Fragments of truth
 

Given the antics of Mike O and he who shall remain nameless, as well as the subsequent corruption of Augusta Golf this is not the most innane question ever asked. One of my pet projects now is to look for places where the great players and teachers of the past have elluded to what Homer codified for us. For instance, extensor action. You have just gotta have it...so how did the great ones describe it? Jack Nicklaus said that he felt like he tried to pierce the clouds with his hands i.e. high hands. Of course it being a description of a personal feel it is not much use to us, although understanding the description in the light of TGM helps! Once you understand the mechanics I feel like their feel descriptions have real merit. Does anyone know where else EA has been elluded to?

how about "widest possible arc on the takeaway"
and "keep your hands as far from your head or shoulder as possible"
i guess there could be some form of EA in those "gems" lol

Don't forget to keep your hands as close to your wrists as possible at all times.

I asked Yoda this same question. Off the top of his head (Yoda has an amazing grasp of the derivation or "family tree" of golf knowledge)
he mentioned;

Robert MacDonald, Golf 1927.

Percy Boomer, On Learning Golf, 1946.

And provided a doff of the hat to Seymour Dunn, Golf Fundamentals, 1922. With the caveat that he attributed the straight left arm to the LEFT arm triceps.

During a similar sort of conversation he traced Big Jack's rolled over left foot back to pre Roman Scotland. Gotta love it. He must have one heck of a golf library.

O.B.

I still blame Nicklaus for my swing faults! Early on, when I first began to take my golf seriously, I read Nicklaus books. On his recommendations for getting as wide an arc as possible, I started stretching my left arm as far as I could on my backswing, you know, a "reach for the sky" thing. Well . . . now I fight swaying and standing up on my backswing. After a little over a year with TGM and the McDonald exercises, I am starting to work on EA to get that extension. It makes all the difference, at least in understanding what I am supposed to do, to think of it as the right arm trying to straighten rather than simply reaching for the sky.

Nicklaus is one of the biggest icons that has wrecked a heap load of golf swings. Worked for him, but oh how the amateur player still pays the price!

Redeeming the Flim-flam
 

This is what I am attempting to reconcile (why is a mystery to me also!) Nicklaus no doubt employed extensor action, right? Using TGM as The Lexicon, how can we better understand their individual feel descriptions. Now that I have a basic grasp of extensor action I better understand Nicklaus' description. Looking at his flying wedges, especially at end suggests great structure...without EA there is no air in the hose...lead in the pencil...jam in the donut...etc. I thought Joe Norwood may have understood EA. It seems that he believed that you had to train the left arm to extend itself, but he did understand the importance of maintaining The Radius i.e. max extension. The genius of EA is that the left arm is extended as opposed to the left arm extending! :eyes: I believe EA is just one of the things when properly applied can produce IMMEDIATE results as opposed to "giving it 6 months." This is one of the things that sets TGM apart.

Heard Annika say that her main swing thought was to keep her right arm straight throughout the swing. Obviously it cant due to the left arms checkrein action. But that was her feel for extensor action and it obviously worked well.

Annika's Bent Right Arm
 

Thanks for this quote, Daz. This is the essence of Extensor Action: While maintaining the Clubshaft On Plane, the right arm tries to stay straight, but can't!

The 'proof is in the pudding':

Since Annika's right arm/Elbow is very definitely bent at the Top of her Stroke, it must be the result of the Straight Left Arm's Checkrein Action (6-B-1-D) despite her Bent Right Arm's attempt to stay straight.

:salut:

Posts Projections
 

Lynn,
Using precise calculating methods over the last day I have determined that on November 1, 2009 you'll reach 11,745 posts. However, being a computer wiz :confused1, I have accessed the code to this forum and the maximum allowed all time posting number is currently 10,000! You better get BamBam off his ...., before you hit the ceiling on July 9th, 2009!