“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” Aldous Huxley

I was with Jim Nittoli, PGA and his golf staff at San Aantonio CC giving each an introduction to Wright Balance®. Jim asked me to video the last of 7 lessons. That is what follows. I have edited this lesson with Nick into segments for you to follow.

Note: There are 4 positions tested to determine the player's Dominant Core Zone. You will NEVER find only one or two of these confirmations of the Dominant Core Zone. There will always be 4 "tests" that MATCH the player's Dominant Core Zone:

Power Test without a club

Performance Stance Range (PSR)

Grip Power Spots

Extended Performance Stance Range (PSR) when Wright Balance® Bands are applied

Testing Power Without A Club

The first stance width I am testing is at 13 inches. That is the Power test for the Upper Core. If this is Nick's Dominant Core Zone, he will have Power. His hips will be square between 8 & 16 inches plus or minus 1 inch.

Note: When a player has power during this test, you won't be able to move them off balance. A player will demonstrate power in only one of the three stance widths tested here as you can see in the video

The second test is for the Middle Core where Nick assumes a stance width of 18 inches. That is the Power test stance width for the Middle Core. if this is Nick's Dominant Core Zone, he will have Power and his hips will be square between 16 and 24 inches plus or minus 1 inch.

The third test is for the Lower Core where Nick assumes a stance width of 26 inches. Twenty-six inches is the Power test stance width for the Lower Core. If this is Nick's Dominant Core Zone, he will have Power and his hips will be square between 20 and 28 inches plus or minus 1 inch. This test is done at 26 inches. Twenty-six (26) inches is outside the width of a Middle Core test.

As you can see from the videos, Nick had the most Power at 18 inches. As a Middle Core Player, Nick's hips will be square between 16 and 24 inches. Sixteen (16) to 24 inches is Nicks Performance Stance Range (PSR).

The following 1 minute video was shot in 2023. It demonstrates why we pick a stance width inside the Performance Stance Range (PSR). Note that one inch wider creates a loss of power as shown here.

Not only is there a loss of power outside the Performance Stance Range (PSR), the clubface also opens or closes as a player steps outside their Dominant Core Zone Stance Range.

The following photos are of Colin Montgomerie in the Wright Balance® Biomechanics Studio in Southern California in 2020. Colin is an Upper Core Player. He is in his Performance Stance Range (8 to 16 inches). Note in the following photo Colin is standing at 16 inches and his putter face is square.

When he stepped Wider than his Performance Stance Range (17 inches) his putter face closes

As you can see in these photos, not only is there a loss of power outside a player's 8 inch Performance Stance Range (PSR), the clubface opens or closes.

Testing the Matching Stance Width Range (PSR)

Note: If your student has an injury that precludes the Power Test, this test of their Performance Stance Width Range (PSR) is where you would begin.

In the next video I test Nick's Middle Core Stance Width Range to confirm the observation of Power in his Middle Core Zone.

Recall that Nick had the greatest Power at 18 inches. The Middle Core Stance Width Range is 16 to 24 inches, plus or minus 1 inch. The Performance Stance Range will always MATCH the observed Power Test. This test will be the second confirmation of Core Zone. If your student is Middle Core, they will be square between 16 and 24 inches plus or minus one inch.

Testing Matching Power Spots

This test is your third confirmation of Core Zone. As a Middle Core Player, Nick's power will be tested with his current grip.

The first step in testing the Power Spots in golfers is to have your student grip their club, swing to the top and stop. Observe the position of their lead knee.

Note: Stand facing your student as they swing to the top and stop. Look at their lead knee. Their lead knee will tell you how they started their golf swing.

If their lead knee goes behind the ball, they started their swing with their lead knee or their trail hip.

If their lead knee points at the ball, they started their swing with their shoulders and hips together.

3.If their lead knee points in front of the ball, they started their swing with their shoulders.

Below is a link to and eBook showing the lead knee and Center of Mass (COM) of tour players of different Core Zones (Upper, Middle & Lower).

When you observe your student, their Center of Mass will match their Core Zone in your better player (Upper Core COM = Target Side; Middle Core COM = Centered over Pelvis; Lower Core COM = Trail Side.) When evaluating players who have had instruction to, for example, load their trail heel at the top of the swing, their COM won't match their lead knee.

