More Drills

Our good friend from the "Great White North", Ed Hanczaryk has posted some videos on youtube which we at Gotham Golf find contribute to our discussion on swinging.

Here's the first one, I find this to be a great drill to practice linear acceleration.



Here's the second one, this is similar to the drill we did, where which Rick Neilsen swung the rope and later the flail. Once again note the "throw out action" at work.




We'd also like to thank Ed for the "Shout out" and the kind words. For more information about Ed and his methodologies, click Here.

I'm in L.A. right now and plan to post some interesting Work I did with "The Hat" so stay tuned.

Hit em straight.

Swinging IV

If there is any doubt as to whether a centrifugal force based action works, the following video should dispel that. Some believe it is necessary to have right arm participation to generate power. Here's a one armed golfer stroking the ball 240 yards. For him, it is impossible to generate any right arm thrust. So what gives? For swingers the right arm straightens out as a result of "throw out action". Any conscious participation from the right hand undermines the centrifugal force based motion.



Here's something John "Lag" Erickson posted with regard to this topic on iseek golf a while back.


"If I allow my upper arms and wrists to fully relax as I swing a golf club..
my hands will naturally roll over post impact quickly. The arms come off the body, and the right arm is PULLED straight in a passive way, not in anyway driven.

The hands are passive like hinges.. I believe Homer describes this as “The Law of the Flail”

Would welcome any brainiacs to jump in on their take of “Law of the Flail”

As soon as I add any “Hit” into the hands… this is a manipulation and starts to counter or interfere with what CF wants to do. An angled hinge or a vertical hinge is a manipulation, conscious and deliberate.

The intentions are different.. the feel of the entire process is different and not so amazingly the visual results are very different."

Here are Jon's Credentials.

According to homer Kelley, pivot thrust anulls right arm thrust, the two don't match.

I am going to continue exploring this issue particularly since Hogan, "wished he had 3 right hands."

Hit em straight.

Swinging III

Remember these?

THE LAWS OF THE FLAIL

I. While the swingle is seeking its "in line" (full extension)with the "handle" (catching up), there is "Centrifugal Acceleration"

II. When it becomes "in line" (caught up), this settles into "Centrifugal Angular Momentum" (full extension)

III. If it passes it's "in line" relation it again seeks it's "in line" relation (backs up) and "Centrifugal Deceleration" sets in with huge power loss.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Once enlarged you can zoom in on it



In this first video we have Rick Neilsen PGA, GSEM demonstrating these principles by swinging a rope. Notice how the limp rope takes on the appearance of a solid steel bar as it telescopes out, seeking it's in line condition.





Here we have Rick demonstrating the same thing with a flail note how it seeks it's in line condition.




Btw, I received a couple of emails suggesting the same exercises with a towel. I believe Ben Doyle uses a towel to demonstrate this.


To understand the physics of the golf swing one must consider the mechanics of rotational motion. When an object travels around in a circle it moves outward, if unconstrained. To visualize this, imagine yourself sitting in a car that makes a sharp left turn. If you're not wearing your seat belt you'll go sliding across the seat towards the right, due to centripetal acceleration.¹



Spinning a Rock on a string




Figure Skaters demonstrating centrifugal Acceleration

Hit em straight

Ref¹; The Physics of the Golf Swing

Swinging II

Let's return to Section 2-k

2-K GENERATION OF ANGULAR MOTION Angular Motion is the result of at least two divergent forces. Such as, -A. Centripetal Force (the Lever Assemblies 6-A) diverting Linear Force (Right Arm Thrust 6-B-1) into a rotating motion (Hitting 10-19-A). Or – B. Turning its axis (the Body 2-M-4) to spin a flywheel – the Lever Assemblies (Swinging 10-19-C).

