More on pivot driven hands
 

Per Tomasello's video letter,
This looks like the simplest way to hit a golf ball
without all the John Daly windup.
I took two lessons with Ben Doyle. Very enjoyable, but
hitting the ball with the pivot is something I couldn't feel.
Throwing the hands from the top, causes the body to pivot
naturally. The main trick it seems is just where to throw the hands.

Throw them DOWN and OUT to your aim point.

Would stick with Ben if i had the opportunity to work with him. 2 Lessons surely not enough.

Can you further define "aim point." What is the optimal aim point, and how do you determine it?

wow
 

Having the opportunity to be a student of Ben Doyles, is something very special. Stick with it, and continue to read posts here.

Aiming point (AP) is one of the most "foggy" concepts in TGM (IMO). It's something you have to experience for yourself because it's dependent of how and when you swing/hit and release. In short it's the point on the planeline where you aim the thrust. For most people the AP is up to a couple of inches after the ball for wedge shots, and up to a couple of inches before the ball for drivers.

But do a seach, many have been asking about aiming point before you!

If I've got it right, Clampett has it about 4 inches in front of the where the ball is.

You *can* do it for drivers, but the Trackman devices are showing that basically you want the aimpoint for a driver before the ball because you want to hit up a little with a driver. Recent article showed that JB Holmes and Tiger had virtually the same swing speed, but Holmes was hitting about 3 degrees up with the driver whereas Tiger was hitting 3 degrees down and that is believed to be why Holmes hits it much further than Tiger.

hitting up is dangerous
 

Clearly the Trackman wil show you that high launch/low spin is the recipee for distance. But IMO it's a dangerous swingthought.
If the club is on it's way up, it has passed the low point. If it has passed low point the clubface is closed. If the face is closed, you'll hook it. If you don't want to hook it, you'll have to swing your driver and use vertical hinging, which is a layback only procedure better used with the short game strokes.
The hit up thought, coming from all the launch monitor results, could be the reason a lot of golfers want open face drivers now a days.

I think the AP before the the ball is due to the driver being a longer club and it needs more time to square up. That's why you need to start the release ealier, and that's what an AP before the ball will do.

Maybe one of the pros can explain this much better!

Bucket loves hookers!
 

As far I understand it Thom a hook is as a result of a face/path divergence. A closed clubface (closed to what? may clarify things) will start the ball left, but a plane line shifted to the right of the closed club face will put the hook spin on it. Face and head ain't the same thing. so if the clubface is closed to the path then there will be hook spin...however if at same time the clubface is closed to the target line...then hello pull-hook, or pull-draw. I hope this is not me splitting a follicle, but separate identities is a "biggie" for me.

not talking ball flight laws here
 

Okie-
I think we're talking aiming point. Aiming point on the planeline. I took for granted that we're on-plane, so closed is closed to the planeline. As you say, closed to the planeline will produce some kind of hook-spin.

I just say that, I don't think that an aiming point before the ball is needed because of the wish to hit up with the driver.

...and, I think there is some kind of relationship between launch-monitor numbers, the idea of hitting up and the need for open-faced drivers.

video
 

I hope it's OK to link to this other forum:
(else, please erase this post)

Here David Orr explains pressure points, power accumulators, and aiming point, and why it's different for wedges to driver:


http://www.orrgolf.com/video/powerpack1n2.wmv