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Activate your lats


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Listening to Sirius golf radio this afternoon on the way to the course, I think maybe Inside the Ropes, when one of the commentators offered that most amateurs play from the front of their bodies (pecs, quads) while most pros play from the backs of their bodies. He said everybody had fun with Tiger's glutes not firing, but, just for grins, try playing with the thought of activating your lats.

 

I thought, what the hell, and played the front nine of my course in even par, two birdies, one double (after a flushed five iron flew the green and left an unstoppable pitch back down). Which might not be all that momentous except that I'm an 11, never shot close to par before. Every single impact felt solid and heavy, every iron flew more or less straight, wedges were dead on.. Now, it's quite possible that this feeling will evaporate tomorrow, but if I suck it won't be because I didn't activate my lats.

 

Maybe worth a try.

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The thread I started about swinging harder is a similar thought. The other day I had a hard practice swing where it felt like I got a stretch in my lat.

 

That has kind of been my swing thought the last two rounds and off the tee I’ve been much more powerful and accurate these last two rounds.

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Front, Back... you have muscles. Either use them or don't. You can google an Anatomy diagram. Strengthen and elastize them all for a better golf game.

 

And always remember to carry your invisible suitcases!

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Listening to Sirius golf radio this afternoon on the way to the course, I think maybe Inside the Ropes, when one of the commentators offered that most amateurs play from the front of their bodies (pecs, quads) while most pros play from the backs of their bodies. He said everybody had fun with Tiger's glutes not firing, but, just for grins, try playing with the thought of activating your lats.

 

I thought, what the hell, and played the front nine of my course in even par, two birdies, one double (after a flushed five iron flew the green and left an unstoppable pitch back down). Which might not be all that momentous except that I'm an 11, never shot close to par before. Every single impact felt solid and heavy, every iron flew more or less straight, wedges were dead on.. Now, it's quite possible that this feeling will evaporate tomorrow, but if I suck it won't be because I didn't activate my lats.

 

Maybe worth a try.

 

 

Read your post (thank you) and searched YouTube. Tried a few swings in my swing room. Hopped in my cart and out to the course under the moonlight. Felt great. Filled my divots and back home Can't wait to head to the range and play tomorrow. P.S. My wife thinks I'm nuts.

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Listening to Sirius golf radio this afternoon on the way to the course, I think maybe Inside the Ropes, when one of the commentators offered that most amateurs play from the front of their bodies (pecs, quads) while most pros play from the backs of their bodies. He said everybody had fun with Tiger's glutes not firing, but, just for grins, try playing with the thought of activating your lats.

 

I thought, what the hell, and played the front nine of my course in even par, two birdies, one double (after a flushed five iron flew the green and left an unstoppable pitch back down). Which might not be all that momentous except that I'm an 11, never shot close to par before. Every single impact felt solid and heavy, every iron flew more or less straight, wedges were dead on.. Now, it's quite possible that this feeling will evaporate tomorrow, but if I suck it won't be because I didn't activate my lats.

 

Maybe worth a try.

 

 

Read your post (thank you) and searched YouTube. Tried a few swings in my swing room. Hopped in my cart and out to the course under the moonlight. Felt great. Filled my divots and back home Can't wait to head to the range and play tomorrow. P.S. My wife thinks I'm nuts.

 

I'm envious; that is exactly how I'd behave if I had a swing room and lived in a golf community that let me do that -- or owned my own golf course.

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If anyone has an ounce of sense, they will read this post again and again, and accept it as gospel. You get more power and consistency from using the muscles to the rear of your torso, not the front. I have known that from day one, my golf coach in college preached that. Surprised, this is not common knowledge.

 

You can hit balls for hours and get lessons from every pro under the sun, if you are not using the right muscle groups, you are wasting your time.

 

This is a great post, one of the best. Golf is so simple, it is made difficult so you will buy more miracle clubs and pay these so called golf instructors ridiculous fees. It is hysterical.

 

This poster deserves a lot of credit. He gets it, question is will you?