Rotation induces a Throw-Out action, pulling the centers of gravity of every moveable component, In-Line and On Plane with its axis or center, whether or not they were originally In-Line or On Plane. With a short radius it can accelerate easily, and quickly acquire considerable Angular Velocity. If a portion of this mass moves to a longer radius, the slowing effect (6-C-2-B) must be computed on the basis of the total mass AS LONG AS THE PORTION IS BEING PROPELLED BY THE TOTAL. That is – the slowdown would be in the same ratio that the portion has to the whole – the original central mass. This “Transfer of Momentum” process (10-19-C) eliminates Release Deceleration (6-F-0) but not Impact Deceleration (2-M-1). This Throw-Out action is termed herein as “Centrifugal Acceleration” to indicate that Centrifugal Force (Centrifugal Reaction), not muscle, is propelling the Secondary Lever Assembly (the Golf Club) into Impact. Both are subject to the endless belt effect per sketch 2k#6. So Swingers are totally dependent on their skill at manipulating Centrifugal Force while Hitters are not. But study 4-D, 6-B-3-0, 6-R-0 and 7-2.


The above diagram is from Page 34 of the 6th. Edition of The Golfing Machine

The endless belt is one of the most important concepts in TGM for me. A lot of people seem confused by it and say they don't understand it. The endless belt effect describes the correlation between your hand speed and the club head speed. Basically your hands act like the belt portion on a conveyor belt. Since the club is attached to your hands, it goes along for the ride. Now remember the hands are acting like a belt so their speed remains constant, they don't slow down nor do they speed up. So if we look back at the diagram from TGM (The Golfing Machine), you will note that the first portion of the downswing is linear (the club and hands are accelerating in a straight line), while the second part of the downswing is radial (the club and hands are accelerating in a circular fashion--angular motion). The key here is to understand that once the hands or belt reach the pulley portion of the belt the clubhead will speed up as a result of it approaching this small circle. This is what is termed as the "release". To make sense of this mumbo jumbo, simply play the video below and I'd like you to focus on the tracks of the belt (not the rocks it is transporting). Note that the belt is traveling at the same constant speed and watch what happens when the tracks hit the pulley portion of the belt. You will note that the tracks become one big blur. In essence that is what should be happening in the downswing sequence.



Here's another way of looking a this.



This animation was copied from Chuck Evans Golf

Now, let's superimpose this image on a golfer so that you can better visualize what is happening.

This image was copied from John Furze's web site, The Golfing Machinist

It is imperative that your hand speed remain constant. It is not necessary that it be slow etc. In fact your hand speed will vary based on your delivery type. This is because, the smaller the circle the faster and quicker the release, so someone with a Snap Release like Peter Ellebye or Sergio Garcia, moves their hands relatively slowly.



While someone like Nick Price who has a random sweep release move their hands more quickly.



Here's another example from Jeff Mann's website



The different delivery paths of Aaron Baddley and Anthony Kim warrant different hand speeds. Since Baddley has a straight line delivery path, his hands are traveling at a slower speed and his pulley is smaller. Kim on the other hand has a circular delivery path and this warrants his hands moving at a faster pace since his pulley has a larger radius.

I skipped over explaining release types but if you're interested in reading about the different ways of releasing your power package, go Here

For more in depth reading on this subject you can read Jeff Mann's paper on release types.
Understanding the Club Release Phenomenon - The Endless Belt Concept

And John Furze's website. Endless Belt Effect

Hit em Straight.

Sergio Garcia

Before I go back into swinging, I want to comment on the following swing analysis.



Kostis states, "That when you have that much wrist cock that late in the downswing,you better have good fast hands through the hitting area in order to square the clubface"

The fact of the matter is that his club is traveling with so much force that it would be virtually impossible for any one to square it with hand action. I find Kostis statement to be preposterous. As Gregg Mchatton would say the fact is that he has perhaps the softest most responsive hands. Remember the squaring of the club head is involuntary and automatic only if you don't do anything. As Ben Doyle said, you have to have the courage to trust your pivot. The following is an article written by Gregg Mchatton and Andy Brummer, that I believe more accurately describes Sergio's stroke pattern. Andy Brummer also co-authored The Impact Zone with Bobby Clampett, which I believe is another must have for your library.


