By John Matherly
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We all know the drill - go from the hitchhiker position (thumb up) in the backswing, swing through the ball and uncock the wrists, and then continue on to the hitchhiker position (thumb up again) in the follow through. This is a favorite tip from Davis Love III.
But why?
Here some high school geometry is necessary - BUT - don’t worry. No homework here. I will do the math. The circumference of a circle (your golf swing) is the distance around the outside of a circle.
This is defined in the formula - 2pr , where p (pi) is the value 3 (remember, we are keeping it simple) and r is the radius of the circle which we assume to be approximately the length of your arm - 1 meter (or 1 yard if you are in the USA).
This means the total distance around the cirlce is 2 x 3 (the p in the formula) x 1 meter = 6 meters in total. So if the radius (your arm) turns throught a full circle in only 0.2 seconds, the clubhead speed is 6 meters / 0.2 seconds = 30 meters per second.
So far so good.
Now lets put a golf club at the end of your radius (your arm). And lets use the same values as before. The only difference is that the total radius is not only the length of your arm (assumed to be 1 meter) but now the lenth of the arm PLUS the length of the golf club, or 2 meters (I am assuming a golf club length of 1 meter and your arm length of 1 meter.)
So, 2 x 3 (the p in the formula) x 2 meters = 12 meters in total distance around the circle.
And again, we assume a turning time of 0.2 seconds. The clubhead speed is 12 meters / 0.2 seconds = 60 meters per second!!!! To say this in other words, by starting off with a radius of only 1 meter (hand COCKED) and then EXTENDING the radius out (UNCOCKING the hands), the clubhead speed is DOUBLED without any changing the the timing of your body turn!
In physics, this is called a surface effect. The same rotation speed with generate increased clubhead speeds at increasing lengths of the radius. Yes - for the purists - there are some subtile points I didn’t discuss here. There will be a slight slowdown in the rate of turning to the movement of the center of momentum farther away from the center.
Nonetheless, learn the general principle - Cock / uncock can double your clubhead speed.
Until the next report.
Best regards,
John Matherly
www.swingofchampions.com
http://www.swingofchampions.com/cock-uncock.htm
Article Source: www.ArticlesBase.com
We all know the drill - go from the hitchhiker position (thumb up) in the backswing, swing through the ball and uncock the wrists, and then continue on to the hitchhiker position (thumb up again) in the follow through. This is a favorite tip from Davis Love III.
But why?
