Bang It Out There Like the King

Did any of you notice the 3-element series GC did on Arnold Palmer? It become quite exciting, wasn't it? Many of you may now not have found out just how a great deal of a strength hitter Arnie turned into in his heyday until you noticed a number of the vintage footage.

I'm positive a lot of you have additionally been questioning how to hit it "Bubba lengthy." The reality is, Bubba has a big start on most of us since he's 6'three" tall. But Arnie was best five'10" -- fairly common among men. Perhaps we'd study more by means of searching at the King's swing.

Here's a video from the Somax Performance Institute that analyzes Arnie's downswing when he was at the peak of his powers. I'll admit upfront that even as I find the evaluation thrilling and I suspect lots of you'll analyze beneficial matters from it... I'm not truely using any of it. But this video supplied a photo of the King on the top of his backswing, and that's what I needed for this put up. So experience the video, then study on!

As I stated, I'm specializing in the moment Arnie reaches the top of his backswing due to the fact I want you to peer in which many, maybe maximum of you are dropping a whole lot of strength. I need you to look a fundamental that should be part of each golf swing. In the subsequent photograph I've drawn a vibrant yellow line thru Arnie's trailing knee on the top of his backswing:

Do you see where Arnie's trailing knee is? That line shows that his knee is still inside his trailing foot, not over it. And do you see where his trailing hip is? It's even more inside his trailing foot! Let me repeat that: Arnie's trailing hip is not OVER his trailing foot, nor is it OUTSIDE his trailing foot. It is well INSIDE his trailing foot!

Why is this? It's because he has braced his trailing knee so it doesn't move away from the target as he makes his backswing. And if you watch his swing in the video, you'll see that his knee never moves more toward his trailing foot than it is in this photo. This stability not only keeps him driving toward the target during his downswing, thus creating more power, but it stabilizes his swing plane so more of that power is applied accurately to the ball.

Now, in case you're curious, here's a photo of Bubba at the top of his backswing from a 2012 Golf Digest swing sequence. (This is photo #4, in case you want to know.) I've also drawn a bright yellow line through his trailing knee:

Why is Bubba's trailing knee OVER his trailing foot? There are motives:

• Bubba's trailing knee is bent while Arnie's is straight. Although most instructors (and me too!) generally like for you to keep a little flex in your knees throughout your swing, that almost-straight trailing knee is pretty common in classic swings. (You can see it in Tommy Armour's How to Play Your Best Golf All of the Time, for example, and that was considered THE instructional guide before Hogan wrote Five Lessons.)
• Bubba has turned his upper body -- and therefore his hips -- considerably more than Arnie has. Arnie looks like he has maybe 95-100 degrees of shoulder turn while Bubba easily has 110 degrees or more.

But notice that even with his body twisted so much that his trailing knee has moved over his foot, Bubba's trailing hip is STILL interior his trailing foot. Most of us mere humans won't get that much turn; if we get as much as Arnie, we'll be doing good!

This trailing knee function is a essential you ought to have for your golfing swing. At worst, your trailing hip has to stay "among your toes" and not slide out over or beyond your trailing foot. If you want strength, you have to get in this effective role.

If it helped Arnold Palmer drive the green on the 346-yard par-4 first hole in the final round of the 1960 US Open at Cherry Hills with a balata ball and a persimmon driver, it's got to help you get more distance.