GRAVITY GOLF REVIEW

MY GRAVITY GOLF REVIEW

As an athlete, coach, teacher, official, umpire and professional caddy, I have always been intrigued and challenged to understand what went into a quality pitch, swing, kick and shot. When I first saw a 10 year-old hitting a golf ball in a one-legged mode on an info-mercial over twelve years ago, I knew that I was on to something. I ordered the tapes and book from Gravity Golf, studied and used the drills for two months straight and ended the summer shooting the best scores of my life. Since then, I have perfected the drills and enjoy sharing my experience and knowledge with anyone who is keen on learning or playing and enjoying the game so much more. I had the privilege of meeting and spending three days with David in Arkansas to become certified just over four years ago. This week, I had the privilege of meeting Danny and Tom Stanton, a long time friend of Danny's  and a strong supporter. We spent a wonderful afternoon talking Gravity Golf at Tom's range just outside of Rochester in Spencerport, New York.

The two things I try to be and look for first in other professionals from any walk of life are knowledge and passion. "After that it's about asking the right questions." For example: How can I best help, what is involved, what will work best, what are the blocks? By actively listening, following through, keeping it understandable, showing patience and genuinely caring, one can help another significantly.

David and Danny continue to develop their passion for people to understand and enjoy our great game of golf. Their drills work! Don't be afraid to look different when you are learning them. The body needs to be challenged to develop the feel and timing necessary to consistently produce great shots and putts. I love practicing and combining the different drills together. My two personal  favorites are the left hand (my weaker arm) no reference, transfer drill using all clubs. The second is the cross-over (right over left foot), right arm only, using a sand wedge to putt uphill from 40-50 feet across the green. I am currently trying the new heel to heel transfer drill and it is a pretty cool way to reinforce the Counter-fall, timing, plane, and using relaxed arms. It definitely gets the legs working the correct way and stops the feet from cheating!

I do my teaching at Indian Wells in Burlington, Ontario. I am available for indoor lessons through the winter, as well.

I would be happy to talk gravity golf with anyone and can be reached at graviteeal@yahoo.ca

Thanks David and Danny for all you do for us.

Sincerely,

Alec Lockington

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What You See is What You Get - by Danny Lee

Perception is a very strong force that can be used positively or negatively. In the case of golf, what you see as resistance is exactly that. The majority of the golfing population (almost every person) looks at the golf ball as being an object that requires force to move. Typically the feeling is, the greater the force, the farther you believe the ball will go. As this may, in essence, be true, the perception is that the harder you swing at the object, the more force you will create ....sorry to disappoint you, but this is not the case. 

If you have ever experienced what a “perfect” shot feels like, you would recall that it feels like “nothing”. It is very difficult to describe physically, because there is almost no feeling at all (perfect balance at impact). The feeling of perfect balance comes from being able to offset all of the centrifugal force moving in front of your body (your arms) with an equal amount of force moving in the opposite direction: this will free up your body mass through the shot. The more relaxed your body is and the softer your arms are, the easier it is to move your weight in the proper directions. 

Try this simple drill: alternating between hitting golf balls and popcorn. What this will do is allow you a momentary alteration in how you perceive the object at which you are swinging. If you look at a piece of popcorn and flex your muscles, immediately you will have presence of mind that that much force is not needed to move something with no mass. If you can carry this same awareness into your swing when the golf ball is in the way, it can be a very enlightening process that can help you develop a more relaxed, consistent tempo and inevitably a more enjoyable game.

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Swing Compensations – What Are They And Why Should They Be Eliminated? by Danny Lee

With every golf swing, regardless of player ability, there is some level of compensation. The objective is to reduce and minimize these band aids or the swing will become harder and harder to replicate the older you get or if some small change takes place in your body. To preface, what a compensation is trying to accomplish on a subconscious basis, is to bring your body back on path of the golf ball if you are not initially set up in that position.

