Great athletes are considered great athletes because they instinctively perform fundamental (and sometimes complex) movements correct and faster than 99% of the population. This pertains to golf or any other sport they may play. They typically execute movements faster and more powerfully while often looking rather effortless.
For example, suppose we needed to choose the shortstop for our little league baseball team. We'd start by seeing who was the quickest, most coordinated athlete with a good arm and begin to train him/her to take that role. Since the shortstop needs to cover a lot of ground, perform acrobatic movements, be able to field the balls well, and throw in off balanced positions, it's prudent to use the best athlete you have in that position.
Yet, what underlies this rare capability is the ability to intuitively apply high amounts of force rapidly. Whether the star shortstop has to run, use agility, field hard hit balls, throw or perform any other movement, the ability to use this supercharged, superior energy boost makes this athlete like a baby Superman playing baseball with little kids. No one has to tell this young star that he has to run fast or throw hard from awkward positions. He just does it and is very good at it in comparison to all the other kids.
Now apply this notion to golf. We see often see Tiger Woods do amazing things like hit a 6-iron from a fairway bunker, 210 yards over a water hazard. Or hit 270 yard three woods from the deep rough over bunkers and onto the green. How does he do it?
Tiger is like a grown up Superman. He too has the ability to apply high amounts of force that allows him to rapidly accelerate his limbs and club so that he can produce the clubhead speed necessary to hit the ball 350 yards when needed.
On the other hand, the average Joes who play golf don't have this ability and it shows up in their inability to hit the ball far. But even more importantly, this inability to accelerate their limbs creates a technical flaw that must be overcome. That flaw is the lack of arm speed and is the topic of this month's article for golfers.
Arm Speed
High arm speed is arguably the most fundamental movement in golf but it is rarely taught. Jim Flick has been saying this for over 20 years but has been discounted by many swing teachers as being "old school." David Leadbetter, #1 guru in golf, has great athletes doing what he calls the "body swing" and touts the use of larger muscles. He even goes so far as to say that the dog wags the tail and not the other way around.
Who's right?
Misunderstanding Arm Speed
Many teachers don't quite have a good handle on what arm speed means so they will often discourage this move. But in the final analysis, we'll see how this is the limiting factor in your ability to hit the ball farther AND straighter.
Before we can do that, we have to more clearly define what arm speed is and how important it is for you to synchronize your golf swing.
The Case
Here's the premise. Noriko Fujimoto, aspiring tour player from Japan was here in September to work on her game and while she may have been a good player, her swing was less than what we in the US would deem correct. The reason? Japanese instructors (and many American instructors as well) believe in the one-two-three rhythm and tempo of the swing. This usually means an overly slow overall tempo (elapsed time from takeaway to top of the backswing, then to impact).
Her tempo was in the 1.40 range at the beginning of the month. This makes for very little arm speed and acceleration.
1st photo - Compounding the problem, she is told to use turn her hips as fast as possible for more speed. In the first photo, she sure is turning those hips fast. Her hips are already open slightly and ready for impact. But her arms aren't moving fast at all. They aren't anywhere near the impact zone. Not good.
2nd photo - Because her body is too fast for her arms, she MUST cast her hands in order to allow the clubhead to catch up. Notice how stuck her left arm is to her chest. It is an indication that her body is driving the entire motion with no free arm swing.
Not to blame Noriko, but she was told that her speed should occur right after impact or through the impact. The unintended consequence is that she will not have any significant arm acceleration at the beginning of the downswing.
Also, her overall swing speed will be slow. In fact it was a paltry 83 miles per hour -- like racing a tortoise against a hare in a sprint. Low acceleration equals a low overall swing speed when you only have .25 seconds to reach impact. Logical isn't it?
3rd photo - This leads to her poor impact position with her hands behind the clubhead at impact. Her hips have really turned open and are more than 45 degrees open.
Using Angles to Measure Arm Speed
Using my drawing tool I am able to chart arm movements (you can do this at home using a VCR, dry erase marker and a protractor). In the first photo, I drew a line matching her left arm. Then in the second photo, I forwarded the video two frames and drew another line to see how many degrees the arm moved (time per frame is .033 seconds so it is multiplied by two, giving the distance covered in .066 seconds).
Here's the Angle
Her arm moved 16.4 degrees forward in two frames. This is not the most scientific of methods to calculate actual arm speed but this does enable us to obtain a relative measurement of arm movement that can now compared to others.
Here's Tiger.
He's got a whopping 40.1 degrees of arm movement in the same two frames. Does that give you and idea of how fast he can swing?
Add in that Noriko was swinging a heavy baseball bat (which has already been cut up for use in my hibachi) for exercise and you have the recipe for a slow, out-of-synch swing.
Speed at the Wrong Place
Here's another consequence of the lack of arm speed and erroneous thinking.
Noriko's arm swing is faster through impact than Tiger. Her arms moved 22.1 degrees after impact while Tiger's moved only 17.4 degrees. That means the club is not being allow to release. Instead it is being "held onto" and it would certainly explain the lack of distance, weak fades and the inability to change it.
Overall Appearance
Pardon the bad backlighting in the picture but it's the only picture from prior to working on her swing. You can definitely see the differences in the amount of arm swing as I advance the VCR controls two frames apiece. Is it any wonder she came in swinging at around 83 miles per hour?
The "After"
While certainly not as much as Tiger, Noriko did leave here with a faster arm swing. In this photo, she moved her arm 23.6 degrees. That's over 7 degrees faster than when she first arrived. Also, her clubhead speed rose to the mid 90's with a lot of SpeedChain training. She also gained about 30 yards on her drives due to better contact and higher clubhead speeds. And we even were able to slow down her overly fast hips. The culmination of all of this is that she is now able to strike the ball with a tremendously improved impact position.
The Moral to the Story
To summarize, Noriko had been lucky because she was able to "McGyver" a swing despite being so out of synch. The average golfer's swing would have been totally ruined with her incorrect swing thoughts and slow arm speed. They would most likely suffer from an over-the-top, slice swing.
Yet, great athletes would not have a problem with those same incorrect swing thoughts because they would be able to generate high clubhead speeds, fast arm speeds and can become great golfers despite that type of Japanese instruction. They will be great golfers regardless because they CAN'T swing any slower starting the downswing. They develop a high rate of force development, which in turn creates a high acceleration rate and it is virtually impossible for them to do their arm swing slowly.
For everyone else though? They should get their swing on video and analyze these angles for themselves to see whether or not they are suffering from the same flawed thinking. Not that there is a magical number but anyone with 25-30 degrees of arm movement or higher is doing fairly well. And if you're above 30 degrees you're doing great! For those with less than that? Try to get your arms moving faster. You'll hit the ball farther and straighter.
