THE QATSPY GOLFER
Charles W. Boatright
Boxing gloves, excellent mental image to initiate your golf swing; to combat swing thoughts with muscle memory!
The top question by golfers, especially by those golfers just picking up the game, is how to initiate the takeaway and downswing. One of the major advantages of The ESPY Golf Swing Coach is that 80 percent of the golf swing is completed by syncing the elbows using the Supinator muscle and presetting the wrist by using the Thenar muscle. The Thenars are the largest and strongest muscle in the golfer’s wrists or hand. One area that is important for the golfer to identify is the wrist area! The wrist area is between the lower forearm, the Radial and Ulna bones, and hand made up of metacarpals. The Supinator muscle supinates the forearms, while the Thenar muscle helps pronates the wrist. In my book, The ESPY Golf Swing Coach, I refer to these two maneuvers as CAM and CAM-OVER.
The wrists is not where the wristwatch is worn, this is the lower forearm. Properly identifying the wrists can solve a whole host of problems for the golfer. This is one reason I like to incorporate boxing gloves into my training sessions to properly sync and preset the golfer’s swing.
Brad Paxton Refer to the Wrist Action, the Waggle
A great point that Brad Paxton brought up during the 2016 U.S. Open was not to become stagnant in the golf swing. This causes the golfer to start thinking, never a good thing for the golfer to do standing over their golf shot. A method to accomplish this is to sync and preset, or the waggle, which can be part of the golfer’s pre-shot routine. To avoid swing thoughts, there are three trigger points that I feel in use in my golf swing to help me activate my muscle memory or what I call the Critical Swing Path. These three trigger muscles are the right Supinator, left Thenar, and right Brachio-Radialis muscles (for the right hander). The first two muscles help the golfer to Sync and Preset their golf swing.
SYNC (Supination)- The right Supinator muscle supinates at the head and tail parts of the Supinator muscle. The tail end of the Supinator muscle is located at the bottom of the boxing gloves wristband. This is what I called the CAM maneuver.
PRESET (Pronation)- The left Thenar pronates. The Thenar is located at the top of the boxing gloves wristband. This is what I called the CAM-OVER maneuver.
After the CAM and CAM-OVER maneuvers the hands and wrists are placed into the preset position as noted below in the illustration.
The CAM and CAM-OVER Maneuvers in the Golf Swing
The CAM and CAM-OVER places the left thumb into the Lock position and onto the correct swing plane. From the Lock position, the only thing the golfer has to do is to simply lift the forearms up along the swing plane using the third muscle, the Brachio-Radialis muscle. The CAM and CAM-OVER elements are part of the Critical Swing Path. The Brachio-Radialis muscle is particularly unique muscle. The Brachio-Radialis muscle does three important functions, supinates, pronates, and flexes the golfer’s forearm at the elbow. This is all the anatomy the golfer really as to know and understand the golf swing mechanics.
Now for the anatomy lesson- The reasons these muscles are key to the golfer’s swing are:
- The Supinator muscle along with the Brachio-Radialis muscle supinates the forearm about the elbow. This muscle is the turbocharger in the golfer’s swing. The CAM helps the golfer sync their elbow with their shoulders.
- The Thenars (Hypothenar and Thenar) are the strongest and most dexterous muscles in the hand capable of transferring the power created from the lower and upper body without collapsing at impact. The thenars (thenar and hypothenar) are also great energy shock absorbers. The CAM-OVER helps the golfer to Lock the right elbow with the shoulders for the right handed golfer.
- The Brachio-Radialis muscle is an unique muscle and one to capitalize on in the takeaway swing. The Brachio-Radialis muscle can either supinate and pronate the forearm and links the hands and wristbands with the elbow and upper arm (the upper arm is simply called the arm). The Brachio-Radialis muscle is the synching mechanism in the golfer’s swing.
