Golf’s In-Swing Thoracic Rotation.
(see this video http://minimalistgolfswingblog.com/golf-videos/ for more on Thoracic Rotation – boon or bane)
It all began when someone told us that something called X-Factor could separate the longest from the shortest hitters on Tour. (Was this X-factor relationship one of correlation or causation?). The X-factor required a golfer’s thorax to rotate much more than the pelvis.
The X-Factor in the golf swing has now been expanded to become the Triple X-factor. It now includes the X-Factor Stretch, which means a further separation between the chest and the pelvis starting down, The Hip Rise which means how much higher the lead hip is at impact than at address, and the Head Swivel, which means turning the head target-wards at impact.
The Search for Perfect the X-Factor is leading golfers to spend time (and money) improving their fitness levels so they can rotate the thorax without rotating the hips (practically dividing the spine into two zones – is that even possible?).
X-Factor Stretch might often lead to a forward-swing slide.
Hip Rise is merely the consequence of a raised right side (for the right-handed golfer) during the backswing, which then has to be dropped down in time for impact, and which often includes the Tiger-Woods-like squat during early down-swing. Why would squat-and-rise be a good thing? It’s not, because the body, during the golf swing is meant to make a rotary movement, not an up-and-down one.
And finally, Head Swivel too is simply a compensation for the left side of the body not being able to clear the way from a squat-rise fast enough.
Why not use the Minimalist Golf Swing which offers natural chest-hip separation (each twists to its own limiting ability because, hey, did you know the thorax naturally has much more ability to rotate that the lumbar spine, pelvis and hip?). The Minimalist Golf Swing even has a natural hip-rise, though not so exaggerated as the traditional swing has. (The traditional golf swing’s ‘rise’ could lead to delivering the club to above the ball’s equator). Hip rise should be a consequence of the swing, not a deliberately incorporated movement. As to head swivel. Truly a no-no, as it requires perfect timing to do on time, and not too early. The good-old ‘keep-your-head-down’ was almost on the money, and should have been ‘keep your head and upper-body behind the ball’.
