Experience

My first success in holding the angle to a 'pro' level was by VERY forcefully pulling in with my trail arm against an extended lead arm and just swinging the hole 'unit' with NO intention of allowing the pressure or the the angle to release. I was driven to this by frustration after repeated failures (shown on video) with all of the golf 'tips' known to me about how to do this.

I wandered away from this method because I could not reconcile the very tense action of my implementation vs the buttery smooth move of the tour pros. I was happy that I'd demonstrated it was possible for me to do this but then went off in search of a way that had that pro 'feel'.

While I've discovered other ways to meet my original 'benchmark' for this (shaft horizontal when hands ar opposite trail leg) none have been as effective and relible for holding the angle as the first. In Bertholy I've found a codification and refinement of what I stumbled on. I've also found (I'm not sure why) an ability to implement Bertholy with out the tension of my original.

There is one point (actually more than one but...) that is V_E_R_Y counterintuitive and is the hardest part to implement and that is that you DO NOT EVER release the tension of your trail arm/wrist/hand pulling in. Not ever. Ever. I'm really serious; not ever.

When I first accomplished the goal with my method I realized that all of my prior associations of feel with real in the downswing were wrong. When I did it correctly (confirmed on video) it felt like I did not release at all. Even my 'feel' for release was wrong (at least for what constituted a correct release).

The role of the trail side is to retain. To hold the flywheel together until it explodes. How do you control where it explodes? Tempo. It turns out the ability to 'retain' is VERY limited. If you start down too fast you will not be able to retain long enough even with the application of 'main force' from your trail arm. Assuming your tempo allows you to retain the angle the next stop on the road for us SA types is the 'catch' of your body in impact position by your lead leg. This action will cause the release by overlaoding the flywheel with transferred energy.

Unfortunately for many without the facilities, seeing your performance on video so you know that when you felt like you didn't release that you did (and just like a pro) is a tremendous confidence builder that you are on the right track.

I know how hard this can be to grasp. The effort (physical and mental) you will need to make at first to do this seems so different from what you see pros do that it couldn't be the same. Bertholy has an answer for that thought as well.

Peter
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