Golf Science | Minimalist Golf Swing System

Tiger Woods at the Players’ Championship 2013

Kiran Kanwar | May 12, 2013

Tiger Woods at the Players’ Championship 2013

A chip shot on the 16th hole, round 3 – where Tiger made up-and-down for birdie

The frequently-asked question is: Will Tiger match Jack Nicklaus’ Majors’ records? The answer: not unless he can execute each shot with more precision – because the competition, once left far behind him in a cloud of awe, is now getting younger, as Tiger ages, and is no longer intimidated by him.

His chip-shot swing in biomechanical (kinematic) terms – imitate it to feel what I mean. The arms remain straight, the left side of the body drops down from ankle to knee to shoulders (ie the entire left side) during the backswing, and there is a slight wrist-cock. Result? His club is way outside the target line.

Now, with little time remaining to reroute the club so that it can arrive at the ball from the inside, PLUS the fact that the dropped left side of his body must lift (in order for the right side to be below the left), he pulls his arms and thus club sharply in. He cuts across even this tiny chip shot. AND to worsen the problem, he stands out of posture too early (and so misses a square impact in both vertical and horizontal directions) , thus increasing the amount of glancing-blow quality-of-impact of club and ball.

This causes a tremendous amount of inconsistency in ball-flight, with differing amounts of spin and differing amounts of across-the-ball-ness.

He now leaves himself a long-ish putt, which fortunately for himself he makes. Can he sink putts of that length 10 times out of 10? As Majors’ level pressure piles on?

No Minimalist Golf Swing – not enough Majors, Mr Woods.

Anyone reading this please try to do a bicep curl either behind your back or to your side. Sure you can do it. Is it as efficient as when you do it in front of your body? No. Your elbow is bent by the biceps (among other muscles), and is designed to bend in the sagittal (forwards and backwards direction) plane.

I rest my case. Enjoy the rest of your non-Minimalist Swing golf career, Tiger, and never know how good your ball-striking could’ve been. Most of the world in content with mediocrity, anyway. So, it seems are you. What kind of Majors wins would they be, playing defensive golf and never even using a driver?

The Minimalist Golf Swing System – Body and Club Aligned for Ideal Impact

Kiran Kanwar | May 4, 2013

The Rationale for the 2013 version of the Minimalist Golf Swing System’s Full-Swing

As the Minimalist Golf Swing’s full-swing is gaining recognition and interest, it is important for anyone seeking information to understand why this system works so efficiently.

Click here to read the rationale behind the now-fully-evolved system:

http://minimalistgolfswingblog.com/the-minimalist-golf-swing/

As with any study of the human body’s movement capabilities, this system has evolved through an ever-improving understanding of human movement as well as the feedback of the many golf students using it.

‘Transition’ for the ‘traditional’ and ‘minimalist’ golf-swing downswings

Kiran Kanwar | May 1, 2013

What does ‘Transition’ mean?

‘Transition’ is the change in movement from backswing to downswing, so should technically mean the point at which the clubhead reverses direction.

All sorts of movements are recommended for a golfer to ‘transition’. Have you heard any of these before?

1. Shift weight back towards target

2. Re-plant your raised left heel (for a right-handed golfer)

3. The body starts the turn towards target before the clubhead has reversed directions

4. Squat down to start the downswing

5. Let there be a separation between the legs

6. Start the downswing from the ground up – lower body, followed by upper body, followed by arms, wrists and clubhead

7. Push with the right side (hip, knee, foot, it varies depending upon the authority)

8. Pull with the left side

9. And the list goes on…..

Actually, for the ‘traditional swing’ – ANY swing which is not The Minimalist Golf Swing – the body has to reposition many joints to get into the right place for the start-of-downswing – the left hip and knee, the right trunk, the right shoulder, elbow, forearm and wrist. WHICH is WHY it takes years to achieve ‘mastery’ and seconds to un-achieve it, especially under pressure.

Look at the top-of-backswing position in the picture above – the golfer must drop the right side of the body, drop the right arm, drop the right elbow and all while re-routing slightly from the ‘inside’ so that she does not come ‘over-the-top’. A LOT of GENIUS is required to un-do most golf swings, and a lot of phenomenal ‘timing’ which instantly goes ‘out-the-window under pressure – whatever situation makes a golfer feel ‘pressure’

The Minimalist Golf Swing (at one stage it was all set to be called ‘The do-nothing golf swing’!), requires a person to DO NOTHING – intentional – during the downswing. It not only allows all the good moves to happen, it prevents all the bad moves, so that the golfer’s body cannot help but have the correct downswing sequence, so that ‘transition’ becomes mere happenstance, not something one has to strive for!

The wise-old sayings for the Golf Swing

Kiran Kanwar | April 23, 2013

Golf swing Tips from the best golf teachers in the world
Hit down on the ball.
Keep your head/body down.
Keep you left arm straight.
Finish with your belt buckle facing target.
Make sure your club gets to parallel on the top.
Cock your wrists during the backswing.
Bend your knees.
Keep your arms connected to your body.

