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Insight - Going Normal In Golf

In this Golf Smart Insight we discuss the different meanings behind "going normal" and what it means in the golf swing. If you have heard this buzz word floating around the chat rooms and are not quite sure what it means, then you need to watch (and share) this video.

Tags: Member Question, Intermediate

WEBVTT

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in this golf smart insight we're gonna

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talk about going normal so so first

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let's define what normal is and that's

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actually fairly tricky because there are

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a couple different ways that you can

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define going normal depending on your

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reference point a normal force is

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essentially a force that's perpendicular

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so in in physics class we always had you

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would start with the equation with

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gravity is going straight down and

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normal force is going straight back up

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at gravity because they're perpendicular

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to each other so the normal force when

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I'm swinging something we can go back to

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head cover swing so if I was to swing

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this object like so essentially what

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will happen is I'm gonna give it a

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little bit of a linear force to kind of

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get it going and then boom I'm gonna get

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into a normal force like so which is

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basically I'm gonna be pulling away from

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the direction that it's rotating and

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that's gonna cause so I'm it's going

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this way because I'm pulling this way

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that's essentially a normal force

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because I'm pulling away from where the

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mass is kind of going out away from me

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okay so how does that apply to the golf

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swing well there's a couple different

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ways that you could define your normal

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force you could define the normal force

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just based on the instantaneous axis

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that the club is swinging around or you

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could define the normal force dependent

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on your body now because of how I look

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at 3d and tend to talk about the golf

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swing I tend to defer more towards

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defining it based on a global scale or

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looking at your body so in the global

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scale a normal force is going to be dead

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up this longitudinal axis so when the

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force is coming straight back towards

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towards me from the shaft the force is

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normal anytime that there is a

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difference between where the forces and

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where the shaft is it would not

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technically be normal it could be going

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normal it could be going away from

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normal but it would not technically be

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normal we're in the instantaneous access

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method basically if the force is not

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going in the direction of the target it

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could be considered normal which there

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was a famous paper by Nesbit and I

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believe he used that method for

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calculating normal force so when I'm

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talking about normal

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what I'm typically referring to is the

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point where everything is kind of being

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pulled out and the force is going

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straight up and down that shaft so at

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that point you're basically going to

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have you've maxed out your ulnar

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deviation you've maxed out your elbow

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extension in our particular case you've

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had some form of rotation to help get

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that even further away from you but

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basically the grip is as far away from

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your body as you can get it and it's not

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possible to have that point the at

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impact and further out at the same time

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so at impact if you were to look at it

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now and if you look at what Sasha and

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McKenzie presented

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there's definitely kind of these

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competing forces that are hopefully

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trying to somewhat balance out so that

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the force is coming somewhere back up

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towards me but it's not completely

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normal if you're using the body as the

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reference point until it gets out in

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this position you feel kind of that

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little bit of a tug now the normal force

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is frequently described as a pulling

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motion and as you saw with the head

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cover swings that makes a lot of sense

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but for some golfers feeling like it's

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pulling motion may not make the most

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sense so here would be the analogy if

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you were doing a pull-up so imagine you

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got a bar above you and you grab it

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you're going to pull yourself up and

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then you're gonna pull yourself down if

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that makes sense to you then yes this is

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going to be a pulling motion because

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essentially what's gonna happen is in

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this pull up I'm gonna use the muscles

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in my back and my shoulders to pull

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myself up and then those same muscles

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are going to be acting while they're

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lengthening or doing what's called an

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eccentric eccentric contraction to lower

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something myself down but the force is

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going through my body are the same

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muscles that pull and so if you were to

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measure them they would still be working

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away from me in a pull direction it's

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kind of what's happening here is when I

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go through and as I'm working towards

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normal the club is moving away from me

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and my elbows are straightening so all

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these things are lengthening out as my

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body works slightly backward so I'm

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pulling even though it's going away from

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me

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so that's where I think some of the

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confusion

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as far as the application of how to go

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normal can happen the the majority of

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the normal force should happen from the

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legs pushing the upper body back and

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away as your arms release and that

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creates this tug on the club what a lot

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of amateurs do is they get to kind of

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this point of no return where you've got

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no access still and be coming in very

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very steep and so they will pull their

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arms in and create the normal force this

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way every golfer virtually every golfer

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I've ever looked at creates a normal

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force down near impact it's just a

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matter of how they do it which is going

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to dictate how much success they're

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gonna have what their swing I think that

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should help clarify what I mean when I'm

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discussing going normal I know that

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everybody else can have different

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definitions depending on their

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perspective I just want to clarify mine

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