These super slow motion videos of Dustin Johnson demonstrate body rotation to the extreme. I doubt our GreyPower bodies still have the ability to constantly move this way when swinging, the senior body is unlikely to be flexible enough or have the range of movement and strength required. However, these videos do show tremendous power can flow to the club head from using the leverage and body rotation created in thoroughbred athlete’s swing.
Category: Skipping Stones For Distance
When talking to many older golfers I have found that the most common aspect of the game they would like to improve on is distance from the tee.
If you are in good physical condition for your age, survey results show you should not expect to experience significant distance loss until your mid 70’s. One of the primary reasons for this is the clubhead speed that can be generated simply from the right arm and hand. You will find several videos featured here showing how the right arm works like a throwing action in golf. This same action can be seen in videos of other activities with similar right arm bio mechanics.
In the next videos take a look at a baseball and softball swing. This is a two-handed swing with very similar bio mechanics to golf when it’s adapted to a golf posture and the swing plane is adjusted to a stationary golf ball on the ground .
An added dimension is an explanation of the wrist action. Note how the club head speed (distance) is increased dramatically when you have both hands gripping the club, introducing wrist action through and after impact. This is not a demonstration of control and accuracy, just distance improvement. Once new distance has been accomplished and the centre of the club face is contacting the ball, I can show you the ways to improve your control and accuracy.
The next step is to combine the right arm hinge with body rotation. Visualise how the best baseball players do it. These body movements are little more difficult and require quite a lot of practice, especially for a GreyPower body, but with increased knowledge, improved flexibility, plus a greater range of body movement, you can expect good results.
When I was a youngster my parents would take me to our batch (cottage) by the beach. I would love to pick up smooth stones and throw them to see how many times I could get them to skip along the top of the water before sinking. Little did I know I was practising a right shoulder and right arm action and spine rotation, which later, when incorporated into my golf swing, would give me longer than average distance even although I would be described as smaller than average size.
I am now over 70 years old and still hit a lot of five pars in two shots. I credit a lot of this retained distance to the underarm throwing action of my right arm and shoulder learned as a child skipping stones..
It is interesting to observe the right arm mechanics of the stone skippers in the next two videos and compare it to the similar desired action that can be seen in a good golf downswing.
Compare the arm action of these stone skippers to that of the bottom hand in your own golf swing.
The right elbow goes straight down from the top of the swing. Right elbow is leading the wrist and the elbow is coming in closer to the right hip and into what is described as a loaded lever position before it begins to unload. At he last second the wrist lets go to release the stone which skips along the top of the water many times before sinking.
If you take a look at the slow motion video analysis of top golf swings, you will notice the right hand and wrist joint is still partially cocked at impact. The right arm and wrist only fully straighten out after the ball has been struck.
Most GreyPower golfers can still throw or learn a similar action despite their age and the reward is a longer drive.
CHECK OUT the videos below on the right arm action in the golf swing.
Pro Tip:
When swinging well I can release (take off) my right hand completely from the club at impact on any iron shot without significant distance loss so long as my body rotation hasn’t stopped. In fact I often do this as a practice drill the guard against releasing my right arm lever too early on the down swing.
GreyPower Golf 