Thanks eagle, I remember noticing the symmetrical shapes of his shadow when I created this vid (which was some time ago). I even used the shadows to superimpose the pictures but never thought of them the way RR has now!
It all makes perfect sense; you can monitor shoulder rotation levelness, spine angles and all sorts of other stuff using only the sun shining on your back!
The secret shadow’s in the Dirt… Or maybe that’s what the sunburst icon is for… 
Terrific work IOZ…the sun’s position is obviously important if one is looking at shadows. There is a bunch of good stuff in Norwoods book…which BTW I happen to own a brand new first edition hard cover copy. There are a few pages in the hardcover work that are absent from the soft cover version.
On those 3 still photos…In the middle picture, I like where the shaft’s shadow is located on the ground in comparison to its position at the top of the swing: totally in line with the right arm.
Hey IOZ…I love your idea about the Sunburst Logo…hadn’t made that connection before…way cool…now you’re thinking like a rat…or have you found an overseas supplier of red pills. 
RR
I live near Amsterdam, the mother of all sin cities 
Rest assured, there’s no shortage of any kind of pill here 
P.S. If I may ask, what is the title of Norwood’s book ?
Joe Norwood’s Golf-O-Metrics First edition 1978, second edition 1992. I think the second edition only comes in soft cover.
In both books are pictures of Marilyn Smith…22 LPGA wins…who he worked with a lot. One day long ago I stumbled across one of her autographed irons. It, and the book, are proudly on joint display in the rat’s nest. 
RR
Here’s a couple of endorsements from the book:
Ben Hogan (1985)…“At age 93 you still have a lot of teaching years ahead of you. Keep up the good work.”
Mac O’Grady (1982)…Mac spent every day for one year with Joe and went on to get his PGA card.- “Somewhere down the road, victory will be ours, master. How blessed we are to have been graced with your knowledge.”
RR
Blind spots
Not to beat it to death, but RR noticing that shadow, and me not, really hit me. It pointed out to me, again, that not only am I not aware of what I don’t KNOW, I am not even aware of what I don’t SEE, and to carry it further…what I don’t FEEL. And it does scare the heck out of me. It’s the old “hiding in plain sight” thing. I would rate myself as an above average observer…but what else am I missing??? “Self-rating” is a whole 'nother topic. 
Is your observational skill the “profiler” in you RR?
I once saw a older practitioner of a certain art, who, when presented with another person, could tell you all kinds of things about him within just a few seconds, just by seeing him. If you let him talk to the subject, or watch him move, he could tell much more. He knew what to look for, where, and what each finding might mean. For a simple example, by looking at the subject’s hair or fingers for smoke stains, could give you an idea of whether the subject smoked and how much. A lot was really simple, but things I had never noticed before. Other things were more complex and required deeper knowledge and experience. But he was impressive.
I would think some golf teachers get that way…where they can rapidly see things in the student’s swing, and offer corrective advise.
Blind spots… that’s the way we are, humans, Rats, birds, etc. It must drive the attorneys crazy…can’t even count on an eyewitness.
Well Eagle…thinking out-of-the-box can be rewarding if one has the inner controls to work with those ideas. Don’t want to get into the profiling aspect because it’s a very complex subject that I don’t think I could explain very well. But in many things throughout life, things just don’t fit into context and some see them and some don’t.
I remember as a kid watching an episode of “Combat” with Vic Morrow. The squad was pinned down by sniper fire from someone hiding in a strand of trees. No one could figure out where to shoot, when suddenly one of the squad members, who happened to be a botanist noticed that a particular tree had an area in which the leaves just didn’t fit into the large picture…bango, fire away…and they got the sniper. Maybe that got me started…cuz I remember looking at trees for weeks after that episode.
And that is precisely why I am here with ABS…as Lag says so correctly…you can’t know what you don’t know and I’ve learned tons from this site.
About lawyers…they love blind spots…that’s how they make their case and their cash. Take that to the bank as I’ve worked with maybe one too many of them. RR
Great stuff, RR. That shadow is one of my favourite ones to hit in too. My fav is probably if it’s angled a little more to the left, but I always hit good shots with those short, squashed type shadows. I wonder does it make me take on the perspective that I’m that size and shape, I’m sure it probably does. It’s a great compact and punchy sort of feeling.
Good eye, as always…
BOM
That reminds me of travelling throughout Europe after graduating college. The island of Corfu, a pristine beach, and two pretty British girls that I met on the way from Brindisi. Naughty girls who liked playing sundial on the beach even at noon time. Thank you for bringing that memory back!
