Question:
Played in a match today with a guy who had not only one pause at the top, but two. He’d take his back swing, "bounce" a little at the top, pause, and then finish his swing. The worst part was — he beat my partner!
Response:
How prevalent is a slight pause at the top of the swing?
"Charles Barkley" Tom
Response:
When I am really thinking about my mechanics, I tend to pause more than I like at the top. But I haven’t found that it hurts.
Response:
Its nearly impossible to hit the ball consistently if you start parts of the downswing while your backswing is still finishing.
Kinda like this? http://www.golfswing.com/proswings/daly.htm me
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – How prevalent is a slight pause at the top of the swing? I’ve read Jack Nicolas mention it and heard an announcer describe how Vijah Singh uses "17" as a swing thought for his tempo ("seeev"- [backswing]- "en" [pause] – "teeeeen" [downswing]). I’m just curious how common is it for other golfers to take a slight pause? I ask because I spent a frustrating hour trying to reconstruct my once reliable wedge swing which had deteriorated badly. Mis-hits, thin hits, topping mainly. I finally figured out that I had drifted from what was working real well a few months ago, where I would picture my hands at the top of the swing and "place" them there briefly before starting down. What it accomplishes for me is fairly dramatic considering how slight a move it is. Doing so stopped me from going back too far on my takeaway, allowed me the window to start dropping my hands before my shoulder turned and slowed my swing enough so that I was swinging easy instead of fast and wild. The result is consistant contact and a dollar sized divot. I’d tatto it on my right hand so I’ll never forget it again, but I don’t have any room left . . . <grin
I think that your point is a very good one. When you loose confidence in your short wedge shots then it is very easy to rush them and to snatch at them resulty in fat shots and thin shots etc. It is difficult to use a slow unhurried swing when your confidence is gone; you may even find that you can play the shot ok on a practice round but not when the pressure is on. As you say the aim of the backswing is to get into position; it doesn’t need to be rushed.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – How prevalent is a slight pause at the top of the swing? Most people can’t do it — their balance isn’t good enough. Its fun to see the results if you make a bet with someone that involves them having to count to three at the top of their backswing. I’ve seen more than a few people whiff! But even though you don’t want a pause that long at the top of your swing, its something useful to try just because it’ll show you if you do have issues with balance and a proper weight shift. For some reason I have no trouble doing it with an iron, but with a driver it just doesn’t work too well — its not that I swing it too hard (if anything I take a harder swing with the irons) but the longer club and different swing plane just messes me up when I try to pause at the top for even a one count. But even if you don’t actually pause at the top, feeling as though there’s a real transition from backswing to downswing is an improvement. Its nearly impossible to hit the ball consistently if you start parts of the downswing while your backswing is still finishing. The "pause" is really just where your backswing has stopped and you start shifting your weight over to the left side to trigger your downswing. You shouldn’t stop, but the club should, if only for an instant. — "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." — Mark Twain
There are two images that will help to explain the pause(s) of good golf swings: one is of a tree falling over when it has been cut: it falls extremely slowly at first. This is the body shifting back to the left foot. However, this can be speeded up by NOT STANDING ON, but only LEANING TOWARD, the right foot, in the backswing. If you stand ON it, it takes too long to fall. If you lean only, the fall back to the left foot is speeded up because gravity works faster with its ‘head start.’ The other pause - that of the arms and club falling to begin the downswing – would compare to the behavior of the playground swing – mom playing with her child that swing. As she pushes the swing away, it goes to the other side — and its turnaround is a "pause" – while nature alone – gravity alone – causes it to come to a stop, and then to turn back around and fall down. And mom, when the swing comes back to HER, gently receives the swing into her fingers but DOES NOT SHOVE IT immediately; she cradles it for an instant, goes with its natural turnaraound pace, AND THEN accelerates it. The "pauses" of the swing are simply the natural amount of time it takes for the turnaround, as compared or opposed to a shoving, jolting, or hastening of the turnaround. These two actions are what we see in Couples, Els, etc. and what we admire because of our instinctive realization that there is something congruous and natural in their pace. This is the precise reason for our admiration – that instinctive recognition of how their swings agree with – as compared with fight against – the natural behavior of the pendulums of the body and the arms/club responding to gravity. George Hibbard www.perfectimpact.com
Response:
The "pause" is really just where your backswing has stopped and you start shifting your weight over to the left side to trigger your downswing. You shouldn’t stop, but the club should, if only for an instant.
