Yes, the action of the body in a golf shot is a stretch, not a turn. The action of the body on the backs wing (Step 3) originates in the right hip. As that hip is drawn back, it involves the entire right side from hip to shoulder and it bends and contracts the right arm. At the same time it kicks and throws the left knee straight forward towards the ball. Much instruction has suggested bending the left knee sideways so that it points sideways toward a spot in front of the right toe, but that is an error and is what happens when one turns too much.
Note again, the correct action of the left knee is a straight forward bend.
On the down swing, Step 4 of the golf swing, the action of the body starts in the left hip. Again there is a backward pull of the left hip which involves the entire left side from hip to shoulder. This creates a diagonal stretch in the body which contracts and bends the left arm very sharply. As this is done, the right knee kicks straight forward again.
This diagonal stretch of the body on the backswing, which gets the right arm and left knee synchronized into a perfectly centered, controlled action, and the reverse stretch of the body which synchronizes the action of the left arm and the right knee on the downswing and follow through can be readily portrayed in the following diagrams. It is this gyroscopic pattern under which all golfers work when they execute the perfect golf swing. Through this gyroscopic action they are centered on the ball at all times.
This discussion of the right arm and left knee working together on the backswing and the left arm and right knee working together on the downswing and follow through reminds us again of the comments made earlier about the footwork in the forward press and the reverse press. In that discussion (Chapter Four) we mentioned lefthandedness and righthandedness-and all I want to emphasize now is that if a player does not have the footwork whereby he can balance himself on his right foot for the backswing, then the ability to make this diagonal stretch is not present. Likewise, if the player does not have the footwork to rebalance himself on the left foot for the downswing, then the diagonal stretch cannot be done. continue the new concept of body action in the golf swing...