Post by imperfectgolfer on Aug 21, 2013 23:46:59 GMT -5
KM has strong opinions regarding the different hand release actions, and I will be analysing his many opinions in a number of release-threads. In this release-thread, I will be focusing my attention on his analysis of Justin Rose's hand release action - which he defines as a flip release action - specifically, an underflip subtype with a rolling release.
KM defines a flip in his release article at www.aroundhawaii.com/lifestyle/health_and_fitness/2013-05-whats-your-release-style-part-2.html as follows-: "The flip release is generally characterized by the club passing the left forearm before impact due to a high rate of right wrist flexion". Note that he specifies that it must happen prior to impact, and he assumes without providing any "evidence" that it is due to a high rate of right wrist flexion. He doesn't consider other causative factors such as the effect of the gained momentum of the club due to an over-active/early release of PA#2 or a slowing of the forward speed of the left arm/hand pre-impact, which could potentially also produce a flip release.
This is how he defines an underflip release -: " The underflip is the best release type if you’re going to flip it and is characterized by the club passing the left forearm just one frame before impact." In that statement he doesn't define the frame rate, and therefore the precise timing of a pre-impact flip (left wrist dorsiflexion) phenomenon, and he doesn't state how he excludes a rolling action as being the cause of the "club passing the left forearm" as seen from a face-on camera/viewing perspective. He then defines a subtype of underflip release, which he calls an "underflip with right side rolling release" and he describes it as follows-: " This is a variation of the underflip release. Instead of using left forearm supination and right wrist flexion with no right forearm pronation, this release uses right forearm pronation, much less right wrist flexion and no left forearm supination to rotate the clubface. In other words, clubface rotation comes from the right side vs. the left." In this release subtype description, note that he believes that the left arm/forearm plays no role in rotating the clubface during the hand release action, and he assumes (without providing any "evidence") that it is due to a right forearm pronation phenomenon. Who does he use as an example of this type of flip release action? He uses Justin Rose. This is what he states about Justin Rose -: "Justin Rose, Olin Browne and many LPGA women use a release that works quite well if you just can’t seem to get early left forearm supination. Since there’s nothing worse than a flip and a roll of both forearms, they lock their left arm straight which allows for left wrist extension and left forearm pronation (in other words no closing rotational movements from the left side) and then uses right forearm pronation and radial deviation to create clubface closure." Note that he makes a number of claims (which I will demonstrate are unfounded/untrue) with respect to Justin Rose - i) that JR cannot get early left forearm supination; ii) that JR locks his left arm straight in order to get his left wrist to dorsiflex (extend) and flip pre-impact; iii) that JR uses a "left forearm pronation" motion during his release action and iv) that a "right forearm pronation" motion is needed to create clubface closure through impact.
His claim that a straight left arm predisposes to flipping (left wrist dorsiflexion) is one of the most bizarre biomechanical claims that I have come across in my many years of reading about golf swing biomechanics. He discusses this straight left arm relationship in his third release article - www.aroundhawaii.com/lifestyle/health_and_fitness/2013-06-whats-your-release-style-part-3-the-fixes.html. He makes the following scientifically unfounded statement-: "If you straighten the left elbow (some can even hyperextend) using your triceps, this will cause a pull via the connective tissues that will automatically pronate the left forearm AND extend the left wrist!" I know of biomechanical support for that wild claim! What connective tissue is he talking about? The triceps tendon attaches to the ulnar olecranon bone just peripheral to the elbow joint, and triceps muscle contraction causes elbow extension. I know of no anatomical connection between the triceps muscle tendon and the i) left forearm muscles that pronate the left forearm and/or the ii) the left wrist extensor muscles. I think that his claim is scientifically unjustified, and I know of no evidence that skilled golfers, who have a straight left arm (like Justin Rose), are going to be more prone to having a flipping (left wrist dorsiflexion) problem through impact. KM makes another wild claim about the topic of "elbow clustering" when he states-: "Now that I’ve told you that, you need to tap into a different cluster. Left forearm supination is performed by your left bicep which also flex the left elbow (bends it ever so slightly) which also allows for left wrist flexion (bowing)." He uses this golfer image to show the degree of left elbow bending that he is writing about.
