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What is it that Tiger, Phil, Rory, Jim, Ernie, Bubba and others on tour all seem to have in common? If you said efficient kinematic sequence, you would be 100% correct. I am hoping you are enjoying the exercises from the last two installments. If so you should be seeing better rotation in your pelvis and torso. No doubt that will help your swing, and your power. Today I want to dissect the idea of Kinematic Sequence. Kinematic Sequence is the measurement of the efficiency of your golf swing. There are a number of systems and technologies out there that measure and report kinematic sequence. They all do a pretty good job in terms of accuracy. Clearly some are more precise then others. Some have 6 degrees of freedom, and some 3 degrees of freedom. The former will measure rotation, side bend, bend, sway, thrust and lift. The latter will measure rotation, side bend and bend and allow us to infer the other three motions (sway, lift and thrust) with reasonable accuracy. I am sure there are many who could and will disagree with me on that assertion. It is okay. This is a matter of practicality and business plan and use of this technology. Please forgive me, as I digress, we will discuss swing efficiency in terms of relational acceleration rates. By that I mean how different body parts (pelvis, torso and hand) accelerate and de-accelerate in relation to one another in the golf swing. It would appear that there is at least one common thing among all great ball strikers on this planet. The have efficient kinematic sequences.
You are probably saying “What the heck is that?” Let me see if I can make some sense of it for you. You see 3 colored lines. The red line is the rotational acceleration of the pelvis. The green line is the rotational acceleration of the torso, and the blue line of the hand. The horizontal axis is a time line of the swing. At the far left there is a vertical yellow line…that is set up. As you progress left to right, you come to a heavy black line…that is top of the swing. Finally you continue left to a second black line…that is impact. You see the colored lines going down…that is take away at the left side of the charts. As speed increases the lines move down (in the back swing)…that is speed increases into the take away. As this golfer approaches the top of the swing, speed slows to the point where the 3 lines sequentially cross the horizontal axis labelled “0” Then you see rapid increases in speed and then dramatic and rapid decrease in speed in all three lines. Here is the skinny on these graphs. If we key into 3 or 4 areas we will see all we need to for most of us mortals. First, look at initial takeaway. See how the blue and green lines move together on the efficient graph and how the blue line peels away from the others on the inefficient graph. In the efficient graph the golfers separates his torso and hands from the pelvis on initial take away. This create tension across the body. The right image shows the hand moving away from the torso…no body tension. Next as you look at how the lines approach the first dark black vertical line, you see how they cross the zero line sequentially on the efficient swing. On the inefficient swing they all cross zero at the same time. In the efficient swing you might call this further lag or loading of the body and club at the top and through transition. Inefficient graph you see the lines all superimposed on one another at transition…which means no loading. Next you see three dots, one in each of the colored lines which represents the peak speed of that body part. Notice how they come one after the other from bottom to top in the efficient graph. On the inefficient graph you see the green peak (torso) preceding the pelvis (red) peak. This is a very inefficient way to generate power and generally leads to poor targeting. The last thing you see is rapid slowing down of each segment, one after the other. This causes more energy transfer. As the lower segment slows, it creates a platform for the upper segment to accelerate off of…making any sense. When the acceleration/de-acceleration patterns are shaped like a bell golfers generally hit the ball a mile. I know it seems like a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo. I can tell you this technology has been a life changer for many. It allows us to pinpoint EXACTLY where the power leaks are and what is causing them. How cool is that? I know for sure, 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if I know where the problems gets its roots, I can help a golfer fix the problem. This nails it each an every time. When this technology is combined with a thorough physical assessment magic happens…golfers get better and stay better. Here is the really cool thing. In most cases, there is something physical that is affecting the movement efficiency, and in most of those cases it is physical. Here is an example: Your functional movement test shows a failed pelvic rotation test, weak trail-side glutes, and poor lead hip internal rotation, and your kinematic sequence show poor pelvic acceleration at transition. The fix could be as simple as improve rotation in the lead hip, strength in the trail hip, and clean up the pelvic rotation. In most cases that improves pelvic acceleration efficiency. How cool is that…evidence that by changing the body you improve the efficiency of your swing. Have you been tested on this technology? FitGolf Centers all have this technology and can test you completely. If you want to be tested in an area without a FitGolf Center, please email me and i will refer you to someone in your area. Please let me know if you have any questions. All the best.
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