Copyright, Wright Balance® 2024

Note: The August 12 Zoom session was long and had several important education components. I have edited that Zoom session into segments labeled Part 1, Part 2, etc. This is the first installment of those segments. I will follow with Part 2 in the near future.

This Zoom video summarizes the impact various setup positions have on the downswing path.

Quiz

If you watched this video or attended the Zoom session August 12,, you should be able to answer 10 of 12 of the following questions correctly.

If you use the test of the downswing path for yourself and your teaching, you will begin to easily diagnose the setup or motion sequencing that is impacting your student's downswing path and their miss. Once you can find the square hip line at the top, ball striking and putting will quickly improve.

You can also teach your student to self diagnose their setup and motion issues. I will cover more each Zoom session on how to diagnose each setup variable that impacts the downswing path.

There is also a brief summary at the end of why some teachers coach to load the trail heel or balls of feet at the top of the swing with a move diagonally to the opposite balance position in the downswing.

1. Question

Which of the following will impact the downswing path?:

A. Grip

B. Posture

C. Sequencing of Motion

D. All of the above

Answer

D. All of the Above

2. Question

In order to test the downswing path, what part of the setup must be present at address?

A. The hips must be square at address

B. The Stance Width must match the Core Zone to facilitate correct sequencing of motion

C. The left and right hand grip must be equal to the carrying angle

D. The Posture must be set by Core Zone

Answer

A. The Hips must be square at address

All of the other answers will impact the downswing path. However, in order to test any of those variables, the hips must be square at address

3. Question

An "over the top" path in the downswing is due to:

A. An open hip line in the downswing

B. A closed hip line in the downswing

C. A square hip line in the downswing

D. None of the above

Answer

A. An open hip line in the downswing

When you experience this downswing position, don't move your feet, relax your shoulders arms and hands and you will note that your arm swing tracks the same outside in path.

4. Question

A Butterfly grip is characterized by:

A. When the left and right hands appear to cross at address

B. When the palms are opposing when the club is gripped

C. When the trail hand is more under at address

D. When the lead hand is more on top at address

Answer

A. When the lead and trail hands appear to cross

5. Question

The first consideration of the setup to the golf ball is to "build":

A. Your grip and then your posture

B. Be certain Your hip line is square

C. Set your Upper body Kinetic Chain before the Lower body Kinetic Chain

D. Set your Lower body Kinetic Chain before the Upper body Kinetic Chain

You may want to read those answers again

Answer

D. Set your Lower body Kinetic Chain before the Upper body Kinetic Chain

6. Question

To Test the downswing hip line:

A. Swing to the top and stop, stand tall and face the target line & check your hip line.

B. With the putter, make a backstroke and hold that position, stand tall, face the start line of your putter and check your hip line.

C. Swing back and through and hold your finish.

D. None of the above

E. C only

F. A and B only

Answer

A and B only

7. Question

If you are testing your entire setup, swing to the top of your backswing or hold your backstroke with your putter, stop, stand tall, face the target line and your hips are square,this means:

A. Your downswing path will be over the top, steep and your shot will be pulled or blocked.

B. Your downswing path is not impacted at all

C. Your set up fundamentals and sequencing of motion were neutral and your path will track this line of force

D. You're ready to work on your short game

Answer

C. Your set up fundamentals and sequencing of motion were neutral and your path will track this line of force

8. Question

True or False

**Anything that restricts shoulder rotation will impact my downswing path to over the top and steep or shallow, under the plane and thin

**

Answer

True

9. Question

**Your student's hips are absolutely square when they set up with a club or putter. When they swing to the top or make a backstroke with the putter, stop, stand tall and turn facing the target line:

1. You have them add knee flex and you observe with either a bar on their hips if there is pelvic rotation and / or
2. You observe which knee protrudes out further than the other and / or
3. You have your student drop their arms and do the fists test
4. You have your student relax their shoulders and arms and have them let their arms swing back and forth slowly

What are you testing?

A. Their Grip

C. Their sequencing of motion

D. Their Posture

E. Their downswing path

E. All of the above

Answer

E. All of the above

10. Question

If you observe that your hip line looks like the following at the top of your swing, where would you experience your heel to toe balance in each foot?

Answer

Your heel to toe balance would be forward in your right foot and back in your left.

11 Question

**As a right handed player, If you were to drop your club and let your arms swing with the following balance configuration, **

which of the following would you experience?

A. An inside out arm swing

B. An outside in arm swing

C. Straight back and through arm swing

D. None of the above

Answer

A. An inside out arm swing

12 Question

What should you conclude when you see the following at the top of your swing?**

Answer

My hips are square, I placed my hands on the club correctly, all of my setup fundamentals were perfect and my sequencing of motion matched my Core Zone. I need to continue to practice all of my fundamentals as I just did with a goal of creating this straight line of force for my best ball striking and putting.

Why do some teachers coach to load the trail heel at the top of the swing and move to the toes of the lead foot in the downswing, just the opposite or any variation of that?

Not every good player has a square hip line at the top of the swing nor do they have a grip or motion that we should teach all of our players. Paul Azinger had a very strong left hand that took him to the top of his game. Jim Furyk setup with a very low hands position and appeared to pick the club up from address and drop it inside. Orville Moody, Hubert Green, Moe Norman and the list goes on of players who did not fit an orthodox setup and motion but played great golf.

We have remarkable technology we use in teaching from balance plates to 3D to launch monitors. When we see a great player, more subtle than the examples in the above paragraph, who loads their weight in the trail heel at the top of their swing, the conclusion a teacher might make is that all players should load their weight in their trail heel at the top of their swing. This trail heel position might work for a few players but only a few.

Dr. Jim Suttie had an article in a golf magazine in 2014 or 15 shown in the illustration below. This article shows the trending toward a straight line of force in the tracing of balance through the swing. To this day there is still coaching to load the trail heel at the top of the swing. Dr. Suttie mentions that as an ideal motion strategy in this illustration

Note that Dr. Suttie labeled the trail heel loading at the top of the swing as a "pusher", an inside out downswing.

Test for Yourself

This video demonstrates the Wright Balance® Downswing path test when the trail heel is loaded vs a straight line of balance.

Wright Balance® PGA Professional, Jim Nittoli, PGA made an interesting observation during our last training in Orlando. He said Mac O'Grady advocated practicing standing on a rope laid in a line parallel to the target line during the swing to find your balance. I had baseball coaches in my youth that used that same strategy teaching hitting.

We have the ability to create a downswing path that minimizes the players miss and changes the putting stroke in all students. It is simple and easy to diagnose once you have an understanding of the variables that impact the downswing path. That is the goal of these Wright Balance® Zoom sessions.

Below is a link to a video that describes factors that impact shoulder rotation. Each of these factors will change the downswing path to an open (steep and over the top) or to a shallow thin shot created by a path that is under the plane.