What is the direction of right arm thrust?

[imperfectgolfer]

Consider this thread at LB's forum.

www.lynnblakegolf.com/forum/thread7172-2.html

A forum member made the following statement-: "The paths of the clubhead/Hands are not perfectly straight but these observations hold in the real world in that Thrust is always straight line by definition."

Why should a golfer believe that any right arm/forearm thrust action must be in a straight line direction?

I believe that this "TGM-belief" is a fallacy that doesn't have any biomechanical basis. I believe that when the right arm straightens in the late downswing that it supplies a thrust force that is dictated by i) the movement of the right arm's joints and ii) the movement of the right shoulder (launching pad for the right arm's straightening action). In the late downswing, just prior to impact, the left hand is pulling the grip end of the club up-and-inside - due to the fact that the left shoulder is moving up-and-away. At the same time, the right elbow is straightening and the right palm is pushing in a direction that is down-and-out-and forwards. The direction of the right arm's thrust force (via the right palm) is dictated by the anatomy of the right elbow joint and the direction of movement of the right shoulder socket - and I believe that the thrust force has a curvilinear vector and not a straight line vector.

I also believe that the movement of the grip end of the club just prior to impact is dictated by these two forces (the left hand pulling the club and the right palm pushing the club) and that the vector of movement of the grip end of the club is dictated by the relative magnitude of these forces (which vary depending on whether one is a swinger or a hitter or a switter).

Jeff.

[Richie3Jack]

I believe in general if you thrust the right arm, you will most likely see the HSP move out to the right as well. I know this based on my own personal experience and talking to others with the same problem. Of course, you can still hit the ball quite well doing this but I don't think the right arm thrust is in a straight line mainly because the right shoulder tends to move down in a fashion that I believe causes the right arm to go out to the right as well as the clubhead's HSP.



3JACK

[imperfectgolfer]

3jack

I agree that a golfer will have a tendency to swing out-to-the-right through the impact zone when using a right arm thrust action. I believe that this phenomenon is a natural consequence of the right arm moving across the torso in the late downswing, which requires a significant amount of internal rotation of the right humeral head in the right shoulder socket. There is natural resistance/impedance to this internal rotation movement, and a golfer has to pivot well in order to get the right shoulder moving far enough downplane to decrease this natural biomechanical resistance, so that a golfer can more easily "swing left".

Jeff.