Lag in a golf swing is the expression of our submission to technique. Not every golfer can do it. Usually, people who equate distance with backswing length are some of the shortest hitters. It’s not because they lack speed, but solid contact. Again, usually, contact is a path issue.

Our belief that “a turn” is the key to distance makes us do some silly things. For example, we flare out our back foot, swing our arms up, cup our leading wrist, etc. For some reason, in an effort to gain a backswing that has nothing to do with speed production… we destroy our swing.

Lag is evidence of efficiency. Efficiency is economy of motion. Not surprisingly, both effects are an outcome of an Open Stance. Moreover, if you’ve read my book, you know how these things fit into a more perfect hole (sic).

I was watching Moe Norman videos, and stumbled onto Graves’ Moe videos. He and another Moe profiteer were talking about Moe’s sand-game prowess, saying Moe used his Sandy Andy sand wedge so he didn’t have to open his stance. I took special notice, so I scrolled back the video.

Graves and friend said Moe wasn’t comfortable opening his stance. I watched three minutes later and ten minutes later that Moe arranged himself drastically open on EVERY sand shot he hit. Not coincidentally, the two opportunists recommended focusing on the “Motion” in Moe’s swing. Strange, huh?

Lag is a change in plane. Therefore, Graves’ “One-Plane-Swing” is a distinction without a difference. We only have one plane to obey to hit a golf ball, and we need only meet our plane at impact. Furthermore, we can employ the goofiest move on earth to get to impact and be no different than Magic Moe’s “Unique” swing. With enough practice, ANY motion will work From ANY set-up orientation.

However, efficient swings mean less stress on our body to generate powerful, repeatable motion. Certain movement stresses our body and must, therefore, thrown into the failure-ridden, golf-swing-idea dumpster. For example, stressing our hips by torquing into impact to generate power, and posting on our front knee and hip are first among our most egregious stressors.

I fear I’ve rambled away from Lag, but suffice it to say lag requires a trailing elbow inside the trailing hip prior to impact. The next time you get a chance, watch this video. I’ll give Todd some views.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/create-lag/

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/moe-norman-quietly-pursued-answers/

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/first-ill-show-you-are-athletic/

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/second-youre-a-genius/

Our shoulders hook our golf ball, not our hands. How many times have you heard that? Not many, if any. Attention is always focused on what the club or our hands are doing, which distracts from the underlying causality… our set up. Therefore, allow me to explain the chain to your growing brain.

Where does the plane point?

“The plane” points at our interpreted target, regardless of our foot, hips, and shoulders orientation. Of course, that does not mean we OBEY the plane with our movement. Most don’t. Hence, the only common function left for golf instruction publications to address is our clubface and hands, because we all have to hold the club to swing it…. and our club usually has a clubface.

If you’ve ready my book, The Open Stance and Three Short Game Lessons, you know shoulder rotation matters. Shoulder rotation matters because it either guides our club path or disconnects from our club path. However, disconnection is our interest here. Therefore, how does our shoulder/path disconnection work at impact to hook our ball? Let’s start with the most common axioms for snappers.

“I got quick from the top.” “I didn’t finish my backswing.” “I cast the club.” That last axiom is my favorite, because it is common among absolute novices. Most importantly, all of these are either false or athletic incidentals. From whom did we learn to deceive ourselves about our golf swing chain of causality? There is a reason we swing badly, and set-up is always the reason. When our swing is required to correct a set-up flaw – IT WILL FAIL. So… the hook.

When our shoulders open and close too fast to control, we are standing more upright. We stand more upright when the ball is above our feet or we stand too close to the ball. We stand too close to the ball as a self-protective instinct when we are nervous. We are only trying to get our leading shoulder far enough away from our ball to make solid impact. However, in doing so, we have to shallow the steepening of open shoulders at impact. We do it in a split second.

We stand up to shallow our plane, which shifts our path inside-out to our shoulder position. But, our arms and hands are now independent contractors. WE are USING our hands and arms to CORRECT our mistake at set-up. But, it’s impossible. Our brain tells our arms and hands to keep the club face open, but our leading arm rotates with the direction of our shoulders. Our hands flip our club out toward the target, but its too late. Horizontal shoulder rotation has claimed its prize – the dreaded snap-hook.

Why do we stand too close to our ball or find ourselves too close to the ball at impact? Balance could be one answer. We are either keeping our balance or losing our balance, right? Let’s assume we are in balance. What set-up situation allows our swing to be in balance yet promote a leading shoulder bias that is too close to our ball at impact? A closed set-up, of course.

Why do we tend to set up closed? Because our leading shoulder is the only visual reference point between our eyes and the target. The offset between eyes and shoulder (due to neck length) skew our perceptions under stress. We can unscrew ourselves if we practice an Open Stance set-up routine and philosophy. Of course, I’m not suggesting we cannot hit bad shots from an Open Stance. I AM saying we hit far fewer with the same amount of discipline and practice as when we set up square or closed.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/displacing-every-golfers-darker-impulses-with-an-open-stance/

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/open-shaping-lower/

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/open-stance-moves-us-further-from-our-ball-at-impact/

The Open Stance, shaping your shot, and lower scores is the progression. Intention, philosophy, and feedback is the vehicle. And athleticism, instinct, and repetition are the passengers. Will is the driver.

