Here’s something. Google this creepy, grotesque-looking fellow named a “homunculus”. We are sorry if you find him a little too creepy, but this will help us think more clearly about golf swings. He’ll also show us where to put our focus to learn how to play better golf. The homunculus, a fictional model of a character that is useful for neuroscientists or biologists, can be used as a reference point. A representation of how many motor nerves are distributed in the human body is called the homunculus. An area with lots of nerves is represented as large. A smaller area with more enervation is proportional. You can see the size of their hands. They’re huge!
It is clear that nature wants us to use the hands since our hands have received a great deal of enervation. In everyday life, we see this as true. It is mostly with our hands that we interact with the environment. With our hands, we use the keyboard and mouse. We also write. We drive. We eat. We work. We also cook. We cook with all our hands. Nearly everything that we do physically is done largely using our hands.
This should not be the case with golf swings. The hands are an important part of the golf swing. If we ignore them, we will be ignoring all the nature has given us. Our homunculus diagram shows that this is a significant allocation. We lose a lot of control and feel. You have the ability to feel and control your golf ball and strike it accurately, whenever you want.
We can see that nature did not forget the hands. Golf instruction is a lot like that! The large amount of energy given to the hands shows that nature meant us to use our hands more than our bodies. Golf instruction focuses mainly on the body’s role in the swing. This can lead to the hand being almost completely ignored. Golf instruction can be completely antagonistic towards the hand’s role in the swing. This swing theory would make the golfer merely “hold on to the club, the hands and arms doing nothing… “However, this kind of instruction only leaves so much to be done.
People who can tap into the infinite resources of nature find a tremendous source of control and feel. They often become very skilled players once they can harness the power of nature. Ben Hogan stated in an interview with Life magazine that his secret lay in his hands.
Most body-focused golfers don’t make the most of what nature gives them. They choose to focus on their body and control their swings with strict body rotation. They are the ones you will see at driving ranges, on courses and everywhere else golf is practiced and played. These players are those who just rotate their bodies, get frustrated, and then continue rotating, adding to their problems.
It is difficult to explain why golf instruction emphasizes body rotation and excludes hand action. There are many reasons. There are a few reasons. Some players will find that a swing is effortless and natural from the time they first pick up the clubs. You may have learned from instruction or some tradition. Sometimes you don’t understand cause and effect and what can or will affect the swing.
Whatever reason it may be, most golf instruction is focused on the body’s function and pivoting. But Nature says different. But the homunculus is different. The body has received more resources than the hands, so Nature has allocated more resource to the hands. Then, is Nature right? Is pivot-focused golf instruction right? Which is correct? Nature or Man? You know which one to place your bets on, I believe.