Both ways to hit the ball have strength and weaknesses and once you’ve tried and identified the differences between both techniques you could have a hard time choosing one path or the other as both are equally efficient.

Wouldn’t it be sweet if we could merge Fire and Ice?

Rejoice my friend, because now you can !!!

This "monster" is referred in the Golfing Machine terminology as the Four Barrel Hit. According to Homer Kelley (the author of the book) it is the ultimate way (although tough according to him – on what I tend to disagree) to hit the ball.

A few weeks ago a fellow reader asked me:

Just a fan and reader of you lag blog, had a couple questions:

I myself am stuck in that land between swinging and hitting. I’m not exactly sure what keeps me from committing to one or the other.  I really love the swings of Rory Mcilroy, Trevol Immelman, all of Slicefixer’s students, as well as you’re "swinging" video.  You’ve got sooooooooooo much extension and width that swing it’s just beautiful.

Somewhere on your site you mentioned that recently you’re playing with more of a hitting style.  With a swing as beautiful as yours I wondered why you would prefer the hitting method?  Of course in that video we can’t see what the ball flight looked like.  Maybe you prefer the accuracy and lower flight of the hit.  I too like the control I feel when I’m "hitting", but when I’m working on swinging, making a bigger, wider turn, rolling my forearm, letting centrifugal force do what it’s supposed to do, and I flush one, and that ball goes longer and higher than anything I’ve ever seen, it’s just such an amazing feeling, like a drug, and I just want MORE.

I guess I’m just wondering if it’s possible to have a little bit of both.  A nice wide, long, fluid swing, but with a deliberate squaring of the club, maintaining the lag with that right index pressure point.  Would there be any benefit to this?

Sorry I gota bit long winded with this one, I would love to get a response but also understand we’re all busy people.  Thanks again for such an informative little blogsite.

-Sean

Here’s what I wrote to Sean:

Introducing the Four Barrel Hit!

Now, regarding your question: I found myself switching between the two techniques during the past 4 years and achieved quite the same results in scoring with both.

Also a word about power and distance: I achieved more or less the same results in distance with hitting and swinging.
Without flattering myself, I can proudly say that I’m the longest hitter in my area (I drive the same distance as a friend of mine playing on the Allianz Tour (a Nationwide-like tour in Europe) and slightly longer with my irons (but accuracy not still at par )) and I cannot remember someone overdriving me!

Interestingly enough, this length and power is directly related to the Lag I now have in all my shots – not Hitting or Swinging. Lag pressure is independent of the technique.

After 4 years of studying Hitting, Swinging and Lag, I came to the conclusion that both are very efficient IF Lag is present. This makes the Lag the most important thing to master.

Now, a proper technique eases the use of Lag. This is why learning Hitting and Swinging is so important.

But due to their essence, Hitting and Swinging shouldn’t be combined!

“…you CANNOT pull (Swing) and push (Hit) something at the SAME TIME…”.

True, and I have a nice analogy for you to get a feel for that: Imagine that you intend to spin a bicycle wheel.

You can either:

• Drag the rim with your left hand (Swing)
• Drive (push) a spoke with your right hand (Hit)

Try to do both AT THE SAME TIME – you’ll find yourself chasing one move with the other – it doesn’t work well.

But there is one way!

You surely noticed the capitalized words in “…you CANNOT pull (Swing) and push (Hit) something at the SAME TIME…”.

• Ok, so what about saying: “…you CAN pull (Swing) and push (Hit) something BUT NOT at the SAME TIME…”
• Or, even: “…you CAN pull (Swing) FIRST and push (Hit) something SECOND provided you do not do both at the SAME TIME…”
• Or better: “…you CAN pull (Swing) and push (Hit) something IN SEQUENCE!”

Great, but how to do that practically?

First, a little reminder of the particularities of Hitting & Swinging:

• Centrifugal force
• A lot of “rotary” body power

• Right arm muscular thrust only
• Little to no “rotary” body power

A “4 Barrel” stroke is sequence of both techniques – and it is vital that they stay sequenced.

To get a feel for it, let’s go back to our bicycle wheel:

1. Swing the wheel by dragging the rim
2. The wheel is turning – centrifugal force has been generated
3. If the wheel is not turning too fast, you could be able to catch a spoke and push it to give the wheel extra spin!

Now applied in the golf swing :

From the top of the backswing

1. Swing component: with your left arm across your chest, perform your body rotation towards the target in order to blast this left arm away from the chest.
2. Swing component: WAIT for the feel of centrifugal force coming in as your body stops his rotation and your left arm and club are swung into orbit.
   Note: At this point, in the most extreme cases, your body could very well be facing the target!
3. Hitting component: As soon as you fell that centrifugal force coming in, fire the powerful right arm thrust of the Hitter.

It works beautifully if the sequence is done properly and if you stay within your limits.

The good

• Maximum power. For me it gives me one more club at last with irons and could sometimes send the ball 350 meters with a driver!
• No accuracy loss if done properly
• Makes your friends laugh as you send balls out of bounds in the neighbor’s swimming pool the other end of the range!
  