Golfers seem quick to forget that it took time to lose their swings. Over the course of months or years, our swing is like a Macy’s Balloon – ready to exploit the least attentive tetherer. One session of distraction leads to more of the same. Then it’s chaos.

Deliberation at address separates elite golfers from the rest. This is an absolute truth. Professionals have a religious ceremony at address that carries them into their swing. You’ve heard about how important having “a routine” is. It’s not for nothing.

We get hung up on motion as if movement is all a golf swing is. That is bass-ackward thinking. Our set-up CAUSES movement as specific as our attention to our set-up. Therefore, we need PATTERNS to interpret in order to refine our result. Moreover, there is NO WAY to develop a constructive practice regimen WITHOUT isolating and understanding how to interpret shot patterns.

However, if we expend our mental resources adhering to an INTENTIONAL set-up philosophy we will, at a minimum, be able to define our patterns. Then, we’ll find out, unless we like them, how to remediate any adverse results. Our result is lower scores and an ability to shape our shots.

The world of golf needs to stop listening to motion-brokers, and get focus on the set-up sages. The days of subjectivity, creating clients, distracting from knowledge, and smoke-and-mirrors are over. Only those contributing to real knowledge will pass now. It’s not my fault that I am the only one now. But, take heart. There will be more.

Open your stance, and play golf.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/in-a-world-of-motion-sensors-one-idea-stands-out-open-stance/ https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/percentage-golf-with-an-open-stance/
https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/moving-the-same-way-at-a-golf-ball-is-impossible/

How will golf survive without the PGA Tour? How can people enjoy golf without hearing about rankings and money winning!? What will we do without the latest golf news about the ABC, Elite-Only Invitational at The International Inaccessible Golf Club? Oh my God! How will we survive!?

I think we’ll survive by enjoying the game instead of the glamour, the walk instead of the talk, and the self instead of the social. The door just opened to an alternative golfing reality – one where we are allowed to dream a smaller dream… a reachable reality.

Imagine slowly opening your trunk, slowly lifting your bag out while listening to the clack of club heads as they negotiate their potential in your round. Now, imagine walking very slowly to the practice tee… the puttin’ green.. the first tee. Imagine having the golf course to yourself at 10:00am, and enjoying a morning walk down the first fairway with a banana and a coke.

How great would it be to methodically set your bag down, positioning your coke and nanner out of harm’s way, looking back to see no one on the tee, then up into a clear blue sky? Mull over your club choice and make it. Imagine Lee the Flea as you set up Open. Then move with the grace of Jones as you flush down through your ball.

That’s golf.

Open your stance, and play.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/open-stance-stock-market-similarities/
https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/moe-norman-quietly-pursued-answers/
https://www.openstanceacademy.com/golf/anyone-write-about-open-stance-cure/

Set-Up With Motion vs. Motion With Drills

Recently, I’ve been discussing the difference between my teaching and instruction everywhere else, and I came up with this…. I teach set-up, and use motion to help people adapt. Instructors around the world tell people how to move, and use drills to cultivate their desired motion.

To me motion is incidental. Philosophy is primary, because philosophy reveals intention and need. My goal is to empower every golfer to pursue their own, unique solution to an Open Stance. And, no matter what level the golfer, all people are athletic and pursue their solution logically when attached to their sensory systems.

Interestingly, I only recommend an Open Stance to break inefficient swing habits. However, not one self-healer ever turned away from the one, proven best set-up orientation to a square or closed, swing-breaking set-up. Why do you suppose that is? Additionally, why keep it to yourself?

There IS no failure from an Open Stance when balance, leading arm extension, weight shift, plane adherence, and square club face are in tow. Isn’t that wonderful? To know you cannot fail to reach your ball-striking goal via an objective, left-brained solution is unheard of! No more achieving motion with drills!

The Open Stance saves our golfing bodies, creates a flatter swing, more lag, less rotation, equal power, more shaft-lean, distance, and satisfaction with no major swing change! I don’t mandate ANY swing change. I give options to my students and go over the requirements to achieve any given choice of motion-solution. They choose.

Open your stance, and play golf.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

Refer any question to my book.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+open+stance+and+three+short+game+lessons&ref=nb_sb_noss

Sponges Are Indiscriminate
Our Pretending Is Ending
This Is Why Gurbaaz Mann Is The World’s Best Club-Fitter

One of my distant readers and supporters, John Dunn, sent me this video with the words, “Rory Does It Tooooooooooo!” Of course we are always talking about an Open Stance. The following video illustrates the philosophy in the words of World #1, Rory McIlroy.

Thanks, John. This is a great video for another reason, as well. Rory also talks about the adaptive process of improvement and the discomfort that always accompanies change. However, what steadies him while playing in the French Open, during an uncomfortable grip change, is the belief that his ultimate objective – improvement – will come.

Knowing… KNOWING the changes you make will make you better should be enough to sustain us through improvement’s discomfort phase. With enough experience to know we will always adapt perfectly to any stimuli change, we go through the process of fulfilling our intention. We need only doggedly pursue the example of experts like John Wright and Rory McIlroy.

Believe it. You don’t have to worry. With an Open Stance, your ultimate, ball-striking success is guaranteed. My only question is, at what point will you believe history’s immortal golf lesson? And, if not from me, from whom? This is the tip of the iceberg to golf instruction’s Titanic. Wouldn’t it be better to not be on the boat when it goes down?

Open your stance, and play golf.

John Wright – Founder
The Open Stance Academy

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