Front, Center and Rear Anchor Golf Swings

E. A. Tischler of New Horizons Golf Approach has a book out with a great title "The Secrets of Owning Your Own Swing". For me, this is the most important issue in golf. When you are out on the course and you're not playing very well, you can't give up on the round and wait until your next lesson to figure out what is going wrong. You have to understand ("own") your swing well enough to get your game back on track. If you can do that, you don't need a golf coach!

The other problem with golf instruction is that it is typically a one-size-fits-all approach. You are given the "correct" golf swing and expected to learn it. Unfortunately, everyone's body is different: bone structures are different, muscle masses differ, fat distributions differ, heights differ, athletic abilities differ, body symmetry is different, etc. It is just hard for me to believe that the different somatotypes can all use the same golf swing.

The Laws of Golf approach assumes that body type dictates swing type.  This is a little better than one-size-fits-all but the somatotype distinctions are not good enough to help you "own" your golf swing. If you are not playing well, either you are not executing the swing "correctly" or your body type has changed. Since body types don't usually change in the course of a round, you are back to learning the "correct" swing on the course.

E A Tischler's approach involves determining how you hit the best shots and tailoring your swing to your natural preferences based on results rather than conformation to ideal types. In the video above, he describes the three ways you can anchor your swing: front, center or left anchor (basically, front anchor is similar to Stack and Tilt, center anchor is similar to the Somax Swing and rear anchor is similar to the Width Swing). If you accept this line of reasoning, then there is no single way to anchor the golf swing (most conventional instruction, such as GolfTec, is right-anchor).

Tischler's full approach has 12 biomechanical features of the golf swing each with three options (Power-of-Three-Golf). Anchoring is just one of the biomechanical features. Basically, I have been able to work my way through the first five (mostly devoted to accuracy): Swing Path, Swing Track, Wrist Action, Delivery Action (still not sure about this) and Swing Anchor (discussed in the video above--at points the wind noise is bad but it's worth waiting for the wind to subside). The remaining features deal with Power and Feel. Coming at all this from having tried the Width Swing, Stack and Tilt, the Somax Swing and the Hogan Missing Piece Swing was helpful. E A Tischler's approach is a lot to digest but well worth the effort!

Another Swing Problem: Too Much In-Out

I've been having problems with pushes (hitting to the right) and over draws (big hooks). Here's the diagnosis from the Stack & Tilt Book (p. 180):

Players who hit excessive pushes and hooks swing the hands too vertical in the follow-through. The shaft should reappear below the left shoulder (above right).

My hands appear just above my left shoulder (left image) but not as high as in the "NO" model. Also, my club shaft is half-way between the "NO" model and the prescribed position. It looks like something I need to work on in the future.

Mark Bemowski and Me

We typically compare ourselves to professional golfers and assume that we should be copying parts of their swings. I'm sure that it has occurred to some amateur golfers that these kinds of comparisons are unrealistic and frustrating exercises. Maybe we just don't have the athletic ability to copy professional swings.

I had the unique experience this year to follow one of Wisconsin's best amateur golfers, Mark Bemowski, and wrote about the experience here. One question that was on my mind throughout Mark's round was whether there was anything about his swing (as compared to mine) that allowed him to play such great golf through out his entire career.

Since this swing comparison might make more sense than comparing my swing to Tiger Woods or Ben Hogan, here is Mark's driver swing again followed by my driver swing from a relatively similar angle (both are hand-held, cell phone movies).

Maybe this goes without saying, but when I played against Mark in high school he had a long, powerful swing that reminded me a lot of the young guns he played against in this year's WSGA tournament (here and here). Today, Mark and I are both 64 years old, with swings that have had to adapt to aging bodies.

There are a couple of obvious differences in our swings: (1) Mark keeps his right leg more flexed than I do, (2) he shifts his weight slightly to his right foot while my weight stays pretty centered, (3) Mark seems to put a little more acceleration or snap into his tee shot than I do and (4) this was not Mark's best tee shot of the day (about 250 yards to the right side of the 10th fairway) while my shot was probably one of my best drives of the day on the 5rd hole at the House on the Rock front nine, also about 250 yards (check the 5th hole flyover, here).

Now, here's the brutal part. Compare our swings to Tiger and Hogan!

Look at (1) the full shoulder turns, (2) the flat left wrist at the top of the backswing and (3) the sit-down move through impact. These are obviously great, athletic golf swings. I've tried all these moves on the practice range. Without video taping, I can't actually be sure I'm making any of these moves correctly. One thing for sure, I cannot take any of these professional moves to the golf course. If I try thinking about these issues while I'm playing, my game immediately deteriorates.

When I get to the course, the best I can do is think about fairways, greens and tempo. The swing is what it is. I'm not sure what Mark Bemowski thinks about (maybe that's what separates us as golfers), so the best I can do is to compare his golf swing to mine (which seems a little more realistic than comparison to Tiger or Hogan)!

