Radius Control

[PJ1120]

Bryson D supposedly stressed the importance of radius control to an amateur partner in a Pro Am. Does the left arm control the radius if the radius is measured from the left shoulder to the club head? What is the best way to get the radius to bottom out in front of the ball?

[BigBad]

Isn't this just a technical term for maintaining width?

[PJ1120]

Isn't this just a technical term for maintaining width?

 

I've always associated "maintaining width" as a back swing issue.

[juststeve]

The radius that concerns me is the distance from the butt of the club to my swung center. Keeping that constant is the easiest way to get the club to bottom out in the same place every shot.

 

Steve

[glk]

Control sternum location and timing of arm extension. Arms extend in front of sternum so where sternum is located in 3d space when arms extend will determine low point.

[PJ1120]

Control sternum location and timing of arm extension. Arms extend in front of sternum so where sternum is located in 3d space when arms extend will determine low point.

 

 

Is that a Tyler Ferrell concept?

[glk]

Control sternum location and timing of arm extension. Arms extend in front of sternum so where sternum is located in 3d space when arms extend will determine low point.

 

 

Is that a Tyler Ferrell concept?

He certainly has talked about it in a number of his videos but don’t think he is alone or the originator.

[PJ1120]

Control sternum location and timing of arm extension. Arms extend in front of sternum so where sternum is located in 3d space when arms extend will determine low point.

 

 

Is that a Tyler Ferrell concept?

He certainly has talked about it in a number of his videos but don't think he is alone or the originator.

 

Does that mean the sternum is in front of the ball at impact?

[glk]

Control sternum location and timing of arm extension. Arms extend in front of sternum so where sternum is located in 3d space when arms extend will determine low point.

 

 

Is that a Tyler Ferrell concept?

He certainly has talked about it in a number of his videos but don't think he is alone or the originator.

 

Does that mean the sternum is in front of the ball at impact?

Can be depending on club and type of shot. Certainly more so with irons versus driver. I like to do his grip throw drill where you practice throwing a grip (just short 9-3ish) into the ground in front of the ball - if you are throwing the grip only a foot or so in front of the ball you are probably extending the arms early and at the ball - goal is to throw it out about 6 or so feet in front of a or about 30* out in front of a reference ball. Added benefit is that you can do this in your garage, living room, or backyard and not have to chase down clubs, lol.

[mikpga]

[baudi]

Carl Lohren considers radius as a fundamental. The goal of his concept is to maintain the same radius which is the span from the left shoulder to the left hand.

I am pretty sure Mike Austins thought s are close.

[baudi]

???$250 for a golf book???

[mikpga]

This book is geared more towards coaches/instructors...

 

Does a great job of explaining/illustrating TGM-MORAD-Stack & Tilt...

[High Plains Driver]

“Controlling the radius” is just a fancy way of saying low point control. It is basically having the swing bottom out where you want it to.

[mikpga]

Controlling the radius is one of the pieces to help golfers control their low point better...

[High Plains Driver]

The guy was hitting it fat and Bryson tried to move his low point forward (if I read the article correct.)

Controlling the radius covers the entire swing arc, but in this instance, it was referencing low point control.

[Nard_S]

Swing analysis of pro's vs joe's point out several things. Pro's are more open with body at impact and their axial swing center shifts further forward than Joe's. They get their lower spine (tailbone) about 3" more forward in back swing essentially to re-direct angle of radial arc. Upper spine tilts left to keep it centered but essentially returns to address position and the 2 combined net right tilt at impact. Easy to get "more open" if you swing above plane (OTT), difficulty is doing it swinging the club on or below D-plane as needed. Arc control is about width but it's also about controlling the axis it's directed on. In that light it's easy to see how they bottom the swing so much more in front of ball than amateurs. Much of my swing dickering in the past year has been about this because it's been a real big paradigm shift to me. But once pointed out it's real obvious to see in advanced strikers. Not obvious is blend of moves to pull this off. lol. What's also important in "radius control" is quality of rotation going back, pro's have truer and deeper turns which is key to do any of this. So controlling arc bottom is a lot more complex than just maintaining width.

[PJ1120]

"Pro's are more open with body at impact and their axial swing center shifts further forward than Joe's"

 

Nard....can you explain what this means?

[Nard_S]

"Pro's are more open with body at impact and their axial swing center shifts further forward than Joe's"

 

Nard....can you explain what this means?