Striking Distance
The powerful swing of Sergio Garcia
by Gregg McHatton with Andy Brummer

The year 1999 was a banner year for the then nineteen-year-old Spaniard Sergio Garcia. He not only won the British Amateur championship but was the first reigning British Amateur champ to win low amateur honors in the Masters. He turned pro soon after Augusta and quickly revealed his spirited personality and bold style of play with his now legendary shot hit from behind a tree with his eyes closed during the PGA Championship. Garcia finished second to Tiger Woods in that event, his first major as a pro,and it seemed that these two gifted young players might forge the kind of rivalry absent from the game since the days of Nicklaus and Palmer.

While his record hasn’t yet challenged that of Tiger, Garcia’s ball-striking prowess certainly has. Many Tour players, golf writers and commentators consider him to be the finest striker in the game today. Of course, that talent cannot be separated from his swing. In that respect, I do believe Garcia comes closer to Ben Hogan than any golfer since Hogan stopped competing in the early 1970s. It is far from a coincidence that Hogan, even today, is thought of as the greatest ball-striker ever.

It is also interesting to note that while golf pundits admired the tremendous amount of lag in Ben Hogan’s swing, this very same quality in Garcia’s has provoked the most controversy and criticism. Lag simply describes the condition of the clubhead trailing the clubshaft, as well as the angle created between the leading arm and the clubshaft throughout the entire downswing motion. How people can credit lag as the secret of Ben Hogan’s success and simultaneously identify it as the problem area Sergio Garcia has to weed out of his swing is a paradox to me. More times than not, golf teachers or swing theorists explain it by saying that Hogan had an "old-fashioned" swing. Perhaps, but a golf swing is basically physics in motion, and I’m not aware of any major changes in the laws of physics since Hogan’s time.

I am a strong believer that it is impossible to have too much lag in the golf swing as long as the wrists remain supple and soft, the arms hang and swing freely from their shoulder sockets, and the head remains behind the ball through impact. Can you have too much of a good thing? I don’t think so.

Garcia creates his lag in part through a remarkable "downcocking" motion from the top of his swing. Not only has he cocked or set his wrists normally as all golfers do to one degree or another by the time they reach the top, but he also adds more wrist cock and load to the swing as he begins his downswing. It is this downcocking action that gives Garcia’s swing its rhythmic yet powerful whiplash look. But far from being solely cosmetic, it generates both tremendous energy and clubhead speed, and stores it until the last instant when he delivers it into the ball.

I have been told that the young Sergio developed his lag thanks to a couple of drills his father, Victor, a teaching professional at The Club de Golf de Mediterraneo in Valencia, had him practice. The rumor suggests that Victor had Sergio swinging full-sized clubs at a very young age. With the supervision of his father, Sergio used these otherwise too heavy and too long clubs to develop his now incredibly dynamic and efficient golf swing. That is because it is easier for a child to initiate the downswing with heavy clubs by dragging or pulling the butt or grip end of the club lengthwise down toward the ball in a motion resembling the action of pulling an arrow, feather end first, lengthwise out of a quiver attached behind the archer’s shoulder. We call that "accelerating the club lengthwise." Another drill his father used with Sergio featured elastic tubing wedged between the top of a door and the doorframe. Once the tubing was attached, Victor had Sergio grip the end of the tube nearest the ground and make a pulling action to simulate a downstroke with a club. This drill produces the feeling of maximum downcocking.

Once Sergio developed lag this way, he went on to learn the most difficult thing of all—how to let the club "freewheel" through impact. The great Bobby Jones often spoke and wrote about this sensation, reporting that the club swung so freely it was as if the clubhead were fastened to a string.

I frequently hear people saying that the Garcia lag will lead to an inconsistent swing because his timing has to be flawless and his hand action aggressive in order to "square the clubface" into the ball. But I think these experts are missing something. If Garcia needed to provide such a minutely timed and clever wrist action to square up the clubhead and clubface, I am certain we would never have heard of him in the first place. The fact is, inertia makes the clubshaft want to seek or line-up with the lead arm automatically and all on its own. Once this lining-up action begins, it completes itself almost instantaneously and, best of all, requires no voluntary or extra muscular involvement. This is what Bobby Jones meant when he talked about the club freewheeling into the ball.

Because Garcia has all but perfected this whiplashing action, he actually uses his hands less than other players do through the impact zone. Far from needing super-skilled timing, Garcia’s swing, powered by centrifugal force, times itself.

