Instruction
How does Rory hit it so far?
The U.S. Ryder Cup team will have to deal with Rory McIlroy’s long drives all weekend long, whether it’s in a team format or singles play. Although length off the tee won’t be the deciding factor at Gleneagles in Scotland this year, it will allow McIlroy — the world’s No. 1 player according to the Official World Golf Rankings — and his playing partner a decided advantage over their opponents (unless he’s playing against Bubba Watson, of course).
He has established himself as one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour, dominating major championship golf courses and his competition off the tee. According to PGATour.com, McIlroy averaged 310.5 yards per drive in 2014, and ranked behind only Watson and Dustin Johnson in average driving distance this year. How does one of the smallest players — he’s 5 feet 9 inches and 160 pounds — rank No. 3 on Tour in distance off the tee?
According to Men’s Health, McIlroy credits his form to the strength work he started with British trainer Steve McGregor back in 2010.
“What has all that work in the gym given me?” McIlroy asked. “I don’t think I hit it any longer, I just don’t need to try and hit it.”
He is now able to maintain form and balance throughout the swing.
“I feel like I can hit it harder without losing balance,” he told MH. “The length of my driver hasn’t increased that much but I just feel like I don’t have to go after it as much to get the length.”
This newfound strength is creating stability and control throughout the swing, which allows him to hit the ball longer distances without throwing himself forward.
“I feel a lot more stable in my golf swing,” McIlroy said when asked about the benefits of his workout plan. “There’s a lot less moving parts.”
So let’s go back a few years to see what McIlroy has been doing, which is now paying dividends to his performance on the course. From an interview in 2012 in Men’s Health, McIlroy said that he started strength and condition training with McGregor in 2010. After a series of fitness assessments, McGregor saw an imbalance of muscular strength on McIlroy’s left side. From there, a plan was designed to first remedy that. The focus was on the lower body where power is generated.
In 2011, Dr. Greg Rose, founder and director of the Titleist Performance Institute, performed a biomechanical assessment to understand McIlroy’s incredible hip speed. According to Dr. Rose, McIlroy’s pelvic rotation is an amazing 720 degrees per second on the downswing. To put that in perspective, the average armature golfer’s pelvic rotation is 300-to-350 degrees per second and an average tour professional is 550 degrees per second.
What was even more unbelievable was the so called “double clutch move.”
[youtube id=”YDxkaHXzYQs” width=”620″ height=”360″]
What Dr. Rose saw was that McIlroy’s hips reversed direction for a split second during the downswing at a speed of 377 degrees per second in the opposite direction. This phenomenal movement is created because of Rory’s strong core and abdominals.
“This is just crazy,” Dr. Rose said about his hip movement in the interview with ESPN Sports Science.
Prior to the 2014 season, McIlroy visited the GlaxoSmithKline GSK Human Performance Lab for physical testing to understand what is needed to maximize performance for the 2014 season. He endured a series of assessment to determine oxygen efficiency, strength proficiency and nutrition strategy and planning.
According to GSK Human Performance Lab, McIlroy stated, “Coming to the GSK Human Performance Lab gives me detailed insight into the workings of my body and what I can do to improve my performance. There’s a growing number of players, both fitter and stronger, competing for majors every season, so it’s really important I look at the physical and cognitive performance aspects of my game to ensure I keep improving.”
McIlroy’s work in the gym has allowed him to combine natural gifts and physical fitness. It’s no wonder why he’s the world No. 1-ranked golfer, and No. 3 in average driving distance on the PGA Tour.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Ken Lines
Feb 11, 2015 at 12:20 pm
One of the best ways to gain clubhead speed and control is to train running up hills. There is no shortcut/whatever that will help. Worked for Jerry Rice and Art Monk.
Johnny
Feb 17, 2015 at 11:14 pm
Tell that to John Daly…
Josh
Dec 21, 2014 at 6:25 pm
Click Here!
zutui
Oct 20, 2014 at 1:11 pm
jizi yes
zoots
Oct 1, 2014 at 1:29 am
What’s the scientific advantage of the “double clutch move”? Nothing explained on that. Maybe he would hit it longer without it…
Mbwa Kali Sana
Sep 24, 2014 at 12:48 pm
I feel strongly that most golf teachers and so called “golf experts ” in this article and in this blog focus on the wrong issue :RORY’s hips go fast because he swings fast “WITH HIS ARMS “:just read Ernest JONES , Miguel DE LA TORRE ,Paul KNUDSON,and present great AMERICAN teacher Mike BENDER :all of them “swing the club “…. and the body follows :the core ,the lower body are important but are not the prime movers .The SPANISH way of playing as exemplified by SEVERIANO BALLESTEROS ,JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL, SERGIO GARCIA is with the arms and with the wrists :all these guys used to play “pelota “or “pala “and developed considerable speed and strength in the arms and wrists ,as well as running around to catch the “pelota ” gave them a lot if strength in the legs and lower body .