My question is, can anyone please tell me the origin of any of these subjective statements and how they are valid in science – especially any science related to the human body – anatomy/biomechanics/physiology – because after all, the body has to move the club (although even here there is debate – “let your body respond to the moving clubhead” is still a popular saying among a whole cult of ‘swing the clubhead’ folks.)

So, if I laid a club against a wall, and stood a few feet away from it, it would move, and my body would respond, I presume?

SCIENTIFIC GOLF SWING Moves – Do the US MASTERS PLAYERS make them?

Kiran Kanwar | April 13, 2013

SCIENTIFIC GOLF SWING MOVES

What do the pros do better than anyone else? Hit the ball further? Have more consistency?

They simply practice enough that they can add rhythm and a lack of muscle tension to swings as unscientific as anyone else’s to get the results they need.

Every golfer can hit the ball as far as their own strength and body-rotational speed will allow by simple using science to make swing changes. How? By positioning all the major joints of their bodies so that they can start the downswing with no re-routing or repositioning, thus becoming less timing/rhythm dependent! THAT’s ALL!

The EVOLUTION of The Minimalist Golf Swing

Kiran Kanwar | April 3, 2013

The Evolution of The Minimalist Golf Swing System

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKRAvrAyyFk%5B">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKRAvrAyyFk

Let’s face it, folks. Regardless of qualifications, the ‘credentialed’ golf instructor acquires at best, a week of ‘what to teach’ information, through ANY Professional Golf Association of the world.

At the end of the week or so of information, he/she is let loose to sink or swim, with arsenal that could start a world war – ‘The Ball-Flight Laws, Principles and Preferences’. Even if the credentialing is spread out over a period of three years, nothing more than a week’s worth of information is ever disseminated, and nothing concrete about ‘what to teach’ is ever told to the teachers.

The first (and last!) piece of information a wanna-be pro is given is about ‘The Ball Flight Laws’. These Laws have created endless debate and gone from ‘old’ to new’ but are truly much ado about nothing. (See the post ‘What do GOLF’s Ball Flight Laws and Shakespeare have in common’? in this blog). All the Laws do is tell you all the possible ways (most of them undesirable) in which the ball can be moved, based on the club’s position as it arrives at the ball. [Which student, I ask, goes to an instructor to be taught less-than-ideal ball flights resulting from less-than-ideal club positions?]

After an instructor is told which club positions move the ball in which manner (the Laws), they are told a bit about the Principles (many, such as wrist positions and shaft positions, become irrelevant as soon as there is no wrist-set in the backswing!), and then told they may choose any (of infinite) ‘Preferences’ to generate the ‘Principles’ needed for the particular ‘Laws’ they require to enforce.

What body positions at impact can deliver the club correctly to the ball? What body positions during the set-up and backswing allow the body to get into correct position for impact? Very little information exists on ideal body positions for impact, and none on which top-of-backswing positions can effortlessly position the body correctly at impact.

So, how do golf instructors gain accurate information on what to disseminate to their students? By trial and error – their own, that of their students, and that of the famous instructors. The more ‘trial’ and less ‘error’ an instructor can rely on, the more successful he/she is likely to be.

So, this was how the Minimalist Golf Swing System evolved too. See a problem, try to fix it, try to analyze why it was a problem in the first place. Except, The MGSS had many of its aspects researched too – a case of putting one’s money where one’s mouth is.

Finally, nothing can make a subject as clear (to an instructor) as an in-depth study of all the peripheral topics around the main problem. Hence, a study of anatomy, biomechanics, exercise physiology and even orthopedic physical assessments certainly helps.

When you use the MGSS, therefore, you get a solid product backed 100% by science.

YOUR top-of-backswing position could be INEFFICIENT

Kiran Kanwar | March 15, 2013

IS YOUR top-of-Backswing position INCORRECT?

We all agree that the golf downswing is an underarm movement, right?

Like a tennis ground stroke, NOT serve?

Try this simple test to see if YOUR top-of-backswing position is able to let you make an UNDERARM movement during the downswing

Get into your normal top-of-backswing position
Drop your club without getting out of position (be careful where you drop it!)
Take your left hand off the grip (if you’re a right-handed golfer) and put the left arm behind your back
Now take a look at your right arm. Try to drop it down simply by straightening it at the elbow without any body movement
Are you able to drop it down into an underarm position? Many people will find their right arm quite high up, positioned for a tennis serve (NOT good). Others will find they are quite stuck and cannot drop the arm down UNDERARM without dropping the right side of the body (trunk) down first. You will only be in position to drop your arm into an underarm position if you have a MINIMALIST GOLF SWING top-of-backswing position

See how to perform the simple test:

The GOLF Ball FLight Laws and Shakespeare

Kiran Kanwar | February 27, 2013

What do GOLF’s Ball Flight Laws and Shakespeare have in common?

