Ask The Professor Archives Part 6

From Rob R:

I learned of your "lever golf method" from a man named Gerry Manale. I live in southern Ontario in Canada . I have been playing for 6 years, am 52 years old, and have a 12 handicap. Gerry introduced me to the baseball grip and the myths of the swing. At one point late last summer I tried the Lever Power Golf method on the course. I never hit the ball longer or more accurate. The problem is I lost it as quickly as I had it. What would you suggest for me to work on "Lever Power Golf". There doesnt seem to be any pro instructors of your method . I got a taste of what Lever Power Golf can do and I am sold. My trouble is how do I get it back? Would appreciate your help.

My goal is to make everyone his own teacher. Effective and simple golf mechanics are laughably simple.

Correct knowledge is the starting place. Next you need to order the LPG kit and Sponges ($210 US). These two products force you swing correctly.

Tiger Woods is best player in world because he has the best short game in the world. He has been swinging a golf club from dusk to dawn since he was 1 year old. He cannot keep his A swing for a single round. If he can't, what chance does an amateur have?

Lever Power Golf is simple, effective and easy to learn.

There was a fellow demonstrating shafts called "single flex" matched shafts.

JK: If you mean single frequency, that is old technology that has been around for over 50 years. It is satisfactory and the preferred method over the step pattern method.

They put my shafts (Taylor made clubs) on a frequency matching machine and vibrated them from side to side. After a few oscillations the shafts started to vibrate erratically. They said the spine is not placed in the same spot for each club.

JK: This is a gimmick to make you think there is something wrong with the shaft. A lot of club heads, even when SPLINE aligned will do the same thing. SPLINE alignment only means that the clubs have closer flex tolerance, the frequencies being close together. Remember until recently no one SPLINE aligned clubs. The great scores shot by Gene Sarazen and Bobby Jones were with shafts that did not even come close to being the same. Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer never played with SPLINE aligned shafts.

I then tried their product, found the "right match" for me and I actually their seven iron and driver quite well; straight and fairly long for me (67 years old).They put me in shafts that were substantially less stiff.

JK: This is the only thing they actually did to help you. 99% of golfers should be in more flexible shafts. This allowed you to get the ball airborne easier and therefore slightly more distance.

Have you heard of this product? What do you think"?

JK: Yes. All good custom club makers do it.

They cost $69 for each iron and $105 for the woods.

JK: At least he is charging a fair price for his work. You can get the same thing for 1/2 that price from almost all the rest of the custom club makers. They have killed their own market by under pricing each other until they have eliminated their profit margins.

Is this hype or is this a product that is legit?

JK: It is legit, but will not help your game more than the more flexible shaft. They are still using 7 gram head spread technology and swing weighting - which limits real distance increases and completely mismatches a set of clubs; every club feels different.

Visit the equipment section of my web site. I explain club assembly in detail.

From Dave:

I recently got your video on Lever Power-Golf and I seem to be having trouble keeping my lower body from twisting in the downstroke, thus pulling my right foot up. Any suggestions on how to keep both feet flat for the entire swing?

JK Sit-Down, Straight Down - Just like Sam Snead. You can't be spinning if you are sitting.

The few times I have been able to keep my feet flat the ball seems to go left.

JK: Once you sit down, move your hands as far away from you body as you can, down and out through the impact zone.

From John;

I just wanted to get your opinion on long putters. I recently switched and have seen dramatic improvement in my putting. Mechanically I "feel" it has several advantages. First, peripheral vision is improved because your eyes are at a higher position so you see the hole from further distances, helping with speed control. Secondly, with the left hand anchored at the sternum it is a pure right palm piston action with no thought given to the left hand at all. No "figure 8" takeaways and no thoughts of how to hold the club face square through impact. I simply cannot think of a single advantage to all the hand and arm movement in the traditional putting stroke.

I am not a long putter advocate from the stand point of science. If you putt better with it, use it.

It has numerous scientific faults:

1. It is a pendulum - the single most ineffective method of putting. Their is only one point that the putter blade points at the line of roll.

2. It is a long lever. The longer the lever, the more difficult to control.

3. It is very heavy and difficult to lag long putts within three feet. It forces you to fight the weight of the club when changing directions.

While I accept that the forearms produce a majority of the club head speed I was curious as to the exact reason the forearms are able to produce this power at the end of the swing, but if I were to simply cock my wrist at an address position and then uncock them the ball would obviously not go very far. Does the downward motion of the arms create a resistance against which the forearms "push off", like a sprinter's blocks, or what exactly?

From the 0.06 seconds before impact, the club head is moving around 50 mph with a traditional swing and around 60 mph with an LPG swing. The right triceps lever straighten the right forearm. This increases the club head speed by around 20mph. Centripetal Force (the inward force of the body on the club) increases the speed by about 20 mph. As the right triceps are straightening the right forearm, the forearm muscles (forearm lever) is both rotating and straightening the right wrist hinge. This adds between 10 and 50 mph of club head speed (depending on the strength of the forearms). The contribution to forearm rotation by the left forearms is around 10 mph.