Look at ANGEL CABRERA ,the top Argentine player,he is of the same school of golf and he is no short hitter .
Do not confound the “HEN “and the “EGG “!
marcel
Sep 24, 2014 at 2:30 am
thats no science – when you fit, exercise you can use your muscles to their capacity… There are longer drivers than Rory but Rors does it all day long where others get tired and inconsistent!!!
Gym workout and practice!!
gplfing
Sep 23, 2014 at 5:48 pm
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Long hitters like Jack, is front leg actually move backwards at
impact, using the big muscles is the only way to control impact.
airie arrington
Sep 23, 2014 at 3:34 pm
Great site!
Nick Cinzilla
Sep 23, 2014 at 10:42 am
Dave, can you explain how each segment slows down and brakes after transferring speed to the next segment to create a whip-like action?
Dave
Sep 23, 2014 at 1:33 pm
hey Nick I will have that ready in a day so stay tuned.
thanks
Teaj
Sep 23, 2014 at 9:33 am
if you can create the same swing with less effort and more control of your body why would you not want to work out to achieve that.
Dave
Sep 25, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Teaj, so true. That is the main point of this article.
thanks
Jake Anderson
Sep 23, 2014 at 3:43 am
Rory McIlroy had a great swing that produced a lot of speed. When he started working out this is what took him to the next level. It is the same thing that Tiger Woods did. It is as easy as that:
1. Take a great swing
2. Work out hard
3. Profit
Jack
Sep 23, 2014 at 2:01 am
He hits it hard because he has a good swing and swings really hard. Now let’s continue over complicate it.
MHendon
Sep 23, 2014 at 1:10 am
I tell ya, I watched the sport science video and I’m not convinced his hips move in reverse. What I see is a split second stop of the forward hip rotation at the moment his Left leg braces for impact then the hips accelerate to keep up with the continued movement of the upper body.
Bollix
Sep 23, 2014 at 3:16 am
I agree. I think it’s purely a “rebound” reaction of the upper body/arms/hands to the moment of impact of the club with the ball that the hips must stop in order to control the club face and shaft to be in line with the direction where he’s trying to hit the ball, because his swing sequence is so poor that this is the only way that he can actually “hold on” to that impact without losing it. Other players tend to “squat” but because Rory uses his hips instead of his legs, this is how it looks.
Because his sequencing is so bad, we do see him spray it now again if he doesn’t fully commit to the violence of the shot and pulls off it just a little bit to hit a smooth one. He can only fire through and full release the energy at the ball in order to hit with any kind of control.
dxb
Sep 23, 2014 at 12:19 am
What is an armature golfer?
NoCalHack
Sep 23, 2014 at 12:41 am
Meh. Rory hits it far because he just does. He has great technique and efficiently uses his body to move the club head fast. As much as his trainer and the performance lab would love to take credit, his exercise regimen has almost nothing to do with it. If only it were that easy. Ha!
Jeremy
Sep 23, 2014 at 3:03 pm
Um… what’s easy about dedicating yourself for several years to tune your body into the best form for the demands of your sport?
NoCalHack
Sep 23, 2014 at 5:31 pm
Yeah, working out is easy enough. If it were all about strength and flexibility, then there’d be plenty of Olympic gymnasts on tour. It’s about TECHNIQUE. That’s what Rory has that none of us could develop in a million years. That’s what I’m saying.
Do you honestly think that a proper workout regimen is going to make you hit it considerably better? Maybe if you’re terribly out of shape. But you’d be better off getting a good instructor to get a better swing.
K. Sanford
Sep 23, 2014 at 12:16 am
This is a great article and I like the responses that I’m reading. But I think we are missing the big picture here that is presented in this article. Getting into to the best shape to play this game and understanding that the core “the bridge between lower body and the club” is not strong enough to handle the speed and power from the hips. It doesn’t matter if the hips are going forward, reverse before or after impact, you will lose your spine angle and inconsistency will follow. Dave’s responses with Dave Phillips article on “Hips Speed Good or Bad” is a great article coupled with this article about core strength.
