Greg Norman's "secret"

I can tell you guys that Greg's right
hand drill had an enormous beneficial
effect on my shots. I wrote it up and
posted it under "general discussion"
where few people look:
http://www.golf-tuition-online.com/g...s-you-man.html (Greg Willis, "You are the man!")

Mariner,
By straightening at bottom you have cast the club. Keep the right wrist bent and make your body turn the club through the ball. Good Luck
Mike Howard PGA

How can anyone who has looked into the golf swing in any depth not realize that the trailing wrist should be in a cupped position and the leading wrist firm and slightly supinated at impact ? Maximum conservation of energy is maintained in the transfer from club to ball. Motion of the trailing wrists is up and down, but in the cupped posture. I can maintain a firm left wrist at impact, but the heel of my right hand sometimes separates from the top of my left hand, allowing the right wrist to lose the cupping posture. Maybe using something like 'the secret' could help, but I don't have much faith in training aids.

If I could just chirp in here for a moment. I too purchased a "secret" after hearing others' testimonials and I too had trouble using it. I understood where good players hands were at impact but could not get my hands ti respond even with the secrets help.

I believe that some people (including myself) have a hard time convincing themselves of what are the correct feelings in the golf swing. However I have managed to improve by using couple of other drills which are great impact drills which I got from a D. Leadbetter book.

Anyway if you'd like to try them out here they are:

1) Either indoors against the base of a door jamb or outdoors against the base of a wall get into your impact postion with the head of the club end of the wall or the jamb of the door frame. Whilst maintaining your good posture and having your chest over the ball try and pull the club along your target line by rotation of your shoulders under your chin. You'll find that the club will depress forward, delofting it and the left wrist will flatten out. There will be a slight angle in the right wrist as the right hand is pushing the handle of the club forwards at the same time. If you can, practice this feeling then immediately hit a ball then go back and do the drill again. This should give you the feeling of really nipping the ball of the turf.

2) The second drill is a little hard to explain so bare with me. Addressing a wedge, take what is known as a cross / kack / hurling grip where the right hand is on top of the left. Make sure the right hand is positioned where by you can see at least 3 knuckles. Put your left hand on the grip as normal. Take some slow short practice swings and cock the club as normal. When swinging down hold the cock in the right wrist as long as possible, even see the hands go ahead of the ball and then release. The result will be that you'll see how the left wrist is flat through impact If you try just chipping a few balls like this you'll see how nice a contact is made and also how low you can hit the ball.

Again try the drill then try hitting a few balls then go back to the drill for a 'feeling refreshment'. etc, etc.

sometimes I think its just finding the right practice technique for you, I know these two drills helped me greatly in terms of impact feeling, Hope they help.

Where can I find Gregg`s Right Hand Drill?

These posts are very interesting to me because I remember Homer Kelly, the author of "The Golf Machine" telling some of us that he discovered from his research that what made the difference in beginners who after playing and practicing a while struggle to break 90 and those that started the same way but quickly got their scores into the low 80's where they then had to sharpen their short games to progress farther. He said it was that the players that got good in a short time naturally kept the back of their left wrists flat through impact. The others flipped their wrists towards the ball, which broke down the back of their left wrist at impact. Keeping the bend in the right wrist seems to be easier than trying to maintain a flat left wrist throughout the swing.

I had a Norman secret golf aid when it first came out. That was one of the first swing aids I can remember and I understood its' purpose. However like a lot of things I didn't stick with it because it was too hard for me to swing on the course without getting too much tension in my swing. I wish I had stuck with it because I am still trying to do better at keeping the "flying wedge" (S&T terminology).

It definatly is not something that is easily adapted. I would guess that 75% of all the students understand it's concept. Of those, 25% use the aid off-and-on as a reminder and the others go back to their natural feel with some resemblance of the idea still there. Then there are those that go the whole way using it before just about every practice session and warmup on the course. I am one of those. I confess needing it to remind me -- as unformfortable as it is at first, after about 5 shots it resets in and allows a relaxed setup and full swing. Once that is reestablished, I can go the rest of the day without it. But the most important thing for me is getting it on right away and not straying.

