Is the bending of the left wrist in the TGM post (above) the same undesireable bending referenced in your's and Brian's recent posts?
No, Eddie. The referenced Bending would take place after the Hinge Action but before the Finish Swivel (back to the Plane) is completed. Admittedly, these are split-second differentiations, but they are necessary for Precision Golf. Why? Because the Ball knows.
However, programming correctly in this area requires that you know exactly what you are trying to achieve and how it looks. There is a gross misconception here -- striving to retain a visually Flat Left Wrist when the Left Wrist Re-Cocks On Plane during the Finish -- that really hurts a lot of players.
Remember, the Left Wristcock is a Vertical Motion, even when executed on an Inclined Plane. This is the same Motion the Left Wrist makes when hammering a nail, and the Cocked Left Wrist should look identical in both cases. And any degree of Left Wrist Turn when the Grip is taken (in Impact Fix) must be retained as Left Wrist Bend when the Wrist is Cocked. This is true wherever the Cocking takes place -- during the Backstroke Cocking or during the Finish Re-Cocking. In other words, the key thing is that the Left Arm and Club remain in the same Vertical Plane, the Plane of the Left Wristcock Motion, i.e., the Plane of the Left Arm Flying Wedge. Only in this manner can the Left Arm and Clubshaft remain In Line and the Stroke have true Rhythm (6-B-3-0).
In this circumstance, then, attempting to maintain a visually Flat Left Wrist during the Re-Cocking will actually result in an Arched Left Wrist. This Horizontal Grip Motion (4-0) puts the Clubshaft out of the Vertical Plane of the Left Arm and thereby disrupts the Left Arm Flying Wedge. In other words, you are trying to make the Club do something is simply does not want to do.
You say, "The referenced Bending would take place after the Hinge Action but before the Finish Swivel (back to the Plane) is completed. Admittedly, these are split-second differentiations, but they are necessary for Precision Golf. Why? Because the Ball knows."
In both cases the Ball is gone before the Bending, so the Ball CAN'T know.
The Golf Stroke is an integrated whole, and always before any Action there must be a 'preparing.' It is this preparatory move during Impact that the Ball knows.
The Golf Stroke is an integrated whole, and always before any Action there must be a 'preparing.' It is this preparatory move during Impact that the Ball knows.
I thought we were talking about, how the ball could know about a Left Wrist bend, which happens past separation. What on earth does this last statement have to do with that????
When your object is to drink tea, would you reach for your fork...or your glass?
A predisposition of an action or intention before Impact which will cause the Left Wrist to bend or not to bend past separation notwithstanding, I am saying this - if the physics of the stroke are identical to the point past separation at which the bend will or will not take place, the ball flight will be identical. The ball doesn't know of this predisposition, it only knows what the clubhead does to it in the Impact Interval. And it is not affected in any way, whether the Left Wrist bends past separation or not.
Let's take Couples for example. At the both arms straight position past separation, his Left Wrist is well bent. Now he could preprogram himself to swivel prior to that, but still past separation, so that the bend did not happen, but the ball flight would be the same - the ball wouldn''t "know" thet the swivel happened.
[Bold by Yoda.]
I agree that "if the physics of the stroke are identical to the point past separation at which the bend will or will not take place, the ball flight will be identical." The problem is that they won't be. You just don't hit a perfect Golf Shot and then, all of a sudden, do a bad Swivel. A good Golf Shot demands a good Finish Swivel for the Club to take the proper route through Impact. The Finish is "the Precision Destination of the Downstroke Blast-off from the Top," not just "Impact fall-out" (2-N-0).
If the Finish Swivel has not been properly programmed (consciously or subconsciously), then it will not be properly executed, and the Club will not -- indeed, cannot -- take the required route from the Top. What will be executed is the classic Chicken Wing, and Steering and Quitting through Impact will be the ineveitable enablers.
As far as Freddie Couples goes, per the explanation in my prior post, his Bent Left Wrist is entirely correct due to his Turned Left Wrist in the Grip (Strong Double Action 10-2-D). It would not be correct for a Golfer whose Left Wrist was Vertical (Strong Single Action 10-2-B).
Lynn makes a very good swing (and hit) at the ball.
No doubt.
My left wrist is flat a bit longer than Lynn. So what?
Well the so what is just what Lynn is saying, The golf stroke works BACKWARD from a wobbly point and that point---even if it is after impact ---can start to cause problems.
I have seen many Flat Left Wrists in my time, and I've got to tell you, I've never seen it done better than by Brian Manzella. When he graciously called me from his 21st PGA Coaching and Teaching Summit last month and handed the phone to his mentor, Ben Doyle, the FirstAuthorized Instructor of The Golfing Machine, I was flabbergasted. [There are only a few times in life where that word works. This is one of them.]
My first question?
"Mr. Doyle, how did you teach Brian his Flat Left Wrist?"
His immediate answer:
"Chip. Pitch. Punch."
And there you have it, guys. Fifty years on the Tee in Three Words.
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