The Tommy Armour Backstroke
 

Tommy Armour didn't make a big deal of 'how' you got the Club back. He didn't care if you had a "One-Piece" Takeaway or if you "dragged" the Clubhead back or if you broke it up sharply. He felt that the Grip, Footwork and Steady Head were done correctly, everything else would take care of itself.

He advocated a Left Hand Control of the Clubhead and Clubface and a Right Hand control of Clubhead Acceleration. To give the Left Hand the necessary authority, he advocated about twice as much Grip Pressuer in the Left Hand than in the Right.

So, considering all the above, my guess is that he allowed his students to take the Club back pretty much any way they wanted...as long as their Footwork was as he prescribed -- Knee Action motivating the Pivot and its Hip and Shoulder Turns -- and that the Left Hand was in control.

His views were completely consistent with TGM, and I will draw those parallels in a later post.

Thanks for your reply Yoda.... I sent you a PM about a swamp visit.

Words to Score by......
 

Play the shot you've got the best chance of playing well, and

Play the shot that makes the next shot easy.

HTPYBGATT, page 14.

few quotes to get this back on track...
 

:read: Just a few quotes with my interpretation based on TGM from the book – an aid to discussion…

GRIP

“ The left thumb is placed down the right side of the grip”

ie. left thumb is “AFT” and in a position to support impact / resist deceleration. Strong single action style grip.

“when fingers of left hand are closed properly to the grip, these are the firm points of pressure you feel” figure demonstrates last three fingers of the left hand.

“hold the club firmly with the last three fingers of the left hand ( as I told you in the chapter on the grip), let the left arm and hand act as a guide…”

Ie. pp2

“ your left guides the club and keeps the face in the desired position….”

STANCE and POSTURE

“The cardinal principle of all golf shot-making is that if you move your head, you ruin body action”

“The steady head assuresyou the balance you must have to allow your body to move properly”

Ie. Stationary head

“Your head is the apex of the triangle of your stance”

“Get the feet and your head properly set at address and keep them in the same relative position throughout the swing, and you’ve got to the core of good golf”

Ie. Pivot centred tripod

IMPACT

“to hit a good iron shot, your club must contact the ball before the sole of the club gets to the bottom of it arc”

“Don’t scoop…hit down and through…”

Ie. Hit it before lowpoint with a descending blow.

“hands are ahead of the ball” at impact

“the more you can get the hands ahead of the clubface in the downswing, the more power you can apply with the right hand”

“If you’ll pause to consider, you will realize that if your hands are behind the ball at impact, you can only scoop the ball up. But if your hands are in front, you’ve got to smash the ball with lightening speed”

All the stuff about right handed smashing the ball makes it sound like a very deliberate active muscle motion (accumulator 1) but he also states

“the late uncocking of the wrists, or the delayed hit, as you may hear the effect called, instinctively causes a decided acceleration of right hand action at the most effective period.
You don’t have to think about the right hand not coming along in time to whip the ball terrifically: it will get there spontaneously”

This puts the right hand smashing stuff in a different context. It is actually a result if natural throw-out action no active muscle power – thus still swinging - ? all 4 barrels??

right knee emphasis?
 

Lynn:

I bought and read this brief golf instruction manual. Much like Percy Boomer's work, there is much here that seems to form the basis for subsequent instruction. It is fascinating to find explanations and phraseology in these older works that have been repeated over the years. One realizes these guys had it right long ago, most likely in no small part because their equipment was much less forgiving, at least compared to what golfers like myself, new to the game in the past 10 years, have experienced.

One item I found interesting is the emphasis on RIGHT KNEE action in the downswing compared to other downswing actions such as weight shift, hip action, the Sam Snead "squat" etc.

Any comments on this particular emphasis? And I would love to see those other parallels drawn--the hand action parallels are obvious, but how do you see this right knee emphasis in relation to TGM?

Parallels
 

Looking forward to those parallels.

Tommy Armour's Golf Swing
 

Thanks for posting this Stroke Sequence, Strav. I had not seen it and find it a superb look at one of the greats of the Game. :)

Another collectible...
 

I just dusted off one of my dad's books..."Six Days to Better Golf" by Harry Obitz and Dick Farley.

Apparently these guys have had some TGM influence through Rick McCord - the content does show some evidence of that.