CAPTURE THE COIL: HARNESS THE POWER OF AN OLYMPIC SHOT-PUTTER
Coach Trevor Broesamle, Santa Barbara, CA
REASON SECRET IS REVEALED:
Coiling your body is more than just turning your shoulders. In order to explode from the top, you need to get your left shoulder over the right thigh.
CHANGE RECOMMENDED:
Picture an Olympic shot-putter in his crouched position, ready to fire. If you mimic some of the basic tenets of that sensation, you're setting yourself up to explode from the top with nearly limitless power.
One of the keys to generating this power is your body alignment at the top of your swing. When you reach the top of your backswing, your left shoulder should have worked its way closer to your right hip. In order for this to happen, the right leg has to brace your weight transition and your shoulders have to turn and tilt into a trunk-twisting position.
OTHER FACTORS:
Careful, you can over-do this coiled position. If your head actually dips on the way back to the top, it's likely you've over-tilted your shoulders in an effort to get coiled. Use a mirror or a partner to ensure your head isn't bobbing like a rubber ducky in a tempest.
RESULTS TO ANTICIPATE:
Maximizing the coil in your backswing takes the pressure off the hands to do the swing and allows the more powerful parts of your body to contribute to the swing. The added distance from perfecting this move is not only repeatable, but significant.
COMMON FALSE STARTS:
Some people mistakenly think that just by getting the shoulders turning, the true power of the trunk is being tapped. This is only true if the left shoulders works down and back. Just imaging crunching up the distance between the left shoulder and the right hip.