That’s a good way of putting it and as I think about it, that’s what the pause let’s me do. There seems to be a preferred sequence between the weight shift, dropping the hands, and turning the shoulders. That brief pause seems to let me line ‘em up instead of doing all three at once.
Response:
How prevalent is a slight pause at the top of the swing? I’ve read Jack Nicolas mention it and heard an announcer describe how Vijah Singh uses "17" as a swing thought for his tempo ("seeev"- [backswing]- "en" [pause] – "teeeeen" [downswing]). I’m just curious how common is it for other golfers to take a slight pause? I ask because I spent a frustrating hour trying to reconstruct my once reliable wedge swing which had deteriorated badly. Mis-hits, thin hits, topping mainly. I finally figured out that I had drifted from what was working real well a few months ago, where I would picture my hands at the top of the swing and "place" them there briefly before starting down. What it accomplishes for me is fairly dramatic considering how slight a move it is. Doing so stopped me from going back too far on my takeaway, allowed me the window to start dropping my hands before my shoulder turned and slowed my swing enough so that I was swinging easy instead of fast and wild. The result is consistant contact and a dollar sized divot. I’d tatto it on my right hand so I’ll never forget it again, but I don’t have any room left . . . <grin
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – How prevalent is a slight pause at the top of the swing? I’ve read Jack Nicolas mention it and heard an announcer describe how Vijah Singh uses "17" as a swing thought for his tempo ("seeev"- [backswing]- "en" [pause] – "teeeeen" [downswing]). I’m just curious how common is it for other golfers to take a slight pause? I ask because I spent a frustrating hour trying to reconstruct my once reliable wedge swing which had deteriorated badly. Mis-hits, thin hits, topping mainly. I finally figured out that I had drifted from what was working real well a few months ago, where I would picture my hands at the top of the swing and "place" them there briefly before starting down. What it accomplishes for me is fairly dramatic considering how slight a move it is. Doing so stopped me from going back too far on my takeaway, allowed me the window to start dropping my hands before my shoulder turned and slowed my swing enough so that I was swinging easy instead of fast and wild. The result is consistant contact and a dollar sized divot. I’d tatto it on my right hand so I’ll never forget it again, but I don’t have any room left . . . <grin
I think there is the feeling of a "pause" as the left hip begins a move toward the target. But…..the timing involved is damn hard. -Greg
Response:
How prevalent is a slight pause at the top of the swing?
Most people can’t do it — their balance isn’t good enough. Its fun to see the results if you make a bet with someone that involves them having to count to three at the top of their backswing. I’ve seen more than a few people whiff! But even though you don’t want a pause that long at the top of your swing, its something useful to try just because it’ll show you if you do have issues with balance and a proper weight shift. For some reason I have no trouble doing it with an iron, but with a driver it just doesn’t work too well — its not that I swing it too hard (if anything I take a harder swing with the irons) but the longer club and different swing plane just messes me up when I try to pause at the top for even a one count. But even if you don’t actually pause at the top, feeling as though there’s a real transition from backswing to downswing is an improvement. Its nearly impossible to hit the ball consistently if you start parts of the downswing while your backswing is still finishing. The "pause" is really just where your backswing has stopped and you start shifting your weight over to the left side to trigger your downswing. You shouldn’t stop, but the club should, if only for an instant. — "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." — Mark Twain