[havenjm]

Some of the research that I've read (and it may be wrong) got me thinking:
It takes 1/3 of a second for your hands to translate a feel up to your mind, a 1/4 second to process it, and a 1/3 of a second to send it back. (If anyone knows any better data please feel free to correct me). Your golf swing only takes 0.8-1.2 seconds from start-up to impact. What can you really think about in that amount of time? I think we would all agree that Homer was a smart guy but I think another reason it is hard to have downswing thoughts is that the ball is at least 20 feet off your club before you can't do anything about it.
In having this discussion with Joe Daniels, he stated that one of the many reasons Tiger is so good is that he has created a wider freeway lane from his hands to his brain compared to the small alleys that most of us have developed thus being able to save shots with unbelievably educated hands.
Maybe this should go under swing thoughts but as a G.O.L.F. instructor I try to build good address posture, get them to the top with precision and watch'em pose as they finish. I do use the right forearm tracing drill but I try to stay away from downswing thoughts unless that is the only thought they have during the stroke. Tracing works phenomenally with putting too!

I don't know if you're numbers are accurate or not, but I think they're irrelevent to the golf swing. In the golf swing you aren't reacting to anything. If you're visualizing tracing, you are planning ahead. You are anticipating what the hands are going to doing, and then maintaining consciousness throughout the swing. Maintaing awareness is something very different than reacting.

I'm sure that Mr. Kelley would admit that you can't react to anything during the downswing, but I think it's entirely possible to maintain awareness of something you've visualized prior to ever taking the club back. If you visualize a flat left wrist and a bent right at impact, it seems a fairly simple task to be conscious of that position through impact.