Jesse
Sep 22, 2014 at 11:38 pm
This is just ridiculous (in an unbelievably awesome way) i am not denying at all that this happens, but cant wait to see avg joe try to mimic this move at the range lmao
Dave Davis
Sep 22, 2014 at 11:12 pm
For exercises that will help strengthen your core, go to this link
http://www.golfperformancefitness.com/golf-fitness-professionals/
Hieronymus
Sep 26, 2014 at 2:14 pm
Are those things real?
Jeff
Sep 22, 2014 at 10:52 pm
What Dr. Rose saw was that McIlroy’s hips reversed direction for a split second during the downswing at a speed of 377 degrees in the opposite direction.
377 miles per hour, maybe kilometers/hr. Not degrees.
P
Sep 22, 2014 at 10:56 pm
You are incorrect. Rotational speed is measured in degrees/second, or cycles or radians, therefore the good doctor is correct.
Jeremy
Sep 23, 2014 at 3:08 pm
Rory’s hips do not move at half the speed of sound, I don’t care how much he works out.
Eh
Apr 18, 2015 at 10:49 am
actually this is basic physics; his hips definitely don’t move linearly at half the speed of sound but is rotating at a much greater speed. The input of power is greatly increased when you’re rotating it on a fixed point.
P Davis
Sep 22, 2014 at 9:27 pm
I really enjoy the dedication into explaining the science behind the game. It is “truly more than the eye can see” great article
ams165
Sep 22, 2014 at 8:37 pm
Anybody want to mention his driver et up.
I’m sure this has a little to do with it…
Happy Gilmore
Sep 22, 2014 at 7:57 pm
It’s all in the hips..
It’s all in the hips..
Dave Davis
Sep 22, 2014 at 9:31 pm
Dave Phillips, Co-founder of TPI provides a great answer to the question, in an article published April 5, 2013 “Hip Speed Good or Bad?
“It is know secret that hip speed is an asset when it comes to creating power in the golf swing but can it also be a detriment? The answer is categorically YES…in fact Rory McIlroy has the fastest hip rotational speed we have ever tested and pound for pound he is one of the longest and most powerful players on tour, but there is more to it than just hip speed. The sequence of great players is a blending and thus a building of speed between the lower body, torso, arms and club. If one of these segments over powers another you can actually lose speed and not maximize what you have…The good news is that much of this can correct itself by developing a stronger core and oblique abdominals, in elite level golfers with great sequences of movement their hips fire but are controlled by the firing of the next segment, in this case the torso, this allows the arms to get into the correct position to deliver the club with the maximum energy into the ball.”
http://www.mytpi.com/articles/swing/hip_speed_good_or_bad
Philip
Sep 22, 2014 at 6:39 pm
Dave, you should look at the video of Rory again. It clearly shows his hips going backwards after the ball has left the club and the club extended to almost 3 o’clock. As they noted in the video, it isn’t a reason for his length, but an indicator of the amount of torque his abdominals generate during the downswing.
Dave Davis
Sep 22, 2014 at 10:48 pm
Thanks Philip for your responses
Here is something to consider. If Rory’s hips reversed after impact and then accelerated after the ball was hit, that acceleration of hips would have no impact on the displacement of energy on the ball cause the ball was no longer on the face of the club. Thus, this must occur prior to impact in which the human eyes can not detect, because they are only able to capture 15 frames per sec. This is when technology is used to record this fascinating movement.
The reason for Rory’s hips moving in reverse is to create more acceleration in the downswing which creates more club head speed. By reversing his hips prior to impact and then accelerating even more provides a boost by the speed and force of his hips through his kinetic chain. Because of his strong oblique muscles that are mentioned by Dr. Rose of TPI, the result is increased ball speeds of 175 mph plus. Dr. Rose also stated Rory’s hip speed is 720 degrees per sec. in the “downswing”. This is important to note.
Phil Cheetham, TPI Advisor and co-founder of Skill Technologies Inc. developer of real-time motion measurement systems, including 3D-Spine, 6D-Research, 3D-Gait, 3D-Golf and 3D-SkillCheck, stated in an article March 17, 2014 “The Linear Kinematic Sequence”
“Notice that these accelerations and decelerations are all before impact and that the only segment that doesn’t decelerate prior to impact is the club head. As we would expect, the club head accelerates during the downswing and reaches max speed at impact. Notice that each successive peak speed occurs later in the downswing than the previous one and is faster than the previous one.