Here is a link to the eBook showing tour players' lead knee and COM in each of the three Core Zones.

Matching Characteristics of Center of Mass, Hip Turn and Lead Knee at the Top of the Swing by Core Zone

https://instructions.wrightbalance.com/stance-width-ranges-by-core-region/

Make certain you see your student stops at the top of their swing and say: "Hold that position." Show them how you are going to step under the downswing path, place your hand on the butt of the club and provide active resistance in their downswing.

Then, step back and tell them to swing to the top of their backswing again and STOP. Once again, be certain they STOP at the top of their swing before you move under the downswing path. STEP UNDER THE BUTT OF THE CLUB placing your palm on the butt of the club as you demonstrated. Tell them to start their downswing only after you are under the path of the downswing and you feel the butt of the club in your palm. When you feel the pressure in your palm, apply maximum resistance on the downswing path as shown here.

If your student does not have the Power Spots of their Dominant Core Zone set on the underside of the grip in the middle finger of each hand, they will have no power and you will easily push them off balance.

Next I show Nick the placement of the club across his middle finger determines his Power. This is easily demonstrated to students.

The Third Confirmation of Dominant Core Zone: Power Spots

> When first tested for power, Nick was easily moved off balance. Recall that testing for Power without a club, Nick's Power was at 18 inches, inside the Middle Core Performance Stance Range. Additionally his hips were square between 16 and 24 inches, the Performance Stance Range (PSR). > Your third confirmation is a test for Power when the grip is set so that your student's grip is across the **Middle Core Power Spots on the Middle Finger of the Left & Right hands** and on the underside of the grip. > When his grip was checked to determine where the grip crossed his middle finger, his lead hand had the grip across the crease of the first knuckle up from his palm, the Middle Core Power Spot. However, when checking his right hand, the grip crossed his middle finger on the first pad up from the palm, the Upper Core Power Spot. > > I showed Nick where he should place his right hand, the crease of the first knuckle up. Nick was then tested and demonstrated power with that subtle grip change. > ### The fourth Confirmation of the Dominant Core Zone: Extending the Performance Stance Range (PSR) > In the following video I review with Nick, a Middle Core player, that his 8 inch playing stance width is between 16 and 24 inches plus or minus one inch. That means his hips will be square only between 16 and 24 inches as Nick demonstrates in this video. I emphasized that to extend his Performance Stance Range (PSR) and to set the hips square in any stance width (0 to 36 inches), that all rings, bad-aids, etc must be removed from the lead hand and lead foot. > > >**Note**: The Middle Core Power Spot is the first knuckle crease up from the palm. The Upper Core Power Spot is the first pad just above the palm on any finger of the trail hand. The Lower Core Power Spot is the second pad up from the palm above the Middle Core knuckle crease on the trail hand. > >When I covered Nick's Upper Core Power Spot on his middle finger of his trail hand, Nick's hips became square from the previously 16 to 24 inches to 0 to 24 inches. > > >When I add a piece of tape to Nick's Lower Core Power spot (the second pad up from the palm) and covered his Middle Core Power Spot on his THUMB of his trail hand, Nick's hips became square from 0 to 36 plus inches. > > >Note: If I placed a piece of tape on any two fingers next to each other, as Tiger did on occasion as shown below, his performance stance range would be reduced to his original 16 to 24 inches. > > If he taped his hand as Tiger did on occasion, he would lose the short game benefits he gained with the tape on 3 fingers, ***NOT*** next to each other and ***EACH*** covering a different Power Spot. > ## Grip Sizing Nick > If a player reports no neck, shoulders or wrists injuries, I would test their current grip size using the following strategy. Why? You will often find that a player has the proper grip size on their clubs. > > If the players grips don't fit, this video is a demonstration of how to determine grip size using a Wright Balance grip size and the vinyl strip with the Core Zone Balanced Stance Widths > > Note that Nick's grip Size as measured on the bat was 790 mils when he gripped the smallest end of the bat. When he took his golf club at the butt, his hips rotated. When he moved up the butt of the club toward the bare shaft, his hips squared to his stance line. I measured his grip size at his middle finger as 840. Note that there is a 50 mil difference between Nick's smallest measured size to his largest measured size. > The following chart was made for club fitters to use when fitting grips. > > ## The Research Origin of Grip Sizing. > The following brief video summarizes the research protocols used in Dr. Frank Jobe's Biomechanics Lab at Centinela Hospital between 1999 and 2006. Pilot studies were done in 1999 and 2000 to test the research protocols and the formal study began in 2001. >

