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I am working to increase my distance—which is reduced by casting, of course. I found this nice article on that and would like your comments—Below is the pertinent excerpt about this subject.

http://perfectgolfswingreview...


In other words, Mike Hebron is suggesting that a golfer doesn't hold the angle by some active wrist/hand manipulations, and he recommends that the golfer shouldn't do anything consciously with the hands/arms/club. The golfer should only move the lower inside forward. What does he mean by this statement? Consider the following diagram from his book.


In his book, Mike Hebron has the following statement accompanying the above diagram-: "When the hands and arms do nothing, and are moved by the inside, the ANGLE is retained". What is the inside? What he is basically saying is that the shift-rotation of the lower body to the left at the start of the downswing (which causes the lower-mid torso to shift-rotate around to the left), will move the hands down to waist level while retaining the wrist lag angle. How is the wrist lag retained during this movement of the lower body? Mike Hebron states that it will happen automatically, but I believe that it will only happen automatically if a golfer allows the left arm and right arm to move as a single unit so that the hands move in a straight line direction - in response to the movement of the lower torso. What represents a single unit? The following photograph will help explain that "single unit" concept.


I have deliberately colored-in-yellow Hogan's left and right arm. Note how the right elbow is still bent at a right angle - as it was at the end-backswing position. As Ben Hogan rotates his lower body towards the target, the "straight left arm + bent right arm" act as a single unitary structure and they are both passively pulled down towards waist level as a single unit. Homer Kelley refers to this unitary structure of the left arm and bent right arm as the power package assembly [6]. In other words, Ben Hogan does nothing actively with his hands/arms/club during the early downswing - he simply allows them to respond reactively/passively to the shift-rotational movement of the lower body, and he simply allows the entire power package assembly to be passively pulled down to waist level. The following swing video will demonstrate Ben Hogan performing this downswing move in "real life".

Ben Hogan's downswing initiating move - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v..

When watching the video, pay strict attention to the distance between Ben Hogan's hands and right shoulder as he repeatedly performs the lower torso shift-rotational movement that initiates the downswing action - note that the distance between his hands-and-right shoulder remains constant during this maneuver. This fact is very important because it demonstrates that the right shoulder must be moving forward at the same rate of speed as the hands. This fact also proves that Ben Hogan is not moving his arms/hands independently away from his upper body during the early downswing. The arms/hands are passive and are moved downwards and forwards by the rotation of the torso - the lower-mid torso moves first, and the upper torso (shoulders) immediately follows.

A key element that also allows the power package to remain intact during the early downswing is the fact that the right upper arm is being actively adducted towards the right side of the torso, so that the right elbow is being actively driven towards its pitch location in front of the right hip. Note how Ben Hogan's right elbow leads the hands - it "appears" below the left arm in the above photo. That allows Ben Hogan to maintain a bent right elbow, which ensures that the right forearm flying wedge (colored in red in the next photo) maintains its ~90 degree relationship to the left arm flying wedge (colored in yellow in the next photo).


During the early downswing, Ben Hogan keeps the power package intact when "slotting" his club - and a key factor that allows him to achieve that goal is the fact that he maintains a bent right elbow by actively adducting his right upper arm (colored in green) towards the right side of his torso during the early downswing. That active right upper arm movement allows the right forearm flying wedge (colored in red) and right hand to travel at the same speed as the left hand - while the right wrist still remains bent-back (dorsiflexed). If Ben Hogan didn't actively drive his right elbow down towards his right hip area (by *actively adducting his right upper arm in the early downswing), and if the right elbow remained further back (floating in space behind the hands), then the right elbow would start to prematurely straighten in the early downswing. If the right elbow prematurely straightens, it would produce a push-force against PP#1 and the aft side of the grip (via PP#3) and it would likely cause the left wrist to prematurely uncock - thereby producing the unwanted phenomenon of casting (clubhead throwaway). Note that Hogan's right shoulder also moves downplane during the power package slotting phase (images 1 & 2 & 3) and that allows him to keep PA#4 loaded during the early downswing. If the right shoulder didn't move downplane when the right arm is adducted in the early downswing, then the right arm would prematurely straighten leading to a premature release of the club. A golfer should ingrain the "feel" that the right shoulder is moving at the same speed as the right elbow/RFFW in the early downswing. "

I gather the essence of this as follows:

1. The hands do nothing
2. The dominant upper arm is actively pulled in front of the stomach
3. The hips move first in the downswing--

of course this presupposes a good grip, setup, and posture so that the spine angle will be retained during the backswing and downswing.

Comments?