 

Boris

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Try doing a practice backswing where the only goal is getting the feeling of a stretch in the lat and then use that stretched feeling to start the downswing. It feels like a powerful move - at least to me it does.

G400 LST - TPT proto
TM M3 - Rogue Silver 110MSI 70S
21* Fourteen Type 7 Driving Iron - HZRDUS Black 6.5 105g
4 - PW Mizuno MP 18 MMC - SteelFiber FC115
50, 54, 60 RC Dual Bite - SteelFiber i125
Evnroll ER5
Snell MTB Black

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Try doing a practice backswing where the only goal is getting the feeling of a stretch in the lat and then use that stretched feeling to start the downswing. It feels like a powerful move - at least to me it does.

 

Stumbled on the BS loading and transition feels of the lead lat many years ago. The real light bulb for me was figuring out how the trail lat was also engaged by the winding of the trail arm in transition and the DS.

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Try doing a practice backswing where the only goal is getting the feeling of a stretch in the lat and then use that stretched feeling to start the downswing. It feels like a powerful move - at least to me it does.

 

Stumbled on the BS loading and transition feels of the lead lat many years ago. The real light bulb for me was figuring out how the trail lat was also engaged by the winding of the trail arm in transition and the DS.

 

Could you expand on this idea please?

G400 LST - TPT proto
TM M3 - Rogue Silver 110MSI 70S
21* Fourteen Type 7 Driving Iron - HZRDUS Black 6.5 105g
4 - PW Mizuno MP 18 MMC - SteelFiber FC115
50, 54, 60 RC Dual Bite - SteelFiber i125
Evnroll ER5
Snell MTB Black

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Try doing a practice backswing where the only goal is getting the feeling of a stretch in the lat and then use that stretched feeling to start the downswing. It feels like a powerful move - at least to me it does.

 

Stumbled on the BS loading and transition feels of the lead lat many years ago. The real light bulb for me was figuring out how the trail lat was also engaged by the winding of the trail arm in transition and the DS.

 

Could you expand on this idea please?

 

The release of the stretched lead lat in transition helps get the DS going if one has the proper tilts. By winding the right arm (for a righthander) CLOCKWISE in transition, the resultant external shoulder rotation unifies the upper right arm with the right upper torso and engages the right lat. This enables the entire synced right side to deliver a body blow.

 

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Try doing a practice backswing where the only goal is getting the feeling of a stretch in the lat and then use that stretched feeling to start the downswing. It feels like a powerful move - at least to me it does.

 

Stumbled on the BS loading and transition feels of the lead lat many years ago. The real light bulb for me was figuring out how the trail lat was also engaged by the winding of the trail arm in transition and the DS.

 

Could you expand on this idea please?

 

The release of the stretched lead lat in transition helps get the DS going if one has the proper tilts. By winding the right arm (for a righthander) CLOCKWISE in transition, the resultant external shoulder rotation unifies the upper right arm with the right upper torso and engages the right lat. This enables the entire synced right side to deliver a body blow.

 

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[/media]

 

Interesting. Just reading what you wrote I’m going to have to give it a go because the concept isn’t quite clicking with me.

G400 LST - TPT proto
TM M3 - Rogue Silver 110MSI 70S
21* Fourteen Type 7 Driving Iron - HZRDUS Black 6.5 105g
4 - PW Mizuno MP 18 MMC - SteelFiber FC115
50, 54, 60 RC Dual Bite - SteelFiber i125
Evnroll ER5
Snell MTB Black

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The dog looks at me like I'm crazy (he may be right) but here I am doing golf swings without a club in the living room. You guys may indeed be into something! Will need to take this to the range on the weekend. Feels very stable in the upper body but I need to work on the hip setup to make sure the tail bone is "tucked under" (like in yoga mountain pose - then bend down to the address) so that the hip doesn't move sideways.

 

Thank you! Look forward for a round of even par ;)

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I will say this again. This is the best post to appear here in years. You can take lesson and lesson, do drill after drill, and buy club after club,but if you are not using the right muscle groups, it is a waste of time. Pros do swing from the back, and many amateurs swing from the front. I learned about the back from a golf coach in my college days and it stuck with me.

