Right knee "kissing" left knee?

[Thomas]

Hi, I am Currently on my early beginning of the 60 days program, at day 8. Now main reason for me to join this, is to learn my lower body ( hips below ) to co work with my upper body ( hips above ) so far my lower body has been more or less passive, and my swing is mostly by my arms, causing my swing to be, not only ineffective but also coming from outside in!
This has to change ;)! So when I look at Brian’s different moves, I see that his knees are connected at the finish of the swing, but when I try to replicate, mine is not, haw important is this ?
One thing that I find difficult to completely forllow when whatsing the video class, is the movements, due to the fact that the TV only shows thing in 2D, so I am missing the view of depth. Besides this I am very impressed, and have hopes, but I am struggling to connecting my lower and upper body:@)~~

[Colin]

hi thomas! i’m around the same point as you are in the training. i could be mistaken, but the knees NEVER touch during the any sequence of the movements. at the the current “finish” point that we’ve seen (which if i remember, is called “ribs to finish” or that “superman pose”), your right knee is still trailing your left knee by a decent distance — i’m sure the actual measurement varies by your height — but they DO NOT touch. the glutes squeeze… but no, the knees don’t touch. perhaps it is the low quality of the screen where you are watching the videos? have you tried watching them on the internet? they’re 720P! i hope this helps and best of luck as you continue the program! see you at the summit 🙂

[Tathata Staff]

Thomas & Colin

Great to hear about the progress through the program and attention to detail. One thing you will learn as the training progresses is that the knees do in fact touch at the finish as the thighs and glutes squeeze. If you are a right-handed player, having a bit of the crescent shape on the left side of your body at the finish can help to make this happen easier.

As it relates to your body being fairly passive, this is not a terrible thing as it relates to Tathata training. The more your hips turn and initiate movement on the downswing, the more you will actually tend to come over the top. To avoid this, work on Body Movement 7: Snap to Level and be sure your knees, hips, shoulders and arms all finish the movement either square to or slightly closed (5-10 degrees) to the target line. Be sure too that the front knee, hip, shoulder and hand is further from the ground than the back knee, hip, shoulder and hand. The more you do this, the easier it will be to swing at the ball from the inside when we add hands and arms in Chapter 2. Also be sure that your front knee is still flexed and closer to the target than your front foot and entire pelvis is more over your front foot than your back foot at the end of this movement.

Great thoughts, enjoy the rest of the program!

[Colin]

thank goodness someone came in and corrected me! in addition to having less-than-stellar depth perception, i’m also guilty of occasionally not being able to feel every portion of my body (or look down, apparently). i stand corrected!

[Thomas]

Hi Tathata staff 😉
Ok your answer is in line with my expectations, as all the great players are doing so!
And I can also see that by having a bid more crescent at my front side, it helps collect my knees.
Now, I can also perfectly understand that snap to level is essential to avoid outside in path, but when I am making my right arm stretch back, I am wonder what is initiate the snap? You are saying that every thing starts from ground up, well that is fine, my problem is just, to find the trigger, is it a twist of your right ankle or some tension that I should have, but don’t?
You see I want to feel, when I should do the next move, or feel when I am in the right position ( like the crescent shape ) because the feeling I need to have when on the golf course, there I can not think to much;@)~

[Les]

I found the best trigger is to feel the feet arch. Here is a good YouTube video from Tathata that helped open my mind to how the feet, shins, and knees really drive the swing:

Good Footwork?

[Tathata Staff]

Thomas,

One thing that might help you feel this is the standing/twisting movement from near the end of the stretching routine. During the movement when your fingers are clasped together and hands are placed in the center of your chest. Feel the feet, shins and knees leading this motion as you change directions. It is incredible how much speed you can create throughout this motion from the feet when the body is engaged.

You made a mention to some tension that might be able to help support this change of direction. As you perform Body Movement 4: Drawback a Punch, you may remember that the knees have a sense of pushing apart as you perform this movement. Although the front knee might move closer to the back knee near the top of your backswing as you complete your turn, there still should be a sense of the knees fighting to stay apart. When the change of direction happens, this built up tension will help fire the downswing when this feeling in the feet is initiated. If the body is engaged (as per Chapter 3 – Pressure), the whole body while follow this in the feet, ankles, shins and knees.

It is important to note although this 1/10th of a split second moment initiates the downswing but is not the only driver. You may have noticed in Hand & Arm Movement 10: Moving Energy w/Club, the club approaches impact as the body is practically square. For this to happen as the body is firing, the hands and arms have to move incredibly fast from the top of the backswing. If the hands and arms are engaged with the rib cage and rest of the body at the top of the backswing (as per Chapter 3 – Pressure) they should fire when the body fires in the downswing. There may need to be specific attention put to the speed needed in the hands and arms in the downswing to perform Hand & Arm Movement 10: Moving Energy w/Club accurately. The speed of the hands and arms in the downswing can be another point of focus in the downswing that might help you.