A reader recently wrote and said he followed Brian Gay at the PGA Championship. His observation was that Brian had "no lower body action" and wanted to know if he was missing something. My short answer . . .
"Yes."
Now for more.
Researchers at the Titleist Performance Institute have had thousands of players go through their testing. They have observed two decidely different types of lower body action through the ball and have come to identify the respective players as Rotators and Thrusters.
Brian is a Thruster. His legs straighten through Impact as he launches a Right Arm Muscular Drive off his Right Shoulder. He and I spent considerable time experimenting with the more familiar body rotation and the consequent Left Wrist Centrifugal Throw. Hundreds of practice balls later, we concluded that it's just not his cup of tea.
Regarding any perception of "no lower body action" . . .
This is a PGA TOUR player.
Join me on the tee and stand immediately opposite and ahead of him when he hits a shot. Then, in his downswing and through the ball, be thankful you are not caught in the vortex.
Information Sharing At Titleist Performance Institute
Originally Posted by O.B. Left
I'm fascinated by TPI's designation of "rotators" and "thrusters". How did they come to make this distinction? What do you make of this Yoda? Thanks.
O.B.
PS Oh, how do the stats line up? How many rotators vs how many thrusters how many somewhere in between the two extremes? I got a feeling there a more thrusters out there than we would have thought a few years ago.
O.B.,
The descriptive designations of Rotator and Thruster came directly from TPI's Dr. Greg Rose and his interaction with a handpicked team of TGM instructors in a day-long meeting last year. He told us TPI had made the distinction based solely on personal observation of the respective motions.
When we explained the TGM concept of Hitter versus Swinger, there was a collective "Aha!" from their assembled group. Their research had picked up on the two decidedly different Shaft stresses in the Downstroke -- radial versus longitudinal, i.e., back of the Shaft versus top of the Shaft -- but they had no idea what was causing the phenomenon.
I don't have access to any definitive information as to their stats on this subject. It was all new to them, and they had not yet done anything with it. We were told they would do additional work reconciling their ideas with ours and get back to us, but so far . . . nothing. And we've not pushed it.
Very interesting stuff. Homer would probably have a little smile on his face if he was still with us.
A shaft stress measuring device coupled with a grip pressure point sensor would make for an interesting diagnostic tool ......... in the right instructors hands.
Ive been thinking about radial acceleration in my swinging pattern. I think I used to overload my pp3 radially going back which sent me under plane. I tended to adopt a punch elbow going back and now think it was a subconscious blocking action. Now when I just load my pp3 (in the first knuckle!) at top and arrow from quiver my start down Im good. No hooks, pitch elbow is back, more lag etc. Eureka.
Nowhere else did I find these concepts but right here at LBG. Hope Im getting em right. Even if Im not Im still further ahead.
Very interesting stuff. Homer would probably have a little smile on his face if he was still with us.
A shaft stress measuring device . . . would make for an interesting diagnostic tool ......... in the right instructors hands.
. . .
Homer was a true genius.
An appropriate "stress measuring device" already exists. How the clubshaft manufacturers use it -- or even if they use it -- I do not know.
I do know that Homer Kelley used it to build airplanes and to measure the stresses his finished product would have to endure in 'real time'. Did he know what he was doing? Toward the end of his career, only one signature (of tens of thousands of employees) could release a Boeing aircraft as technically fit for sale. That signature was his.
What does being a PGA tour player have to do with lower body action? Watch Kenny Perry!!!
Trust me, Jerry . . . all TOUR players have Pivot Lag, i.e., they unwind their bodies powerfully and in sequence from the ground up -- Feet;thenKnees; then Hips;thenShoulders. Otherwise, they could not hit the Ball the prodigious distances they do.
This action Loads the Power Package and Transports it (the Power of the unexpended Bent Right Elbow and Cocked Left Wrist / Turned Left Hand) to Release. Then, in an Action that started at the Top with the Lag Loading (7-19) -- Drive-Loaded Right Elbow (Hitters) versus Drag-Loaded Left Wrist (Swingers) -- physics continues to differentiate the Delivery of Hitters from Swingers (Wheel Track Motion versus Wheel Rim Motion / 7-23).
