Lovn the shaft flex
Orbit it baby
Love that orbit pull
Who should we listen to a 18 handicap or Masters Champion
It’s amazing the degree to which people will go to say “see, it’s exactly how we think it is!”
Yes, golf has a stick, and hockey has a stick, so in that respect, they are similar.
And sure, the pivot motion in golf is similar to pivot motions in hockey and baseball and other sports.
But with regard to what we are talking about - how the shaft flexes in golf, and why - a slap shot is nothing like a golf swing.
The hockey stick is bent backwards because the barrier of the ice holds the blade back while the player is driving the handle of the stick forward. In golf, the club head in the impact zone is effectively freely orbiting, and with all that kinetic energy, pulling the shaft into forward deflection.
The dynamics of a slap shot - with respect to the stick/ice/puck interaction only - probably resemble a lofted wedge pitch/flop where the golfer intentionally puts the sole/bounce of the club into the ground behind the ball, knowing the bounce will help the club head glide along and catch the ball with alot of loft. I’m guessing they plant the stick on the ice in a slap shot because they know the ice will glide/bounce the stick into the puck with a relatively good transfer of momentum, while ensuring that they don’t “top” the puck or catch it thin. I don’t know the ballistics of hockey slap shots, but if the puck is on the stick long enough, then the forward kick of the stick could add some amount of acceleration to the puck as well.
The power in BOTH swings comes from the kinematic sequence of accelerating the hips, torso, arms, and club head, in that order. It has almost nothing to do with how the shaft flexes, apart from a slight amount of speed added from some shafts in their forward kick.
Feeling the shaft in golf and feeling the resistance of the club head, as a guide to swinging and guiding the head, is still valid as an intent, even though the shaft isn’t actually bent backwards at the point of impact with the ball.
Listen to a Masters Champion about maintaining shaft flex
Enjoy
We don’t “swing” here. We hit. Our kinematic sequencing from pre-post impact is far more like a hockey player than any golfer that “swings”. Leverage, not flash speed. Slap shot and back hand…perfect mirrored motions to analogize what we do here.
Oh, and the BODY is a part of the lever system. I guess GEARS doesn’t know how to measure the use of your “mass”…but our BRAINS do.
Oh, and two hands on the end of a shaft, can still act as a lever with our without the body mass assisting the HIT. It’s called OPPOSING FORCES…no matter how close the hands are together, they can still leverage.
Even your “precious” tour pros practice like hockey players…1:30 is the magic moment.
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Jimmy Ballard also talked about springing the shaft, like casting a fly rod. And they’re right…the shaft does bend. Nobody has ever claimed otherwise. It bends toe up in upward droop in transition. Around P6 is goes into some amount of toe down droop, as you change directions and apply some force across the shaft you absolutely pressure the back of the shaft and get lag deflection. Again, nobody has claimed otherwise. But as you progress from P6 to P7 you are changing the direction of your forces and hand path significantly, the clubhead is picking up speed and effective weight, and you have to manage that by pull up and back. And that net force causes the CoM to seek an in line condition which kick the shaft into lead deflection into and at impact. The shaft isn’t just static or continuously bending in a fixed plane.
Enjoy
Yeah, he’s working on getting speed into the arms early and then he’s putting the brakes on and that shaft is bending.
At 13:00: Increase Your Hand Speed While Shallowing The Club 🏌️♂️ - YouTube
Orbit pull maintaining shaft flex Enjoy
The ball is gone before the clubhead ever touches the ground. And impact causes downward deflection.
enjoy
I’m glad you’re coming around