[O.B.Left]

Acceleration, with proper pivot and plane lines, is the key to PP#3 in my opinion.

For sure. Pivot and Right Arm I'd say. This one sentence could be expanded in to an entire book. Forgive me for my rambling ways but.....

Without a steady rate of Hand acceleration the pressure at the #3, the pressure associated with the lagging condition of the clubhead vis a vis the Hands, subsides. You can accelerate fast or you can accelerate slow and sustain an associated amount of pressure but if you accelerate at too fast rate, establish a rate which you cant maintain all the way down, as the rate tapers off ( though you may still be accelerating), you will start to lose some Lag Pressure. As its slipping away you begin to feel like you are "chasing the club" as the clubhead starts to catch up to the Hands. When its gone so is the shot. When its all gone the Clubhead has passed the Hands and the Clubheads rate of deceleration will spike. Not a good thing if the ball is still lying there.

You see the pro's on tv displaying this loss of lag pressure predicament fairly often. Its sometimes accompanied by a tell tale right arm flying completely off the club finish. Then some grimaces, swear words, etc etc. More often off the tee than elsewhere.

You gotta figure out what your own best pattern is for accelerating the hands at a steady rate without pushing on the aft of the shaft with the #3pp, throwaway. Homer said it was better to be Heavy than quick. If you can be both , good on ya, but its a fickle and fleeting thing, like holding water in your hands. Swingers using mainly the pivot, Hitters using the pivot and the right arm etc etc etc there are trillions of options. Different ways of using the Pressure Points. #'s 1,2,4 directly. #3 ( the first joint of the index finger version) indirectly , passively sensing, searching for and sustaining Lag , golf's secret. The brain's outpost in the Hands. They can make amazing things happen those two, the brain and the #3, if left alone, allowed to communicate via concentration. More on that later.

Another nice thing about the #3 pp is it lies on the sweetspot plane which runs from the #3pp to the Sweetspot on the clubface. So you can aim the #3 , point it at/along the delivery line of the clubhead, through the ball, the line of compression. Homer identified the #3 pp as being both Aiming and Thrust related. The ball will compress when you hit it with the sweetspot plane, the longitudinal center of gravity. Aligned compression being what its all about, requires you to ask yourself where the Line of Compression should point? It aint from ball to target most of the time anyways. The diagrams in the second chapter answer this question and some others about the effects of clubface rotation during the impact period. They're a must read, to my mind. They will tell you what to do with your #3pp after you discover its usefulness. Its profound usefulness.

Here is my #3 pp aiming, thrust and visualization drill:

A rapid fire chip and pitch shot, kind of deal best done on the range with a pile of balls at your feet. Keep a mental picture of the landing spot in your mind and set about tracing with the #3 and the necessary amount of Lag Pressure for the distance required. Let this picture alone, regulate/prescribe/create the necessary amount of Lag Pressure at the #3 without any conscious thought to it or intervention. Take a longish look at the target if you need to but dont stare at the ball after you return your gaze to it, startup right when your eyes return to the ball. It'll seem awkward at first but you have to let go. Itll rid you of extraneous thinking but maintain the brain to #3 communication. Little chips to 40 yard pitches. Various distances. Hit them quickly, like Moe Norman rapid. Get over the ball first and then pick out a ball on the range as a target that's roughly in your line. Dont worry about it. Vary the distances randomly. A different target each time from the same stance even. Set you wedges at Fix and then look for a target, take a picture of the target/landing spot return your gaze to the ball and go. Picture , Trace. Picture, Trace. Picture, Trace. You can stare at the target a little if you need to but not at your ball. Dont watch the clubhead move back and through either. Its a bad habit, steering. If you use an aiming point several inches in front of the ball your not even looking at your ball. This will seem awkward at first but stick with it. Pick out various balls on the range at various distances randomly, quickly. Dont stop to pick one out and then aim at or anything, just get over the shot and then pick one out and take a mental picture of it. Its a faster is better thing. The goal is to keep the picture fresh in your mind. No pausing, no conscious swing thoughts, no thinking at all outside of the picture and the #3 pressure and tracing. The amount of Lag Pressure at the #3 dictates the distance the shot flies. They are directly related. But let the picture, the brain tell your hands how much lag pressure to meter out. Dont think about consciously in other words. Dont say to yourself "oh this is about 40 yards so I better take it back a little further to hit it harder" etc. Feel both the amount of pressure and direction the Tracing. Sustain the lag pressure. Like tossing a coin or lobbing a ball. You can do this with a coin with your eyes closed. Its easier than you think. This is the equivalent in a golf training manner. This is letting go of interuptive thinking, however good it may seem. This is proprioception , this is the Brain and the Hand doing there thing like only they can do. Let em go. Like a juggler, first one ball, then two, then three and eventually , a torch, a knife and a chain saw. Fall into a routine, a rhythm. A trance. Picture, Trace etc. Although you dont need to say this to yourself like mantra or anything. That might erase the picture too.