Regarding Kenny Perry, you are making my point: As is Brian Gay, Kenny is a Thruster (Wheel Track), not a Rotator (Wheel Rim).
Trust me, Jerry . . . all TOUR players have Pivot Lag, i.e., they unwind their bodies powerfully and in sequence from the ground up -- Feet;thenKnees; then Hips;thenShoulders. Otherwise, they could not hit the Ball the prodigious distances they do.
This action Loads the Power Package and Transports it (unexpended) to Release. Then, in an Action that started at the Top with the Lag Loading (7-19) -- Drive-Loaded Right Elbow (Hitters) versus Drag-Loaded Left Wrist (Swingers) -- physics continues to differentiate the Delivery of Hitters from Swingers (Wheel Track Motion versus Wheel Rim Motion / 7-23).
Regarding Kenny Perry, you are making my point: As is Brian Gay, Kenny is a Thruster (Wheel Track), not a Rotator (Wheel Rim).
Long live the Thrusters. Thrusting is the only way I can hit a ball with my back condition. If I went to a rotator for instruction I would be finished with golf forever. This is an important breakthrough with TPI. Before that they were always talking rotators. Lynn pushed the issue so there will be more Thrusters!
Last edited by purehitter : 09-01-2008 at 05:23 PM.
I've edited my Post #6 above to include more information and references. For Labor Day's 'early responders', it's worth a re-read.
BTW, I fully understand that such detail is of interest only to amateur afficienados and professional Instructors. The former use it to their own edification and advantage. The latter, likewise, but even more, to that of their students. The 'rest of us' should take what we want and what's left over, in the words of my NY friends, Fuggeddabouddet! An alternative is to dump it in your Incubator and come back later.
For Instructors: Should you teach the TGM material 'chapter and verse'?
My opinion -- unless you are in an academic setting -- is a resounding "NO!".
Instead . . .
Teach Motion (12-5-0).
Motion aligned Geometrically (2-0); learned Mechanically (3-0); and performed Subconciously (14-0).
An appropriate "stress measuring device" already exists. How the clubshaft manufacturers use it -- or even if they use it -- I do not know.
I do know that Homer Kelley used it to build airplanes and to measure the stresses his finished product would have to endure in 'real time'. Did he know what he was doing? Toward the end of his career, only one signature (of tens of thousands of employees) could release a Boeing aircraft as technically fit for sale. That signature was his.
Yoda....I work for Boeing...are you sure you're correct about that comment..."Only one signature could release a Boeing aircraft as technically fit for sale"....what aircraft??? A commerical aircraft??? a military aircraft???
What area did Homer work in for Boeing???
DG
Last edited by Delaware Golf : 09-01-2008 at 10:52 PM.
Yoda....I work for Boeing...are you sure you're correct about that comment..."Only one signature could release a Boeing aircraft as technically fit for sale"....what aircraft??? A commerical aircraft??? a military aircraft???
What area did Homer work in for Boeing???
DG
I know only what Homer Kelley told me in recorded conversation. And he stated that fact humbly -- no braggadocio -- in the context of a story involving functional testing and his assigned duties.
The aircraft was the B-47.
Moreover, Homer didn't work in an 'area'. His bosses had tried that years before, and from the shop foremen to the engineers, it didn't work. What was most important to him was to be proven right, and, early on, that mindset did not win many friends in the ranks. But he had the unusual talent of being able to solve "rather intricate problems", and ultimately -- under the time and production stresses of war -- people 'got it' and left him alone to pursue his work. He went where he was needed.
In his last years, he had no title.
Nor did he want one.
He was a maverick.
In more modern times, talents such as his have been institutionalized as 'skunkworks' by large companies drowning in bureauracy but still desperately seeking innovation. As an example, see Lockheed in the Viet Nam days when the C-130 was the big dog. Things couldn't get done fast enough within the corporate flowchart, so major changes had to happen apart from it.
Bottom line: Homer Kelley was outside the norm . . .
Linear Mode
