JON MANACK PRESS
Anatomy of an Efficient Golf Swing By Jon Manack
Featured article in Golf News Magazine
Be Aware! The wrong advice can compound the potential for injury – hurting your swing and your body.
Bad golf swings have been blamed on everything from lack of talent to lack of flexibility. A bad golf swing can do more than just frustrate you, it can create cumulative physical trauma that can lead to injury. Ironically, the myriad of readily available swing and fitness information may be a major contributing factor causing bad golf swings and injuries.
It's not that all of the information being espoused is bad, the problem is the information isn't always applicable to most struggling golfers. As a result the golfers we see tend to be confused and frustrated with their golf swings. Many are also experiencing physical stiffness, aches and pains.
The potential for injury increases when golf instruction is doled out without an understanding of the potential physical consequences of position and movement. An example of advice that has the potential for negative physical consequences is "Snapping your left knee straight" on the downswing to create faster hip rotation for more power. Not only does this create a chain reaction of movement that can lead to knee, hip and back injury, it is simply not applicable to the majority of amateur golfers who have trouble maintaining proper dynamic posture on the downswing. Body rotation is not the issue – the real issue is their inability to swing their arms fast. Trying to create more speed with their body is the wrong antidote for what ails them and just makes it more difficult to swing the arms properly by creating tension filled manipulation that feels like powerless effort instead of effortless power.
Like any great athlete who appears to perform effortlessly, great golf swings use less motion and effort to create speed. Snapping the knee straight encourages the body to rotate faster necessitating physical manipulations that create inefficient movement and force the body into compromising anatomical positions. By learning to move efficiently, golfers can avoid unnecessary physical stress that can lead to cumulative trauma and injury.
In future articles we will focus on applying only relevant information to your golf swing and identify more examples of widely communicated and accepted advice that is potentially damaging to your golf swing and your physical well being.
Jon Manack is the Director of Instruction for Leap Golf at SilverRock Resort in La Quinta, CA and Shadow Hills Golf Club in Indio, CA. This article contains excerpts from Jon's forthcoming book The Anatomy of an Efficient Golf Swing. For more information please visit www.jonmanack.com or contact Jon Manack at 281-415-6613 to set up an appointment. Published article in Golf News Magazine, October – November, 2007
Anatomy of an Efficient Golf Swing By Jon Manack
Featured article in Golf News Magazine
Stop Putting the Brakes on Your Swing Speed
One of the reasons hybrid clubs have become so popular is because the average golfer doesn't generate enough club head speed to compress the ball with their 3 or 4 iron. Lack of strength and flexibility is usually suspected as the culprit, so off to the gym you go to strengthen your core, lift weights and stretch to increase your athleticism. However, the most common reason golfers can't hit a golf ball as far as they should is because they simply grab the club through impact, slowing it down. Ironically, when a golfer adds muscular effort to control the club face hoping to add power and accuracy, they create tension and the exact opposite happens. Too much tension in the hands and the arms is a form of manipulation and not only slams the brakes on your swing speed – it makes it difficult to achieve a repetitive golf swing.
If you're not hitting it as far as you know you can, you are probably losing speed where it counts the most, through impact. If you are losing speed, you can bet that you have tension in the hands, arms and shoulders on the down swing, as you approach the ball, and through impact. This tension typically originates for two reasons. One being "hit anxiety", which is more psychological and deals with anticipating the strike. The other is tension, which can be caused by the arm and hand manipulation necessary to compensate for bad technique. When you are out of position early in the swing sequence you can intuitively sense that you are in a less powerful position, which subsequently forces you to add muscular effort for power and control.
Because most golfers have never actually felt the proper technique to generate greater swing speed, they instinctively substitute muscular effort, which creates muscular tension. Although the arms feel like they are moving fast, club head lag is lost early which slows club head speed through impact. Many of my students initially say that the changes we have made don't feel as powerful even though they have picked up distance. I explain that they have always equated power with effort and we have now taken the effort out of the swing. What they are now feeling is the speed that results from tension free movement vs. the tension that muscular effort creates.
