Golf Channel Academy: Nick Faldo on Swing Resistance | Golf Channel

Nick Faldo demonstrates a golf swing exercise to reduce resistance and obtain a comfortable swing.
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[jeanm]

Breathing is amazing! Makes a huge difference. ❤️

[TeddyCavachon]

The idea of swinging into resistance to create power and control was first suggested by British golfer Abe Mitchel in 1933 in a book called ‘Down to Scratch’ and was a technique Ben Hogan used. The wide ‘one piece’ takeaway generates so much kinetic energy in the club head it quite literally snaps up around the hands automatically with a huge burst of acceleration when the club shaft reaches horizontal and the only place to go next is up, hinging at the wrist because they, not the elbows, are the weakest point of resistance.

That’s really the goal of the ‘one piece’ takeaway, creating so much force in the club head mass pulling on the lead arm it becomes physically impossible to bend the arm at the elbow, instead forcing it to cock at the wrists. The resistance from the squared-off back foot ensures that the hips stop/shoulders/hands/club head mass all stop moving backwards the same way with the club head mass in 3D space in the same place swing-to-swing with the mass in the toe oriented the same due to the way a properly applied Vardon grip controls it. When the wrists are forced to cock the force pulls club head and arms up in the direction the toe of the club is point, which is why control of the toe direction in the grip, keeping face of club pointing back at the ball, is important for consistent ball striking and accuracy.

A good drill I use to demonstrate how to properly take the club away is to have a beginning golfer swing it back to where the shaft is horizontal in the takeaway and hold it. Most will turn over the club in the lead hand (pronate) and swing it too far inside the swing target line. I then grab the club by the head and pull on it with about the same force a pro experiences in takeaway like Sir Nick’s or Hogans and always pull them backwards off balance. Why? When the club is swung too far behind the feet it becomes impossible to stay in balance, another reason the wide ‘one piece’ takeaway is superior. Then I will move the club head to were it should be in the takeaway (outside the hands as Sir Nick illustrates here) and pull. With the club head and shaft angled outside the hands slightly in front of the feet the body does have the leverage to resist the force of the club pulling backwards.

It is that resistance of the body via leverage created with feet and legs stopping the backwards travel of the club head mass which creates the automatic whipping of club around the hands. Acceleration has an exponential effect on the amount of energy in the club head and the whipping action around the hands after the wide takeaway is so great it pulls the arms up and torso around the hips stopped by the resistance of the squared back foot EFFORTLESSLY. The club mass + momentum do all the work of ‘winding the spring’ in the backswing and all that is left to do is to release it on the way down. 😊 It is a very efficient and very consistently accurate swing style.

[DGvisuals]

I can't take Sir Nick seriously when I see him using TM gear, and he's my golfing hero! Thank goodness he saw sense and returned to Mizuno.