We're all still a bit shocked at Arnie's passing so I thought I'd just post some footage of his early golf swing today. You'll see Arnie during a GC golf broadcast, along with Rich Lerner and Nick Faldo. Unfortunately this video cuts off some of what Arnie said near the end. (You do hear him mention "keeping his head still." I'll have more on that in a moment.)
In keeping with what I've been posting about using your hands more in your swing, please note that Arnold Palmer -- who was one of the longest drivers of his day -- used his arms and hands quite a bit at impact. (I should note that, while "keeping your head still" is generally bad advice with a modern swing, I've noted in my classic swing study that my head does feel more steady when I use my arms and hands more -- the key word here being "feel". You can see that Arnie's head swivels quite a bit during his swing.)
If you start watching at around the :55 second mark, you'll see his swing in slo-mo against the grid below. And if you watch the line that goes down just behind his lead hip, you'll see that he doesn't have the dramatic forward hip drive that so many instructors teach. Yet he still gets fully onto his lead side.
That's because he doesn't drive toward the target, but rather keeps his lead knee bent when he starts his downswing and PUSHES UP to create the power at impact. This is how Sam Snead did it as well, and it's much easier on your back than a forward shift. That move also encourages more arm and hand action.
Arnie's swing may have been homegrown but it was much simpler than most swings taught these days. We'll be learning from the King for years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment