[coophitter]

Well spoken RWH. A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet or something like that. But I still observe such friendly debate among TGM students and AIs concerning the inherent meaning attached to so many of Mr. Kelley's words. For example, your words explain the essential passivity of the right arm during the release interval in Swinging versus the conscious deliberate muscular triceps thrust during Hitting's release interval. But I read in TGM and often hear from students and instructors that extensor action is ever present in the Swinging and Hitting procedures. In other words the right triceps is always trying to straighten the right arm in Swinging. That doesn't sound like a very passive right triceps. Is it just that Hitting's triceps activity is conscious and deliberate while in Swinging you don't know it's going on? I never knew I was a Hitter until George Kelnhofer told me I was.

Here is what I truly believe about the execution of golf strokes and it comes from my university physiology notes and related studies. I can't remember the textbooks I was studying at the time so I can't credit my references. These are certainly not my original thoughts however:

Although the whole musculoskeletal system is complex, the basic mechanics that create movement are quite simple. A muscle can only do two things; it can contract or it can relax. By attaching two bones over an articulating joint, when a muscle contracts it pulls the bones together and movement takes place. When the muscle is relaxed it can be stretched by the contraction of other muscles which pull and create movement in the other direction.

The moving body should not be seen, however, as the individual action of separate muscles. The system works as a whole to develop patterns of muscular activity that together can create a huge range of smooth and controlled movements. These patterns not only enable us to to perform a wide variety of complex activities, but also to be able to do them efficiently and with minimal stress. In most activities, individual muscles and joints are rarely taken to their extreme limits. The body develops patterns of movement which share the effort between numerous parts of the system so no individual part should be overstressed. A great example of this is that when a person naturally rotates the right humerus laterally with a bending elbow and then medially rotates the humerus allowing the elbow to straighten, a similar simultaneous rotation of the spine in both directions usually occurs.

Apart from the brain and the central nervous system, the musculoskeletal system is the most versatile and creative system of the body. It is not possible to learn or know exactly how the body moves in all situations; the most we can try to do is understand it.

The emphasis on various ideals of human movement does not correspond with the design of the body. The functions of the brain are asymetrical and most manual or sports related movements require us to use our body in asymetrical ways based on dominant sidedness, physical and neurochemical imbalances, and the nature of the task at hand. Tomosello's right arm swing with horizontal hinging is designed to create a draw which is not ideal ballflight. If I don't let my torso synchronize and rotate to accomodate this stroke, I'll hook the ball. On uphill lies and above my feet lies I'll hook it with right arm swinging so I tighten my grip and use whatever degree of angled hinging I think appropriate. I'd say that on more than half my shots like these where hooking means trouble, I tighten my grip, have the face look at the ball longer on the backswing, shorten and speed up my backswing and throughswing, and then angle hinge to varying degrees through impact. Tomasello said this was the pure Hitting. I still try to let my torso in these cases do the rotation thing it wants to do in rhythmic response, so I'm not sure even this is pure Hitting.

When I tried to be a swinger in the Kelnhofer camp, I was often so concerned with torso rotation that I did't let my arms swing and the ball went right. I've never gotten the hang of a passive right arm so I always straighten it. Conversely, I've never succeeded when I've prevented my spine from rotating when I employ so called right arm swinging. I hook the ball.

This will probably be my last lengthy post unless y'all really want to know my background which is extensive and multidisciplinary since graduating from college.

I will tell you I chose to major in English and that is why I write as I speak and sometimes can't stop. Thanks for the kind words and I look forward to shorter more direct posts on my part in the future.

Sincerely, Cooper Osborne, GSEM, PGA