Comments on: Hitting vs Swinging – Part 3 – Hitting

By: Steve Simon

Steve Simon — Sun, 29 May 2011 19:50:25 +0000

In my opinion this is simply the best “How to” compilation to be found anywhere.
the combination of video, still photos and very well laid out text explanations have led me right to the “Hitters Path”… The ball contact this morning was superb. Most every shot with that crisp sound of compression.
I will be pouring over the rest of the site to glean whatever other “Gems” you’ve graciously put out.
Well done.

By: David Leathem

David Leathem — Sat, 21 May 2011 02:15:27 +0000

Hey great post love all the information here its hard to find good information on hitters.

I changed to a hitter last semester and transformed my game, just a couple of questions. Am I right in saying that a hitter shouldnt draw/hook the ball because of angular release?? and is the proper shot with a hitters motion a fade cause i feel when i do it i fizz it straight and falls to the right.

Thanks

By: Richard Kopcho

Richard Kopcho — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 14:01:02 +0000

Such an interesting discussion! Explains what happens when I start out a round of golf hitting, and as I get looser and more relaxed and start swinging the club I begin rolling my hands and hooking all my shots! What a helpful insight! Thanks John.

By: wayoutwest

wayoutwest — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 06:30:40 +0000

Interesting piece on hitting v swinging. Tried the ‘hitting’ or ‘pushing’ on the range today and like the results. I feel much more connected to where the club head is facing through impact.

I notice that in the hitting setup, the left wrist remains slightly ‘cupped’ or flexed – at least for the mid iron sample in the video. Is this the same position for metals, long irons, and wedges?

Also, I wonder if you have any thoughts on lateral dominance (strongly right handed as opposed to ambidextrous) in addition to just physical strength in determining if hitting or swinging is likely to work better for any given individual.

By: John Di Lagito

John Di Lagito — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 22:15:59 +0000

That’s a nice compliment Innercityteacher!

The purpose of the hip slide starting the downstroke is to lower the right shoulder in order to set the right arm in a suitable position to deliver the punch – and most important, to guarantee having enough of right arm to extend past the ball to reach the both arms straight position.

There is no problem to adjust the move to accommodate your shorter leg if you ensure that you won’t run out of right arm before reaching the ball.

Setting up for the standard hitting stroke requires to do this:
- Put yourself at impact fix condition
- Keep everything there except the hips that are returned in their address position
- “freeze” everything and move only the right arm!

You could very well change this a bit like that:
- Put yourself at impact fix condition
- Keep everything there including the hips
- “freeze” everything and move only the right arm!

Have fun driving them down to China!

By: innercityteacher

innercityteacher — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 01:52:20 +0000

Hi John. Very helpful combination of non-technical descriptions and visual aids. As a teacher for over 30 years, my highest compliment is to say that I would do this exactly the way you do it!

Could a hitter simply Hula, RFT with EA, and drive the right shoulder down and through the ball, without hip slide?

I ask because my front hip is artificial and I have a 1.75 inch shorter front leg. ////When I place my weight on my front leg to Hula, I feel really tilted!

By: Coltsfan

Coltsfan — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:41:43 +0000

Sven,

if you learn how to trace a straight plane line you wont have to worry about what your elbow is doing because you will always be on plane

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:30:11 +0000

Timothy, I certainly hope your description of hitting is correct, it sums up all of what I have learned in the last year in one paragraph! Nice job

By: Sven

Sven — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 04:48:24 +0000

John………This golf instruction site of yours is awesome. Thank you.
I gather from your articles that putting the right elbow in the “slot” (Penick’s magic move) would be applicable to hitting, but not to swinging. Is this correct? I appreciate your help.
Sven

By: Coltsfan

Coltsfan — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:39:18 +0000

Hi John,

I have a question about tracing the plane line. I know going back we need to trace the target line or base of the plane, but on the downswing are we supposed to trace the delivery line or just try to trace the target line up to point of impact then just cross the targetline?

I have my dowels set up along the base of the plane, should I set up a third “downswing dowel” that goes more out to first base to help w/ the downswing tracing?

Thanks!

By: TimothyW

TimothyW — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:22:11 +0000

I meant to say I’m a natural hitter of the ball, sorry!!

By: TimothyW

TimothyW — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:21:03 +0000

I think I’ve had an “aha” moment with my swing. I looking at the TGM concept of the accumulators between hitting and swinging. I’m a natural swinger. I started to have some problems with my ball striking because as a hitter I was rolling the left forearm across my chest during the back swing. This meant that I was loading accumulator #4 in addition to 1,2, and 3. This meant that on the downswing I had to rotate my left forearm and still fire 1,2, and 3 which caused timing issues on the downswing. After studying the backswing sequence of a hitter, I realized that I have to take the club back the club face “looking” at the ball. So, now on my back swing, I just simply turn my shoulders keeping my left arm straight without rotating it and just fold my right arm at the elbow ensuring that my hands are no more that shoulder high and that there’s a 90 deg angle between the club shaft and my right arm, so at the top PA#1 is loaded and I start down slow with the hips leading back to the target while maintaining the flying wedge established at address and firing the right arm. The ball is compressed going high and straight with a tour trajectory. Did I describe this correctly, so far I’m getting the repeatability of my swing by doing this?

By: frank

frank — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:30:19 +0000

John, one question. I’ve tried the wet mop drill and, while it worked very well, on short pitches, it created some issues on longer ones, which faded too much. Any ideas? Thanks. F.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:06:41 +0000

John, Thanks again for your generosity with this site. Studying it and practicing it has literally dropped my scores from low nineties to low to mid 80′s. Now I have a realistic goal of breaking 80 for the first time.

Enjoy your golfing season…

Bill

By: John Di Lagito

John Di Lagito — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 22:40:23 +0000

Yes, that’s it.
Look at 4:00.
Cocking the wrist is the same motion you would use while hammering.
Bending the wrist is a slapping like motion.
The left wrist cocks and uncocks only and never bends.
The right wrist bends back but not forward and NEVER cocks or uncocks (a very common mistake).

Combine the two wrist motions during the swing and you will find that there is no much room left for improvisation.