It’s true that Garcia has made a well-publicized swing change over the last couple of years. He has reduced some of his wrist cock at the very top of his swing, giving his backswing motion a shorter and more compact look. What this has done for him, in my opinion, is smooth out his transition from the top of his backswing position into his downswing. It still displays that same wonderful downcocking action that it had before, but it is a bit more difficult to detect with the naked eye now (though slow-motion video certainly bears it out) because it is encased, so to speak, well within his entire downswing motion.

This adjustment has not altered the essential nature of Garcia's swing. It remains very much like that of Hogan. And remember as Hogan worked tirelessly to improve and upgrade the element of lag in his swing, his ball striking skills got better and better. I have a feeling we will see this same pattern emerge in Sergio Garcia as his career progresses.

Here's some more Sergio







Hit em Straight.

Swinging

I didn't realize how little I knew about the Golf swing until I dove into Homer Kelley's "The Golfing Machine". After hours of reading and researching definitions, I think I have a slight clue of what this humble Genius was trying to convey. This is probably the most important section to me and what I'm trying to achieve. The book is a very difficult read, however with the help of a qualified instructor the concepts really make all the sense in the world. Richie3jack, took time to translate TGM( the golfing machine) on his blog. If you are interested in reading his translations click on the link to the right of the page.

2-K GENERATION OF ANGULAR MOTION Angular Motion is the result of at least two divergent forces. Such as, -A. Centripetal Force (the Lever Assemblies 6-A) diverting Linear Force (Right Arm Thrust 6-B-1) into a rotating motion (Hitting 10-19-A). Or – B. Turning its axis (the Body 2-M-4) to spin a flywheel – the Lever Assemblies (Swinging 10-19-C).

Rotation induces a Throw-Out action, pulling the centers of gravity of every moveable component, In-Line and On Plane with its axis or center, whether or not they were originally In-Line or On Plane. With a short radius it can accelerate easily, and quickly acquire considerable Angular Velocity. If a portion of this mass moves to a longer radius, the slowing effect (6-C-2-B) must be computed on the basis of the total mass AS LONG AS THE PORTION IS BEING PROPELLED BY THE TOTAL. That is – the slowdown would be in the same ratio that the portion has to the whole – the original central mass. This “Transfer of Momentum” process (10-19-C) eliminates Release Deceleration (6-F-0) but not Impact Deceleration (2-M-1). This Throw-Out action is termed herein as “Centrifugal Acceleration” to indicate that Centrifugal Force (Centrifugal Reaction), not muscle, is propelling the Secondary Lever Assembly (the Golf Club) into Impact. So Swingers are totally dependent on their skill at manipulating Centrifugal Force while Hitters are not. But study 4-D, 6-B-3-0, 6-R-0 and 7-2.

Compare the Primary Lever Assembly (6-A-2) with the common flail. While the “swingle” is seeking its “in-line” (full extension ) relation with the “handle” (catching up) there is “Centrifugal Acceleration.” When it becomes “in-line” (caught up) this settles into “Centrifugal (Angular) Momentum” (Full Extension). If it passes its “in-line” relation, it again seeks its “in-line” relation (backs up) and “Centrifugal Deceleration” sets in with a huge power loss. These three phases demonstrate what is termed herein “The Law of the Flail” – the Swingers primary concern.

The laws of the Flail
I. While the swingle is seeking its "in line" (full extension)with the "handle" (catching up), there is "Centrifugal Acceleration"

II. When it becomes "in line" (caught up), this settles into "Centrifugal Angular Momentum" (full extension)

III. If it passes it's "in line" relation it again seeks it's "in line" relation (backs up) and "Centrifugal Deceleration" sets in with huge power loss.
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Once you enlarge you can zoom in to read and view the diagrams



Here's a video by Jeff Mann aka Imperfect Golfer, with a homemade flail. He kind of describes the centrifugal release via radial acceleration.



