Transition – The Golfswing Secret
I have called transition the golf swing secret because when you look at tour players’ swings, transition can be so subtle that most people don’t even notice it. Transition has been a poorly understood part of the golf swing. It is not mentioned in many instruction books and has often been described as a change of direction. No definite movements have been talked about in most modes of instruction. Jim Flick used to say “if something goes wrong in the golf swing of a very good player, it is usually during transition.” Usually, mistakes in transition are attributed to changing directions too quickly. This may be part of the problem, but a slow transition with incorrect biomechanics will be no better. What is transition then? The definition I choose to use from Webster is the movement from one position to another position. Then, what is the purpose of transition? Obviously, one has to change directions from the backswing to the forward swing. This certainly is an oversimplification. The real purpose of the transition is to put the body and the club in an optimal position to hit the ball. This dictates that certain definite movements be made, because golfers are not in position to hit the ball at the top of their backswing. Almost every good player eventually gets into a good position to hit the ball before he gets to impact. There are definite advantages to getting into this position further away from impact rather than close to impact. The main advantage is that the longer the clubhead stays on the plane by getting on the plane earlier, the faster the clubhead speed and the more likely that the club will square up more easily. The other advantage is a physics principle called the gyroscope effect, which in the golf swing means that the longer the clubhead is on the plane, the more it wants to stay on the plane. Thus, one should be able to hit the ball further and with more accuracy. One also has to consider spine angle maintenance during transition. This is extremely important to preventing back injuries as well as improving impact. In the video, I will tell you in great detail the exact movements required to achieve all of the above aspects of perfect transition. I have found that biomechanically the moves are fairly simple and easily learned. On the other hand, actually performing transition is mentally quite difficult. This is because most people have not ever had a separate part of the swing called transition. All they ever did was change direction! I will give you several drills that will teach your mind that indeed, transition is its own special part of the golf swing. When you do these drills, remember that after transition, the next portion of the swing should start slowly and smoothly before firing the arms. We need just a little time to get the club moving on the circle, not creating too much centrifugal force right off the bat. Good luck and stick with it. This mentally will be quite a challenge for you. Most of my good players took about a month before they were able to accomplish transition on the golf course. I think doing transition slowly and the slow smoothness coming out of transition are the real keys to be able to implement transition on the golf course.