Note that there is very little bending of the left elbow.
In his wild claim about a "left elbow bending cluster subtype", he states that contraction of the left biceps muscle (to a degree that causes a slight bend in the left elbow) cause left forearm supination and allows the left wrist to palmar flex arch/bow. I have no idea how he came up with this wild claim about human golfer anatomy/biomechanics!
KM posts this sequence of JR images
and
He then states-: "Rose has a low rate of right wrist flexion and body slide (although a little stall) which allows for a good amount of shaft lean but right at impact the left wrist extension increases which adds an underflip element to this release." I can see no evidence of left wrist dorsiflexion (due to flipping) in those images. Many golfers may perceive that his left wrist is slightly cupped at impact, and wrongly infer that it implies a small degree of left wrist dorsiflexion due to flipping-at-impact, but that small degree of cupping is simply due to the fact that he adopts a slightly strong left hand grip. Note that he has a small degree of forward shaft lean, which excludes the possibility of the condition of flipping-at-impact.
So, let's examine JR's release action in detail to determine whether KM is correct and to i) see whether he is an underflipper who flips (dorsiflexes his left wrist) through impact; ii) to see whether he cannot get early left forearm supination; iii) to see that he does not supinate his left forearm through impact; and iv) to see whether he actually pronates his right forearm pre-impact in order to get clubface closure.
Consider this you-tube video of JR's swing.
Here are capture images of his backswing and downswing action.
Image 1 shows JR at address. Note that he adopts a slightly strong 2-3 knuckle left hand grip, and that his left humerus is internally rotated causing the left antecubital fossa to face away from the target, and that his left forearm is slightly pronated. Note that a slightly strong left hand grip will cause cupping of the left wrist (and I call this a GFLW if the LAFW remains intact) and it will cause the clubface to always appear to be closed to the back of the left lower forearm - if he maintains an intact LAFW throughout his swing action. To get a square clubface at impact, he will need to ensure that he has essentially the same anatomical alignments (internal rotation of the left humerus and slight left forearm pronation) at impact - and that is confirmed in his impact image (image 7).
Image 2 shows him at the end-backswing P4 position. He still has an intact LAFW and GFLW and his clubface is slightly closed relative to his left lower forearm. To get to that P4 position, he obviously had to pronate his left forearm slightly more so that the back of his GFLW can face more skywards. That biomechanical "clockwise rotation of his left forearm" phenomenon will have to reversed during his downswing action, so that he can get back to his address/impact left forearm alignment.
Image 3 shows him at P5.5. Note that he still has an intact LAFW/GFLW and that his clubface is slightly closed to the back of his left lower forearm.
Image 4 shows him at P6. Note that his clubface is now more closed to the back of his left lower forearm (and the clubhead arc) and I believe it is due to the fact that he is now performing what KM labels an "early left forearm supination" action, which induces a left wrist palmar flexion action and this biomechanical phenomenon temporarily closes the clubface. I have discussed this issue in great detail in this you-tube video.
In that video, I demonstrate that the RFFW prevents early left forearm supination from throwing the clubshaft over-the-plane between P5.5 and P6 and it keeps the clubshaft "functionally" stationary, and that there is only minimal left forearm supination actually happening between P5.5 and P6.2. I also demonstrated that an "attempt" to perform an early left forearm supination causes left wrist palmar flexion, which is causally responsible for a temporary clubface closure that steadily dissipates between P6 and P6.5. In fact, you can see that the clubface closure (which exists in image 4) dissipates by P6.5 (image 5). Note that his clubface is now only slightly closed relative to the back of his left lower forearm and that it is definitely open to the clubhead arc. Note that JR still has to close the clubface relative to the clubhead arc to square the clubface by impact, and you can easily discern what biomechanical events are happening between P6.5 and impact to cause this clubface closure by studying image 5 (P6.5 position), image 6 (P6.8 position) and image 7 (P7 position). Note that there is very little external rotation of his left humerus happening between P6.5 and P7, and his left antecubital fossa is always facing away from the target. However, note that his left forearm is markedly pronated in image 5 (P6.5 position) and far less pronated in image 7 (impact) and this is due to a late left forearm supinatory action (what Homer Kelly called the release of PA#3). I believe that this late left forearm supinatory action allows JR to close his clubface in his late downswing and square the clubface by impact. Note that his right forearm is neutral in images 5, 6 and 7 - and there is no right forearm pronation happening during the late downswing. I therefore believe that right forearm pronation plays no role in his pre-impact clubface closure.
