I want to discuss a topic that Barry Short, a Surgite from Brisbane, Australia, brought up to me last month.
"Hi Surge,
A question.You use the comment that after the bump, your arms come down in free-fall. How much exertion should there be in the arms to hit the ball? One of my problems is that I tend to really compress my arm and shoulder muscles in trying to hit the ball hard, although I know when I do this it leads to a much slower downswing and less distance. How relaxed should the downswing be?"
This is a really good set of questions, Barry, and what's equally good is the response you got from Charlie Y, a frequent commenter on the blog. In fact, it's so good that I want to share it with everyone that may not have seen it the day last month that I did a video titled Don't Get Lazy During The Swing.
"Exertion, or muscle activation, can be measured by measuring what is called muscle noise. The more activated the muscles, the higher the muscle noise meter would read. In sports clinics, one way that muscle noise is measured at various levels of clenching the fist. The athlete then has to relate it to how he/she feels that he/she activates the arm muscles. I imagine that the transducers could be attached to the arms as the golf club is swung. I was off the scale, and this correlates with my normal state of being a bit over-activated in the arms. It was a very telling experiment. Some of the participants were almost off the scale in the other direction--very calm arms."
Charlie is on to something here with this concept of muscle noise. And what I liked best about his answer was the fact that he acknowledged that the opposite state--the "calm arm" state-- is also a problem. In my years of teaching I have found that most of my students who have a problem in this area fall in the calm arm group. They seem to think that their swing speed should be the same from the take away through the downswing to the finish. Wrong! If you do that you'll just be robbing your game of a lot of distance. From the moment you initiate the transition you need to be explosive so that you generate maximum club head velocity as you accelerate through impact.
But how can you tell if you have this explosiveness, particularly since we humans don't come with built-in muscle tension sensors? Well, one simple way of doing it is using what I call the Swoosh Drill. Place a ball on the ground and then reverse the club so that you are gripping the shaft just forward of the club head. Next, set up just as you normally would, but with the reversed grip-end of the club pointing at the ball. Swing fast enough so that you can hear the club swoosh through the air at, or just before, the grip points at the ball. If you can do that and come to a good balanced finish, then you'll be swinging at your maximum swing speed.
The key here is to find your most effective muscle tension state that allows you to achieve your maximum club head velocity while maintaining control. Once you've found the max point, then back off 5-10% for most of your shots to ensure a good balance between distance and accuracy.
Keep it vertical!
The Surge
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Comments
Surge: Another outstanding
Surge: Another outstanding video tip - thank you !!ÃÂ For those that have a SwingRite trainer, the "swoosh" and "click" of the trainer really helpÃÂ ingrain where the impact point should be.ÃÂ When my distanceÃÂ falls off, the first thing I check is where the swoosh is - it always lets me know if I'm not accelerating properly thru impact.ÃÂ And if I'm at the course, just a couple of swings with a "reversed" club will alsoÃÂ let me know.ÃÂ Last Saturday I had a chance to play a few holes at my home course, and noticed my 9-iron was not carrying it's "normal" distance.ÃÂ So the next time I needed it, IÃÂ used the "swoosh" drill, and sure enough, I was decelerating the club before impact!ÃÂ Problem solved and normal distance returned immediately.ÃÂ Love this swing and appreciate all the great tips and ideas from the Surge Nation.ÃÂ R2ÃÂ
I've looked at that hotter
I've looked at that hotter face site. Did you have that donw and what were your results? Longer?
ÃÂ Ha ha! You are a lot
ÃÂ Ha ha! You are a lot nicer guy than I am.
Well I might have told him nicely once that he was very welcome to swing his way, and I would take care of my own swing.
And probably would have added that when, or if, he could ever hit the ball better than me there might be a better chance that I would listen.
Surge Nation
Surge Nation
This morning at church the pastor had all the kids come up front and had them sign a baseball.ÃÂ He said he is going to put it in a glass display box on his desk and that it was more valuable to him than if it had been signed by Hank Aaron.
