Right wrist through impact

[Dana]

I noticed in the impact movements video that after Brian surfs to level, then continues through impact there is a slight straightening of the angle of his right wrist. I fully understand the purpose of not focuseing on technical positions and maintaining athleticism in the movements.

I know the gradual increase in pressure from the top in our grip and bodies is meant to stabilize the face as our bodies move the club through impact. Is the secondary reason for increasing our grip pressure meant to hold that angle, or is there a slight release of the wrist angle through impact as our bodies drive our arms to finish? It seems like going from a 5 just before impact to a 7 or 8 just afterward would not allow any loss of angle or release.

Also, how do we avoid the feeling of “hanging on” as our pressure increases down into and through impact? Thank you for your time and this program. I feelit has changed many facets of my golf and life. Cheers!

[David]

Hi Dana – I’m sure Team Tathata will answer soon. My understanding, based on my experience half way through the program, is that the hing in the wrist will not remain at and through impact. Instead, as one surfs to level with the arms pushing down and drawing closer to the chest (the arms will come onto the chest past impact as one faces the target), the wrist will straighten automatically as the body enters a naturally strong striking position. I no longer think of hinging and lag but instead focus on strength, balance, and pressure increasing.

Interestingly, I’m taking my young daughter through the program and she had a crazy breakthrough yesterday. She normally “swings” her arms from the top through impact with an effort to add pressure. She added a bit more pinch in her back hip and then for the downswing, I had her focus on pushing down while surfing and lifting the ribs slightly. The result shocked both of us because the swing seemed to have 30 or 40 percent more power and speed than ever before. She just looked at me like, “what just happened!” lol And I was looking at her with the same look. Neither of us expected it. One additional detail we’ve honed in on is the shoulder turn for strength in the backswing. Bryan has noted a few times (day 22 I think is one instance) how this is done. We’ve been practicing a “bow and arrow” move to draw back the club in the backswing to get the back shoulder in a position that is similar to how Team Tathata (and the greats) do it. But don’t forget how pressure is added in the crease of the back hip between the abs and top of the thigh.

I hope this helps in some small way as you wait on a reply from the experts.

[Dana]

Thank you for the reply David. After a couple of bad sessions, I had a breakthrough as well today. I’ve always struggled with my irons as a result of an early extension and an upper body swing (inconsistent face contact). After surfing to level and letting the body bring the hands through impact, there is an incremental increase in pressure at the bottom. This added pressure feels like “hanging on”, which seems to keep my wrists and arms from rolling over and “unhinging”. This gave me a push/slice. Today I added the pressure incrementally through impact, and let my arms (propelled by my body) release. My accuracy greatly improved, even on mishits. As an armsy swinger , the push down through and after impact will take some time.

I will be sure to add the pinch and bow to my backswing as your daughter did. I noticed the full, pressurized backswing is “crucial”. Have you had any difficulty with 3/4 shots? I live what this training has done for my awareness of my full swing. The strength and balance I feel is amazing, but I’ve found dialing it back is tricky. Thanks again!

[David]

My pleasure, Dana. I enjoy attempting to answer questions others pose because writing detailed responses forces me to think deeper about the various aspects of the swing.

With respect to “release” at and through impact, I have removed that word from our discussions because, to me, it implies letting the hands and arms move freely. My understanding is that the (increasing) pressurized body movement will actually deliver a square club face through the impact zone for a longer distance (thus the emphasis on safety through impact) than what normally happens when releasing the club, which for many looks a lot like rolling the hands and arms through impact. The rolling motion can also wreck havoc on the elbow.

With that said, I may be all wrong. I’ve seen Alex doing some stuff on Instagram that I do not understand at all, yet. https://www.instagram.com/p/BMjIUReAnBt/

In response to a question, he also said, “…this would essentially be the opposite type off movement from what you would see in today’s instruction… In today’s golf instruction there is almost a negative connotation surrounding “flipping” or releasing the club and not having “forward shaft lean” at impact… But when we look at the greats like Tiger(2000) and Jack Nicklaus we see little to no independent forward shaft at impact… Those two also had incredible speed and ability to hit long irons to the moon! There isn’t enough time to go into all of the specifics to this drill that I’m demonstrating but in short look at how the greats with abilities to hit strong high long irons create width in transition…little to no shaft lean… And incredible speed… The key is the amount of strength and “pressure” that they swung with… With pressure you don’t have to be held hostage to shaft lean and avoiding “flipping” and the shaft lean will always match the trajectory of the shot the player is creating based on how the legs and body are moving…”

How’s that for confusing the issue!?

As for the 3/4 shot, we’re actually not playing or hitting balls on the driving range at this point. We’re 100 percent focused on retraining the body to move without thought and we’ll see how it translates once we’re a little further along.

[Tathata Staff]

Hi Dana,

Thank you for the question and David thank you for the comments as well. We appreciate the care and time you both are putting into your training!

Dana, Bryan has responded to your question with a video. To view this response, please click the link below:

Student Q & A: Hands & Arms Through Impact

Enjoy!

[Dana]

Dear Bryan and Tathata staff. Thank you for your reply. It is a real honor and privilege to have had Bryan respond directly to my question. This entire program is amazing in its scope and detail. I have actually not been able to sleep for a few nights due to excitement about what was happening to my golf swing and mental approach. I have always struggled with consistent clubface contact, ball striking and GIR. My distance and ball flight dynamics immediately improved after incorporating just a few of the principles. Setting up to the ball without any questions about my stance, grip or takeaway has increased my confidence exponentially. I was losing a lot of shots to the right, but your video reply was spot on. Even with my poorly worded question, you nailed the gap in my understanding perfectly. Adding pressure with the thrust through impact brought back my draw and did wonders for my accuracy and trajectory control. The example you gave of the club position just after impact taken back to setup to show that the club had in fact lifted through impact really drove the point home. I can’t thank you enough for your time and willingness to reach out. I hope this thread helps someone else as much as it has helped me. I plan on telling anyone who will listen about this amazing program. Thank you!

[Stephen]

Great video explanation from Brian to Dana’s question. It seems to me that the increase in pressure coming through impact will also serve to prevent the kinetic energy and resultant “increase in weight” of the clubhead from burying it in the ground. (Together with surfing the knees.) Steve.