 

Take what the original poster said very seriously. This is something you will seldom here, and most golf instructors themselves do not know this or understand this. Put this concept to work, you will see immediate results after a few swings, and then you will wonder why you never did this before

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Listening to Sirius golf radio this afternoon on the way to the course, I think maybe Inside the Ropes, when one of the commentators offered that most amateurs play from the front of their bodies (pecs, quads) while most pros play from the backs of their bodies. He said everybody had fun with Tiger's glutes not firing, but, just for grins, try playing with the thought of activating your lats.

 

I thought, what the hell, and played the front nine of my course in even par, two birdies, one double (after a flushed five iron flew the green and left an unstoppable pitch back down). Which might not be all that momentous except that I'm an 11, never shot close to par before. Every single impact felt solid and heavy, every iron flew more or less straight, wedges were dead on.. Now, it's quite possible that this feeling will evaporate tomorrow, but if I suck it won't be because I didn't activate my lats.

 

Maybe worth a try.

 

Great stuff. I am a low-mid single digit player. I played yesterday and thought about your post. I focused every shot on my left lat. On the backswing, I would feel the stretch, then on the downswing, focus on that left lat. I was flushing my irons. I was even doing it on 50 yard pitches. I believe it is a great swing thought because if I focus on firing my left lat, I accelerate through the shot and finish in a much better position. Really improves impact position. Thanks for posting it! Play from the back, not the front. Absolutely brilliant.

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This has been a great thread. One of the better to come down the pike lately.

 

The left lat swing thought along with swinging hard have given me some wonderful results this last week.

G400 LST - TPT proto
TM M3 - Rogue Silver 110MSI 70S
21* Fourteen Type 7 Driving Iron - HZRDUS Black 6.5 105g
4 - PW Mizuno MP 18 MMC - SteelFiber FC115
50, 54, 60 RC Dual Bite - SteelFiber i125
Evnroll ER5
Snell MTB Black

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This is a good post, thinking this is why im so Poor at Left side bend in my backswing....i just turn and get flat with my arms.

 

Its so frustrating when I see a swing super deep and arms.

 

I'd assume lats are the stabiliser?

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Been working on this for a few range sessions and one round now. The range sessions for short/mid irons and hybrids/5wood are great, long irons not behaving that well. Not gaining much (read: any) distance but the accuracy sees immediate improvement. What I can tell from my shadow is that the head stays really still. The balls go dead straight now, and having been used to a specific shot shape I need to revise my aiming a fair bit. Only played one round and wa really tired (too much sports!) so the swing was poor. Will try again today after having a recovery day yesterday.

Cobra Speedzone 10.5 Aldila Rogue Silver
Cobra Speedzone 18.5 Aldila Rogue Silver
Callaway Apex UT 18, Recoil 95
Callaway Apex Pro 3i, Recoil 95
Callaway Apex Pro 4-9,P Recoil 110
Callaway MD4 54, 58
Ping Sigma G Kinloch C

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I get the lat stretch on the backswing, what do you do on the downswing?

 

Also, Dan Whittaker once told me to stretch the lat going back and swing from the ground up, through the left side. Never did make it work. But, it sounds like it should.

 

Once I get the stretched feeling I try to feel like my contracting my lat to start the downswing. Curious to hear what others do.

G400 LST - TPT proto
TM M3 - Rogue Silver 110MSI 70S
21* Fourteen Type 7 Driving Iron - HZRDUS Black 6.5 105g
4 - PW Mizuno MP 18 MMC - SteelFiber FC115
50, 54, 60 RC Dual Bite - SteelFiber i125
Evnroll ER5
Snell MTB Black

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I get the lat stretch on the backswing, what do you do on the downswing?

 

Also, Dan Whittaker once told me to stretch the lat going back and swing from the ground up, through the left side. Never did make it work. But, it sounds like it should.

 

Once I get the stretched feeling I try to feel like my contracting my lat to start the downswing. Curious to hear what others do.

 

Not sure what you mean, an unwinding of the lat?

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