The posts that you folks have posted over the last almost 2 years that I have been on this blog are in a trophy case in my mind.ÃÂ I have never met a more caring and thoughtful bunch of people who don't owe me anything and yet you are always there for me and everyone else on this site.
I am going to hit the rack in a few.ÃÂ Early round in the morning.
Sleep well my friends, and know that you have touched this old cowboy's heart in a very special way,
DickÃÂ
Went to the range Saturday
Went to the range Saturday had a 60/40 day. The bad 40% came when some older gentleman showed up. I have seen this guy a few times before and his buddies told me a couple of weeks ago that he thinks he is a all golf expert. He suggested to me Saturday that I was swinging all wrong I should keep all of my weight on the left side like the pro's do through the swing. So i just went on with what I was doing and watched him hit some shots I asked him what he was hitting he was only 130-140 yards he said 6 iron so I grab my 9 iron and hit a shot 140 and he asked what I was hitting I said 9 iron. So I stopped to take a little break he was getting ready to leave and started back up again telling me I was swinging all wrong and started telling me how Jack N. kept his weight on the left leg through the swing. I stood up and walked towards the door and opened it and he stepped out and I slammed it shoot and went back to what I was doing.
I hit some really good shots and some bad ones still need to work on the things I need to fix.
Went back Sunday did not pay any attention to what way the wind was blowing when I left the house it was from the east straight in 10- 15 and it felt like it was about 15 degrees hit maybe 20 shots and had enough.
Had a reasonable round
Had a reasonable round yesterday,but fealt I was just not swinging correctly.So a work in progress. Will change the driver back to 'Lower Neutral' again,runs further then ; - )ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ Shot of the day for me after having to take a drop [ added the penalty shot] played my third shot on the par 4 with a 7iron, to TWO INCHES from the cup, for a tap in Par hahaha! Several other approach shots were straight on target. Finished the last four par fours Par, bogie, Par, bogie. So not too ugly a day. Rain at the moment : - ( boohoo! Did manage a quick swing prior to washing the car, for it's birthday, inside and outside.Vacuumed all the grass seeds and course gubbins etc. Finished putting everything back in the car,ie, mats,maps,brolly,windscreen sun shield etc in the garage. As I locked the garage door, it started chucking it down. Thankyou God.
Thoroughly enjoyed today's video on muscle noise. Mine sometimes shriek!
The Doc Griffin club fitting video is well worth watching. Doppler Radar [Doc a Scot invented radar, d'ye think maybe he was a golfer as well? heh heh heh].PMGAS
It certainly is a great
It certainly is a great training aid. ÃÂ You can't fool it!
The driver I bought had a
The driver I bought had a hotter face Its a Wishon head spect at a true 11 degrees and square.
I was really going to just have my ping rebuilt but when hit and saw the readings it was a know brainier and it was longer . They had a mate to the driver I bought that exceeds the legal limits but not for tourney play of course.
I got it through Conquest Custom Golf Top 100 GD PPGS certified fitter builder Here In Cincy.
ÃÂ Speaking of Ass Kicking,
ÃÂ Speaking of Ass Kicking, here's one of my favorites.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
PMG
It sounds like you are
It sounds like you are talking about the smash factor which is an indicator of our efficiency at impact. ÃÂ When Titleist tests you with their Trackman for ball selection, they measure spin loft and smash factor. ÃÂ Smash factor is the ratio between the ball speed and the club head speed. Golfers should attempt to achieve a smash factor of 1.47 or higher. You can't be lazy at impact!
ÃÂ Yes, but most people don
ÃÂ Yes, but most people don't have the level of conscious biofeedback to make any active use of the information those monitors provide. They work completely on an autonomic level.
ÃÂ Ranny,
ÃÂ Ranny,
Seeing that you have received no replies, here are two on line sites that may help. Also just type hat's or low cost hat's etc.. into Google and you'll find plenty of sources at varying prices. Good luck
http://www.buckwholesale.com/c...
http://www.wholesalehatsstore....
PMG
Muscles do have tension
Muscles do have tension monitors...muscle spindles and golgi tendons.
