Harvey Penick Reveals the Truth About Golf?

An excerpt from Harvey Penick's "Little Red Book," entitled The Magic Move:

"If there is any such thing as a Magic Move in the golf swing, to me it is an action that I stress over and over on the practice tee and in this book.

You have heard it from me many times by now, but I will say it again - to start your downswing, let your weight shift to your left foot while bringing your right elbow back down to your body.

This is one move, not two.

I've read books and magazines that offered the "secret" of The Move. The secret takes different forms for different players. For Ben Hogan the move is pronating. For Byron Nelson the move is a lateral shift and not pronating.

There really is no one Magic Move.

But when you learn the left foot-right elbow move I have described above, you will hit the ball as if it is magic."

In another part of the book (which I could not find to quote), he goes further into detail about the left foot: he thinks your left heel should NATURALLY come off the ground just slightly during the backswing (don't force it to!); the left foot-right elbow move is returning the left heel to the ground and the right elbow to the body simultaneously.

I tried this this weekend without ever having practiced it on the range. Well, the first day I used it, it was impressive. The second was just insane.

It has resulted in an immediate and absolutely dramatic positive change in my game - much longer drives (by 20-30 yards) and dramatically improved ballstriking. I would love to have some of you try it and tell me what you think.

Thanks,
Mike

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Mike Ryan
Rhinebeck, NY

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"You can talk to a fade, but a hook won't listen."
- Lee Trevino

Sounds interesting, what does 'pronating' mean btw?

I couldn't resist looking it up as it sounded a bit saucier than it actually is.

To Pronate (verb) means either: -

1. Turn hand palm down. transitive verb to turn the hand or forearm so that the palm faces downwards

or,

2. rotate foot inwards. transitive and intransitive verb to rotate the bones of the foot so that the weight is borne mainly on the inside of the foot.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.
Lee.

Yep those sound like very good tips, for weight transfer and for keeping the angle between right forearm and shaft small. Good things to keep in mind definitely

The results I had were absolutely drastic - long, long and straight drives and some incredibly crisp iron shots. I would really like to see if anyone else sees similar results.

I tried it and couldn't hit the ball. It felt like a sway to me.

Interesting. I'm glad to get another opinion. The more I think about it, I really focused on just returning the right elbow to my right hip and not so much (if at all) on the left foot part.

Maybe just try thinking about bringing the right elbow back to the body to start your downswing and see what that does.

I have a view on this but its probably against what you are feeling

I believe firmly that most amateur golfers cannot start the downswing their lower bodies, all this does is have people lose balance, or spine angle

What you may be doing by lifting your left heel off the ground is getting the right amount of movement off the ball (Jim Mcelans Y factor), thus really strengthening your backswing movement. My guess is this is where all your new found power is coming from

Stick with it though, whatever works !

Played 18 today and really focused on this technique (I brushed my left hip with the inside part of my left elbow on the downswing (left-handed)) and kept a slow backswing/top of downswing and the results were great, I was crushing my driver, hitting crisp irons and pitches, my only problem was putting which after numerous 3-putts I ended up with an 85

So it worked for you, too? That's great! What is your normal score? Was 85 better or worse?

As I said, I hadn't even practiced it on the range yet when I first went out onto the course with it, and I had remarkable results. Went to the range last night and was hitting it awesome.

The only thing that has me mad is that my game is coming together... and it's SEPTEMBER!!! ARGH!!!

How do you brush your hip with your elbow if you're standing up? My elbow comes nowhere near my hip.

I guess because I have long monkey arms... I donno. If the inside of your elbow doesn't reach to your hip I guess grazing the right side (just above the hip (for right-handers)) on the downswing will get your right arm in the correct position.

mr3856 - I am around a 12 handicap, so 85 is about normal. Putting is just too abysmal right now to shoot anything lower.

Ben Hogan used to not put anything in his right-hand pants pocket because it got in the way of his golf swing. He also used to wear out the right elbow of his shirts from brushing his side, just like you described.

I'm heading out for the course right now, trying to build on Monday's 92 after 2 good practice sessions Thursday and Friday. Wish me luck!

Mike

Hi Todd,

You are bent at the waist, and on your downswing your right shoulder would be lowering. Shouldn't your right elbow be at least grazing your belt around the right hand pocket?

I don't know if it should, but it isn't. My right elbow grazes my side, but well above my belt--at least 4 inches above it.