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Should You Swing With Your Arms or Your Body?  Email this Article to a Friend
During the introduction to my golf school I always illustrate the goals of instruction. The first goal is to demonstrate a set up that produces absolute The clubface aim indicator is parallel to the dotted line on the black mat, although from the camera angle it is difficult to see. The dotted line on the mat represents the target line. From this set up position I am ready to start my motion and make a body swing. (This is one of two positions I use to illustrate set up goals. The other is a set up position to make an arm swing. I will address that in a moment.) By the way, correct sequencing of swing motion is part of the learning process. You can have a good set up but poor motion sequencing that will compromise your balance. The goal of instruction in my golf school is to create a set up that includes alignment, stance width, posture, grip and clubface aim with consideration of where the student finds their best balance. One position of balance points to an arm swing the other to a body swing. An ideal set up creates what I call "absolute" balance which allows you to initiate the proper sequencing. Learning takes place best when the goal (learning target) is clearly defined. Then, the goal is broken into small sequential parts (alignment, stance width, posture, grip and clubface aim-all related to balance,) practiced sequentially in drills and then slowly blended together. Every player arrives with multiple compensations in their set up and they are always aligned right or left of their target line, almost always right. These compensations compromise the player's ability to set up in balance and correctly sequence their golf swing. My goal is for players to have no compensations and to swing from their natural balanced position. With practice, the set up routine and golf motion sequencing becomes automatic and, by the way, totally visual. In order to play good golf you have to be totally visual from behind the ball into your set up. Only when your set up sequences are well grooved through practice can you do this. The majority of practice of these drills can be done in your den, office, garage, etc. You don't have to hit a ball to practice the set up positions or swing sequencing. Understanding Balance If you click on the picture and enlarge it, you will see small boxes in each footprint that represent the center of force in that foot. We look at over 75 different set up positions in the lab. Everything from stance width and the orientation of and height of my head to the position of the back edge of my shoulders over my feet and the position of my hips to my knee flex make up my balance. It sounds complex but it isn't, especially if you learn in the sequence (routine) you are going to use when you set up to the golf ball. Repeated practice in sequence becomes automatic in a relatively short period of time. Knowing what to do and in what sequence to do it is the key. Body Swing vs. Arm Swing: Determine Your Best Balance Position One of the more interesting preliminary findings from the lab is the center of force in tour players we have looked at. Approximately 20% of the players we have tested do not have a center of force that is represented in the picture above. I will return to that finding momentarily. The picture above shows a player that is set to swing with their large muscles, their body. This player is set to make a level shoulder turn followed in sequence by their hips in their backswing and just the opposite sequence in the downswing. Any time this player loses his balance, his arms and hands become involved in the swing. As long as he stays in balance and does not add his arms and hands, he will use his large muscles to swing the club. Instructors who teach this swing advocate starting the club back in "one piece" with the arms, hands and shoulders "connected," delaying the hips as the player builds "torque" from the shoulder hip separation in the backswing. The hips release to 35 to 45 degrees after the initial shoulders and hips separation is established in the backswing and "torque" is built as the shoulders turn unhindered to 90 degrees. Just the opposite sequence occurs in the downswing. The only way a total body swing can be made is if the player has exact alignment and absolute balance in his address position. Any change in balance at address or during the swing and his arms and hands take over and tempo is compromised. The body swing is the "one plane swing" you are reading about and seeing on the golf channel. There is a player for whom this body swing will not work. It is the player whose weight distribution is on the balls of his feet at address. This is the 20% of players I referred to earlier. However, I cannot make a shoulder turn from here. Try it. Some players are naturally more balanced in this position. I had to make a minor but significant grip change to accommodate this set up. My motion will be more "under" with my arms and hands. The following photo shows a sample foot pressure scan of the 20% of the tour players who naturally find their balance on the balls of their feet. Recall that the power accumulation for the body swinger is primarily built in the backswing and unloaded in the downswing. A person making an arm swing builds a little power in the backswing with most of the power accumulation and unloading of that power in the downswing. A player trying to make a body swing from this center of balance point (balls of feet) is working against their natural balance. Instructors tend to teach a particular swing style, arm swing or body swing. Know what your natural balance is and work on a golf swing that fits your balance. How can you determine your natural balance position? Stand tall about 2 inches wider than your shoulder width with no flare in either foot. Assume your set up position. Feel yourself in balance. Now close your eyes and notice where your weight settles for balance. Is it in the balls of your feet or just forward of the center of your arch but behind the balls of your feet? This will tell you where you will likely find your best balance in the golf swing and which swing best suits your natural point of balance, body or arm swing. By the way, your balance should never be in your heels. If your weight centers toward your heels, there are other reasons for that. In the following photo my weight is set toward my heels. To accomplish this I tucked my rear and my weight moved to my heels. This is the most common set up position I see during a first visit in both my individual lessons and golf schools. You can't make a level shoulder turn from here either. Again, draw an imaginary vertical line from the bar across my chest to my feet. What causes this set up position? When a player allows their equipment to set them up, a heel position will frequently result. Additionally, In the biomechanics lab, we are able to create this heel position using anything from a grip size that is much too small to having the player set up with his chin to his chest. The following photo shows what this "heels" set up position looks like using the foot pressure sensors. When a player's weight starts in his left heel, he has to move laterally to get to his right side. This lateral motion is usually paired with a straightening of the right knee in the backswing. All of these things combined require great timing and eye hand coordination in the downswing to get the ball airborne. What should you take from this months tip? Find your natural balance position following the set up tip. If you find your balance with your weight centering just forward of the center of your arches and behind the balls of your feet, you are set to make a body swing. If your weight is more forward on the balls of your feet, you are set to make an arm swing. If your weight is on your heels, MOVE!! What determines your natural point of balance? We don't know for sure. It may be that the players we are seeing have played golf or other sports from a particular point of balance and it is habit. I doubt that this is the case but we are still exploring the answers. It may be that our equipment has put us in a particular balanced position at set up or it may be characteristics of our anatomical structure (height, weight, hand size, etc) that creates our center of balance. We are looking at these and several other variables. Just know that balance is not something you find by rocking back and forth on your feet. There are numerous variables that go into setting a players balance at address. Next month I am going to explore other set up positions and what the foot sensors are showing us. Please check out the golf school dates for July and August. Until next month, may you find your balance and a golf swing that fits your natural positions.
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