Thinking Big
 

Sure, Rich, anything to help focus attention on the Hands and their Impact alignments is worth doing. Don't make the dowel too short though. Make sure it's long enough to grip down the length of your left forearm. That In-Line condition of dowel and forearm is a priceless relationship and Feel you absolutely must ingrain and make subconscious.

Another tip that will help in this pursuit of 'up close and personal' alignments is visualization. Homer noted that most people think in terms of a small ball and the fleeting moment of Impact and therefore tend to minimize the need for extreme precision. The cure is 'armchair visualization and an exaggeration of each of the elements of Impact.

For example...

'See' the Ball as being as big as a beach ball. See that Ball mashed against a huge Clubface. Visualize the dramatic 'forward lean' of the long Clubshaft and the gigantic Hands well ahead of the Ball. The Left Wrist is Flat and the Right Wrist is Bent. A huge Right Forearm and the #3 Pressure Point Loaded with Lag and Tracing the Straight Plane Line. Visualize these elements individually and also as an integral part of the whole. 'Watch' as the Ball is gradually compressed and driven Down, Out and Forward in an Impact Interval lasting, say, a full minute. Or ten minutes. 'See' the resilient Ball slowly rebound from the Clubface before the Clubhead tears into the turf. Watch the Right Elbow continue to straighten as inches DownPlane, through the Low Point and into the Follow-Through (the Both Arms Straight position).

When you can 'see' Impact like that, Downstroke Blackout will have become a thing of the past. Your Impact Interval -- from Release to Follow-Through -- will have been brought under a conscious control. You will have gained a new authority and mastery of Golf's Moment of Truth.