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Unifying Transition Thoughts

In this video, I unify two different descriptions of transition in golf. There are conflicting ideas about keeping the arms up and turning the body versus keeping the back to the target and pulling the arms down. However, I believe these perspectives can be reconciled through the role of the shoulder blades. By focusing on the movement of the shoulder blades, you can achieve a smooth transition and improve the connection between the body and arms. Whether you prefer a more rotational or pulling motion, understanding the underlying movement and the shoulder blades' involvement can help you improve your golf swing.

Tags: Transition, Concept, Intermediate

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This concept video is unifying some transition thoughts. So,

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um, on Instagram and YouTube and things like that,

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you kind of hear two polar opposite descriptions of transition. Um,

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and this video is my way of trying to unify what I think that the two different

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sides are saying. Um, cuz you're probably confused. Uh,

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if you try one, it sounds like it's, uh, polar opposite to the other.

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I often think that golf instructors Dr uh,

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describing the golf swing are like the classic, um, uh,

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fable of the blind men and the elephant where, um,

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you have a handful,

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let's say six different blind men all touching different parts of the elephant.

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They're describing the elephant, um, based on what they're,

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what they're holding. So one says it's, it's like a velvet, um, curtain. Well,

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he's obviously holding onto the ear.

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One says it's like a tree trunk he's holding onto the leg. Um,

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one says it's like a rope he's holding onto the tail, um, et cetera, et cetera.

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So when I hear different golf instructors describe different parts of the swing,

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I'm trying to reconcile how it fits with the data, um,

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and how it might be describing it from one, uh, or,

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or one of multiple perspectives. So the two different transition, uh,

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thoughts that you'll often heal here are leave your arms

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up and turn your body kind of as hard as you can.

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Kind of has more of a look like this when it's being exaggerated.

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And the other one would be keep your back to the target and feel like you pull

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the arms straight down.

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Now on paper those seems like they could not be further away from each other.

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They seem like they're polar opposites. Um,

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but what I'm gonna show you is I think they're two different reference points of

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the same movement. Um, and it really ties to the shoulder blades.

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I think the shoulder blades are one of the big missing links in golf instruction

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and one of the, um, core differentiators between different skill levels.

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Um, and in general in transition,

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what I like to see is more of that trail shoulder blade retracting

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and that lead shoulder blade protracting and elevating. So you get,

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you get kind of this swim move like this that helps with shallow as well as

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connection. Um, lots of good things. So from the second perspective,

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this is an easy one where you've heard lots of people describe,

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keep your back to the target.

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If this shoulder stays more up and this one stays more back,

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as my hips are turning, it's gonna feel like my back stayed to the target.

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So if I bring this arm down,

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it doesn't lower as much as it could. If,

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if my goal was actually to bring the arm down,

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then I would bring it all the way to my side.

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If I'm just trying to bring it while it's across my body,

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I'm limited in the range of motion. Um,

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so that's about as far as I could pull down. And so while I'm doing that,

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I feel like a good connection, um, on my RAs and my pec,

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some of the inside shoulder muscles. Um, but it will have a feeling of,

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of pulling down with the arm cuz it's really hard to overdo if the shoulder stay

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in good alignment.

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If on the other hand I actually was trying to pull down my arm, um,

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eventually instead of staying this way,

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that shoulder would start pulling back and I would pull it down to my side or

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even behind it, kinda like this.

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So back to the target and pull down helps keep that left shoulder

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from pulling and, uh, helps get the arm connection really good.

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That is the opposite of that lead shoulder pulling down,

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um,

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or the shoulders kind of reversing that tension and leading the downswing.

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Now the second idea is spinning the lower body

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and keeping the arms up. So again,

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if I'm feeling this would be a reference of pulling the arms down.

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If I feel like I'm keeping my arms up,

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one of the ways to do that would be to increase that connection.

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And if I'm keeping this shoulder closed,

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I'm gonna feel like my hips and my my legs are leading the downswing,

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like they're turning pretty aggressively.

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So from the shoulder blade perspective, if I do the same movement,

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if I'm feeling more of the core and the hips,

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I could feel like I'm spinning while that arm stays up.

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If I'm feeling more of the arms and my,

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I'm not really aware of what my legs are doing,

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I might feel like the back stays to the target and the arm is pulling down.

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So I think that those two different descriptions based on the,

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like the actual data and my understanding of some of these, uh, fascial lines,

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um, I think that they're actually describing the same thing. Um,

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so if you're struggling with it, I think it can be helpful to know how to,

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um, look at yourself on video and decide which one might make more sense to you.

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If you are going into more of a early extension kind of slide movement like

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this,

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well you might do better trying to get your hips to rotate and feel like the

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arms stay a little bit more back. Um,

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if on the other hand you are seeing your shoulders kind of spin

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really aggressively, kind of like this and the club is getting thrown out there,

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then you might feel better feeling like your back stays to the target and the

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arms pull down,

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especially if you can build a little awareness in feeling it kind of in the

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shoulder blades more like that. So hopefully this helps you understand,

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um, how to navigate or interpret these different fields.

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It you want to start by understanding what the actual movement is and then

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depending on where you're coming from, you could have two polar opposite fields,

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but you're trying to do the same movement.

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Build a good efficient body powered golf swing. If you know how to feel both,

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then I can kind of, all right,

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I'm gonna encourage more of that lower body turn on this one.

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So I'm gonna feel like the core stays back.

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That felt pretty good today. Um, and now on this next one,

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now that I've kind of predisposed my hips to start this,

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I'm gonna feel more like the arms are pulling down here,

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but that's more of an emphasis and a feeling of this lead shoulder, um,

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getting connected. So we're gonna go up and we're gonna feel more.

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And that gives me a little bit more draw because for me it does feel like

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I don't get my lower body to lead quite as aggressively. Um,

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but overall it connects the dots, um, helps me with building my overall pattern.

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So don't search for feels. Understand what you need to do,

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look at the video to see where you're at and then experiment with feels that

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might likely move you closer to the model.

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That's the way to make real progress with your golf swing.

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