What is most noticable is that it is not the hands that this gadget changes but the full hip-torso-shoulder swing through the ball. Forcing the hands into this position at setup and throught the swing CAUSES the rest of the body to perform at it's max potential to be able to hit the ball straight.

What is very interesting about this game is in a players ability to immediatly counter react to minute adjustments. Left alone to attempt to take a different approach to a failed attempt, the player usually takes the path of least resistance. This is inevitably adjusting the hands in some way...but not in the setup -- it is in the use of them in the motion of the full swing. Flipping the wrists shut to counter a bad turn resolves the problem and the ball goes straighter then before (ususally to counter a slice). This is seen as a success and this flip action is perfected. They get pretty good and adopt this style.

Changing the body first, and making a "big" change there is quite radical in the head...not a normal attempt to counter react a slice. Because not only do you have to rotate more into impact, but you also have to lag the hands back. Two changes. Yikes. Put the secret on, and you are forced to change at least one...the setup. This is now left for the player to manually adjust only one. Much easier. But you have to get past the radical feeling of the hands at address.

One last comment I find important. Grip. The trailing hand likes to go into it's position first for most. This dominates the rest of the setup. The leading hand can adjust the "strength" all it wants, but until the trailing hand adjusts, the swing will adapt the style of the trailer's position.

I like the trailing hand to sit on top of the grip, and in the finders. I relax the elbow and this creates the cup in the wrist. This is a perfect impact position when fully rotated. The hard part is that you are not at impact when setting up. So this is seen as unnatural. Once you get past this point and allow this to be natural, the rest is gravy.

__________________
I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

Thanks Greg. I ordered the Secret today - I could only get it in America - doesn`t seem to be available here in the UK. I note that the ad states that it is for chipping, pitching etc, but I take it that it can be used in the full swing?

Also, I watched your video in the clip. You state that the cupped right wrist should be maintained throughout the whole swing. Surely the right wrist should straighten out at some stage? Sorry if this seems a stupid question - I`m sure you have answered it somewhere before. Thanks, Arny

How does all of this tie in with the 3 skills method? It`s just that the 3rd skill is about opening and closing the clubface - is this not swatting? I`m really confused about all of this. Any thoughts to help me see this more clearly would be very much appreciated.

The difference between the closing of the clubface and flipping is this. Depending on what system you are using the clubface can close naturally by the body turning through the shot, manipulaton of the forearms, or many other ways. The back of left wrist remains flat as the forearms roll through impact. That closes the clubface and is ok and necessary. (must be careful not to overdue it.)

Flipping is losing the flat condition of the back of the left wrist and not only throws the clubhead off plane it can also can increase loft through impact and decrease swing speed.

I hope this helps

Thanks Grey. Well explained and very helpful.

hi greg, everyone, interested in greg normans secret, but also noticed a training aid for use with the left wrist..keeping alignment correct..greg, which one is more important through the swing, many thanks for your excellent advice right hand drill..

This may be unconventional and is normally poo pooed by people but I maintain that the wrists can be used in a swatting type movement such that it boosts head speed and keeps the clubface directed towards the target slightly longer through impact.

The problem with swatting is that when associated with a reverse pivot it compounds the issues of trying to scoop under the ball. If the weight is transferred correctly and the body parts stacked in the right order through impact then flipping or scooping under the ball does not happen.

The right hand can be pushed under the left creating what is called a "Puck" release. This is similar to the action an ice hokey player uses to propel the puck across the ice at high speed. Imagine at address you have a piece of string with one end tied halfway up your right forearm, the other end tied tightly half way down the clubshaft. As you come through impact work the right hand under the left in the manner used by the ice hokey player, imagine that you will snap the string as the clubhead pushes forward of the hands just past impact. The wrists will then continue to rotate into the follow through.

I have used this method and if used correctly it is a good generator of additional power. It is promoted by Nick Bradley who is Justin Rose's coach and features in his book "The 7 laws of the golf swing".

Before turning on the blow lamp just think a little about it with an open mind and even give it a try on the range, you may be surpised

__________________
Best Regards
Brian

________________________________
Funny o'l game!