Out of this balance research evolved:

1, The calculations of left & right hand Grip Sizes for irons and wood and putter

2. The Performance Stance Ranges were determined for each Core Zone

3. Power Testing to determine Dominant Core Zone

4. Power Spots

5. Core Zones

6. Determining the Dominant Core Zone

7. Extending the Performance Stance Range

8. Grip

9 The Downswing Club Path Test (DPT) ( This test determines precise corrections in setup and sequencing of motion. The Downswing Club Path Test demonstrates the club path through impact providing immediate feedback to the student and teaching professional)

10. The Wright Balance Express Exercise for Core Symmetry

11. Vision & Balance

12. Which hand to hold the club in behind the ball

13. Alignment to the ball

14. Grip as related to shoulder rotation & balance

15. Posture and the repeating Carrying Angle through the swing

16. Sequencing of Motion by Core Zone

17. Center of Mass and Lead Knee position at the top of the swing

18. Training professionals in how to assess the player's Dominant Core Zone and matching characteristics of each Core Zone as shown in this eBook

19. Teaching to a player's regional body strength and recruiting maximum power and consistency and more

A Deeper Look at Grip Size

Some players add extra wraps and / or use larger grips like Jumbo Max to find their grip size that produces balance that matches their Core Zone as shown in these illustrations.

Note: Wright Balance Professionals always measure to the Middle Finger of the lead hand. Determine where the Middle Finger of the lead hand is located after the player places their hands on the club, not 2 inches down from the butt of the club:

Players Who Increase Grip Size

Bryson DeChambeau

Bubba Watson

Plus 12 /14 wraps Masters 2012 2014

Retief Goosen

Jumbo / OverSize plus 7 Extra Wraps wraps

Won the US Open 2001 & 2004

Tony Finau

13 Extra Wraps

Scottie Scheffler

6 Extra Wraps

Bryson Dechambeau

Jumbo Max

Dennis Paulson PGA Tour Veteran

Standard with 6 extra wraps under right hand...1990s before no taper grips

Kevin Stadler

Kevin gripped the club so the butt was in his palm. Kevin is an Upper Core Player with a very shallow carrying angle. As a result, when he setup to swing he appeared to have very little if any knee flex. He had knee flex but it was very slight. As a result of the grip being in his palm over many years, Kevin broke the hamate bone in his left hand. A hamate bone injury like Kevin's is generally found in baseball where the hitter grips the bat with the little finger under the knob and there is pressure on the hamate bone. Why did Kevin grip the club in his palm? I would suggest that Kevin's posture was so tall that standard grip size in his teenage years was too short. However, in college, no matter what length club Kevin used, he would always move the grip into his palm. Interestingly he uses a long putter to this day. I would say his putter length choice is also due to a very shallow carrying angle and what appears on first observation as no knee flex. Kevin's injury is a good reason to adopt the use of a paint stick and yardstick when teaching grip.

Players Who Grip Down on the Club to Find the Balance that Matches Their Core Zone

Anthony Kim

Brooke Henderson

Tommy Fleetwood

PGA Tour Player Bob E Smith with a Grip Size that Fits

Bob E Smith with a Grip Size that is Too Small

Putter Grip Size

The following video shows the original testing of putter grip size in Dr. Frank Jobe's biomechanics lab at Centinela Hospital in 2005.

This brief video summarizes the putting protocol I used for the Balance research at Centinela Hospital from pilot studies in the late 1990s through 2007. This video highlights one of the pro subjects, Ramon Brobio. Ramon won the putting title on the Asian Tour in 2004. Notice the deterioration in Ramon's performance when he changes putter grip sizes from his measured size to a size that is too small. Grip size impacts heel to toe balance which in turn opens and closes the hip line altering club path. The balance results were gleaned from the data captured by the 1000 force sensors in each of the subject's shoes and changes in body angles as measured by the light sensors on the player's body.

Fitting Student's Putter Grip Size

Add 350 mils to the measured irons and woods grip size in your students Dominant Core Zone Stance Widths to determine their Putter Grip Size.