The bad

• Timing is the issue. Be careful with your sequence, do not engage your right arm too soon.

Have fun playing with the beast!

A few years ago, my divot location was starting just under the ball and I thought that was not too bad. I was shocked when I discovered how much ahead of the ball it should be if you really hit DOWN on the ball and compress it properly. It’s common for Tour Players to create divots starting 3 inches after the ball!!!

Lets have a closer look at this phenomenon and tell me if you’re as shocked as I once was!

Check the video first!

Stroke sequence (Hitting!) – Details

Ball first, turf second: keep moving your hands forward!

The divot located in front of the ball with irons is a natural byproduct of clubhead Lag. As a consequence, you can look at your divots to check how well you are compressing the ball with a descending blow.

If your divots start before the ball, you certainly stop/decelerate your hands at the ball.

The only way to create a divot after the ball is to drag your hands as far as you can towards the target on the downstroke. If you are used to stop your hands at the ball it will feel like your hands are going past your left leg at impact (and of course this is not the reality but just the correct FEEL!).

This is very unfortunate because it is a very efficient way to strike the golf ball and in my opinion a very interesting alternative for strong or less flexible players.

Muscular Thrust

Unlike the Swinger who manipulates centrifugal force, the pure Hitter ONLY uses his right arm to activate the Primary Lever Assembly (that is the Left Arm plus the club as a whole).
For those interested, the muscle involved here is the right triceps as it is responsible for straightening the arm. So if you are a boxer you should give the Hitting stroke a try !

The main action involved here is a muscular thrust of the right arm against the Primary Lever Assembly.
The clubhead is not thrown into orbit by the pivot; Instead, the hitter pushes radially (against the radius!) against the shaft with his right arm only.

Think of it like pushing against one spoke of a bicycle wheel to put the wheel into motion – Swinging would make you drag the rim of the wheel.

The proper action is to straighten the right arm without flattening the right wrist in a piston like action. 

Address: Impact Fix

It all starts at address – the Hitter usually sets up with his hands in a position that is called "Impact Fix":

This position, while not mandatory, allows for an easier pickup of the Primary Lever Assembly as a whole by the right arm (the right forearm takeaway). Also it establishes the proper impact alignments right away.

From this position all you have to do is to freeze your wrists into their position and move the whole thing back and forth with your right arm pretty much in a piston like motion.

A good way to feel this motion is, without a club, to hold your left wrist with your right hand and move your left arm back and forth. Simple enough? Well this is the principle of the Hitting motion.

Half Roll of the club face

Due to the way the club is moved, the clubface doesn’t open as much as the Swinging motion during the backswing and doesn’t close as much in the downstroke. Consequently, Hitting naturally produces what is called a "Half Roll" of the clubface: When you look at the clubface at both arms straight, you should see the clubface looking 45 degrees left (for righties) instead of 90 degrees left in the Swinging motion (full roll, clubface closed).

Funnily enough, this produces a no-roll feel which is very important to note as you might intuitively search to feel a roll.

This Half Roll also has a natural fade tendency. As a consequence, the Hitter tends to adopt stronger grips to counterbalance that effect and produce straight shots.

You should also take into account that the more forward the ball in your stance (Driver for example), the more the need for a closed face and a stronger grip because the more the layback of the clubface at this point.

Experience with your grip to find the correct amount of shut face to induce.

Face constantly looking at the ball

Another interesting fact is the way the clubface swivels during the swing.

Unlike the Swinger whose clubface almost immediately swivels against the plane of the swing, the Hitter doesn’t rotate the clubface but rather keep it "looking at the ball" during the backswing: The clubface stays at right angles against the face of the plane. This is the natural byproduct of the angled hinge and you must not intent to rotate it clockwise/open on the backswing or you will have to consciously rotate it back counterclockwise on the downswing for proper contact.

Establishing the Lag: Drive Loading

You will discover that the piston like action of the right arm produces a shorter backswing than the Swinger due to the position of the right elbow set to push against the shaft instead of pulling.

From there, usually the hands cannot go higher than shoulder high – which is called the Top.

But, from such a shorter backstroke, the tendency is to rush on the downstroke.

Make sure you give yourself enough time to transition from Top to Start Down and accomplish the necessary Drive Loading.

Uh? Drive Loading you said?

Let me explain: For the Hitter, an efficient way to establish the Lag is to resist the backstroke motion then perform a right arm thrust against this clubhead Lag striving to accelerate a pre stressed clubshaft from a slow startdown through impact and to both arms straight.

Here, the Pivot (Right Shoulder) must also provide the initial acceleration of the Power Package (Shoulders, Arms, Hands and Club).

But beware! From there, you only have your bent right arm to provide the Thrust. So, if the right arm begins to straighten too soon, you will have triggered the release, and you will run out of right arm before impact and product a nasty Clubhead Throwaway. 