Captain Chaos
IOZ,
It seems this might be used as a productive tool on the course; is that where you are going with this? I hope to experiment with what you are illustrating here. In most cases the sun won’t be cooperating so I would strive to imagine on the course or on the practice range as if the sun is in the ideal position to cast an ideal shadow and swing with the intent that my imaginary shadow would duplicate Mr. Hogan’s shadows that you sequenced here. I am not sure what adjustments if any might be needed for uneven stances and lies, but that could be something to explore also.
Best,
1teebox
This is from that same sequence- the shaft at 4 different points approx. perpendicular to the ground- it’s a pity that sequence didn’t catch impact. I’m not into plane as such, but when you do your thing and this shows up, it’s doesn’t hurt…
Great stuff Bom…wish I knew how to do pictures like that. I especially like the last picture in the sequence with how the face is oriented to the body. That’s that shoveling action I mentioned moons ago. But truth be told…I played around with those positions long before with a different image and with props. At great personal risk of being carted away on a stretcher…here’s what I do. Now don’t laugh…because this is all about acceleration.
I actually put a piece of narly, slimy, chewed to the bone, chewing gum on the face where it is just lightly sticking to the face surface. Now at P3 it’s easy to keep the gum on the face if the R hand is under. From that point…only constant acceleration will keep the gum on the face- any flipping at impact will lose the gum quickly…almost like one is going to accelerate to carry to gum to PV5 so that the gum can be tossed backwards behind me. Kinda like that Hogan deal where the tee finished in back of him and his smoke was in front.
I know…thinking way too much RR
I like it, RR, I’m sure it really gets you accelerating from inside out too. I wonder where the gum tends to go if it falls off, or when it tends to fall off, or if there’s a pattern to learn from. Sounds like a cool learning idea…
What kind of computer do you have? All of them tend to have more capabilities than you realize, it’s just a matter of finding out where the tools or applications are. I had this one for over a year before I realized it could do screen grabs. As with many things, we have access to more ability than we tend to realize.
Great pics Bom.
Wow, the past few days I have seen some of the best golf images ever …12 Piece’s “goat hump part 1&2”( golfbulldog), IOZ’s stop action Hogan video, and now Bom’s stuff above.
RR…the bubble gum swing training aid is cool. Here’s a link to a similar thing using Silly Putty. Only this guy may not be as sharp as you …he doesn’t seem to accelerate as far.
RR,
What’s nuts about that? I have to try your chewing gum idea dad gummit!
1teebox
Cool link, Eagle, lots to say about that. The fact that the ball compresses is directly linked to shaft flex and holding it. Most of the theoretical golfers see it in too simplistic terms, and think of impact as only momentary. The reality is that the shaft flexes and the ball compresses, so impact isn’t an instantaneous moment, it’s a period of time very much like the whole swing. On the other end of the scale of questions related to this is one I’ve asked before- can a fly stop a train? If it can’t, then at least potentially, a golf ball can’t stop a golf club.
I reread my post and I want to clarify that I mean this in terms of internal to external force, not inside out to right field. Internal to external acceleration is key to forceful ball striking imo.
Had a quick look Eagle…you’re right, he is trying to flick off the gum just past impact towards the target…no good that way.
I’m trying to keep it on the face forever and throw it in back of me away from the target…so I can go back and retrieve it for later in the day chewing. 
Damn…I came up with that years ago on one of those red pill days…I guess what an old friend told me once was true…he said “Range, if I can think of it, someone else has.” RR
1teebox,
When I did this I did not have the shadow in my mind’s eye at all. 
For now I would just try to use my shadow as a poor man’s mirror or camera; just a visual checkpoint on what you are doing vs. feeling.
BUT, like you said, during certain hours of the day (when the sun is at an angle just like in the hogan pictures) you might be able to do other things as well 
I think BOM has experimented with this, and maybe RR can shed some light on what Mr. Norwood’s thoughts were on this?
Doesn’t this video demonstrate what you guys(Lag,Bom) are saying? Hogan “Willingness to leave the line”, “flat rotating shoulders”
VS other guys …“Stick men”
I do not remember seeing this stop action stuff for golf swing analysis, but I like it a lot. It’s almost like the super slo-mo can mesmerize you, while this slaps you in the face.
doesn’t the goat video reinforce what I have read on many TGM sites - “Impact is not address”?