Stilltrying,
Thank you for your support of our site over this past year. Your posts always inspire constructive thinking about the Golf Stroke, and we appreciate your contributions.
In the above Private Message to me, you asked for help in reconciling the Feel of
Lag and Drag in the Downstroke Shoulder Turn with its role in supplying the initial Down Plane
Thrust of the Power Package. In fact, the core concepts of Lag, Drag and Thrust constitute
Step Two of the Power Package Sequence of Operation (6-0) --
Power Loading (6-B-0).
During the Start Down, the
Thrust of the leading Body Turn and its Accelerating Right Shoulder transports the lagging Arms and Club Down Plane (6-K-0). This Action creates the
Clubhead Lag Pressure that the Accumulators (via the Hands per 6-G-0 and 6-P-0) will propel toward Impact (7-22). This Load is sensed as a
Drag on the Pressure Points employed. The Right Shoulder, having been placed On Plane by the Backstroke Pivot, remains On Plane by Turning
directly toward the Ball.
The important thing is that, having Loaded the Lag, the Body Turn then continues to
lead the Power Package throughout the Downstroke. This move -- On Plane Body Momentum Transfer -- transmits the Pivot Motion to the Arms (7-13) and thus constitutes both Aiming and Thrust.
However, a vicious Thrust is
not required and, in fact, can be disruptive enough to cause Clubhead Throwaway (7-20). This is true even when applying Maximum #4 Accumulator Power, i.e., maximum Shoulder Turn Thrust against Pressure Point #4 (where the Left Arm contacts the side of the chest) during the Start Down (6-B-4-A). Every player has a top Turning Speed (2-M-3) and hence Handspeed (7-20), and no amount of violent effort will change it much. So, after supplying the initial Acceleration of the Power Package, the Body need only continue to lead in order to maintain its place in the Downstroke Release Sequence (6-M-1).
To grasp this concept, visualize yourself running toward a distant object. How long will it take you to reach top speed? Once you've reached this speed, can you do anything more -- pump your arms harder, twist your torso violently or even grunt louder -- to make yourself run any faster? No. And so it is with 'extra effort' and the Pivot Motion.
Regarding Feel, the
lagging Arms, Hands and Club put a
drag on the leading Right Shoulder, and this Feel should be sustained until the Release of the Power Package
Accumulator Lag (Out-of-Line condition of the employed Power Package Components). However, just as with the
Clubhead Lag (trailing Clubhead Inertia), the
Pivot Lag (Lag and Drag of the Pivot Train) is never 'Released' (6-B-0). This gives the Stroke its Maximum Radius (from the Feet to the Sweetspot) and makes the Club very 'heavy' (Effective Clubhead Mass per 2-M-2-2) and much more able to resist the Deceleration Force of Impact.