Hogan, Palmer and Me

One of my correspondents asked me the following questions:

GRIP:

1. How do you grip the club at address?
2. How would you describe Hogan's grip at address?
3. How would you describe Palmer's grip at address?

Some more background on the grip can be found here and here.

TOP OF THE BACKSWING:

1. Your left wrist at the top of the backswing: cupped? flat? bowed?
2. Hogan's left wrist at the top of the backswing: cupped? flat? bowed?
3. Palmer's wrist at the top of the backswing: cupped? flat? bowed?

More background on the flat left wrist can be found here and here.

These are great questions and open up a wide range of considerations, arguments and controversies in golf instruction. Here in pictures and commentary are my answers starting with Palmer.

You can view Palmer's early swing sequence here and his current swing here. Obviously, Palmer's swing has changed over the years. His left wrist looks like it has become a little flatter over the years and his grip seems to have become a little weaker.



At the top of Hogan's backswing, we can see that his wrist is very flat and from the driver setup on the right we can (somewhat) see that his grip is weaker than Palmer's (Hogan did use a weaker grip in order to hit a fade).

There is some argument about whether or not Hogan's wrist was slightly cupped at the top of his backswing or flat. The picture above was staged and seems to suggest a slight cupping of his wrist. You can see an analysis of Hogan's swing here.

In the top panel above, my swing was being video taped while hitting a sand wedge into a garage net (here). I seem to be keeping my left wrist pretty flat. My grip in the lower right frame is a little stronger than either Hogan or Palmer (I prefer at all times to hit a draw). The right bottom staged swing shows a slight cupping in my left wrist at the top with the driver. The club face is square.

In the images above, my swing at the top is compared to Mark Bemowski (see the complete swing analysis with video here). Our left wrists seem very slightly cupped (not as flat as Hogan's iron swing above). You can see my full swing sequence here and here.

An obvious question is whether I should make changes in my swing to make it look more like Palmer, Hogan or even Mark Bemowski, all of whom are much better golfers than I am. One thing I am working on is to get a more athletic golf posture and get my left shoulder down and under. Maybe I'll never get there and, even if I did, maybe it wouldn't improve my game that much at my age. Even Palmer (had to?) flattened his shoulder turn out as he aged (which Palmer swing should I copy?). Hogan's swing changed after the car accident (which Hogan swing should I copy?).

Golf instructors who have seen my swing would like me to shift my weight more to my right foot (or to start out with my weight on my right foot) and flatten out my shoulder turn (here). Grip changes have typically not been suggested aside from possibly lightening my grip pressure. I have not had any feedback about wrist position at the top of my backswing.

Stack & Tilt: My Finish

After not having very good numbers in the hitting area, surprisingly my swing ends up in a pretty good place (good enough to look OK at the finish but not produce very good shot results). My shoulders are rotated 108 open to the target (Tour average is 138) and my hip turn is 98 degrees open to the target (Tour average is 106). There is more potential here that would result from more body rotation during the swing. Thirty degrees more rotation at impact would put me right where I need to be on the follow through.

The changes needed in the start of my swing are (1) better posture at address, (2) more weight shift on the backswing, and (3) better arm position at the top--as can been seen from the after video (here). I've been playing with the new (old) swing for the last two months. The results have actually been very good. In future posts, I'll show a video of the new swing and we can see if the follow through looks any better.

In retrospect, I don't regret the Stack & Tilt Journey. It helped me understand my golf swing better and also understand my bad shots and their causes. From the sequence of still images and analysis (here) it should be clear that I never got to the S&T model swing. If you plan on trying the swing, video taping is essential. It would also be useful to have an S&T instructor although they seem hard to find. The availability of good instruction and high-quality video analysis at GolfTec (here) or at Golf Galaxy (here) is one good reason to stick with the traditional golf swing.

Stack & Tilt: My Follow Through

Here, the result of casting (releasing the club in the downswing) and not rotating my body enough toward the target clearly generates a poor follow through. Notice how Ernie Els (left frame) has rotated his body and released his right arm more fully toward the target.

This a point in the S&T instruction that I never really understood. Plummer and Bennet talk about extending the arms but not shaking hands with the target as Ernie Else is doing. Ernie is fully releasing the right hand directly toward the target. I'm not sure what the S&T instruction is driving at. The result for me was probably not what S&T instruction intended.