 

Ha, I'll try. Their hips and shoulders are rotated open quite a bit more. Forget the numbers but shoulder at impact is something like 20 degrees greater than what duffers do. On ac swing, the axial swing plane goes from inside right leg to upper spine on but redirects to left leg on down swing. A pole shift akin to the planet tilting to change our seasons takes place. So when you see high caliber strikers, that pole shift is directed downward and target bound. A key way they get there is shifting tailbone target bound on back swing, then commence re-pivot that is oriented axially front foot to upper spine. So upper spine stays true to "center" throughout but the other end of the axis moves quite a bit.

 

I always held the thought,"swing around the spine" . It's as misleading, wrong and dangerous as" get weight to right foot, get weight to left foot". Pro's do not swing this way at all. "weight shift" is really pressure shift, "swing on center" is about holding upper spine on center, lower spine moves in counter acting way,like your butt is balancing momentum of upper body. How these guys do all this and end up with right tilt and beaver pelt 4" in front of ball is amazing. There's a lot of complexity to make it all look so simple.

 

Recommend watching videos of DJ and pay attention to his tailbone action. Because of his lean muscular build and massive turn, it's more transparent. AMG videos on this stuff is great and much source of my "enlightenment".

[Krt22]

"Controlling the radius" is just a fancy way of saying low point control. It is basically having the swing bottom out where you want it to.

 

Isn't controlling the center of the radius as important as controlling the radius itself?

[High Plains Driver]

"Controlling the radius" is just a fancy way of saying low point control. It is basically having the swing bottom out where you want it to.

 

Isn't controlling the center of the radius as important as controlling the radius itself?

 

I say no. Plenty of pros and great amateurs move off the ball a little, or dip in the downswing before springing back up, or have other movements which move the center of their swing radius around. Their centers are moving, but they have a consistent radius that hits the ground in the right spot.

[Krt22]

That's actually exactly what I'm saying. You can have the correct radius to hit the ground, but if your center is too far forward or too far back, low point won't occur at the proper point in front of (or behind for driver) of the ball. In some cases improper control of the center of the radius is what causes manipulation of the radius itself

[High Plains Driver]

OK, I got you. I thought you were talking about keeping the center steady.

[Moonlightgrm]

Golf clap (applause).

[Conner Golf]

Radius control for a centered swing with the trajectory your club is designed for means keeping your axis point between your shoulders stable, returning your clubface relatively back to set up position, contact and then with your right shoulder plus momentum continuing down to your low point after contact. For shot shaping and change in trajectory your axis point will need to be adjusted (controlled) along with the change in angle and distance from your ball.

[David C]

Maybe it’s about controlling the movement of each of the joints in the body in a specific sequence?

[aggiegolfer21]

In the golf swing the spine tilts back. If a player were to keep the same radius width from hip high to hip high, the angle of attack would be upward every time (causing fat or thin shots). In order to hit down on the ball, the swing radius must be shorter before impact and longer after impact. Of course, the radius at impact much be the correct length so as to connect the sweet spot of the club with the ball. During the golf swing the hands will travel up through impact but the club head will travel down due to an increase in the radius length. This increase is due to an unfolding (extension) of the right arm (left for left handed golfers) and the unhinging or "unbowing" of the lead wrist.

[sundaypins]

On 11/8/2018 at 5:11 AM, Nard_S said:

Swing analysis of pro's vs joe's point out several things... So controlling arc bottom is a lot more complex than just maintaining width.

 

Yes, more involved but it's more complex explaining than doing when speaking about real radius control. 

 

 

 

 

 

[MonteScheinblum]

Shift at the right time and accelerate your arms on time.  For almost everyone, it’s earlier on both.

 

Edited-Fell for it, yet another decade old thread revived.

Edited July 13 by MonteScheinblum

[sundaypins]

 

10 hours ago, MonteScheinblum said:

Shift at the right time and accelerate your arms on time.  For almost everyone, it’s earlier on both.

 

Indeed.

 

10 hours ago, MonteScheinblum said:

Edited-Fell for it, yet another decade old thread revived.

 

Not quite 7 years old, but still a real good thread with great comments.    The inspiration for revival was a faint discussion about radius control in another thread which might have needed clarification and exploring a bit further for some thread participants.   

 

The Steve Young video was specifically time stamped showing Johnny Miller topping a ball on purpose by altering radius while using a good swing.   What would be the timing and sequence know-how for that process which is being called 'real radius control' for distinction?