Re: swing arms, not body

Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2003 07:49:33 -0400
Newsgroups: rec.sport.golf
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Puttster <email-address-deleted> wrote in message news:email-address-deleted...
> Robert Davis <email-address-deleted> wrote in message news:<email-address-deleted>...
> > Sounds a bit like the Jim Flick book I just finished.
>
> Maybe Earnest Jones, too. Leslie King is dead, I wonder if this text
> is from something written in the 1920's.
www.knightsbridgegolfschool.com
Leslie King studied closely the swings of the great
players of that age - J H Taylor, James Braid, Harry
Vardon, and the newcomers then in golf's golden age -
Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Tommy Armour, Hogan, Hagen,
Sarazen and many others. Mr King's fast eyes - still
a pre-requisite for a good teaching professional -
clearly showed him that the swing could be broken
down into tiny parts - just as a slow motion replay
does now on a video camera - and he built a swing model
around it. He never claimed to have invented a swing,
but just to have watched it and categorised it, pulling
it apart to enable him to help his pupils build a swing
that was as near perfect as possible.
(photo)
Leslie King with Tegwin Perkins (Welsh Amateur Champion),
Ian Stungo (Middlesex Champion) and Lynn Harold (English
ladies Champion) - 1976
So good was the Leslie King system of teaching that in 1974
Gary Player has a week's intensive instruction with Mr King
and then went on to win the Open at Royal Lytham. A few years
earlier a regular pupil was Michael Bonallack who won the
Amateur Championship on three consecutive occasions (1968,
69 and 70).
The tradition started by Leslie King is being carried on
today by Dave Wilkinson and Steve Gould who, between them, have
had nearly forty years of experience, here in Knightsbridge.
See also: www.golfacademyofeurope.com
>
> > Personally, I
> > think it's best to have a nice balanced combination of arms/hands and
> > body ... but I see a lot of value in letting the arms/hands lead the
> > action, especially for high handicappers.
> >
> > I will say that I spent a lot of time working on making a good
> > shoulder turn and a "one-piece" takeaway, and I got some good results
> > (especially re: a slice) but just didn't strike the ball consistently
> > and solidly. That improved dramatically when I went back to focusing
> > on making a smooth, relaxed swinging motion lead by the arms and
> > hands. (Not that it was wasted time on the shoulder turn ... that's
> > necessary too).
>
> I agree. When I have tried arms/hands swings, good contact was
> invariably more common.
>
> So I went out and gave it all a shot at the range. This morning I had
> a back ache. Sharp and between the shoulder blades. Is this a
> problem with arm swinging, I wonder, or am I doing it wrong?
>
I went to the range and practised the "front end" exercise King describes
in lesson-3, basically impact through the finish and the results were
encouraging, so I played a practise round yesterday and have no aches
or pains.
It's certainly difficult to take the body out, after all these years, or more
specifically to use the body to only support the swing but I did have
some success with the technique in that all my shots were straight,
if not long, as I do not yet really feel the power described in lesson-11.
Did wonders for my chipping and bump-and-run shots, though.
Aim to practise this more at the range, as his explanations make a
lot of sense, to me. He's right in one thing, nobody who describes
the grip, describes why it is the way it is, or simple tests to check
if it is correct, together with examples of faulty grips.
As to the swing planes, there is a lot of confusion out there, as to
the apparent necessity to get on plane in the downswing. The plane of
the left hand, however, in the Leslie King swing is the same in both
backswing and downswing and once in the impact zone the apex of
the swing is flattened (the "front end" exercise) to ensure the clubhead
travels straight before and after impact, ensuring accuracy of aim and
good contact on the club.
In the Leslie King swing, the body plays a supporting role, driven by the
feet to position the club correctly and the power in the swing comes
from the potential energy at the top (much like the "Arc" swing in the
LAWs), as I understand it..
Alan