In fact, it is not as important what the speeds of the joints are at impact but what their maximum speeds are earlier in the downswing. We expect their speeds at impact to be lower because of the deceleration phase of each joint as it passes energy to the next segment – each joint is slowed down by the interaction force of the next segment accelerating against it”.
To read the full article click on this link for details
http://www.mytpi.com/articles/biomechanics/the_linear_kinematic_sequence
ESPN Sports Science http://youtu.be/UeF9-U5r3So
Dave
Sep 22, 2014 at 11:11 pm
It does happen after impact. The reversal of the hips is a consequence of the hips firing as far as they can, stabilizing, recoiling and then being pulled through by the momentum of the upper body. There is no “second firing” as you (and in the past Johnny Miller) have described. The reversal is an after effect of the hips stabilizing.
Philip
Sep 23, 2014 at 12:15 am
Dave, I do not understand why you are refering to an article about an average pro golfer that does not have Rory’s backward hip movement? Yes, the kinetic sequence all happens before impact, just like Rory, however, in Rory’s case his hips happen to reverse and then get pulled through impact instead of just stopping and getting pulled through impact as the graph shows. The article does not even mention Rory’s particular hip action (at least from my read of it).
Looking at the video about Rory’s hips you can clearly see from both the high-speed camera (which is quite a bit faster than 15 frames a second) and the kinetic imaging that the reversal of the hips is “after” he hits the ball.
And seeing that you mentioned the frame rate of the human eye. The USAF has already tested the human eye successfully at 220 frames a second and they think is higher. Computer game developers, video card makers, and monitors manufactures all admit they have barely scratched the speeds the human eye can perceive and that is at 400 frames a second. Remember that our eyes pull in data constantly in an average 170 degree arc. Some think our “frame rate” may in the tens of thousands. We do not perceive our visual environment at any frame rate. Only our technology is limited to frame rates for visual recording. Our best technology has still yet to approach what the human eye and brain can do.
Our technology is more the limit than our eyes. Playing back a video recorded at 30/60 frames a second is showing the fact that the recording device is too slow to capture the movement, not our naked eyes. I’ve stepped away from golf balls hit towards my head at speeds over 100 mph from only 30-45 feet away. I waited until the ball was a few feet from my head before I casually stepped away because for me the ball was moving in slow motion and my brain did not perceive a danger. To everyone else they only saw a blur and they started yelling at me to move immediately. Our senses are pretty amazing when we actually trust them. Of course, I played baseball when younger and I am used to objects being thrown or hit towards me at those speeds. I’ve driven cars over 120 – 150 mph. What about pilots flying at speeds more greater than the speed of sound at low altitudes.
Sorry got off topic there. Still an interesting article for discussion.
Dave
Sep 23, 2014 at 1:43 pm
Lol, thats ok Philip that you got off track, you are a deep thinker and i appreciate your response and yes it is an interesting article for discussion.
thanks
Mike
Sep 22, 2014 at 5:27 pm
The video in this article is wrong. His hips don’t begin moving backwards until at/after impact.
Dave Davis
Sep 22, 2014 at 10:58 pm
Mike thanks for your response,
The video is used for a visual aid because the golf swing of a professional is about 1.05 seconds and the human eyes can only capture 15 frames per sec. The movement actually happens a split sec before impact. To our eyes looking at this video that is showing around 60-120 frames per sec, it looks like it happens at or after. But, through technology with 3DTPI K-vest which captures 180 plus frames per sec., it provides the true story.
Thanks
Jake
Sep 22, 2014 at 5:18 pm
ESPN Sport Science for visual proof.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS8xaWleuRk
Jason
Sep 22, 2014 at 5:11 pm
It’s not his teqnique or physical ability, it’s the Nike covert and kuro kage shaft, duh!
alex mcdermid
Sep 22, 2014 at 8:56 pm
when he puts the nike green machine in play he will be averaging 350
sam
Sep 22, 2014 at 4:16 pm
Wow, that is incredible.
jb
Sep 22, 2014 at 3:56 pm
The “double clutch” is just his right hip complex reaching maximum contraction/peak extention then relaxing, then continues to rotate as the momentum of the upper body takes him into the follow-through.
Dave
Sep 22, 2014 at 11:13 pm
Exactly, +1…thank you!
steve
Sep 22, 2014 at 3:04 pm
in the hips,yes
MWP
Sep 22, 2014 at 3:02 pm
science
bradford
Sep 22, 2014 at 3:32 pm
art.
MWP
Sep 22, 2014 at 6:33 pm
fish
Derek
Sep 23, 2014 at 12:11 am
LOLOLOL!!!!