Flipping in Golf – A Misunderstanding?
There are many ways to execute a golf swing. In the old-school style, where the swing arc drives the motion, allowing the club to overtake the hands, aka flipping in golf, is actually a good thing.
A Power Source in Disguise
Flipping often has negative connotations, but in reality, it’s a power source. When you let the hands brake and the club overtake, you stimulate centrifugal force, creating effortless power.
The braking mechanism that occurs is actually allowing the centrifugal force to show itself and if you perform the motion in a smart centripetal (centrifugal counterpart) position you will release even more power. Long story short, performing the strike and the flip with lower hands is in most cases benificial.
The Confusion and Misunderstanding
The issue is that flipping is often confused with breaking down the wrists, but these are two very different concepts. The biggest flaw in golf is that you fail to shut down (square up) the clubface early enough in the downswing. This puts your entire athleticism in “rescue mission mode” which in turn will create that you do basically anything to get the ball in your intended direction. Many times this leads to the wrist breakdown = that you raise up your hands and make them almost go backwards which adds loads of dynamic loft and actually takes out loads of speed from your strike. A premature climax so to say.
The flipping isn’t a wrist breakdown but an earlier clubface shutdown that then avoids this “rescue mission mode” and just allows your club to overtake your hands in a more efficient motion = more speed.
I believe the concept of shaft lean is partly the culprit with thinking that flipping is wrong. You can flip with true loft (that your hands are aligned with the ball at impact), with shaft lean (that the hands are in front) or with positive loft (that the hands are behind the ball at impact). This has less to do with your power potential but more to do with your general body positions, low point control ambitions and intentions.
Flipping in Golf – with Control
Use the flip to generate power. Understand the flip, and you’ll also gain control. In MORAD (Mac O’Grady Research & Development) the flip is slightly delayed but still very active. In the old school swinging motion, like the FMM swing, the flip is very intentional and the natural momentum of the club (generated by the flipping intention) actually drags the hands to true loft conditions without you needing to do anything about it.
Swing Development for Real
If you’re serious about swing development, the best question you can ask yourself is this:
Which pattern fits you?
Take the quiz below. It only takes two minutes.
START THE JOURney – FIND YOUR OLD SChool PATTERN
Your inspirations and your subconscious view of the golf swing matter more than anything when it comes to making a lasting swing change. The goal is to find the pattern that fits you best. Take the quiz and check out the best choice for you below:
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