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We all know that once you get under the gun, you have to have something simple to think about to operate the machine.

This is what David Leadbetter meant when he asked the question… Does the dog wag the tail, or does the tail wag the dog?

Another way of putting it would be… Do the Hands control the Pivot, or does the Pivot control the Hands?..

I often wondered what Mr Leadbetter meant by this phrase, up until my research led me to Homer Kelley and his book “The Golfing Machine.” Since reading that book a few years back, I’ve made it a point to research his story. Turns out, he only went and “authorized” a load of instructors to teach his findings. One of them is a guy named John Furze, and it’s him who takes the credit for the information that I’m sharing with you today.

He has a great website at www.GolfSwing.au full of blogs on how the machine should work. I highly recommend you go and spend some time there. I’d start by Clicking Here and learning the “Secret To Golf”.

Here’s the basics: and it goes a little deeper than this but use this as a starting point

Hitting = Pivot Controlling The Hands

Examples: Ben Hogan, Jason Dufner

Swinging = Hands Controlling the Pivot

Examples: Justin Rose, Hunter Mahan, Ryan Moore

The Hitters start by moving their right hip and tailbone back behind them. The thrust of their hips during the takeaway naturally produces a swinging of the arms. The handle would tend to be pulled or dragged inside a little more during the takeaway because of this motion. From a Down-The-Line view it’s quite obvious the handle has moved inside the toe line. It’s also obvious when you look down whilst holding the club.

This all starts to make perfect sense when you understand the attachments and pressure points in the swing. There’s 3 in the Hands, 2 around each armpit as the arms attach to the torso, and 2 under your feet as the feet attach to the ground.

The Pivot acts like an engine swinging the arms and hands back and through. As long as the attachments don’t break down (i.e PP4&5 under your arm pits) the Pivot directs the hands.

Whichever procedure you decide on – make sure you do just that, and stick with it. But not before some serious practice experimenting with both.

The idea is to put your mind somewhere.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a Hitter or Swinger you still need to educate your hands.

A Hitter can educate their hands by dragging them Back, Up and In. And then allowing for the pressure to build up in PP#3, before driving their hands Forward, Down and Out.

A Swinger allows their educated hands to steer the ship so to speak. The hands have been educated from the very first moment of the takeaway, and guide the rest of the movements in the arms and body.

Because of this, I’m more inclined to prefer a Swinging motion. The whole move is based around the hands, and the hands are what are connected to the tool. Swingers also tend to be more precise and methodical during the takeaway.

However, a Hitters procedure I believe could withstand more pressure and not break down under competition. It’s just a simpler thought process. However, Justin Rose did a pretty decent job a few years ago under pressure winning the US Open. Your answers on a postcard please.. or below!

If you put your mind in your Pivot a nice central point would be in your hips.

Of course I know all this stuff because I’ve been practicing with both methods for years but never realized. I’m a firm believer now, however, that when you allow your Hands to control your Pivot the results are far superior.

Both procedures should always swing the Handle Inwards during the takeaway.

If you take the handle on the outside during the takeaway there has to be an element of the hands dropping during the transition – ala Lee Trevino. This isn’t necessarily bad – he seemed to get it around the course ok hey! – but it’s not as an effective procedure as swinging the hands Inward to Hit out at it.

When the Handle moves outside during the takeaway this also rolls your left arm more and loses the connection with the left arm against the torso a little (PP#4). Learn about Pressure Points and more here. Also, the hands tend to be too high at the top and the left arm doesn’t match the shoulder plane. This would put you in a two plane swing – where the model is a one plane swing with the left arm matching the shoulder plane at the top.

Now although we want some left arm roll, we can delay it until the start of the downswing as the elbow and left forearm swing Forward, Down and Out in a karate chopping action.

So what procedure is correct? They both are!

It just depends which one you spend your time practicing and perfecting. But it doesn’t matter if you’re a Hitter or Swinger. If your mechanics are ineffective the move will always let you down. The same way being good at the mind over matter stuff doesn’t work unless you’ve got a mechanically sound swing going on.

CLICK HERE and start learning the correct moves. If you’re practicing the wrong moves you’re only getting worse – not improving. The idea of standing on the range and digging the dirt up to improve your game is a myth. It’s madness to approach improvement like that unless you’re actually making changes. Start taking action – Today. 

So there you have it. Are you a Swinger or Hitter? Both are fine. Don’t be shy – tell your story below.