Remember, regardless of how much strength you possess, when effort is added in the absence of proper technique, you are interrupting the arms' natural ability to swing, rotate and extend, which creates maximum speed through impact. Instead of adding muscular effort, release the tension in your hands, arms, chest and shoulders and resist grabbing and controlling the club through and past impact and you will see that distance comes from speed and not effort.
Jon Manack is the Director of Instruction for Leap Golf at SilverRock Resort in La Quinta, CA and Shadow Hills Golf Club in Indio, CA. This article contains excerpts from Jon's forthcoming book The Anatomy of an Efficient Golf Swing. For more information please visit www.jonmanack.com or contact Jon Manack at 281-415-6613 to set up an appointment.
Anatomy of an Efficient Golf Swing By Jon Manack
Featured article in Golf News Magazine
Tension Free Motion: Loose is Fast, Tight is Slow
In any sport, athletes derive power and speed through tension free motion. Just look at sprinters or swimmers shaking and loosening their body right before the start of competition. The same holds true in golf. Tight muscles are slow muscles whereas loose muscles can react quicker and move faster. Power in golf comes from fast arm speed which creates fast club head speed and ball compression. When we intuitively use effort to add power to a golf shot we tend to tighten, or contract, our muscles. Unfortunately, golf is counter intuitive to other sports and the amount of effort we add to a shot isn't directly proportional to the club head speed and initial ball velocity created. Proper technique using tension free motion will always deliver more efficient power than a lot of effort combined with poor technique. This is how good players achieve the feeling of effortless power vs. the feeling of powerless effort that most amateurs have.
During practice sessions on the range, try this drill to help you become aware of how much tension you have during your swing. At address – prior to initiating your backswing – take a deep breath. As you exhale, relax and drop your shoulders. A large percentage of golfers hold too much tension in their arms and shoulders. Next, make a backswing to waist height and hold your club there. Take a breath, and while exhaling, drop your shoulders again and lose the tension in the arms. Repeat this same inhale, exhale, and relaxing of the shoulders and arms at the top of your swing, half way down, at impact and at waist high post impact. This should give you the feeling of softness in your arms, shoulders, back, and chest that you should strive for during the normal golf swinging motion.
Tension free motion, especially of your arms and shoulders, has several benefits to your overall swing. First, being tension free helps you attain a greater range of motion throughout your swing. Second, because tension free arms and shoulders move faster, you will use less body effort in the down swing to feel powerful. When you use less body effort it is easier to maintain proper body angles and posture throughout the swing which helps you to stay down through the shot in order to compress the ball with maximum efficiency. And finally, tension free shoulders and arms allow you to create the speed necessary to increase your distance. Remember this phrase to keep you aware... Loose is fast, tight is slow.
Jon Manack is the Director of Instruction for Leap Golf at SilverRock Resort in La Quinta, CA and Shadow Hills Golf Club in Indio, CA. This article contains excerpts from Jon's forthcoming book The Anatomy of an Efficient Golf Swing. For more information please visit www.jonmanack.com or contact Jon Manack at 281-415-6613 to set up an appointment.
Featured article in Golf News Magazine
Local Club Pro Shoots 61 For New Course Record.
Jul – Aug – Sept, 2007
"A course record has been recently established by Jon Manack," reports Eric Fisher, PGA Head Golf Professional at Shadow Hills Golf Club. "Jon Manack, LEAP Golf™'s Director of Instruction at Shadow Hills (Indio), shot a course record on May 19th. The round of 10 under par consisted of 8 birdies and an eagle and was witnessed by Jeff Walser, PGA; Greg Leja and Fred Kasten" on the 6,804–yard layout. Jon Manack Manack is definitely a super star in our midst. He has a history of shooting phenomenally low rounds. He holds or has held six different course records (4 in Texas and 2 in California) including a 62 (9 under) at Cypress GC, Cypress, TX and 63 (9 under) at Landmark GC [now Terra Lago], Indio, CA. Golf News Magazine asked Manack what was particularly going right when he shot his historic 10–under 61 at Shadow Hills: "I'm not really good talking about myself, but I hit every fairway, all 14 of them, and all greens except one." Early in the round, he missed four putts from seven feet, or he may well have inked the magical 59. Keep an eye on Jon Manack. In addition to being a widely sought after golf instructor, there are quite possibly one or more 59s in his future and, as he improves his putting, PGA Tour victories included.