Now let's consider whether JR flips pre-impact, or through impact, by looking for evidence of left wrist dorsiflexion.
Here are capture images of his hand release action through the immediate impact zone and early followthrough - from P7 to P7.15.
Image 1 shows that JR has a GFLW (slightly cupped left wrist) at impact. The cupping is due to his slightly strong left hand grip and it is not due to pre-impact flipping - because he has forward clubshaft lean and the clubshaft has not bypassed his left arm.
Image 2 shows JR at P7.15 - note that he has a GFLW/intact LAFW and that the clubshaft has not bypassed his left forearm. There is no evidence of flipping (increased left wrist dorsiflexion) post-impact. Note that there is "evidence" of a small degree of rolling through impact - note that the radial border of his left lower forearm has rotated counterclockwise to a small degree, and that represents a left forearm supinatory phenomenon (which contradicts KM's claim that JR pronates his left forearm through impact). Note that his right forearm is now pronating after impact, and I believe that it secondary to the small degree of roll motion of his left forearm/GFLW, and I believe that it is primarily a passive phenomenon that is secondary to the small degree of counterclockwise rotation of his intact LAFW through impact.
Consider another you-tube video of JR's hand release action, which shows that he doesn't flip (increasingly dorsiflex his left wrist) during his hand release action through impact.
Here are capture images from the video.
Note that there is a small amount of counterclockwise rotation of his left lower forearm/GFLW through impact - but the clubshaft never bypasses his left forearm and there is no evidence of flipping (increasing left wrist dorsiflexion). I regard JR as being a DHer who maintains an intact LAFW and stable clubface through impact (because there is minimal clubface closure between P7 and P7.15). Most of the rolling of his left arm/GFLW occurs between P7.2 and P8 because he uses a full-roll hand release action. I can accept the fact that he doesn't use a delayed full-roll hand release action (like Dustin Johnson), but he is definitely not flipping pre-impact, or early post-impact, as KM asserts.
Jeff.
KM defines a flip in his release article at www.aroundhawaii.com/lifestyle/health_and_fitness/2013-05-whats-your-release-style-part-2.html as follows-: "The flip release is generally characterized by the club passing the left forearm before impact due to a high rate of right wrist flexion". Note that he specifies that it must happen prior to impact, and he assumes without providing any "evidence" that it is due to a high rate of right wrist flexion. He doesn't consider other causative factors such as the effect of the gained momentum of the club due to an over-active/early release of PA#2 or a slowing of the forward speed of the left arm/hand pre-impact, which could potentially also produce a flip release.
This is how he defines an underflip release -: " The underflip is the best release type if you’re going to flip it and is characterized by the club passing the left forearm just one frame before impact." In that statement he doesn't define the frame rate, and therefore the precise timing of a pre-impact flip (left wrist dorsiflexion) phenomenon, and he doesn't state how he excludes a rolling action as being the cause of the "club passing the left forearm" as seen from a face-on camera/viewing perspective. He then defines a subtype of underflip release, which he calls an "underflip with right side rolling release" and he describes it as follows-: " This is a variation of the underflip release. Instead of using left forearm supination and right wrist flexion with no right forearm pronation, this release uses right forearm pronation, much less right wrist flexion and no left forearm supination to rotate the clubface. In other words, clubface rotation comes from the right side vs. the left." In this release subtype description, note that he believes that the left arm/forearm plays no role in rotating the clubface during the hand release action, and he assumes (without providing any "evidence") that it is due to a right forearm pronation phenomenon. Who does he use as an example of this type of flip release action? He uses Justin Rose. This is what he states about Justin Rose -: "Justin Rose, Olin Browne and many LPGA women use a release that works quite well if you just can’t seem to get early left forearm supination. Since there’s nothing worse than a flip and a roll of both forearms, they lock their left arm straight which allows for left wrist extension and left forearm pronation (in other words no closing rotational movements from the left side) and then uses right forearm pronation and radial deviation to create clubface closure." Note that he makes a number of claims (which I will demonstrate are unfounded/untrue) with respect to Justin Rose - i) that JR cannot get early left forearm supination; ii) that JR locks his left arm straight in order to get his left wrist to dorsiflex (extend) and flip pre-impact; iii) that JR uses a "left forearm pronation" motion during his release action and iv) that a "right forearm pronation" motion is needed to create clubface closure through impact.
