Impact Bag swing vs ball swing, why are they so different???

[mparkansas]

How come when I swing in an impact bag, my release, transition, and impact are PERFECT!!! When I say perfect, I mean as good as my body will ever be able to produce. The swing is effortless, free of thought, and very powerful. This is backed up by video.

 

However, when I swing at a ball, its full of effort, crappy impact position, and spinny transition. I always lead with my shoulders. But with impact bag, I ALWAYS lead with my hips. I just cant figure out why I cant bring the impact bag swing to a ball. Ive swung thousands of times into an impact bag, and back and forth between bag and ball, and I just cant do it.

 

Has anyone else ever experienced this, and how to overcome it?

[russc1597187869]

[quote name='mparkansas' timestamp='1355371916' post='6060613']
How come when I swing in an impact bag, my release, transition, and impact are PERFECT!!! When I say perfect, I mean as good as my body will ever be able to produce. The swing is effortless, free of thought, and very powerful. This is backed up by video.

However, when I swing at a ball, its full of effort, crappy impact position, and spinny transition. I always lead with my shoulders. But with impact bag, I ALWAYS lead with my hips. I just cant figure out why I cant bring the impact bag swing to a ball. Ive swung thousands of times into an impact bag, and back and forth between bag and ball, and I just cant do it.

Has anyone else ever experienced this, and how to overcome it?
[/quote]
More and more impact bag work

[DigDugDig]

I've found that practicing (and playing) visualizing the ball being very, very heavy (like a mini-impact bag) has helped me translate the impact bag swing to the actual golf ball swing.

Doing this while being very conscious of keeping my spine angle has produced good results for me from time to time.

[Jim Waldron]

The presence of the ball - in your mind's perspective - activates the Hit, Scooping and Steering Impulses. With the bag, there is nothing to steer, scoop up into the air, or "hit at" to make it travel a long distance. It's not just you, 100% of mid to high handicaps who come through our golf swing schools have exactly the same issue. It is a very big deal that only a handful of golf teachers truly understand and appreciate, and all of the ramifications as well. Same reason most golfers mechanics, balance and tempo are much better on a practice swing than when using a golf ball. Not perfect! - just a lot better.

I recommend the mental picture of a piece of 1/4" sheetrock that is imbedded into the ground, standing on end, about a foot wide and three feet tall, and positioned about six inches past your ball, target-side. Try to drive the heel of your right hand -with a bent back right wrist, like a heel strike in karate - through and past the sheet rock. Smash through and past it. I have had students actually do this with me or one of my assistants holding an impact bag at hand height to get the feel for it.

For that mental picture drill to work, you have to ignore the golf ball and the club in your hand, use a totally different intention.

[guisician]

what a great image, Jim; thanks!

[Pinsplitter59]

I would suggest the difference comes from your mind/body knowing in advance that the bag is solid and not going to move,
instinctively you brace your body to absorb the impact, if you throw a ball out to a target the pre-condition is different and you "know" you need to be softer and looser and continuous through the action.
We all seem to talk about the continuous swing motion nowadays, one continuous thrust as Hogan said I think, the old school idea of hitting against a firm left side is not mentioned much anymore.
You don't see a lot of golfers nowadays keeping some flex in the left knee at impact and having it move out across the left foot with the left foot rolling over to the outside, Hogan seems to do that into impact and Greg Norman was a big roller to the outside of the left foot.
[attachment=1520969:Ben_Hogan_fronton_122.jpg]