Turning the head with the core down the target line

Tupperwolf · September 4, 2008

a la Ron del Barrio's 'passive swing'

I have been playing for a season and just started taking lessons. Up until this point I have been successful enough as a 'hitter' to begin breaking 90 fairly consistently. My first lesson, the pro tweaked a couple of setup issues and got me cocking my wrist properly (was laid off and getting into a bad position). With those changes pretty well ingrained, he has been trying to get me to swing the club rather than hit the ball.

As a hitter I have always had trouble releasing the club which makes me a slicer. Anything over a 5 iron was guaranteed to take a curve to the right. It was controllable enough to play but obviously not what I want. As a hitter, I also am not generating much power. My swing is arms driven because my target is the ball. I still take a nice follow-through and post up on my left side, but I have never had much luck swinging the club properly and letting the clubhead release without manipulation.

I have begun trying a new swing thought which by chance is what Ron del Barrio teaches.... it is simply... 'passive arms... get in a good position at the top... and then rotate the core left!' This whips my arms and the club through... the clubhead squares automatically.... I get LOTS more lag and power... the ball explodes long and straight or even with a baby draw! It's amazing when I get it right.

The perceived issue I have is that I can't rotate my body without turning my head too. I cannot keep my eye on the ball. I can watch the ball while I make my backswing, but the moment I initiate my downswing, my head turns too. This means that when the clubhead catches up to the ball, my eyes are (at least, the way I perceive) already looking at the target. This means that there is a split second when I am not looking anywhere near the ball - in fact I am looking way down the fairway at the horizon - and then if I'm lucky the ball explodes off the clubface without any hand/arm manipulation and goes long and straight and lands on my target. It feels like magic when it works

Sounds awesome, right? Well, I'm struggling with it because I'm in a catch-22 situation. I can't make this type of powerful swing unless I turn my head, and I can't watch the ball unless I go back to my old habit of just trying to hit the ball, which means I don't swing (don't release the clubhead, don't make any power, etc).

Half the time I make pure contact and am totally stoked at the results, but the other half of the time I catch it fat or thin because I can't see the ball. The obvious answer is 'work on keeping your spine angle and don't lift up or drop down!' Well, duh, I know. if I were able to keep that angle perfectly I would always catch the ball first and take a nice divot and be the next Moe. I am working on that but my big question is...

Is there any way to keep this newfound sensation of swinging, including a full automatic release of the club, while still keeping the ball as a point of reference for a little bit longer, or should I just keep working on stabilizing my swing to catch the ball clean more often? The results of turning my head with my body are SO DRAMATICALLY BETTER than I want to keep doing it but for the split second that I do it I am absolutely as uncomfortable as hell. There is a moment in time when I feel like there is no possible way the club is ever going to touch the ball, because I'm no longer looking at it, and with that discomfort brings fear. That discomfort combined with my mishits makes me seek reassurance on this issue.

Is there a key for keeping my eye on the ball longer while still making a powerful swing that I have somehow missed in all my reading? For some reason I just can't do it!

Thanks for any thoughts and help you guys can provide! :swoon2:

Tupperwolf · September 5, 2008

Nothing?

downtoscratch · September 5, 2008

QWK,

I'll respond. I too have experienced the amazing freedom of RELEASE that comes from allowing the head freedom to rotate. SEE my YouTube video link below. In this video I am looking

down range from a baseball player's stance. The eyes are focused on NOTHING specific, just cast

down range. My head must swivel with the ensuing windup and as such it APPEARS that I glance at the ball momentarily at the so-called top of the swing. I DON'T. My club finds the golf ball without

visual EYES because my body's balance has eyes through an uninhibited range of motion FREE of

tension. If TENSION is introduced into this goofy swing technique it will fail every trip. If however

I merely rotate with NO muscular tension (or intention) I will catch the ball cleanly every time.

I believe the lesson here is this ....................... The eyes are the primary control center in movement and as such bear great influence upon how we move. A relaxed focus on the ball is

a good thing ... a fixated stare is not. Join the ranks of Sutton, Sorenstam and Duval and enjoy

the unfettered freedom that comes with allowing the head to rotate. ALLOW is the keynote. Don't

add to your troubles by focusing on this head issue and adding one more thing to your to-do list.

1. Q. Is there any way to keep this newfound sensation of swinging, including a full automatic release of the club, while still keeping the ball as a point of reference for a little bit longer,

A. Yes, JUST DO IT! Keep at it until your new found success becomes routine..... Practice.

2. Q. or should I just keep working on stabilizing my swing to catch the ball clean more often?

A. Work on STABILIZING your swing if you choose BUT you will be giving up all those sensational

goodies you learned to cherish by being bold enough to give up that precious (albeit false) sense

of stability when you ALLOWED yourself the freedom to move. Stability is for statues ... balance

is for motion. Walking is a condition of unstable equilibrium ... falling in space and catching our-

selves repeatedly. A golf swing is akin to walking in place. Balance.

Finally, you said the results are dramatically better BUT fear stands in your way. Fear produces tension .... the discomfort you speak of. Let go of the fear at all costs and persist in your efforts to make this new way your own. Hope you benefit from this response to your question whichever way you choose to go. It works for me and I am certain I possess no great talent beyond thinking for myself and trying new things. DTS

scotchblade · September 5, 2008

i've experimented with releasing the head and like it. i know what you mean about that unexpected and powerful feeling you get with a crisp strike. hey, it worked for annika and duval. charles warren is practically looking at the target before his hands reach hip height on his downswing. the early head release also seems to help me stay more target oriented.

plus, it's cool to watch the ball taking off so soon after impact.

Tupperwolf · September 8, 2008

Downtoscratch, I really want to thank you for your long and thougtful post. I have begun embracing the head release and trusting that by putting the club in a good position at the top I will make a great swing. Today I had one fat and one thin shot and every other swing on the course was absolutely pure. The positive feedback of all those pure strikes with my forged blades is really reinforcing!! I have been hitting more greens in regulation than ever before. Yesterday I put a 7 iron to 2 feet and made birdie on the second hardest par 4 on the course. It has the smallest green on the whole course and I have hit that GIR maybe 3 times in 50 rounds on the course. It was the sweetest feeling.

I have also finally discovered how to make a couple of slight setup changes and hit a draw. I need to work on it at the range, but right now I am hitting my clubs straighter and smoother and more powerfully than ever before and my natural fade only really comes out in the longer clubs (but I can still stick a 3 and 4 iron to a green now, trusting that the shot is going to where I want instead of slice off into the woods...). I really have found 'effortless power' for the first time... no more 'powerless effort'. The difference between hitting the ball and swinging the club is like night and day for me. The feeling of swinging the club is so different from what I had built, and the results are 1000 times more consistent. I think with some solid hours dedicated to my short game and putting I will be seeing scores in the high 70s before too long.