Stack & Tilt: My Swing At Impact

Here is my swing at impact. Particularly notice the right two images (me against Tiger) and the associated numbers. All these numbers (shoulder turn, shoulder tilt and hip turn) should be in the 40-degree range at this point. My shoulder turn is at 18 degrees open (Tour average is 48 degrees open to the target), my shoulder tilt is 26 degrees right (Tour average is 43 degrees) and my hip turn is 30 degrees open (Tour average is 42 degrees open). I'm basically in the same position I was at address. At impact, I'm not bent over enough so that my body can clear out of the way and turn more toward the target and my shoulder tilt is not enough to maintain my wrist angle (the flying wedge) to prevent casting. Notice how Tiger is bent over more at impact with his hands further away from his body, his body turned much further toward the target with his right shoulder working down and under the chin.

Notice in the image above that I'm adding loft to the club (there should be a straight line from my left shoulder to the club head at impact as in the Ernie Els image). In other words, I'm hitting the 7-iron in this image as if it was an eight or nine iron, thus the predicable loss of distance and inability to control ball flight. Notice that my shoulder turn (18 degrees) is in the red numbers, that is, not enough shoulder turn toward the target.

Stack & Tilt: My Downswing

Here's where my problems with consistency of contact and power loss start happening (I thought it was because I'm getting old).

Notice that both Ernie Els and Tiger have maintained their wrist angle (the flying wedge) late into the downswing. In my case I have released that wrist angle (cast the club) early loosing leverage and power. My body is in my way (not rotated enough toward the target) forcing the casting motion. Maintaining the flying wedge is not something that you can think about (a negative swing thought). It's the body rotation that maintains the flying wedge (something I wasn't doing and didn't understand fully from the S&T instruction books and DVD).

The biggest thing for the tour player on the downswing is body drive, right elbow moving out in front of the body, club on the swing-plane line, lots of right leg drive, right foot off the ground, left pocket and left leg visible, and the left side of upper body visible. Body rotation gets you from the top to this point, the arms and the club are along for the ride.

In my swing, the club is underneath the swing-plane line (I'm force to adjust two extreme angles to square the club up), right elbow jammed up against the body, body position is static and in the way of my arms, not turned toward the target, no right knee drive, and not clearing the left side out at all.

Here's the reason I'm hitting fat shots. It's not body sway but rather releasing the wrist angle early. This issue is discussed a lot in S&T instruction, I just didn't get it and didn't know how to maintain the flying wedge with the S&T swing.

Stack & Tilt: My Swing At The Top

Continuing with the GolfTec Analysis of my swing, here's me stacked up against Ernie Els (left) and the Stack & Tilt (S&T) model swing (from Six Steps to Stack & Tilt). Here's where the fun starts. First, the GolfTec analysis.

Let's look at Ernie Els (left frame) first. At the top, Ernie is very stable, loaded on his right side, left leg bent a little with left foot on the ground, his head moved back from center about one-half cap width, back leaning away from the target in the "power-V" position, left arm fully extended, ninety-degree angle between the left arm and the golf club, lots of width between the hands and the head.

My S&T swing is leaning toward the target, right leg straightening, head move six inches toward the target, good extension, good wrist hinge, but my right elbow is jammed up against my body (stuck), shoulder turn is 75 degrees (tour average is 89), hip turn is 33 degrees (tour average is 48) which is 42 degrees of X-factor (shoulder turn minus hip turn, for me 75 - 33, tour average is 41 degrees, 89 - 48).

I'm trying to turn on top of myself. Surprise: flexibility is not my problem (I have one more degree of X-factor than the tour player--isn't lack of flexibility why I started S&T?). My rotation is low because I didn't turn into the right space. My top swing position forces me to cast (an early release of the club as you'll see in later stills). In order to hit from the inside, I have to release my wrist angles (the flying wedge) early. My body is in the way for me to make an on-plane downswing.

Compared to the S&T model swing (right image), my swing is way too flat and way too tilted. But, this is where I ended up trying to do S&T from the book. A S&T instructor, I'm guessing, would have pushed my hands a little higher in the air at the top of the backswing and not had me lean as much toward the target. For whatever reason, I never got to that position by myself.

Stack & Tilt: My Backswing (cont.)

Continuing the GolfTEC analysis of my backswing, here I am going up against Tiger Woods (do I have to point out which image is me on the right). Compared to Tiger, I haven't maintained the triangle between my arms (my right arm has started to bend too early to maintain the distance between my elbows) and, as a result, my club head has gone under the swing plane line.

The ideal position, from the GolfTEC perspective, would be to (1) stay on the swing plane line as much as possible, at least during the first half of the backswing and the last half of the downswing and (2) maintain the distance between my elbows as much as possible. Stack & Tilt (S&T), on the other hand, wants the hands to move inward and the arms to stay attached to the body on the backswing. For me, performing the S&T move led me to get "stuck" on the backswing (as you'll see in future posts).

The Tiger takeaway feels very much like my old width swing where my hands moved as far away from my body as possible. What's different is that I'm in a more athletic posture and I feel more room between my hands and body. What the video also helped me to see is that I need to keep my hands and the club head on the swing plane line in addition to pushing my hands back in the width dimension. The reason for this move is to give your hands enough room (distance from the body) to swing freely.

