November 26, 2019- by Steven E. Greer, MD
I think I am on to something. It is the initial transition move that is controlled by the right humerus, or upper arm. Most people focus on the position of the left arm or hands, but all of that is controlled by the right arm.
To my knowledge, only Hogan has really championed this. Over my last three years of studying the swing, I have not seen many teachers talk about this. Jason Carbone has a video about squeezing a sponge under the right arm.
My discovery came after many experiments at methods to get my arms in front of my belly and the right elbow below my chin at impact. My arms have always lagged behind, forcing me to stand up and lift the spine-axis in order to make contact. That is classic flipping.
My role model has been front-view video of Brooks Koepka. I even started hiring his coach, Warren Bottke, to help me.
This is what I have learned and how I “feel” the move. The right upper arm makes the first motion of the downswing when it adducts and comes into contact with the ribs. You can isolate this movement and do it indoors. I bet you have not been fully clamping down and bringing the arm in tight. It feels very strange if you are new to it.
My next feel is to push the right elbow in an arc around my belly. Feel that skin-to-skin contact as the torso turns and the elbow is attached.
After that, I feel as if I am pushing the right hand down past the ball. This is the Bottke piston motion he teaches. It is the secret sauce to Koepka’s swing.
When you push the right hand toward the target, you also cause the right leg to push, which keeps the torso centered and prevents the head from falling backward. This leads to consistent ballstriking.
In the video above, I am not doing this and my head falls back. Also, I was pausing in the swing, so I lost the forward momentum that also helps keep the body centered.
Oh, by the way, this move generates tons of speed. But that was not my goal. I was simply sick and tired of hitting fat or thin because my head moved 12-inches.
Try all of this indoors with air swings before going to hit balls. Then, pause the swing into segments as you see me do in the video. After 20-balls, you should get the hang of it.