The forward upswing in the PPGS is described as swinging up to the T-Finish. If you swing up too soon, too much or not enough, it can be a problem, as Ajit writes below. Let's take a look at his problem and help him out.
Ajit Iyer says:
In my quest to swing up to the T-finish, I sometimes stand up a bit too soon and end up topping the ball. So my question is; at what point do you stand up to the T-finish? Should I consciously 'see' the club hitting the back of the ball before standing up? What is the visual cue you look for?
Surge says:
I believe that there is more than just a visual cue (if one can actually see impact) to know when to stand up as you swing up. There are other senses that can add to the cue time of standing up. And, the more senses one uses the more powerful the feedback. There is also the sound of impact and the feel of contact of the club to the ball, and to the ground on iron shots, that can add to the trigger of standing up. The point here is that these triggers happen in less than the wink of an eye or snap of a finger.
So, since these sight, sound and feel triggers happen so fast, there is another important ingredient that you have to develop and factor into the equation. TIMING! I describe timing as, 'The proper sequential movement of the parts of the body.' Timing, in terms of impact, is sensing and feeling impact on the club. At that split second, and maybe a slight split second preceding impact, the head, hands and arms, back shoulder and hip are starting to stand up.
The hands win the race to impact. With centrifugal force pulling and stretching the arms down, delivering the shaft and club head to the ball, standing up this split second prior to impact cause ball contact because of the stretching out of the arms. The perfectly timed standing up with the swinging up is what helps the impact to be shallow.
Adding thoughts like 'nipping the ball off the ground,' and pinching the ball off the ground' help add firmness to the hands and forearms to keep them leading and getting to impact first before the club. Thinking and feeling sweeping the ball off the ground or tee is another good thought and image. Another great one when the ball is sitting on the ground is to think and feel like when you impact the ball, the club will bounce or ricochet off the ground.
I know that many golfers hate hitting off mats at a driving range. I will propose here that hitting off mats can be a valuable tool to learning and developing proper timing of impact, especially with wedges. Hitting balls off a mat using the mental and physical concepts of 'nipping it, pinching it, sweeping it, ricocheting or bouncing off the ground' powers up the dose of these senses and feelings. Why? Because mats are firm yet spongy and will give an extra good feedback dose to the brain through the fingers and hands, as the club head hits the ball 'FIRST' and then bounces off the mat. Firm, yet spongy enough to get extra feel and touch of a shallow down-to-quick up of the club head into and through impact. The mat is still firm enough to give you a jolt if the down is too steep and deep. All in all, I think hitting off a mat is a great way to feel and time impact for the swing up and stand up to the T-finish.
These thoughts, images and feeling about impact produce firmer hands and forearms approaching the ball. This adds to and helps perfectly produce the touch, feel and 'The Timing Sequence' of impact, while swinging up and standing up to the T-Finish.
The Surge!