All tour professionals have type IIx fast-twitch muscle in their forearms. They have been swinging as hard as they can for years.

I tried your single-axis swing method and hit much more solid shots. I am interested in your LPG trainer, but I am a lefty, so does your LPG trainer suit lefties?

JK: It works for RIGHT or LEFT handed golfers.

By the way, with the traditional grip too small for palm grip, do you think it's necessary to install your racket-size grip?

JK: Yes. When you use a small grip, you have to place 1/2 of your hand (3") in 1/2 of your hand in order to keep the grip from slipping.

I really hate the "hollow" feeling when gripping a "needle" in my palm, which I think decreases my left arm power and accuracy. Is it true?

JK: Any time you move the bottom fulcrum closer to the axis of rotation, it increase the force necessary to create higher speed. All overlapping grips reduce club head speed and accuracy versus a correct length club and separated hands.

I would like your opinion on the best club heads there are out there that can be optimized by you. Example, iron heads, driver heads etc.

Juniors purchase Max-Impact heads at 50% off. I can only recommend my irons - Max-Impact. Any driver head between 190 cc and 260 cc is an acceptable head. They are all made with similar properties.

I knew you would say that. But really, I would like your opinion as to the next best OEM iron on the market...would it be the Titleist 990?

Any blade size club with a low center of gravity.

Also, does the current trend of trampoline effect faces really work? Or is it just all marketing hype?

Trampoline effects work. They add a few yards to a drive.

What are your thoughts in regards to ball position?

Just pulled out the little yellow booklet from back in the old days, "The Perfect Natural Golf Swing," and found nothing on this subject. I might be blind also. LOL.

JK: You are not blind. For iron, play all balls to the right of body center. For fairway woods, play the ball in the middle of your stance. For teed balls, play the ball of the left breast.

Also, have some of your thoughts/discoveries changed or evolved since the above booklet was written?

ABSOLUTELY! The basic priniple of Single-Axis right palm grip has not changed.

Major Changes:

1. Move left hand from on top of the club (snapped hooked balls for 5 years) to the back of the left hand facing the target (Same as Hogan; when he stopped snap hooking the ball). Jerry Heard never got the message when he plagarized my work.

2. Bending of the left arm in LPG discovery. Now golf mechanics are laughably simple. If you can count to three and move your right arm, you can have controlled, consistent mechanics.

3. My web site explains in great detail the physics, anatomy, kinesiology, neuroscience, fitness and nutrition to allow any golfer to reach their potential. Hundreds of pages of additional information that debunks all traditional teaching myths and show just how simple golf mechanics really are.

How do you think your system will work toward the "Long driving " competitions that are becoming popular of late?

Don't have to think. Last year's winner had a 90 degree angle in his left arm at the top of his backstroke. They are allready doing it. They just don't know it.

I just wanted to let you know that things are going very well since my lessons with you late last year. I recently shot in the thirties for the first time ever on nine holes.

JK: Shooting is in the thirties a major accomplishment. Less than 10% of golfers ever have a round in the thirties.

The big problem that I'm having right now is with greenside bunkers. Should the ball be played forward in the stance like Dave Pelz recommends or off the right breast like the standard LPG swing? Also, is the 56 or 60 degree wedge the right tool for the job?

JK: There are on TIP answers that can make you a good sand player. I have not read Dave Pelz work because he is a wrist advocate. Only tour players and a low percentage of amateurs have the timing and practice time to become good at the short game with wrist action. (explained in detail on my member web site).

One other question. I've just about saved up enough money for a set of Impact irons, but I'm concerned about spending that much money for clubs without getting a proper fitting.

JK: Fitting is very easy. All I need is your height, shirt sleeve length, and the distance you hit your driver, 5 iron and 9 iron. Everything else you have seen advertised, is marketing hype.

I don't want to have to spend more money on the set to get the lie angles changed by someone who might be less competent than you.

JK: Unfortunately, there is no simple answer to this. Lie angle needs to be set after you have spent a few weeks playing with the clubs and then hitting balls on the range with a lie board. Any good clubmaker with a proper bending machine can bend them. To date, I have only had to bend one set of clubs from the lies that come on the irons. This is because the lie angle is a function of club length to height and arm length. I assemble the clubs to the correct length to start with and this usually takes care of the lie angle.

What can we do to work something out?

If you only want my club assembler to bend the clubs, then do the lie test and send them back to us for bending.

John Daly has been getting really good over the past year. From 500th to 49th in the standings. Did he give up on oversized clubs or do you know what he is doing differently?

In John Daly's case it is almost impossible to tell. I have not paid attention to his clubs, but any tour player using oversized is at a disadvantage.

Daly's problems will always be a case of control of drug abuse and the emotional roller coaster life style he leads. In the latest interview at the Bay Hill, he said he was very happy with his life and that he had been clean for a year and a half.

Effective golf and life are very similar, you must have complete control of your emotions. Seems John is on the right track. He is exciting to watch -- the grip and rip it and the go for it attitude (Palmer, Michelson, Calcavicca, and Ballesteros) were and are exciting people to watch.

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