Influential Golf Swing Positions

INFLUENTIAL

GOLF SWING

POSITIONS

Michael Jacobs

Michael Jacobs PGA Golf Professional Rock Hill Golf Club Jacobs 3D Golf mj@jacobs3d.com

Copyright Jacobs 3D Golf 2022 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

C o n te n ts Introduction

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Position 1. Start-up – the initial movement of the golf club

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Position 2. Takeaway – 45 degrees

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Position 3. Club Horizontal - 90-degree club

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Position 5. Top - highest point of the hands

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Position 7. -.1 second before impact

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Position 9. Impact

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Position 11. 180 degrees after impact

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Conclusion

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Position 4. Club Vertical – 180-degree club

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Position 6. -.2 seconds before impact

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Position 8. -.05 seconds before impact.

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Position 10. After impact

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Position 12. Finish

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

Introduction As an avid book collector, I have accumulated much of golf’s early writings that trace back to Scotland, where the “Society of St. Andrews Golfers” was formed in 1754. When you do the math, 13.5 generations have passed down rules, equipment, courses, and instruction. Passion lies with these genres, but there isn’t a single driving range or practice area on the planet that isn’t subjected to a daily dose of amateur and professional instruction. From father to son, grandpa to grandson, friend and foe alike, we have all heard each other’s swing theories or latest discoveries.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

As you scroll through the annals of experts, you will find a common thread: a description of the influential positions of a swing.

Address position, takeaway, top of the backswing, the start of the downswing, impact, follow-through, and finish are the usual suspects. There is a good reason that we commonly use these events: because they make intuitive sense, and you will see some of them with a fresh definition in the Jacobs 3D convention.

Over the past 10 years, words like alpha, beta, and gamma have become good friends. Authors choose a convention to frame their discussion and remove ambiguities. In all our published works, we have been very consistent with our alphabet.

As we continue our biomechanical studies of the golf swing, these influential positions described below will be a fundamental part of our analysis.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

Two Important Jacobs 3D Terms

1. The Hub The Hub is the defined as the center point between the two hands on the grip (Image from Jacobs 2016)

The hub’s movement path is an important swing characteristic.

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2. Force

Influential Golf Swing Positions

The golfer pushes and pulls the club to move it around in a curve.

Linear Force applied to the grip.

(Images from Jacobs 2019 & 2021 overlayed)

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 1.

Start-up – t h e i n i t i a l movement o f the g o l f club

Golfers have a variety of triggering mechanisms when they begin their swing. This makes a common starting point difficult to define. By selecting the moment the club moves, we can define a standard. This explanation does not diminish the importance of everything that leads up to the start- up.

Pre-start movements within the body and their energy transfers are an important part of a golfer’s preparation.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 2.

Takeaway – 45 d e g r e e s

Envision a protractor placed around a golfer with ZERO DEGREES being the start of the swing.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

In the Science of the Golf Swing book, I described the swing angles that the club experiences during its motion. The 45-degree mark is an important moment to analyze because of the initial kinetic profile of the golfer..

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 3.

Club H o r i z o n t a l 90-degree c l u b

Here the club has moved to 90 degrees on the simplified protractor. Body rotations, the movement of the arms relative to the torso, and the location of the club relative to the golfer all play a big role in how the golfer will finish their backswing.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 4.

Club Verti cal – 180-degree c l u b

In many of Dr. Nesbit’s papers, he refers to this moment in the swing as the “club vertical.” From 90 to 180 degrees, the center of mass of the club aligns vertically with the hands, so there is a switch taking place in the alpha force direction. The head of the golf club and the center of mass are now moving to the interior part of the hub path.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

Club Center of Mass Images from Science of the Golf Swing (Jacobs 2019)

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

Switch of Alpha Force Direction

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

Center of Mass Moving Inside the Hub Path

Images from Elements of the Golf Swing (Jacobs 2021)

Center of Mass Moving Outside the Hub Path

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 5.

Top - h i g h e s t p o i n t o f the hands The top of the golf swing is an often revered position. Whether the analysis looks at body positions, club locations, displacements, or even clubface angles, there is a reason that this portion of the swing would merit investigation and popularity.

Experts often define the top as when the club has finished its backswing motion and reversal into the downswing is beginning. This is not the “TOP” of the swing. It is extremely rare to find a golf swing that reaches its top point at the same time as the club’s reversal into the downswing. I find this very idea to be a pitfall that has removed the dynamic nature of many golf swings. The highest point that the hands reach is almost always during the backswing motion of the club.

The highest point that the hands reach is defined as the ‘Top of the Swing.’

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 6.

-.2 s e c o n d s before impact The duration of a typical downswing is 0.25 seconds. In just a quarter of a second, the club reverses from the backswing and arrives at ball impact. With the “top” taking place during the club’s backswing, the downswing of the hands generally begins before the club’s reversal. To encompass variations and styles, -.2 seconds before impact was chosen.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

This image has positions 5 and 6 overlayed on top of one another. Here you can see the difference in this golfer’s Top vs -.2 position. By choosing -.2, we can be assured that the downswing is underway.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 7.

-.1 s e c o n d before impact Several common swing characteristics take place around the time of -.1 before impact. The club moves out away from the golfer; the hands slow down, club rotational resistance ramps up and joint interaction forces increase to transfer energy to the distal segments. This is where we start to see glaring differences between amateur and accomplished players.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

This image has positions 6 and 7 overlayed on top of one another.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 8.

-.05 s e c o n d s b e f o r e impact.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

The club is in its delivery position -.05 seconds before impact.

This position is around the time of last horizontal (90 degrees before impact).

The swing direction, path, and angle that the club is moving at make for an interesting point of analysis. The golfer’s rotational and lateral stability intertwine with the ability to move the club into impact in a repeatable pattern.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 9.

Impact

The collision of the ball and club is a complex interaction.

With the aid of launch monitors and high-speed cameras, we have been able to better fit a golfer’s clubs and maximize the flight of the ball. The golfer is experiencing high interaction forces as the body acts like a human whip in highperformance players.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 10. . 0 5 a f te r impact

Around the time of the club horizontal on the follow-through side, .05 seconds after impact is extremely informative in showing how the golfer has balanced out their linear and angular momenta.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 11.

180 d e g r e e s a f t e r impact

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

POSITION 12.

Finish

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

C o n c l u sio n

The golf swing is one of the most complex movements in all sports. A standard set of analytical tools can assist us in better describing biomechanics. Over the past 10 years, we have collected a detailed database of golfers and have identified influential times and positions in the swing. Comparisons within this convention provide us with the analytical tools necessary to describe and improve golfers’ performance. Future publications will contrast golfers in these influential positions.

Michael Jacobs is golf instructor and researcher based on Long Isalnd, New York. In addition to his work coaching players at every level from elite professional major champions to everyday amateurs, Michael conceived and designed with Dr. Steven Nesbit the Jacobs 3D sports movement analysis system, which measures and evaluates the forces and torques in athletes’ bodies and the implements they use. A member of Golf Digest’s 50 Best Teachers and Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Instructors as well as a recipient of multiple PGA of America section teaching and coaching honors, Michael is based at Rock Hill Golf and Country Club on Long Island.

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Influential Golf Swing Positions

C o n tact

mj@jacobs3d.com www.jacobs3d.com

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