If the golfer is looking to develop an edge in their golf game, the golfer doesn’t have to look far to find an answer. The answer is right in their hands. You can almost refer to this as your Thumb Drive approach to your golf swing.
Even Ben Hogan referenced this part of the thumb in his commentaries, particularly the Hypothenar. There is a pad at the base of the thumb called the Thenar and Hypothenar. These are two of the largest, strongest, and most dexterous muscles in the hand. I cover this in my book in Section 1.1, right off the bat, or should I say, right off the club.
The Thenars and Hypothenars are two pairs of muscles that are capable of transferring the power developed in your lower and upper body to the handle of the club. The thenars (Hypothenar and Thenar) and the thumbs are essential to the golfer setting up their golf swing. For the right-hander, the right thumb represents the clubface, while the left thumb represents the handle of the club.
According to Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. I know I’m quoting a verse from the Bible, but it is true. The first shall be last, and the last first. This is why the golfer wants to set the right wrists and thumb first, because it is the last component of impact.
What is king in the golf swing is synchronization. This is the first two elements in my golf swing. The golfer using The ESPY Golf Swing Coach by Synching (CAMMING) right Hypothenar. This is followed by Protracting (CAMMING-OVER) of the right Thenar that naturally sets the left thumb on the correct swing plane. The left thumb will be in the 3:00 position. The lower part of the forearm or the wrist, is similar to the wristband on the boxing gloves in the Figure below. The thumbs offer a great checkpoints to feel in setting up your golf swing. This allows the golfer to synch the elbow with the shoulders. Even Mr. Arnold Palmer used this to help President Eisenhower at a Pro-AM http://goo.gl/OLbVQF. Even without a golf club, Colonel George Robert Hall worked on synching his golf swing to maintain his four handicap, after being held seven years as a P.O.W. at the Hanoi Hilton http://goo.gl/W1jAuC.
The three simple elements are SYNCH, PROTRACT (Pre-set), and YAW. Remember DO NOT overcook, or over rotate the Synch element. My wife refer to this as a small bump maneuver with the right wrist.
The Righteous Brothers had a great hit called You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling. This was one of the main theme songs in the movie Top Gun. Matter of fact it was played during the last scenes of the movie. This can specifically be applied to your golf swing as well. Feeling is essential to producing muscle memory for a consistent golf shot. The feeling the golfer gets by synching up the knuckles with the wristbands, as noted in the illustration above, provides confidence that the golfer is looking for in their golf swing.
This is the same approach used by baseball players in the batter’s box. refer to the time elapse photography that I used during my research and development of The ESPY Golf Swing Coach. Both the golfer and batter are pre-setting their wrists to maximize their golf and baseball swing. Learn how to take your baseball swing from the batter’s box to the tee box. Use a muscle memory most of use have already developed and is second nature to perform, even under pressures of tournament play. The last thing the golfer wants to do is think about their golf swing mechanics and techniques. There is a time for practice, than there is a time to perform.
By: QATSPY GOLF Approach
Charles W. Boatright
Madison, MS
1-888-514-1228
www.espygolfapp.com
The ESPY Golf Swing Coach– Price for Paperback $15.75 and E-Book $8.99, Hardback is also available on my website: www.espygolfapp.com/store OR your local bookstore and also:
Two decisions that you can make for yourself and your kids are to get a copy of my book and place the book and a golf club into their hands. You will never look back, but only forward. You will not miss with this for yourself and/or your kids.
A Recommendation for your Golf Game:
I would like to recommend a wonderful radio program that I regularly listen to on my I-Heart Radio app on KARN 102.9 FM station, out of Little Rock, AR. They air a golf show called “Arkansas Fairways and Greens,” at 7:00 AM CT each Saturday morning, hosted by Bob Steel and Jay Fox. Bob occasionally has on his show a guest named Shawn Humphries, a Professional Golf Instructor from Dallas, Texas. One thing that Mr. Humphries stresses is the mental part of golf, not focusing on the results but the process.
Until next time– Be Synched, Tee-to-Green, with The ESPY Golf Swing!