You'll discover that you can hit those chips and pitches super accurately when the picture is fresh in your mind while your making your shot. Lose the picture lose the shot. Start to think, lose the picture. You have to startup just as your eyes return to the ball, no pausing, it will give you time to think. Dont. After doing this for a while I even startup while my eyes are in the process of returning to the ball. Picture, Trace. Brain and Hand. #3 pressure point. The brain dictates the amount of pressure needed, quickly, perfectly, like tossing coins in a bucket. You dont need to think about the amount of pressure needed the brains got it covered. The picture will guide you.

It was the Wild Bill Melhourne continous hitting drill that got me started with this thing. Thank you Yoda. Some further research lead me to Lucky McDaniels. Marksmen have been all over this for 50 years or more. Remember the scene in Butch Cassidy where they're shooting at targets and Sundance cant hit em cause he isnt moving around? Moe looked frantic almost when I saw him playing the pitch and putt course on Highway 7, with 15 balls. This is why I believe, it wasnt that he was worried about holding up the people behind him. It freakin works. An uncluttered information highway from brain to hands. It spooks me almost. Im hitting my ball/target out there on the fly more than I thought possible with less to do about it. People at the range look at me like Im crazy. Try it out and let me know if it does anything for you. Im a visual thinker learner so maybe its not for everyone. A bucket goes quickly so hopefully you arent paying by the bucket when you do this.

There is something to it for putting as well. Intuitive putting, Instinctive putting, putting to the picture or whatever. Using the picture and the #3, less disruptive thinking about method. I saw Davis Love doing something similar on the putting green at the Memorial last year. He was putting to random holes from one spot. No two putts the same. Distance training with no practice strokes, just picture/ go, it seemed. Ive never read Brad Faxon's book but Im told he does something similar. He does get it away really quickly as his gaze returns to the ball. His picture is fresh , his mind free of thoughts that would erase the picture. I think Tigers putting routine has a bit of this to it as well, although he has an ever so slight pause after his eyes return to the ball. He talks about it even. Ill try to find a link. This is golf concentration to my mind. Pressure point awareness and visualization.

Im not saying you necessarily have to hit all your shots with a quick gaze, a Moe like routine or whatever but its a good drill for relief from destructive, brain to hand message robbing method thinking. However well intentioned. Homer wanted us to play be feel after all. Its hard to get back there after all the mechanical thinking required in training. This is my attempt drill wise. Let the motion make the shot, the three stations, address, top , finish etc also play a part.

In Homer's time the hands were said to be the golfers worst enemy, especially the right hand but he realized the hands, the pressure points , the #3 pp's tremendous potential when employed correctly. Put your brain in your #3 pp. We humans are uniquely designed to do amazing things in this way, with this pathway between brain and hands. Use it for golf.

Go forth and prosper my trigger fingered golfing friends.