Here's the late Tommy Tomasello a member of Homer Kelley's first graduating class, describing the swinging procedure. Note how he says the arms should drop (longitudinal/linear acceleration) before the hips unwind (radial/angular acceleration). At that point if your hands remain passive, "throw out" action will take care of the rest.
From the Golfing Machine 6-B-3-0 2nd Paragraph
With true Throw-out action (no manual clubface manipulation),Centrifugal Force automatically aligns the Clubshaft and Clubface for horizontal hinging (10-10-D), regardless of the Grip being used.

In other words, there's no need to consciously manipulate the hands in order to square the clubface, in fact the club is traveling so fast all you can do is sabotage it by trying to hold angles or square it manually. Mother nature has taken care of that for you.





There are quite a few other important aspects of this section which should be discussed, namely the "endless belt" and the short radius; but I'll save them for another post.

Hit em straight.

More on the Downswing and Sit Down

From time to time I tune in to my subscriptions on youtube, one of the guys I enjoy watching and learning from is Shawn Clement. Shawn is based out of Canada and according to his website Shawn Clement Golf, is a scratch golfer both right handed and left handed. In this first video he talks a lot about the stuff I'm working on. He uses analogies like, "The Crane swinging the wrecking ball" and "The Dog wagging the tale", which is in line with using your center's work.




In this second video he talks about what others have described as the "Counterfall". David Lee of Gravity Golf fame, made a decent living getting people to swing this way. It definitely conforms to the laws of physics.



This third video he explains Hogan's power move. He actually clarifies a misconception that people had for years with regards to Hogan's statement about spinning to the left. I can see how this confused many over the years, however if you read the paragraph previous to that one you will see that Hogan emphatically states (in fact it is written in ALL CAPS) that there must be a lateral move. On Page 90 of Five Lessons the third paragraph from the top reads:

To begin your downswing, TURN YOUR HIPS BACK TO THE LEFT. THERE MUST BE ENOUGH LATERAL MOTION FORWARD TO TRANSFER THE WEIGHT TO THE LEFT FOOT.

I gather that a lot of people were simply spinning left and cutting across the ball. The fact of the matter is that Hogan's Lateral move was somewhere between 12-14 inches.



Hogan's Move. Watch how he closes the gap between his left hip and the Palm tree in the background.




In this last video, he talks about the bounce. I find this analogous to straightening the left leg through impact in order to have a longer lever. He also talks about offsetting centrifugal force.




I love the, "right hip pocket back" swing key, it's so anti X-Factor.

Shawn has one of the strongest followings on YOUTUBE and he also has a DVD available through his website.

Hit em straight.

Norrie Wright GSED

I was browsing the internet one day and stumbled upon Ed Hanczaryk's website, "awarenessgolf.com". Within the content of Ed's website I found some articles about a teaching Professional I had never heard of. His name is Norrie Wright. I proceeded to read some of the articles Ed had posted regarding Norrie's views on the golf swing and what I found was some very insightful tidbits regarding the swing. I read further and found that Norrie had produced a video based on his methodology. The video is called "The Wright Swing". I was so fascinated by what I read about Norrie that I contacted Ed and ordered the video. I have watched it several times and I learn something new every time I watch it. Norrie has a very down to earth way of communicating his ideas. I highly recommend it to anybody who wants to improve their game and especially those interested in The Golfing Machine.

Here's Norrie's Bio as Posted on Ed's Website:

1981 was my first year working at Sawgrass Country Club outside of Jacksonville, Florida; it wasn’t long before I began hearing stories of a gifted teacher and player in the area, named Norrie Wright.

In such demand as a teacher, he was booked years in advance; if a student moved, or died, that time slot became a precious and sought-after commodity.

One beautiful North Florida morning, I had the good fortune to meet this great man as he walked through the shop on his way to play the famous course. Not knowing how hard it was to see him, I naively asked if I could meet him for a lesson; he said I could come out at 6:30 next Monday morning. He slipped me in before the first lesson of an already busy day.

He started off teaching me to play, but as years passed he began teaching me how to teach. Everything I know about helping people to enjoy themselves more on the course, I learned from Norrie Wright. In the words of Issac Newton: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”.