ÃÂ A guy gave my son an
ÃÂ A guy gave my son an unwanted putting tip a few years ago and even though Mike knew the guy was full of crap he couldn't get it out of his head and he didn't get his putting stroke straightened back out for about a year.
He never did tell me what the guy said because he said he didn't want to mess me up also. LOL
Most people just think I'm mean because I tell them very quickly that I know a lot more about my swing than they do and don't need or want any tips.
I also don't give any unless someone asks me.
tape or glue a whistle to
tape or glue a whistle to shaft end and you'll hear it clearly
I agree that many golfers are
I agree that many golfers are lazy through the ball and it costs them distance. Surge has done several videos on that.
Smash factor is not related as much to that as it is to efficiency through the ball, including equipment, angle of attack, and most importantly sweet spot impact.ÃÂ You won't necessarily gain anything in smash factor by trying to hit the ball harder through impact. The club speed could easily even go up while the smash factor goes down and in many cases the club speed and the smash factor go down when trying to over-hit the golf ball.
The correct club, ball, and swing mechanics to achieve consistent sweet spot impact on the correct AOT are the key to smash factor. The faster we can swing the club AND achieve those other factors the more distance we will get.
A really great smash factor with a very lazy low speed swing or a very high speed swing with a very low and inconsistent smash factor are both undesirable.
http://www.hititlonger.com/blo...
The muscle noise measurement that Charlie was talking about is to have the muscles at just the right "noise level" to achieve speed and control.
BTW I'm a little worried about Charlie. His last comment to me was a little confusing and he hasn't answered any messages.
Maybe he is traveling or something.
My smash factor would be all
My smash factor would be all over the map, depending on how often I was hitting the sweet spot and how often I was hooking the ball too much. Usually I can hit the ball a respectable distance even on the slight mishits but it would be much better if I hit the sweet spot more often.
Bohnerrn,ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ
Bohnerrn,
ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ Something I did some time ago and you sure can hear it. Another thing I did when in China, was use a piece of PVC piping. That was very effective in hearing the "swooooosh". Then of course you can always buy the Swingrite and take all the guesswork out of it. PMGAS
ÃÂ
Absolutely Doc and we know
Absolutely Doc and we know the best price is on your site. As R2 reminds us the SwingRite has that "click" that tells us we have our peak speed at and a hair past the impact zone.
ÃÂ I'll offer people advice
ÃÂ I'll offer people advice on the range, but only after first asking them if they're interested in hearing it or if they ask me something about my swing first.
Surge,
Surge,
Love the "swoosh drill" since I'm one that fights a tendency to swing hard off the top of the BUS and we all know that never leads to good results.
A number of years ago I found an old TM Blimp shaft someone discarded after snapping the head.ÃÂ It works quite well for that drill and doubles nicely as an alignment stick.
Hi Surge,ÃÂ I have been
Hi Surge,ÃÂ I have been over in New Zealand for a week playing golf around Wellington, so I have just looked at your reply about of my problem, ie amount or relaxation.ÃÂ Thanks for the answer.ÃÂ Check for the highest pitch of the noise from the shaft at various amounts of effort.ÃÂ The idea above about about the whistle attached to the shaft could also help.ÃÂ Thanks mate.ÃÂ (That's the Australian "mate" i.e. "friend.")
Thanks Don, great reminders,
Thanks Don, great reminders,
Amazing the differences in both accurancy of shot and distance of the result based on the acceleration point in our swing. For me less is better. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I realized my grip and intensity of muscle tone had gotten way past what is optimal. My grip was probably a 6 on the 1-5 imaginary grip meter. One way I can tell is early in the round I will have a firm grip(just right)ÃÂ and a nice smooth zip and rythym in my swing and ball flight. Then after a few holes I can unintentionaly start tightening my grip and it translates up into my shoulders and I'll get a pull or fatty or some other poor result. I know it's time to breath and relax the tension.I know Surge has told us that some will start with too light of grip pressure and regrip at the top or on the downswing. Mine is not too light but as I say, too tight at times. It has to be just right and consistent as possible throughout the swing. Up to up with balance and speed.