His claim that a straight left arm predisposes to flipping (left wrist dorsiflexion) is one of the most bizarre biomechanical claims that I have come across in my many years of reading about golf swing biomechanics. He discusses this straight left arm relationship in his third release article - www.aroundhawaii.com/lifestyle/health_and_fitness/2013-06-whats-your-release-style-part-3-the-fixes.html. He makes the following scientifically unfounded statement-: "If you straighten the left elbow (some can even hyperextend) using your triceps, this will cause a pull via the connective tissues that will automatically pronate the left forearm AND extend the left wrist!" I know of biomechanical support for that wild claim! What connective tissue is he talking about? The triceps tendon attaches to the ulnar olecranon bone just peripheral to the elbow joint, and triceps muscle contraction causes elbow extension. I know of no anatomical connection between the triceps muscle tendon and the i) left forearm muscles that pronate the left forearm and/or the ii) the left wrist extensor muscles. I think that his claim is scientifically unjustified, and I know of no evidence that skilled golfers, who have a straight left arm (like Justin Rose), are going to be more prone to having a flipping (left wrist dorsiflexion) problem through impact. KM makes another wild claim about the topic of "elbow clustering" when he states-: "Now that I’ve told you that, you need to tap into a different cluster. Left forearm supination is performed by your left bicep which also flex the left elbow (bends it ever so slightly) which also allows for left wrist flexion (bowing)." He uses this golfer image to show the degree of left elbow bending that he is writing about.
Note that there is very little bending of the left elbow.
In his wild claim about a "left elbow bending cluster subtype", he states that contraction of the left biceps muscle (to a degree that causes a slight bend in the left elbow) cause left forearm supination and allows the left wrist to palmar flex arch/bow. I have no idea how he came up with this wild claim about human golfer anatomy/biomechanics!
KM posts this sequence of JR images
and
He then states-: "Rose has a low rate of right wrist flexion and body slide (although a little stall) which allows for a good amount of shaft lean but right at impact the left wrist extension increases which adds an underflip element to this release." I can see no evidence of left wrist dorsiflexion (due to flipping) in those images. Many golfers may perceive that his left wrist is slightly cupped at impact, and wrongly infer that it implies a small degree of left wrist dorsiflexion due to flipping-at-impact, but that small degree of cupping is simply due to the fact that he adopts a slightly strong left hand grip. Note that he has a small degree of forward shaft lean, which excludes the possibility of the condition of flipping-at-impact.
So, let's examine JR's release action in detail to determine whether KM is correct and to i) see whether he is an underflipper who flips (dorsiflexes his left wrist) through impact; ii) to see whether he cannot get early left forearm supination; iii) to see that he does not supinate his left forearm through impact; and iv) to see whether he actually pronates his right forearm pre-impact in order to get clubface closure.
Consider this you-tube video of JR's swing.
Here are capture images of his backswing and downswing action.
Image 1 shows JR at address. Note that he adopts a slightly strong 2-3 knuckle left hand grip, and that his left humerus is internally rotated causing the left antecubital fossa to face away from the target, and that his left forearm is slightly pronated. Note that a slightly strong left hand grip will cause cupping of the left wrist (and I call this a GFLW if the LAFW remains intact) and it will cause the clubface to always appear to be closed to the back of the left lower forearm - if he maintains an intact LAFW throughout his swing action. To get a square clubface at impact, he will need to ensure that he has essentially the same anatomical alignments (internal rotation of the left humerus and slight left forearm pronation) at impact - and that is confirmed in his impact image (image 7).
