Читать книгу 50 Years of Golfing Wisdom - John Jacobs - Страница 6

Golf is what the ball does, which is totally dependent upon what the club is doing at impact. The variants at impact are:

The clubface: which can be open, closed or square (strong or weak).

The swing path: which can be in-to-out, out-to-in, or straight.

The angle of attack: which can be too steep, too shallow, or correct for the individual club.

The clubhead speed: to suit the shot in hand.

These dimensions, the clubface, swing path, and angle of attack, all of which determine the flight of the ball, are very influenced by the set-up at address.

The grip has a direct bearing on clubface control at impact.

The clubface aim and body alignment has a direct bearing on the swing path at impact.

The body posture at address has a direct bearing on the degree of shoulder tilt during the body turn, affecting the swing plane and therefore the angle of attack at impact. This does not mean that everyone will set up to the ball in exactly the same way. As teachers, prescribing the correct set-up for the individual is our greatest teaching tool.

Turning to the swing itself, which is conditioned by the position of the ball relative to the player, which is to the side and on the ground. The fact that it is to the side requires the club to swing through the ball from the inside back to the inside with the swing path on line at impact, with the clubface square to that line. The correct body action facilitates this arc of swing.

Since the ball is on the ground, at the same time as the body turns, the hands and arms swing the club up, down and up again in unison with the body action.

The above, I believe, is applicable to every player, allowing for individual variations.

The shape of a golf lesson would normally take the form of: diagnosis, explanation accompanied by demonstration and finally, correction. The pupil is best viewed down the line to facilitate this approach. The set-up to the target can be observed and the subsequent swing path through the ball can be clearly seen. The flight of the ball relative to the swing path will give a valid indication of the clubface at impact. This is not to say the side view for players of all levels is on occasion very appropriate.

It is vital that the correct diagnosis is made and that the explanation and accompanying demonstration be fully understood by the pupil in order to encourage the necessary perseverance since any correction is likely to be, initially, uncomfortable.