Every player is trying to achieve the same sensation of clearing all the way through their shot and delivering power to the ball in the direction they intend. For the majority individuals, they have their tendencies and instincts entirely backwards from what they should do be doing. For instance, people address the ball with their weight between the balls of their feet and heels as in a variety of other balances throughout the swing. In order to clear through the shot what you will find in almost every good golfer, their weight ends up back on their front heel at impact. The farther forwards you get in the swing and in your feet the more difficult it is to get your body back into a position it can clear.

People compensate for being out of position at the top of the back swing in a large combination of ways. To find out what kind of compensations you have in your body and how detrimental they are to your swing, put yourself into a heel to heel drill as seen on this weeks video. It will test your ability to move over the back of your legs and feel your freedom of rotation. It is one of the most difficult drills that we have to show you if your posture and timing will give you the feeling you are looking for.

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The Secret of Taking Your Range Game to the Course - Danny Lee

Drilling for Freedom by Danny Lee

If you have ever been guilty of feeling like a world class pro or at least a really good golfer when you are on the driving range, and then proceed to play a round that appears to be the first time you ever put your hands on a golf club, this is for you! 

For starters, there are a few major differences between hitting on the driving range and playing on the golf course. 

First being, you only get one shot - this is why it is so important to practice on the range in a way that will give you the most feedback and try to simulate a new kind of shot every time - refer to the 3-mode drill. 

The other major difference is lie undulations on the golf course - with the exception of your tee ball, you rarely ever have a flat lie. 

You may have heard some of the misconceptions taught over the years such as, “try and line your shoulders up to the slope”, or “swing up towards the hole”. In both of these cases, you will not be able power the ball with all of your mass moving rotationally, because it will be very difficult to post if you are working against your front axis.  This is a bit of a confusing concept at first, but once you understand it your approach to the golf course will forever change. 

A great way to practice getting your feet in the right place is to try throwing balls from different lies and feel what is a more comfortable foot position. What you are looking for is a way to put your feet on the ground that will allow you to turn all the way through your shot and be able to freely move into the Counter-fall. In most cases, you will need to move the ball back and open up your stance to the target regardless of the slope. 

In summary, the most important thing when swinging a golf club or making any kind of rotational move is that you can turn freely through impact.

Practice both the 3-mode golf drill and from different lies on the range in order to learn how to freely move into the Counter-fall from any lie.

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The Counter-fall and Why it is Essential for a Physics Perfect Golf Swing

Drilling for Freedom - by Danny Lee

Sound science, proper physics and feel are the principles you can't escape, but are always searching for in your golf swing.  When they come together in the correct fashion, you will “Feel the Freedom” in your swing, and the results will show.

Odds are, you have felt the counterfall working in your every-day life and have never been conscious of it.  If you have ever locked arms with another person or child in the back yard, and swung each other in circles, you both had to lean backwards in equilibrium, in order to counter-balance the rotational force pulling you both toward each other. This is the centripetal force at work. In physics, we see the same thing applied in every rotary movement where weight is moving on one side of an object.

In the golf swing, the weight (force) of your arms and club swinging in front of your body are trying to pull you off center, and in most amateurs ends up causing them to come over the top. The human arm can weigh anywhere from 8 to 20 pounds:  imagine your arms and club as a dumbbell attached to your chest that you are trying to throw in front of you at the speed you swing a club.  The next time you’re watching a place kicker in a football game, a pitcher throw a baseball, or an Olympic hammer thrower in action, pay special attention to the off vertical move they start making before they turn through to release the object.  That “off-vertical” move is the counterfall, and it is also necessary in a sound golf swing.

Typically, what you will see in most golfers, is a move they have manufactured to take place of the counterfall - a compensation. For instance, most people’s posture tends to be too bent over with their torso and upper body balanced over the quads (fronts of their legs) instead of the hamstrings (back of their legs). What will happen, in this case, is when they turn in the back swing, they shift their weight forward onto the front leg (toward the toes and quads). The detrimental part of this is that as they try to rotate, it will not carry them backwards easily into the Counterfall and from here one of  two things could happen.