What's somewhat interesting is that in Tiger's swing changes under Hank Haney, the hands moved further inside than under the old Butch Harmon swing. What's also interesting is that I was unable to find S&T still images to match the ones above. The S&T video, however, shows the club head and the hands going inside the swing plane line.

Stack & Tilt: My Backswing

Continuing the GolfTEC analysis of my swing, here is the start of the backswing with Ernie Els on the left, me in the middle and Stack & Tilt (S&T) on the right. Starting the backswing, what GolfTEC is looking for is weight shift and a stable lower body. The weight shift results from the upper body turning behind the ball. Notice the lines against Ernie Els' back leg and head. The right leg stays within the line but Ernie's head has moved back from the original position. The lower body can rotate to get a full shoulder turn but without swaying (moving the right leg backwards). Contrary to S&T, GolfTEC wants the head to move backward in the backswing and move back a lot (12 inches in my case).

My swing was described as a "reverse pivot" with the weight moving forward to the left foot and my head moving substantially forward of the ball. I could not find an exact S&T model for this point in the swing but if you roll the frame on the right back a bit in your mind, it looks pretty much like what I am doing. About the only thing that GolfTEC liked about this position was that my arms and hands have good extension and good wrist hinge.

From my perspective, I didn't realize that my head was moving that far forward. I thought I was keeping my head steady. Now that I see it on the video, I don't like the way the swing is starting.

P.S. Today I played a round of golf going back to my old width swing with possibly some elements of the Hogan-missing-piece swing. I didn't score that well (it was a cold day with swirling winds) but I hit some nice shots letting my weight shift back on my right foot. My playing partners commented that my swing looked more fluid. It seemed a little easier to play but I had to continually concentrate on taking a full shoulder turn and making sure my hips cleared on the downswing (at least I had only one swing thought through the round). And, as you'll see later, I wasn't getting a full shoulder turn with S&T.

Stack & Tilt: My Setup

In a prior post, I showed video clips of my current S&T swing compared to the one suggested by a GolfTEC PGA pro during a swing evaluation session (you should see a number of other GolfTEC videos when you look at either of my videos, here or here--very interesting). Now I'll get into the details starting with the setup.

Considering just the top three frames (starting in frame 1, it's me, Tiger and Stack & Tilt). GolfTEC wanted me : (1) in a more athletic posture (I was standing taller to avoid fat shots), (2) standing further away to get more space between hands and body, and (3) with more bend from waist (like Tiger). About all that's good about my current setup is the knee flex. Notice that the S&T setup (frame 3, top) is halfway between me and Tiger.

On the bottom three frames (Ernie Els, me and S&T), GolfTEC wanted: (1) the ball played a little more forward in the stance (I'm hitting a seven iron here), (2) feet less flared (this was, from the LAWs of Golf Width swing, designed to get more turn), (3) good forward shaft lean, (4) upper body and head behind the golf ball (the diagonal green arrow is there to suggest moving the body and head behind the ball). Compared to the S&T setup (frame 3 on the bottom), my weight is not as far on my left side as they would suggest (that never felt comfortable to me). Compare the head positions in the bottom three frames: Ernie is behind the ball, I am right over the ball and S&T is actually ahead of the ball.

I like the more athletic setup. Interestingly, I can't do S&T from that setup! What I can do is V. J. Trolio's "Hogan's Missing Piece" swing (more about that later). The green numbers on the middle frame, bottom show that my setup is on the OK but marginal side (the number backgrounds would be yellow or red for poor positions--you'll see more of those later).

Stack & Tilt: My Swing

Yesterday I went to GolfTEC and had a complementary swing analysis. One of the GolfTEC PGA pros took me through their G-swing system: (1) putting me into an electronic harness (from the front, it looks like the strap for a backpack in frame 2 above), (2) video recording and digitizing my swing, (3) analyzing my swing against Ernie Els and Tiger Woods, (4) making some initial suggestions for improvement and (5) suggesting a number of lesson packages. Here is the video of my current swing (the S&T Swing) vs. the suggested new swing (the Width Swing). What's funny about this is that the "new" swing was basically my old swing before I went to Stack & Tilt (S&T)!

Whether I go back to the future or not is an open question, but the video analysis did point out some obvious flaws in my S&T swing. The flaws are clearly covered in the S&T video, but somehow I wasn't able to translate what I knew into a solid golf swing. The S&T book suggests video recording of your swing but I doubt that I would have caught all the problems without an objective analysis. GolfTEC is clearly adding value.

Maybe you can find the problems in my swing by comparing the S&T Swing to the Width Swing. In the next few posts I'll take you through the GolfTEC analysis with some of my own commentary. There were a number of interesting and, for me unexpected, conclusions from the analysis.