"Feel The Freedom"

Gravity Golf Video Blog - Steve Busboom aka "Boomer" & David Lee

2012-01-16T07:57:00.000-08:00

Pull With The Left Arm

2012-01-08T07:23:00.000-08:00

We’ve been taught seemingly forever that we should pull in the down-swing with the left arm and that it should control the path of the swing.

In reality, if you hit shots with the left arm alone, and pull with it coming down, you will usually whiff or miss-hit the ball every time.

If the left arm pulls, it works like a pump handle, back against the body, and moves the swing-plane as well as diminishing core-speed rotation. The arm should actually begin to dead-fall from the top of the back-swing, and the counter-fall and turn should pick it up and hold it in path with centrifugal force, like swinging a ball on a string on an inclined plane.

Do the “Gravity” golf left-handed drills and they will teach your arm how to behave and function correctly.

“Throw the Ball – Don’t Hit It”

2011-12-24T12:07:00.000-08:00

Almost all golfers, in an effort to create power, add some degree of upper body muscle in

the start of the downswing. In fact, the Rules of Golf state that you are supposed to add

muscle – “the ball must be fairly struck at.” To fairly strike at something, connotes a

flexing of the muscles. That makes Arnold Palmer’s swing legal and Jack Nicklaus’

swing illegal. Jack’s swing is a combination of a “scrape” and a “spoon,” both illegal

moves according to the rules. Contact with the ball in Jack’s swing is totally incidental

to the club-path – there is no effort to “strike.” Of course the definition of a legal swing

needs to be rewritten by the USGA, but that’s another story. When players add muscle

starting down, some of the energy from the arms and shoulders goes into the ball, but

part of it also goes simultaneously back into the body, causing an immediate change in

the path of the arms and club. Leverage will work either way on a see-saw and it does the

same thing in a golf swing. This is not merely my opinion, it is a physics law (3rd) – “for

every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.” Any energy going back into the

body during the downswing causes a change in the swing-plane that must be

compensated for – through alignment, grip, ball position, or postural compensations – or

else the shot will go off-line. When you watch Freddie Couples and other players with

similar power applications, they don’t hit the ball, they simply allow the arms to “dead

fall” from the top of the backswing and their core rotation slings the arms and club

through the ball to the finish of the swing. The physical action is a “throw.” There is no

effort to strike the ball with the arms and club whatsoever. It’s as if the ball were sitting

in the middle of the clubface at the top of the backswing and they allow it to be slung

from the club. When the swing is executed properly, no energy is internalized to the

body, and the swing-plane doesn’t change.

44"X66" "Feel The Freedom" Poster

One of My Favorite Golf Tips

2011-12-19T19:46:00.000-08:00

As the developer of the “Gravity” golf teaching system, I am a great believer that the laws of motion are very specific in regard to the “ideal” way to swing a golf club. However, knowing that not everyone swings in what I consider to be an ideal “physics compliant” fashion, I racked my brain to think of a great tip that would be applicable to all golfers, regardless of their swing style. The following is one of the better ideas that I can offer.

Many golfers swing smoothly in their practice swings, yet in the real swing, with the ball in the equation, they invariably “flex” the upper body in the downswing trying to “strike” it. You’d swear they were swinging at a bowling ball! Tightening the arms and wrists in the downswing may easily cause a reduction in club-speed and a reduction in the amount of body mass that is moving at impact (any of your pounds that are not turning at the instant you strike the ball, are not having an effect on it. Tightening the arms and wrists in the downswing also causes change in the swing-path and off-center shots. When you watch Freddie Couples swing, he just drops his arms from the top of the backswing and allows his core rotation to sling them. My tip is to always visualize the ball as being “weightless,” like a piece of popcorn. You should take some popcorn to the practice tee and alternate between hitting golf balls and pieces of the popcorn. The birds will eat what you don’t pick up and popcorn doesn’t harm the mowers like tees or pennies. You should begin to visualize the ball as having no more weight than the popcorn. The reason you won’t flex at the popcorn is because your brain knows that even if you hit it dead flush it will only go three feet anyway. Trying to move the golf ball a great distance is what makes people instinctively flex at it. When you stop “flexing,” - your club-speed and swing-path integrity will improve dramatically, - and you’ll begin to hit the ball “flush” in the middle of the clubface.