8 replies to this topic

[inpresX]

I was watching golf channel the other day and an instructor mentioned that pulling is twice as important as pushing for generating speed. It was also mentioned that long hitters usually can pull more weight than push.

Is this true?

[jharpergolf]

Sounds right

[sblack5]

depends on what you pull with........if you pull the clubhead into impact by never slowing the rotation of your hips, then yes, pulling is very powerful.   if you pull with your hands, then you are leaving distance on the table because you are using small muscle groups and creating tension in your forearms which will actually slow you down.

[inpresX]

What confuses me is this 2:1 importance of pulling to pushing. I always thought in the downswing for a right hander, the left arm is pulling and the right arm is pushing (because it is extending). To me, it feels like more power is generated from the right arm side.

[sblack5]

It will feel that way because the right arm is bent in the backswing and the left arm is straight.  Your left arm IS PULLED by the rotation of your body rather than actively pulling on the club with your left hand.  With your right arm being bent you will feel a great surge of power through the ball with your right side because your right arm should be in front of your rotating body and that bent right arm will extend and release that stored power of your golf swing........i think about it like this......if i were gonna rear back and punch someone in the face ( im a righty), id get my weight to my rear leg (rt ft) and my right arm would bend.  As i made my motion toward impact id be naturally and without thinking about it pulling with my left side to generate more power and speed for my bent right arm to unhinge and release.....it all happens naturally.

[jharpergolf]

Sblack5 is correct because if the left side and legs don't start the swing you won't get all the energy transfer into the ball

[inpresX]

Thanks that makes sense. So although the arm itself is extending, the arm as a whole is being pulled by the core allowing for extension and release.

Does anyone know of any studies that have been done to verify this 2:1 importance?

[sblack5]

I think it is more of an expression as opposed to a serious ratio..........point being that for power you must rotate to the left and this pulling the club into impact through rotation is much more of a power generator than trying to push with the right hand...... i honestly think that thinking about pushing with the right hand would cause casting and a loss of power other than utilizing it to hold onto the club while the right arm extends during the release

[Jon Robert]

My opinion. Consider this. The pulled downswing can get the whipping action where the pushed gets much less. Pushing the club head (before required to contact the ball at some point) defeats the centrifugal force possibilities. Jim Hardy in The Plane Truth for Golfers has some insight in the context of "steep and narrow" vs. "flat and shallow"  He points out that turning the shoulders too soon in a 2 plane swing results in a steeper less wide arc. (Not even mentioning the out to in swing path bad things an out to in path produces) So he recommends that "casting" is a good thing for a 2 plane swinger as it produces a wider arc.  Casting is a pushing action early in the downswing. The goal in that case is not for head speed but better club head position and direction.

We can try it ourself. Put a golf ball at eye height and push it forward as far as you can. Do it again at eye height only place the ball well behind your head. Pull it forward until you get to the original position where you again are pushing it. Which went further? The one where your arm whipped past itself after pulling went further.  Said another way who can throw a dart farter the dart board game thrower technique or the javelin thrower technique?

I think pulling allows each golfer to get maximum centrifugal force speed via the whip past the hands, where pushing somewhat defeats that build up of speed by limiting the whipping length.  But like in Hardy's example some times pushing is the better choice. (casting)

Perhaps the famous "lag" is likewise a pulling speed generating aid. (and probably other things) Obviously the club head must whip forward a great deal to over take the lag hand possition and get to the ball.

Edited by Jon Robert, 30 November 2012 - 09:37 AM.