"If the hands and arms are the transmission of the swing, in that they transmit power to the clubhead, then the source of that power, the engine, is body action.
And the fuel for the engine is torque, the turning of the body around the axis of the spine under a steady head. I like to compare body action in the golf swing to the winding and unwinding of a spring.
Working as a swinging unit, the arms, wrists and hands supply some power to the shot, although their main function is to transmit to the clubhead the much greater power generated by the winding and unwinding of the body.
The wrists cock and uncock purely as a result of centrifugal force created by the weight of the clubhead and the swinging of the arms. Doing things deliberately with your wrists is a sure way to founder your game.
Every good golfer in history has swept the club through the ball fast and freely with his arms. Playing golf is simple - it's two turns and a swish.
Henry Cotton says "use the hands" - that therein lies the key to golf.
I would agree with him if...
The golf ball cannot be struck powerfully and accurately with any action other than that comparable to the wind-up and release of a coil spring. "
"It is a common fallacy that the longer the swing, the longer the ball driven by it. One further point, and a most important one, although I have never seen it brought out in any of the previous text-books.
As the club comes down on the ball, do not allow the left elbow to swing out and away from the body. It must be kept back so as to allow of the "snap of the wrists" at the crucial moment when the ball is struck.
A favorite phrase nowadays is "timing the club," by which is meant the securing of the full power of wrists, arms and body at the moment the actual hit is made. The phrase is a good one, but unless the coach can explain how to bring about this desirable result the mere words will not help the beginner much.
My theory is that this "timing" is dependent upon keeping back the left elbow, thereby enabling the full force of the stroke to be brought into the ball.
We are now ready for the two-handed swing with the driver. I consider that distance depends, in large measure, upon the way the wrists, and especially the right one, come into the stroke at the moment of hitting.
This, at least, is my theory."
"It has been said that the power which drives a golf ball is centrifugal force. It is not centrifugal force.
The hands are the main driving force. The ideal swing is a moderate arm and shoulder sweep plus a terrific wrist snap.
The power we get from the right arm is in the form of a right fore-arm slap, and not in the form of a right hook punch from the right shoulder as in boxing. The majority of players who fail in transmission of power do so because their left hands fails to act as a fulcrum for the right hand to strike against. The left hand must bear back against the right.
This back pressure of the left hand must be exerted at the moment of impact if you are to overcome the resistance of the ball.
Use your hands i.e. prevent leverage collapse."
ORIGINAL GOLF FUNDAMENTALS DUNNS' FIVE LESSONS
As Presented To UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION 1937
"I don't think the fundamentals will ever change. As far as applying power goes, I wish that I had three right hands!
On a full shot you want to hit the ball as hard as you can with your right hand. But this is only half the story.
If you hit hard with only the right and let the left go to sleep, you will not only lose much valuable power, you will also run into all the errors that result when the right hand overpowers the left.
The average golfer's problem is not so much a lack of ability as it is a lack of knowing what he should do. The left is a power hand too."
'BEN HOGAN'S FIVE LESSONS
THE MODERN FUNDAMENTALS OF GOLF' 1957
"When I studied Bobby Jones's swing I found that his hand action was particularly slack and loose. Yet, when people asked him about it, he said there was a buffer action in the swing.
He wrote about this, but I do not think that many understood what he meant. In other words, there was in his swing a sort of left hand against the right, a resistance to the right somewhere, and I think people overlooked that, and still do.
Now, when a lot of players today write on the game, they ignore it too.
No golfer is better than his hands. I repeat this statement often.
Yet we have thousands upon thousands of golfers looking for something else wrong in their swing when they mishit the ball.
They do not want to know about the hands."
"As Jones turned around this solid-left leg post and his shoulders and hips continued to uncoil, it was obvious that like all good players he blanked out.
Jones realized what all fine players know is true about the downswing motion: once centrifugal force takes over, the wrists start to unhinge and the right arm begins to straighten, and the club accelerates toward the ball. By just letting the downswing happen and allowing no conscious movement of the club with the hands, Jones was able to consistently bring the clubface solidly into the back of the ball at impact.
Although Jones' downswing operated, to a large degree, on automatic pilot, he was well aware that the left arm and hand play the lead role in guiding the club into impact, while the right arm and wrist provide the power.
For the right side to create oomph in the hitting area, your right arm and right wrist must straighten.
If these vital moves are not happening at the right time in your swing, follow the advice of golf instructor Peter Croker: "Concentrate on flailing or throwing the club at the ball."
This dual action that Jones compared to the ones used in cracking a whip will help you increase clubhead velocity and allow you to hit the ball further."
"Henry Cotton, my boyhood hero, was considered so great that Dunlop named a golf ball in commemoration of one his rounds - a stunning 65 in the 1934 Open Championship at Sandwich.
That was by three shots the lowest round of the tournament and it just about summed up Henry in his heyday - a class apart. Even though I was only a boy I can remember to this day how impressed I was.
There was such wonderful rhythm in his swing and such crispness in the strike.
Seeing Henry play was one of the best things that could have happened to me as a young golfer. It inspired me...
He always used to talk about the importance of the hands."
