagine that the left foot is doing that but the shoe isn't!

[PingG10guy]

 Yozz76, on 22 April 2012 - 06:09 AM, said:

 megaprimatus, on 21 April 2012 - 10:04 PM, said:

 idiotbox, on 20 April 2012 - 08:49 PM, said:

also, i am a visual (spatial) learner so any graphics and/or videos would be much appreciated.

Id,

I'm a visual learner as well. Here are some of my recent musings.

This whole calibration thing seems underrated by many and yet to be defined by my mind's eye. Calibration demands precision. So, in an effort to further illustrate the concepts of Squish, I have spent a few additional moments preparing the following graphics for consideration.

Squish mentioned that the inside of the heels should be 12 to 15 inches apart to accommodate a sacrum swing of 12 inches. Perhaps my earlier graphic was not precise enough. It seems that the feet should be situated more like this...

Just in response to that visual.  Imagine that the left foot is doing that but the shoe isn't!

You dont mean doing that in the downswing do you?

[marte]

Hi  YOZZ..Thanks for taking the time to reply.  Descriptive and easy to understand answer to my question.  I'll fiddle with it.  Thanks again.

[Yozz76]

[/quote]

You dont mean doing that in the downswing do you?
[/quote]

No, at address.  It gives me an athletic feeling of being able to move forward even before I have started my backswing.  It also allows me to hit against a firm left side naturally.