The First Part of the Swing(4)

Throughout these lessons we have placed special emphasis on the fact that the golf swing is, in principle, a continuous chain of actions. Like the component parts of the engine of an automobile, the component parts of the swing fuse together and work together in a purposeful sequence. As each component performs its part of the operation, it sets up the proper operation of the other components with which it is connected. I bring this up at this particular point, for if a golfer clearly grasps the interrelationship of the hands, arms, shoulders and hips, he will play good golf-he can’t help but play good golf.

On the backswing, the order of movement goes like this: hands, arms, shoulders, hips. (On the downswing the order is just reversed: hips, shoulders, arms, hands.) On the backswing, the hands, arms and shoulders start to move almost simultaneously. Actually, the hands start the clubhead back a split second before the arms start back. And the arms begin their movement a split second before the shoulders begin to turn. As a golfer acquires feel and rhythm through practice, the hands, arms and shoulders will instinctively tie in on this split-second schedule. The main point for the novice is to know that they do start back so closely together that their action is unified.

自始至终，我们特别强调挥杆是一串连续的动作，就像汽车发动机的组件，挥杆需要的身体组件融合在一起，共同连续作用，每一个组件完成自己的功能，并与其他组件一起构建成整个运作。我要再次提醒，如果一个球手掌握了手，手臂，肩膀和胯部的相互协作关系，他不可能打不好球。

上杆时的顺序是这样的，手，手臂，肩膀，胯部。（下杆的顺序相反，胯部，肩膀，手臂，手）上杆时，手，手臂，肩膀几乎是同时开始移动的。可以这样理解，手比手臂早了一刹那，手臂又比肩膀早了一刹那，手，手臂和肩膀下意识地按着这个一刹那的时间表互相配合完成上杆，通过不断的练习，一个球手能感知这个微妙的节奏，对于一个新手来说，须要牢记一点：上杆几乎是一体的。

On the backswing the shoulders are always ahead of the hips as they turn. The shoulders start turning immediately. The hip do not. Just before your hands reach hip level, the shoulders, as they turn, automatically start pulling the hips around. As the hips begin to turn, they pull the left leg in to the right. Now let us examine these actions in closer detail.

The shoulders. You want to turn the shoulders as far around as they’ll go. (Your head, of course, remains stationary.) When you have turned your shoulders all the way, your back should face squarely toward your target. (Sam Snead, who is gifted with an unusually supple frame, can turn his back a shade farther around than this. This is fine. The more you can turn your shoulders, the better.) Most golfers think that they make a full shoulder turn going back, and they would challenge you if you claimed they didn’t, but the truth is that few golfers really complete their shoulder turn. They stop turning when the shoulders are about halfway around; then in order to get the clubhead all the way back, they break the left arm. This is really a false backswing. It isn’t backswing at all. A golfer can’t have control of the club or start down into the ball with any power or speed unless his left arm is straight to begin with. When he bends his left arm, he actually performs only a half swing and he forfeits half his potential power. More than this, he then is led into making many exhausting extra movements that accomplish nothing for him.

上杆时，肩膀总是先于胯部转动，上杆一开始，肩膀就转动，胯部不转。当手到胯骨的高度时，肩膀就自然地带动胯部转动，胯部的转动带动左腿向右。下面我们来分解动作。

肩膀  尽量转动（不是移动），同时保持头部稳定，当肩膀转到位时，后背正对目标，（山姆-斯尼德，天生非常有弹性的身体，能比常人转的更多，这实在太好了。肩膀转动愈到位愈好。）很多球手以为他们转到位了，如果你指出他们其实没有到位，他们会很不服气。实际情况却是这样：很少有球手的转肩能到位。通常转到一半，左臂就屈了，这样杆似乎已经转到位，其实这是错误的上杆，简直就不能叫上杆。球手的左手必须是直的，否则杆就不受他的控制，击球既没有速度，也就没有力量。当球手屈了左肘以后，他实际上只上杆了一半，他一半的能量用不到挥杆，很吃力，但事倍功半。

An excellent way to check that you are making a full shoulder turn is this: when you finish your backswing, your chin should be hitting against the top of your left shoulder. Just where the chin contacts the shoulder depends on the individual golfer’s physical proportions. In my own case, it’s about an inch from the end of the shoulder. My golf shirts have a worn-down spot at this particular point.

有一个方法可以检查是否转肩到位，上杆完成时，下巴正好顶着左肩突起的骨头，具体顶在哪，因每人体格而异，我经常顶到的部位离开肩头一英寸，我每一件打球的体恤，在这个地方有一块磨痕。