Image 2 shows him at the end-backswing P4 position. He still has an intact LAFW and GFLW and his clubface is slightly closed relative to his left lower forearm. To get to that P4 position, he obviously had to pronate his left forearm slightly more so that the back of his GFLW can face more skywards. That biomechanical "clockwise rotation of his left forearm" phenomenon will have to reversed during his downswing action, so that he can get back to his address/impact left forearm alignment.
Image 3 shows him at P5.5. Note that he still has an intact LAFW/GFLW and that his clubface is slightly closed to the back of his left lower forearm.
Image 4 shows him at P6. Note that his clubface is now more closed to the back of his left lower forearm (and the clubhead arc) and I believe it is due to the fact that he is now performing what KM labels an "early left forearm supination" action, which induces a left wrist palmar flexion action and this biomechanical phenomenon temporarily closes the clubface. I have discussed this issue in great detail in this you-tube video.
In that video, I demonstrate that the RFFW prevents early left forearm supination from throwing the clubshaft over-the-plane between P5.5 and P6 and it keeps the clubshaft "functionally" stationary, and that there is only minimal left forearm supination actually happening between P5.5 and P6.2. I also demonstrated that an "attempt" to perform an early left forearm supination causes left wrist palmar flexion, which is causally responsible for a temporary clubface closure that steadily dissipates between P6 and P6.5. In fact, you can see that the clubface closure (which exists in image 4) dissipates by P6.5 (image 5). Note that his clubface is now only slightly closed relative to the back of his left lower forearm and that it is definitely open to the clubhead arc. Note that JR still has to close the clubface relative to the clubhead arc to square the clubface by impact, and you can easily discern what biomechanical events are happening between P6.5 and impact to cause this clubface closure by studying image 5 (P6.5 position), image 6 (P6.8 position) and image 7 (P7 position). Note that there is very little external rotation of his left humerus happening between P6.5 and P7, and his left antecubital fossa is always facing away from the target. However, note that his left forearm is markedly pronated in image 5 (P6.5 position) and far less pronated in image 7 (impact) and this is due to a late left forearm supinatory action (what Homer Kelly called the release of PA#3). I believe that this late left forearm supinatory action allows JR to close his clubface in his late downswing and square the clubface by impact. Note that his right forearm is neutral in images 5, 6 and 7 - and there is no right forearm pronation happening during the late downswing. I therefore believe that right forearm pronation plays no role in his pre-impact clubface closure.
Now let's consider whether JR flips pre-impact, or through impact, by looking for evidence of left wrist dorsiflexion.
Here are capture images of his hand release action through the immediate impact zone and early followthrough - from P7 to P7.15.
Image 1 shows that JR has a GFLW (slightly cupped left wrist) at impact. The cupping is due to his slightly strong left hand grip and it is not due to pre-impact flipping - because he has forward clubshaft lean and the clubshaft has not bypassed his left arm.
Image 2 shows JR at P7.15 - note that he has a GFLW/intact LAFW and that the clubshaft has not bypassed his left forearm. There is no evidence of flipping (increased left wrist dorsiflexion) post-impact. Note that there is "evidence" of a small degree of rolling through impact - note that the radial border of his left lower forearm has rotated counterclockwise to a small degree, and that represents a left forearm supinatory phenomenon (which contradicts KM's claim that JR pronates his left forearm through impact). Note that his right forearm is now pronating after impact, and I believe that it secondary to the small degree of roll motion of his left forearm/GFLW, and I believe that it is primarily a passive phenomenon that is secondary to the small degree of counterclockwise rotation of his intact LAFW through impact.
Consider another you-tube video of JR's hand release action, which shows that he doesn't flip (increasingly dorsiflex his left wrist) during his hand release action through impact.
Here are capture images from the video.
Note that there is a small amount of counterclockwise rotation of his left lower forearm/GFLW through impact - but the clubshaft never bypasses his left forearm and there is no evidence of flipping (increasing left wrist dorsiflexion). I regard JR as being a DHer who maintains an intact LAFW and stable clubface through impact (because there is minimal clubface closure between P7 and P7.15). Most of the rolling of his left arm/GFLW occurs between P7.2 and P8 because he uses a full-roll hand release action. I can accept the fact that he doesn't use a delayed full-roll hand release action (like Dustin Johnson), but he is definitely not flipping pre-impact, or early post-impact, as KM asserts.
Jeff.