One thing about my Grandfather was that he progressed his teaching as I progressed my ability. Once I started hitting the ball straight he started working on each portion of the body to strengthen each strike at the ball. Here is one of his later lessons to me. It’s not in the book and it’s not in mentioned in the video.
Sit and Sit again.
When one is at the address position and is comfortably anchored the last thing one does is to turn the right hip inside (7:30 Horizontal clock) towards the back of the right heel. Once this happens and the student then returns to start the backswing the hips (automatically) releases back to square so Joe would tell me to SIT and SIT again.
What this means is that once one turns the right hip to lock it into position and then focuses back on the ball - right before the swing is initiated (with the right thumb and forefinger) you turn the right hip again as tight as possible and start the swing. The right hip turns or twists into position at address or stance but not the shoulders. The shoulders stay square to the target as the right hip locks in position. You'll feel a twisting action in your lower and middle back muscles when this is happening so do it slowly at first so you don't pull a muscle.
So you do the following:
• Complete the address
• Turn the right hip to the back of the right heel
• Face the ball at address
• Get ready to start the swing with the right thumb and forefinger
• Turn the right hip again holding it in position with the left thigh
• Begin the backswing
Emphasis on sitting during the swing:
I’m getting calls about questions regarding shots that are hit thin. This can happen for a number of reasons but since we’re talking about sitting I feel this is a good time to mention the SITZ as in the book or as I call it the SQUAT.
Joe Norwood always talked about how Sam Snead was the best sitter in Golf. He always tried to have me keep my knees flexed during the entire swing from back swing to down swing – through impact and follow through. He wanted both my right and MY LEFT knee to be flexed throughout the swing.
He never gave me a “METRIC” for this but he emphasized this sitting action
Here’s what I focus on during the swing with regards to sitting.
• At address I push my back thigh muscles (of each leg ) toward the ground. This pushes my lower body to squat thus making my knees flex without using the knees themselves. Just flexing the knees brings a result of the knees bending in towards the ball thus bringing the body out of it’s strong anchored position. PUSH THE REAR THIGH MUSCLE OF EACH LEG TOWARD THE GROUND AT ADDRESS.
• Once the swing is initiated I focus on forcing the thigh muscles into the ground. I used to term this as “ Driving my knees into the ground during the swing” but it’s not the knees it’s the thighs that work best. So as I’m swinging I’m forcing my lower body to stay low thus allowing for a much better impact of the ball with this swing.
• Focusing on this part of the swing can only provide results once one is hitting the ball straight and has achieved some degree of proficiency with this swing. Trying to focus on the sitting action when the wrists are still breaking and the body is still rotating will only prove futile.
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