Mr. Wright was born in Georgia, the son of a Baptist preacher. He tells the story of how his ‘daddy’ would punish Norrie when he did something unbecoming, by getting him to cut the high grass with a scythe. Years later Norrie attributes the sweeping motion and strength developed from this activity, with his later becoming known as one of the longest hitters on the planet, and not a big man at 5’7”.

He taught US Senators, Generals, and top business leaders. He showed 1973 Vardon Trophy winner Bruce Crampton how to cure his hook using a package of cigarettes placed on the ground! He taught Donna White from an early age; she went on to win the US Ladies Amateur. But it was the thousands of weekend golfers who probably appreciated him the most.

I would like to present some of the knowledge I have gained from this brilliant educator. The following six articles will be Norrie’s teachings on:

1. The Golfing Machine
2. Lag
3. Release
4. Second Axis Tilt
5. How Grip and Stance affect Lag
6. Swing Plane

A few years ago, I was fortunate to take part in capturing some of Norrie’s teachings for a wider audience. I went to Jacksonville with documentary filmmaker James Hoagland (The Lions Roar), and the result is the essence of Norrie Wright, a DVD entitled The Wright Swing, a video textbook for students of the game. This is available through my Halifax Training Center for $29.95 Cdn. More information.



Here's Norrie Wright on Lag
This article is about the foundation of his teachings: LAG.

Many centuries ago, farmers would harvest wheat using a straight pole, swung around to create enough force to knock the wheat from the stalk. This worked fine for those hard-working peasants, but it turned out there was a better way.

One day, a brilliant (and somewhat lazy) Scotsman realized that, if the pole were cut towards the end, leaving two poles, one long and one short, and the two poles were joined with a leather strip, the velocity he could create was magnified many times. Essentially, he created a `snap’, where before there was only a `swoosh’. He was able to harvest many times more wheat than his counterparts, leaving more free time to play golf (which he also probably invented in his spare time).

Little did Seamus know that he discovered the secret to great golf.

Bobby Jones, on what it feels like to have his incredible swing: `the primary feeling I have when swinging is that I leave the club behind’. Lag is all about pressure; the club head feels heavy as it comes down to impact. The inside leads the outside.

Look at an expert player in slow motion; the hands get to impact well before the club head. There is a delay, sometimes called a `late hit’. The maximum speed in the swing happens at the ball, not before. This golfer is able to compress the ball down the target line.

Lag separates the good ball-striker from the poor ball striker. Most golfers do the opposite; the club gets there before the hands, or at the same time. Maximum speed has been reached too soon, and the club is slowing down at impact. To make matters worse, this also adds loft to the club, turning a 5 iron into a 7 iron. If you ever wondered why you are a club or two shorter than your friend, this is the reason.

If you are interested in developing lag, a number of exercises and explanations are given in The Wright Swing, a Video Textbook for Students of the Game. This DVD, produced by documentary filmmaker James Hoagland, captures the essence of Norrie’s teachings.

Happy Lagging! The next issue is about release, the other side of the golf swing.

The video can be found here. On Ed's site you will also find multiple articles by both Ed and Norrie on various facets of the swing and the mental part of the game. I hate to beat a dead horse (I will anyway), but I highly recommend it. This video would make a great addition to anybody's library.

Hit em Straight.

Sam Snead

Fluid and rhythmic, Sam's swing has been described as one of the Sweetest Swings Ever. Slammin' Sammy won 82 PGA Tour events inicluding 7 majors. Among his other accomplishments were; shooting his age at age 67, shooting a 60 at age 71, and shooting 78 at age 85. His swing is remembered by students of the game for what was called the "Snead Squat" or what we today may describe as the classic "Sit Down" position.

Here's Sam's Swing



Here's Sam explaining his squat



Here are 2 explanations on how achieve this move. The first is by Mike Maves aka Sevam1 and the second is by Brian Manzella




For more information on Brian Manzella or his instruction you can go to :
Brian Manzella.com


Here are Lynn Blake and Ben Doyle's approach. i.e. let the big dog eat.



Here's Brad Redding with some more reasoning. I don't necessarily subscribe to his methodologies, but I think he hit the nail on the head in this video.