Key Elements to Setup the Critical Swing Path
These are great KEY-UP muscles to initiate the golfer’s swing and develop the Critical Swing Path, or the muscle memory. These muscles are like engaging the golfer’s subconscious mind.
The CAM and CAM-OVER maneuvers allows the golfer to Sync the elbow with the shoulders and Preset the wrists that locks the elbow and shoulder together.
Trade In Your Golf Glove for a Boxing Glove
One of the best things a golfer can do to lower their handicap is to trade their golf glove in for a pair of boxing gloves shown below as if they are arranged on the golf club handle. The boxing gloves provide an excellent mental image to engage the Supinator and Thenar muscles to create the muscle memory for the Critical Swing Path. The Sync and Preset maneuvers accomplish a key component in the golfer’s swing called SYNCHRONIZATION!
The boxing gloves are shown in this illustration as if they are gripping a golf club. To orientate the boxing gloves properly to Sync and Preset the golf swing, the label ‘EVERLAST’ needs to be turned. In my book, the bottom part of the wristbands are pointing up, while the top of the wristbands are pointing downward. Also, the golfer can made another important trade in, the golfer can trade in their golf bag in for a boxing bag to help strengthen these key muscles to increase their power, speed, and stamina. A boxing bag workout is a key exercise element in my CASPER Workout Program in Section 20 of my book.
For the right handed golfer, the golfer wants to lead with the boxing gloves wristbands to initiate the takeaway swing and start the drop element by leading with wristbands for a consistent golf swing. In the 2017 U.S. Open, Paul Azinger, discussed how Sergio Garcia like to start his downswing as pulling on a chain. This is referred to as the TIDE in my book to start the downswing in Section 2.20. This will accomplish three things after presetting the wristbands. FIRST- leading with the wristbands for the takeaway. SECOND- lead with the wristbands in the direction of the left thumb for the drop element, or downswing, through impact. THIRD- by taking the handle of the club back with the wristbands, the left knee will slightly flex toward the golf ball and slightly lift the left heel off the ground. The wristbands also leads in the drop element allows the left knee to rotate back toward the target and straighten up the right knee to control and deliver the lower body’s uncoiling energy.
Controlling the uncoiling of the lower and upper body is essential to produce power and speed. Michael Breed, on The Golf Fix Show on Golf Channel discussed this same procedure on Monday, August 31, 2015 show. He was describing how Jason Day uses his right side to straighten the left knee.
If the golfer wants to incorporate one of their strongest resources, the subconscious mind, use mental images to start your takeaway swing. The conscious mind handles the WHAT (i.e., target acquisition, shot selection, and grip pressure). The subconscious mind handles the HOW (i.e., trigger points, muscle response, sequence of the golf swing, and synchronization) muscle memory.
To learn how to establish the Critical Swing Path and muscle memory for your golf swing, purchase your copy of The ESPY Golf Swing Coach from the links below, or visit your local bookstore:
My book can also be purchased at Edwin Watts Golf Store in Jackson, Mississippi. Phone No. 601-956-8784
820 East County Line Road, Ridgeland, MS 39157
My book can also be purchased on-line at:
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Check out my full library of BLOGS @ www.espygolfapp.com/blog or purchase your copy of The ESPY Golf Swing Coach
The ESPY Golf Swing Book@ www.espygolfapp.com/store.
Facebook – The QATSPY Golf Approach
Twitter – @cwboatright
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YouTube – ESPY Golf Swing Coach
Once you learn WHY, you don’t forget HOW!
YouTube Videos:
https://youtu.be/ZGVNrIw_wlo (Cam & Cam-over elements)
https://youtu.be/K2FDHZ3AX9w (Figuring your proper swing plane)
https://youtu.be/TO82PMO6G8M (Developing muscle memory)
https://youtu.be/JZnCwWLuz2c (How to use boxing gloves for golf)
Until next time– Be Synched, Tee-to-Green, with The ESPY Golf Swing!