PMGÃÂ with ABC (attitude,belief,confidence)ÃÂ
Dear Surge,
Dear Surge,
Please tell me where you purchased the hat you wore in the Kenny Knox video? I have a problem with the sun, too.ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ ÃÂ
Ranny Grady
I have enjoyed your videos
I have enjoyed your videos very much, however, I have one suggestion.ÃÂ Your camera places the your video (in the area of your ball and mat) at the bottom of the screen.ÃÂ May I suggest that you lower the camera (raise the view) so that the status bar of the video is not covering the ball area of the view.ÃÂ Thanks in advance.ÃÂ Luis Alba
Smash factor-Distance over
Smash factor-Distance over accuracy- DJ?
Driving Distance
300.0
18th
Tot. Dist. - 7,800
Tot. Drvs. - 26
Driving Accuracy Percentage
58.89%
93rd
Fwys Hit - 106
Poss. Fwys - 180
Greens in Regulation Percentage
62.39%
140th
Greens Hit - 146
# Holes - 234
Strokes Gained - Putting
.996
9th
-
-
Birdie Average
3.69
81st
# Birdies - 48
Tot. Rnds. - 13
Scoring Average
71.39
103rd
Tot. Strks - 919
Tot. Adj. - 9.097
Sand Save Percentage
55.00%
36th
# Saves - 11
# Bunkers - 20
Total Driving
111
24th
Total rank from stats 1 & 2
All-Around RankingÃÂ
I gave one guy some advice
I gave one guy some advice about 3 years ago after watching him hit big uncontrollable slices for 3 years (I just couldn't take it anymore). I was driving by the first tee box as he hit his normal slice OB so I stopped and asked him if he wanted me to tell him how to quit doing that.
He said "sure" so I worked with him for about 10 minutes and he was hitting the ball much better, and the worst ones were only slight fades. He said that was the best he had ever hit the ball.
Later that day I saw him teeing off on another hole and he had gone back to every single thing he had been doing wrong for 3 years.
I just shook my head and never gave him or anyone else advice again unless they ask.
Edit: Ha ha! That's true.
You are probably leaving the
You are probably leaving the cursor over the status bar as the video is playing.
Try moving it away from the video status bar.
Once the cursor is moved and the status bar reduces you should be able to see at least a foot of grass at the bottom of the video before the mat even starts.
There is more going on at the highest point in the back swing than there is below the mat.
You do realize that none of
You do realize that none of those stats have anything directly to do with smash factor, don't you?
Smash factor is strictly a ratio of club speed to ball speed. Doesn't directly measure anything to do with hitting a fairway. A slower club speed could have a higher smash factor than a faster club speed, or vice versa, and either one could be accurate or inaccurate.
Of course all of us want the best smash factor we can get because that means we are making close to perfect impact every time with good mechanics through the ball, and the best equipment (club and ball), giving us our best chance for distance and accuracy.
As Robert F. mentioned earlier today Keegan Bradley is one of the longer players with less than the top club speed. Obviously he would have a great smash factor.
http://www.hititlonger.com/blo...
ÃÂ You can lead a donkey to
ÃÂ You can lead a donkey to water, but you shouldn't be surprised to be kicked in the ass. ;-)
Surge Nation
Surge Nation
I just want to express my heart felt thanks for all your replies about family and the loss of our parents.ÃÂ You folks are so awesome.ÃÂ
I am so excited, I might just move the trip up to later this week if I can work out the schedule with work.
I am truly blessed to be a part of the Surge Nation family and to be able to call you all my brothers and sisters.ÃÂ You rock.
God is good,
Dick
When fitted for my driver the
When fitted for my driver the readings we were getting were 1.45 - 1.50. and this is why I bought the new driver hotter face. My Ping on multiple on center hits was lower 1.34 - 1.39.ÃÂ
It would not have bothered me
It would not have bothered me some much if he actually had a clue. But he kept telling me all pro's have the weight on the front foot all the way through the swing and I asked which ones he said all of them. I said the only one I could think of was Charlie WI and he is a stack and tilter.
It was funny when I shoot the door on him you could here him saying the same thing all the way to his car. The people on my side of the range busted out laughing. H e was pretty loud about it also. LOL