The thought of writing this post came to me yesterday while on the driving range. I was hitting balls and my friend, Teaching Pro Johnny Chang mentioned how my weight appeared to be more towards the toes. Having your weight towards your toes can lead to disastrous results for a number of reasons. The most important of which (to me anyway) is the fact that there is a substantial amount of outward force being generated by a golf swing (Lynn Blake described them as G-forces) and if you don't counteract them, the accelerating club head will drag you around like a rag doll. You will immediately notice this because you will be off balance and your body will be pulled outward and forward (toward right field for righties). My tendency is to get my self into those awkward positions, so when I got home I thought about how to overcome this pernicious tendency. Thus the reason for the Snead Squat/Sit Down post.
BTW The $10 word "pernicious" was constantly used by the late great Bobby Jones and I thought it appropriate to describe this bad habit.

Hit em straight!

Mr. 59 a Machinist?

After watching this Al Geiberger video, I'm convinced he must have read TGM




What he is describing at the end is to let the throwout action square the club head. Although I don't think you should intentionally hold the angle. I believe the only way you can achieve this is by not trying to achieve it. My keys are passive hands and arms and leaving the work to my core muscles. Bump/Drop-Rotate




As you can see I need to work on my trunk strength, so that I can rotate better.


Hit em straight

Genealogy of the MP29

Click on any image to enlarge








I recently purchased a mint set of MP-29s and while on the range trying them out I got into a discussion with Rick Neilsen, PGA GSEM, regarding the history of this beautiful club. Our mutual friend Gene McMasters is the Mizuno rep. for our area and he gave him some insight into the Club. Gene says they were modeled after the TN-87. A few years ago Gene told me they were modeled after a 55 Hogan.

Here's what I came up with.
Legend has it that this was a club that Nick Faldo wanted to play while under contract with Mizuno. Many say it is a replica of the TN-87. The TN-87 was a club Mizuno made to comemorate Tommy Nakajima's 1987 golf season. They definitely look similar to the MP-29s but they are not exactly the same. The TN-87 has a copper underlay which legend has it makes it the softest feeling blade ever.




Note the more rounded toe on the MP-29. I think Gene was correct in that the MP-29 is a knockoff of the 1953 Precision Iron, which Mr. Hogan used in winning his Triple Crown.
The club was replicated in the early 80's and re-issued in a commemorative edition as the Hogan Personals.







Here's an extra for all you Hogan fans.


Now back to the MP-29's, Mizuno's point of sale was that these were the irons Nick Faldo was playing. I'm going to beg to differ. I believe Faldo won his early majors, the Open and the Masters with TP-9's the European model.




He won his later Majors with TP-19's also only available in Europe.



Here's a closeup of the TP-19




If I had a life I probably wouldn't have the time for such trivial minutiae, but then you guys wouldn't get to read it either.

Hit em straight

The Hawk

This is quintessential Hogan. According to Jody Vasquez's book, "Afternoons with Mr. Hogan". The Story goes like this:

Lights, Camera and say a Prayer
Hank Rojas told me that the Hogan Company needed a new T.V. commercial. The company had not featured Mr. Hogan as the principal character in an advertising spot in years, but it was decided that his personal presence would do much to give the company a boost.

They decided to shoot the commercial at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. Once every one arrived they found a spot, set everything up, and asked Mr. Hogan to get warmed up. Looking elegant in a long-sleeve yellow sweater, gray slacks and his traditional white cap, he complied.
At the time, Mr. Hogan was 74 years old and long past his daily practice sessions at Shady Oaks. Going into the video shoot there had been much apprehension as to the toll the years might have taken on his swing. The last thing anyone wanted was a frail-looking Hogan.
Mr. Hogan dropped three balls on the ground. He then proceeded to blade the first shot, hit second one poorly and bladed the third. Although the camera was not following the ball, the swing clearly didn't look right.
Mr. Hogan looked over at Hank and said, "I'm ready".
Mr Hogan was given his cue. With the cameras rolling, he addressed the ball, made a beautiful swing and produced a perfectly struck shot. Hank was stunned. They turned off the cameras and went back to Fort Worth with a classic piece of film.
Having built a swing that could hold up under pressure, Mr. Hogan rose to the occasion once again.


Hit em Straight.