Chapter 17. Analysis of UCLA Golf Research

The first report of an extensive study on the golf swing was just released, so that an analysis can be presented here. The report is of particular importance because it confirms the material presented in the last two chapters.

The research in question is being conducted by Dr. Raymond Snyder, head of Physical Education at UCLA, and his assistant in the same work, Mrs. Nanette Me-Intyre. Dr. Snyder and Mrs. Mclntyre are both golfers and they wanted to clarify certain theories about the golf swing.

They were ably assisted by touring professionals who willingly placed their swings "on the scale" and in front of an accurate background.

An ingenious arrangement of two scales, arranged so that the player had one foot on each scale, was placed in front of a cross-lined background. Motion pictures taken at 64 frames per second registered every motion of the player, every position of the club, and disposition of the weight from the start to the finish of the golf stroke.

The first point of the investigation was to determine whether golfers did shift their weight during a golf swing, and, if so, how much.

The findings were that each and every one of the players shifted his weight to the right foot for the back-swing and reshifted his weight to the left foot for the downswing and follow through. And what might be a most surprising thing to many golfers is the fact that the same consistency of weight shift took place when these golfers each played three shots with a #8 iron.

A rather startling claim was made in presenting this report: that while all the golfers eventually wound up on their left foot at the end of the stroke, the greater percentage-

• 28 out of 42 on the wood shots
• 33 out of 42 on the iron shots

showed more weight on their right foot at the point of impact with the ball.

This piece of information was heralded as a major discovery, so to speak-that the players did not conform to the principles of weight shift that have been advocated for years.

In view of my own findings on how a golfer uses his body in a golf swing, I cannot agree with the above contention.

It was definitely established:

1. That in every instance all players had the biggest portion of their weight on the right foot at the top of the swing; and
2. In every instance every player had the majority of their weight on their left foot at the conclusion of the swing

However, in reading the report of the researchers, one could easily get the idea that the weight was held back on the right foot as the ball was actually being hit.

I cannot agree with the idea that our players let either all or part of their weight remain on their right foot as they hit the ball, and then dragged the rest of the weight over after the ball was hit.

Present-day golfers don't play golf that way. They do not hold back as they hit the ball; they let go and they give it the full treatment.

It is my contention that good golfers start their downswing with a positive shift of weight to the left foot, and after a point of balance is established on the left foot, they are in a position to use their left sides to pull the club down into and through the ball. This is the only way the body can be utilized in a golf swing-with the diagonal stretch action as described in Chapter Six. But this diagonal stretch action with the left side can never be executed unless and until there is a point of balance established on the left foot. It is my contention that this point of balance in the early part of the downswing is placed on the toe of the left foot and eventually winds up on the left heel.

Only if and when this point of balance is established on the left toe can the diagonal stretch with the left side be initiated or executed. And as this diagonal stretch is made a pressure is exerted against and on the right foot, and the harder one swings or the harder one hits the ball, the greater the pressure against the right foot.

So, the scales would register more weight on the right foot at impact, but this is after the point of balance has been established on the left foot. The only way that this could be done is to shift the weight from the right foot to the left foot.

However, this registration of weight on the right foot at impact is but a fleeting thing. This diagonal stretch action of the left side is a quick, speedy action-it has to be in order to put into the motion of the downswing the power that is needed to drive a golf ball.

This sensation of a pressure on the right foot as the ball is being hit is nothing new. In many cases players have stated that they push themselves off the right foot as they hit the ball. But this same kind of push action can be felt on the left foot as the backswing is made.

However, there is no great force being extended or applied as the club is being raised to the top of the swing. Hence the pressure on the left foot as the diagonal stretch of the right side is being made on the backswing is not very intense. But when the ball is being hit, the diagonal stretch of the body with the left side is a powerful, forceful move. Consequently, not only is that pressure actually felt in hitting the golf ball, but it would register emphatically on the scale setup on which the UCLA tests were conducted.

In conclusion, I must say that I personally am pleased with the report that the team of Snyder and Mclntyre made in regard to the weight shift. I think that once and for all they have settled this matter of weight shift. They definitely proved that in driver and iron shots there was a definite shift of the weight to the right for the backswing, and there was a definite reshift of the weight to the left foot for the downswing and follow through.

However, there was evidence of a style which I personally disapprove of, a style to which I have personally objected.

In 20 cases out of 84, the players addressed the ball with more weight on their right foot than on the left.

In the wood shots, 9 players had more weight on the right foot at the address, and 17 players made no forward press action (25 players did make a forward press).

With the irons, 11 players at address had more weight on the right foot; 12 players did not make a forward press, but 30 players did make a forward press.

As previously reported, this balancing oneself on the right foot at address, and the tendency to eliminate the forward press, is encouraged by the suggestion of simplifying golf through the one-piece golf swing theory.

But this type of golf play is very apt to cause a twisting body action which in turn can produce twisted knees and sacroiliac disturbances.

As also stated in this book, the elimination of the forward press destroys the opportunity of injecting into the backswing that very necessary cocking of the club. And if the player does not have a sense of where and how the club is cocked, there is no point in swinging it.

I must say that many players do play that way, but I also say that they would be better players if they did use the forward press.

Anyway, Dr. Snyder and Mrs. Mclntyre should be congratulated for their fine and valuable report. They are working on other aspects of the golf swing and will soon come forth with other interesting conclusions.