If they try to swing from this position, the force of their arms swinging will pull them onto their faces if they stay completely relaxed (I doubt this has ever happened). Your natural instinct is to protect you from harm.  If you were to swing like this, you will start internalizing energy to maintain balance, but will lock up your rotation (99% of people only advance their hands and shoulders through the ball in the last 3 frames through impact). This causes you to lose much of your power, because the rest of the body is not free to move through impact, as it is fighting for balance and the body is very weak rotationally. The other option is to somehow create an equal amount of force moving in the opposite direction to allow you to clear your hips and body through the shot. This can come from pulling your hips back and around or snapping your front knee back (see if you can guess which professionals  do that) or other compensatory moves in an effort to stay on plane.

The cure for your aches and pains, including your power and control loss lies in being able to properly balance the forces out between what is pulling you forward and what is pulling you back. The simplest way (which is also easiest on your body) is at the top of your back swing, once you have made a full weight transfer back to your left heel, allow your body to start falling away from the ball. There is a perfect “tipping point” you will reach that allows for free rotation and subsequently a complete release of the club head.  You will also find that the more upright your posture is and the closer you are to the ball, the easier it will be to fall away (the counterfall). Master this move and you will have found the swing key for which you have always been searching!

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Drilling for Freedom by Danny Lee - Flying Right Elbow: Friend or Foe

One of the most controversial subjects in the golf world is the question of the flying or tucked right elbow: whether or not the leading arm in the back swing should go out away from the body like Nicklaus or stay in like Hogan.

There are many ways to get the job done as long as the sweet spot of the club face and the ball match up at impact. At Gravity Golf, our focus is on doing this with the least amount of effort and while maintaining maximum consistency.

The first thing to do is to understand what made both of their swings work? The answer is. . . the foot work. If you have good footwork and you can get equal amount of force pulling you forward and backward, your arms and hands will be free to stay on plane and ride the body's rotation (rotational equilibrium).

Some of the positives to allowing the leading elbow to fly (like Nicklaus) versus keeping it tucked (like Hogan) allows for a larger arc size, more time to move deeper into the counter-fall and more time to accelerate through impact. Another strong benefit is that if your elbow is out and up in the back swing it will help you to keep the club above plane in the back swing which is what you want. The reason is, as long as you throw it above plane, you can continue turning with your arms, tension free, until you have reached your full rotation when you can simply let your arms drop. If you keep your elbow too close to your side and then lift at the top to get the height, it will force tension into your arms and will likely pull in the down swing.

Work on the various Gravity Golf right arm drills, focusing on properly routing the leading elbow in the back swing: right elbow for right-handed players and left elbow for left-handed players.

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Drilling for Freedom - by Danny Lee

How’s Your Heave?
- by Danny Lee

Jack Nicklaus stated that he knew in the first foot of his backswing if he was going to hit a good shot or not. What he was feeling was the force and direction of the heave:  if he set the right pace into his body from the start, it would flow easily through the rest of the swing.  The heave is the move that will allow you to do this consistently. If you refer to some of our other videos on the counter-fall, one of the main points is getting a sensitivity for how much your arms weigh.

Some of the worst advice you could get is for someone to tell you to take the club back slowly.  It is one of the biggest, yet widely accepted misconceptions in golf swing instruction. If you have ever tried holding your arms over your head for an extended period of time (perhaps when changing a light bulb) you probably realized how much effort it takes and had to immediately put tension into your arms.

With a perfect Gravity Golf swing, you want your arms to be falling from the top of the swing with the least amount of tension possible.  The best way to accomplish this is to get the tension out as soon as you can. The easiest way to accomplish this is by unweighting your arms with a brief pop of energy from the core (the heave) that will allow your arms to float to the top of the swing and then allow gravity to bring them back down. Also, pay special attention to the routing of the leading elbow when working on this move.  As a side note and fun fact, when analysts tested tapes of Bobby Jones' down-swing, it started exactly at the pace of gravity (~32 FPS²).

The heave also has a direct effect on how far you will hit the ball and how deep you will go into the Counter-fall. In essence, the heave is the move to extricate tension from your body at the beginning of the swing and initiate an effortless move.  Practicing the Gravity Golf cross-footed drills can help you perfect your heave.

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