“Much Ado About Nothing” (MAAN)

You only need 3 ball flights which are of any practical use whatsover – the straight shot, the pull-slice and the push-hook (yes if you want to split hairs you can term them the pull-fade and the push-draw too).

So why discuss 9 ball flights? Did it ever strike those who clutter our minds with a ton of junk just to make headlines that you never ever need a pull for instance, and if you need to go left of target, you can simply aim there and make a straight shot?

So, just as the 9 Ball-Flights are 6 flight-patterns too many, The Ball Flight Laws – old and new combined are WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION.

If you can always arrive at the ball from an inside, shallow path, at maximum speed, you’d hit your shorter clubs straight, and your longer, lighter clubs with a baby draw, and have maximum possible distance and ideal trajectory too.

MUCH TOUGHER is to figure out the swing to always connect the ball on it’s INSIDE RIGHT QUADRANT (for a right-handed golfer) and BELOW ITS EQUATOR, AND while imparting maximum speed TO THE BALL (NOT to the air around it or into the ground!).

[Of course, the Minimalist Golf Swing helps you to do that, time after time.]

Occasionally you might need a pull-fade/slice. (Even though it’s no way to hit a golf ball except if you’re an ape with all bludgeon and no brain). After all, it requires contact with the outside right quadrant of the ball, and a steep, narrow downswing path.

[Of course, a simple set-up-only modification of the Minimalist Golf Swing’s set-up helps you to do that too, time after time.]

So, golfers, quit worrying about the dynamic loft, face angle and centeredness of contact – THEY ARE ALL A FUNCTION OF YOUR SWING and cannot be improved upon simply by knowing them! Simply USE A SWING which allows you to arrive at the ball from the inside and shallow.

It’s so simple, it’s silly, BUT if you’re arriving from the inside and at a shallow angle of approach, your clubface CANNOT be OPENING as it arrives at the ball, hence NO SLICE (or slice family, which according to the MAAN Ball Flight Laws includes pull-slice and push slice and plain slice).

FORGET all about the MAAN BFL, just GET A SWING which prevents bad ball-flights.

The ONLY WAY to PUTT

Kiran Kanwar | February 23, 2013

The ONLY WAY to PUTT

“They’ will tell you that you should putt with an in-to-in putting stroke. Simply because the putter shaft is positioned at an angle and the putter swings on a plane.

However, basic common sense will tell you that a ‘crooked’ implement plus a ‘crooked’ stroke cannot work except with perfect timing, which is not possible to have all the time!

Basic trigonometry will also tell you what common sense should. If you plan to put ‘ϰ’ amount of power into the ball in the direction of the target (presume it’s a straight putt, in this case), but suddenly pull the putter offline, then you end up putting ‘ϰ’ amount of power into the new direction, with the ball getting a glancing blow and a mere cosine of ‘ϰ’ amount of power into it, along the target line!

Two videos will explain this point better. Click on

http://minimalistgolfswingblog.com/golf-videos

and see the videos titled

The ONLY WAY to PUTT and

Putting – A Pendulum-Like Motion. Yes or No?

The ONE MOST IDIOTIC Golf Swing POSITION

Kiran Kanwar | February 19, 2013

The ONE MOST IDIOTIC Golf Swing POSITION

The GRIP. They told you about interlock/overlap/ten-finger. They told you about palm vs finger. They told you where the ‘V’ for each hand should point, and whether the grip should be ‘strong’ or ‘weak’. They told you which fingers of the left and which fingers of the right should have more pressure on them. Gary Wiren in his seminal work, ‘Laws, Principles and Preferences’ talks of the 4 ‘P’s – placement, positioning, pressure and placement.

‘Placement’ meaning how far up or down the grip the hands are placed. ‘Positioning’ refers to the clockwise or counterclockwise rotation of the hands (often termed a strong grip if clockwise and weak if counterclockwise). “Pressure’ means the amount of squeezing of the hands and ‘Precision’ means the taking of the same grip each time. The GRIP represents the first of 14 Principles of his paper, a ‘Principle’ being a fundamental consideration.

‘They’ even told you, for goodness’ sakes whether your lead thumb should be ‘long’ or short’. None of this information ever scientifically researched. Just the outpouring of subjective proof by the leading players and teachers.

The only thing they never told you in all of this excessive, makes-no-difference information is the relationship between the two arms, the lead arm and the trail arm, with particular reference to the forearms.

The Minimalist Golf Swing always positions your trail arm subservient to your lead arm, so that it cannot interfere in the role of the lead arm – to remain the radius of the swing from address to impact and a bit beyond. THUS FORCING the club to arrive at the ball from an INSIDE, SHALLOW angle, and connect the ball on it’s inside quadrant and below its equator.

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