Slow Start Down

As previously mentioned, for the Hitter a slow Start Down is mandatory to allow for the right arm to properly get into position.
In the transition from the Top to Start Down think very Slow and very Heavy and that should do the trick.

A word about Pivot Action

Unlike the Swinging motion, the Pivot (the body) doesn’t perform the blast of the left arm off the chest. Instead its purpose is to put the right shoulder into position (closer to the ball – down plane) as a platform to push against.

Think of a sprinter pushing against his starting-blocks.
Think also of the action of a boxer: before delivering its punch the boxer will get his right shoulder into position closer to his opponent to strike him with maximum force. In the Hitting stroke, you have to move your right shoulder down plane to get closer to the ball and deliver the right arm thrust.

One more word about the Pressure Points involved in the Hitting Procedure

Again, to find the location of the pressure points involved in the Hitting action we’ll do a little drill: grab a club, put the clubhead against something heavy and try to push this thing not by dragging with your body but rather by pushing with your right arm.

You’ll easily identify 3 pressure points:

• Pressure point #1: The palm of your right hand against the aft section of the grip and you left thumb.
• Pressure point #2: The last 3 fingers of your left hand.
• Pressure point #3: The index-trigger-finger of the right hand resisting against the club wanting to stay behind.

Establish those specific pressures during you downstroke while performing the Hitting stroke to become an expert Hitter! 

In the eye of the Hitter!

The Hitter thinks of delivering a cross line blow down and out from the top of his swing. As a result he mentally constructs a "Delivery Line" going down and out to "first base".

I thought it could be interesting and fun to show what the Hitter sees in his mind. This gives a very good sense of the Hitter’s intents during the stroke.

Click on the images to display the slideshow, and then use the PREVIOUS / NEXT controls to navigate through the images.

Summing things up

1. Set up at Impact Fix and "freeze" your wrists alignments.
2. Pick up the whole thing back in a "piston + fanning" like motion (a piston-only motion would make you look like starting a lawnmower which is not the motion we want).
3. Perform what feels like a shorter backstroke as what you are used to.
4. From the top, initiate a slow startdown by pushing against the shaft with your right arm only (pressure point #1 feel). The slow start down will give yourself enough time to get closer to the ball to deliver your blow.
5. Drive it strongly down and out. Destroy the ground!

Swing sequence

As a reminder, here are the sequences of the Hitting Procedure. Click on the images to display the slideshow, and then use the PREVIOUS/NEXT controls to navigate through the images.

Hitting stroke video

Hitting stroke sequence

Before going any further, take a closer look at those two swing sequences:

Swinging stroke video

Hitting stroke video

For easier reviewing, here are the sequences of each stroke. Click on the images below to display the slideshow, and then use the PREVIOUS/NEXT controls to navigate through the images.

Swinging stroke sequence

Hitting stroke sequence

Same player but two distinctive look and, believe me, two very different feels.

Those are the natural byproducts of the actions involved (dragging or driving). At no time I intended to adopt specific positions and it is very important that you do not attempt to copy those positions. Your body will automatically put you into the same positions if you properly employ the right set of physics and actions!

Swinging action

The swinger relies on centrifugal force to move his golf club.

The main action involved here is to throw the clubhead into orbit, down and out, hold on to it, and let centrifugal force do its job without attempting to disrupt its action.
It’s easier said than done because any attempt to "add to the shot (hit stronger)" or manipulate the clubface will disrupt centrifugal force and will result in steering disaster.

Swinging is the most common way of moving the golf club because it does not rely on muscular power but rather on the player’s skill to use centrifugal force.
As a result 99% of the children start to play golf as swingers because they have not enough muscular force and a majority of them stay this way growing old.

This is also a reason why many club pros who started the golf as youngsters (and as swingers) only teach golf this way to their students.
While this is OK if their students are children, it can make things tougher with adults starting to play golf because those adults’ natural instincts is to use muscular force as they’ve learned to do in their everyday’s life and less skilled to use centrifugal force!

Known players who are swingers include Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Fred Couples, Jack Nicklaus…

Hitting action

The hitter on the other hand does not rely on centrifugal force but on muscular force instead.

The main action involved here is a muscular thrust of the right arm against the primary lever assembly (that is the left arm plus the club as a whole).
The clubhead is not thrown into orbit. Instead, the hitter pushes radially (against the radius!) against the shaft with his right arm only.

Hitting is less commonly used by golfers (at last consciously!) because golfing instruction out there is mainly about Swinging. However, this is a very efficient way to play Golf. It has often been reported that hitting is particularly accurate.

This said, it is worth noticing that Lee Trevino, who is a hitter, is credited to be the most accurate player of his time.

Known players who are hitter include JB Holmes, Kenny Perry, KJ Choi, Lee Trevino…

This is the end of the first part of this series of articles on Hitting vs Swinging.
In the two next articles of this series, we will explain how to successfully perform a Swing or a Hit and the distinctive ingredients of both.

Knowing to do both is fun and very instructive. It will help you discover which action naturally suits you the best to play better Golf.

By the way, forgive the fancy pants in the hitting sequence !