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click for Dalton McCrary's "Straight
Shootin' Golf"
click for Jim Hardy's "Plane Truth For
Golfers"
click for Jimmy Ballard's "Connection"
Plummer and Bennett--"Stack and Tilt"
Dalton McCrary had an infomercial on
television entitled "Straight Shootin' Golf" about 10 years ago in which he
emphasized what I believe to have been the use of a fairly vertical swing plane,
capitalizing on arm speed, as contrasted with a swing which emphasized torso
turn or rotation.
I have no personal knowledge of this beyond what I divined
from the infomercial, and if indeed that is correct, for my own part I teach how
a golfer can capitalize on the motions and exertions we'd use for a very upright
swing. I suspect he probably also showed how the left shoulder can be
considered a point of focus for powering and aiming the shot.
Though I have no direct knowledge of his DVD or program, I did
note the following posts on one of the internet discussion forums when there
were questions asked there by readers:
"/golfequip/messages?msg=94999.1" Dalton
McCrary's "Straight Shootin":what do you think? Why did you quit? Why did you
Not quit? Any feedback is welcomed. Thanks----
"/golfequip/messages?msg=94999.2" in reply to
\l "a1" I did the whole freakin' program. I quit because I got my Perfect Impact
tapes in and the information and teaching in that set helped me 100% more than
Daltons. ----
Here's the bottom line... wanna learn golf? Buy
The Perfect Impact tapes.
Wanna be entertained? Buy Daltons stuff.----
I want to second what swampbuck said. George
has the real stuff. Try it, you'll like it. PI has really turned my game around.
-----
JIM HARDY has become well known through his
popular instruction under the title 'The Plane Truth For Golfers' in
which he distinguishes between "upright swings" where there are two 'distinct'
planes of motion - one of the arms in a fairly vertical plane, and of the
shoulders that necessarily must swing on a flatter plane-- and what can be
thought of as "single plane swings" where the arms and shoulders move more "in
unison" as it were - where both swing pretty much on the same tilted plane.
He discusses the differences , advantages and disadvantages for different
golfers, and he stresses the necessity that each golfer must use the one that
fits HIS body for best results.
In my books and videos I approach this issue without the
"buzzwords" or geometric distinction as though these were "discrete differences"
such that a golfers swing would have to be "one or the other" to "work
correctly." But the truth is that almost all swings are hybrids in which
there's a little of each, and without having to consider HOW MUCH of either
extreme is involved, when the golfer takes up his address position taking into
account certain simple natural principles about balance and posture and then
following the procedure for making his swing as I direct him, HE WILL
AUTOMATICALLY HAVE FOUND AND WILL NATURALLY USE the plane and motions that fit
HIS OWN BODY without reference to a text or theoretical ideal. And I
haven't yet seen a human being who fits the "average" or "ideal" body often put
before us as a model to copy.
In all of my books and videos I am fussy and detailed in the
extreme about the need for the golfer to take up his posture and stance in a way
that maximizes his anatomy, so he doesn't need to be concerned about whether
"his swing" is 'single or double plane.' Further, I encourage him to
experiment himself, to watch his swing in a mirror or by replay on video, and to
have others watch him to see if indeed he IS swinging "on plane" FOR HIS OWN
BODY. I also encourage him to experiment with his own adjustments to see
if he experiences better results by favoring a flatter or steeper plane --
as part of his practice and review: it is always good to experiment with "WHAT
HAPPENS WHEN I .........?" to learn more about how his body works and the
ramifications of ball flight as a result of tweaking various adjustments and
setup elements. In a word regarding planes and the concerns someone might
have about them, "it's all covered sufficiently" in the very process of taking
up your club and your stance, because of the way in which you are shown exactly
how to do those things IN CONFORMANCE WITH NATURAL ELEMENTS OF YOUR OWN BODY and
respecting the laws of gravity and your own anatomy.
-----
JIMMY BALLARD'S concept of "connection" is
a word in which, among other things, he wished to communicate the relationship
of the arms to the torso--in that the upper arms needed to be moved BY the
torso, and not to be overly independent. When the body turns, the left
shoulder PULLS THE LEFT ARM: that arm is not to seek by itself to pull to the
left - to separate itself and try to move by using muscles in the shoulder.
On the contrary, his thesis was similar to that intended by Ben Hogan when he
drew elastic bands around the two upper arms in one of the illustrations in his
book to show how HE felt that the arms needed to be moved by the turn of the
torso. Most people are familiar with VJ Singh's use of a glove or towel
under his left armpit during practice, because it shows whether he incorrectly
pulls his arm away from his side or whether his left side correctly pushes
his upper arm to drive the club.
But there's more than just "connection" in JB's timeless advice:
it stresses two things: the fact that the backswing
pivots on the right hip bone and the downswing pivots on the left hipbone, AND
it capitalizes on the force of the body moving laterally toward the target in
the same manner as the action of a baseballer stepping into the pitch.
This is different than the "rotary" swings of other popular swing systems, and
it is much more powerful. In my own
instructions, this key motion also reveals the body moving forward while the
arms are still moving back and up, and it is identical to what JB taught as the
central theme of a great swing. I show this quite explicitly in my book
entitled Golf's Critical Details, and in my DVD, Companion to Perfect
Impact. It is the same thing we would attribute to "natural
athleticism" in describing how children "do it right without instruction" from
their sheer exuberance at play: OUR BRAINS KNOW MORE THAN WE DO--they know how
to do it naturally, SO IT IS OUR TASK TO TAP INTO IT. Since we DON'T all
do it naturally, however, it is the reason Ballard and I and others who DO know
of this movement put an explanation and instruction for it very early on in our
presentation!
I also stress another basic JB concept: that the arms get moved by the torso. And
that parts of the body must work within their natural range of
motion, that no untoward body movement away from its "centered position" or
breakdown of the joints be permitted. "It's not ok to be loosey goosey or
careless": economy of force requires the direct secure relationship between feet
and knees, knees and hips, hips and torso, torso and shoulders, shoulders and
arms and hands, and hands to club. Power gets to the clubhead through a
chain of parts where there are no "weak links or inefficient angles."
ANDY PLUMMER AND MIKE BENNETT are
currently promoting a "method" or model for the golf swing that they call "Stack
and Tilt." Its main points are "stacking the weight" onto the left foot at
address and "leaving it there" during the swing, and "tilting the upper body so
that the shoulders are above or even left of the hips" at address, and swinging
without letting that angle change during the swing. The method has
gotten a good deal of publicity, and I have read several accounts from golfers
who profited from what they got from it. An inspection of virtually any
pro swing, however, will show that what you'd expect to see from its catchy
title is simply not what the golfers actually do. Some people characterize
the instruction as "an intentional exaggeration" made to help make a point or
two - namely that some golfers "slide or shift their weight far too much" in
their swings (the stack minimizes that), and that the "tilt" makes it easier
somehow to control the application of force and direction by keying on the left
shoulder (the tilt brings more awareness of the position and function of the
left shoulder). It appears to many people to be a "fad" or
possibly "a swing key" that has its value for some people. I personally do
not see any value offered beyond what I already instruct about the pivot, the
posture, balance, weight shift, or anything else advertised for the product.
One popular instructor has pictures of eight of the world's top golfers on the
internet showing how their position is 'anything BUT' the tilt described in the
instruction. That confirms my own position about it.
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