Two Distinct Arcs In Golf Swing

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXI, Issue 122, 9 May 1931, Page 2 (Supplement)

Two Distinct Arcs In Golf Swing

nTTERESTING REVELATIONS of action pictures OF BOBBY JONES.

Because of the speed of the clubhead in its downward travel to the ball, the arc it describes, and the path it follows, have hitherto been largely matters of guesswork; and, aa a consequence, a good many false theories have been conceived regarding the swing as a whole of players of repute, whose styles arc taken as models, writes a special golf corespondent of an English paper. The popular notion is that, “As the club goes up so it comes down.”

This belief is now utterly destroyed by means of a series of action pictures of Bobby Jones’s »wing, showing the various movements at the strategic points. By a new process, introduced by the Novagraph Film Corporation of the United States, it is now possible to say with conviction and accuracy what does actually happen from the moment the club-head is placed to the bdl to the time the ball is struck. The pictures, .published in “Golf Illustrated,” of America, show the player in two positions—facing the camera and with his back to it.

The latter position is interesting, heeauae it is possible to follow more clearly what is happening to the feet, the hips, the shoulders, and, especially, the right arm, all of which have a definite purpose and • function to perform in the making of the swing. What is perfectly obvious from a study of the 32 pictures is that the movements conform etrictly to a swing and not to • hit, and that the maximum of power is supplied at the moment the hands are passing across the right hip in the course of the downward awing. Beginning with the upward movement, Jones is 'first seen addressing the ball with his head in characterhtio attitude turned away to the right, and with the left eye, in his case the master eye, fixed on the back of the ball. It is a manifest feature of the swing that the head remains absolutely stationary until aome time after the ball had disappeared on its way; indeed, it would almost seem that the head is locked securely in a vice. The left arm is perfectly straight practically throughout the entire swing, though poker-like rigidity is absent. The initial movements show no lifting of the club-head, which travels inward. and is kept as close to the ground as is reasonably possible. As the club goes up increasing pressure is placed on the right leg, which stiffens until it becomes in the nature of a pillar. The path described by the clubhead is in the shape of a huge egg, and as the elub reaches its farthest point it drops almost vertically for a space of about 18 inches. At this point th* hip pivot is such that Jones is looking at the ball over the point of his left shoulder. We now arrive at what is perhaps the most illuminating stage of ths swing. Contemporary with a movement of the hands in a downward direction is the beginning of an unwinding of the body, a process which releases some of the weight

from the right leg and transfers it to the left leg. The sway, or movement to the left, creates a loop at the top of the swing which, as it progresses, forms a figure 8. This loop is vastly intriguing, because it explains, as nothing else has ever done, the hesitation, or “gather,” of the player preparatory for the downward swing, and the subsequent blow. Another noticeable and most striking feature is that when the hands have reached a point about opposite the right shoulder the feet have returned to their original position, flat on the ground. Immediately after, when the hands are waist-high, the heel of the right foot comes up. followed by a pronounced thrust of the right hip, a movement which continues until the ball is struck. During this stage the left leg has stiffened to resist the force of the oncoming blow; indeed, it is made perfectly plain that, but for the rock-like stability of the left leg, the whole movement would collapse and the shot be absolutely ruined.

I must now go back to the point where the clubhead is forming the loop in the shape of an elongated figure 8, because there is revealed for the first time something which I do not think anyone has hitherto suspected. While it is known that the clv.hhead describes an inner arc in the course of the downward swing, it is not known that the club first describes an outer arc. This discovery suggests the opening up of a new field of thought and of inquiry.

In tracing the downward path of the clubhead it is seen to cross the upward path practically at the point where the club reaches the top of the swing. The club then swings outwards in a different plane, and does not come in contact with tho upward arc until it crosses it again at a time when the hands are passing in front of the right leg. The clubhead then travels inwards, and after making contact with the ball, goes outwards; but it must ha clearly understood from this description that the use of the words “inwards” and “outwards” does not imply a break in the arc of the swing.

It would seem that the formation of the outer arc is a necessary corollary to the straightening of the left arm at the commencement of the down swing, and that the subsequent inner arc arises from the thrust of the right hip, causing the club to move forward with the body. It is only when the arms and the clubhead are pointing straight out towards the objective, and the ball has covered half its distance that the human head is permitted the slightest movement. Though analysis has necessarily been of a technical character, it has been worth while if only to show that the golf swing is made up of two distinct arcs with a pronounced loop of the clubhead at the top of the swing, and further, that it is not possible for the club to follow the same path downwards as upwards.