Okay, so I'm hyper-focused on grip pressures lately, in the TGM sense. In the previous post, I went on at length about TGM's Pressure Points #1--where the right palm presses down on the base of the left thumb--and #3--the base knuckle of the right index finger--and how they're used to sense lag pressure, either actively or passively.
This post--like the last one--will not deal with pop golf instruction's treatments of grip pressure. Those descriptions of gripping to a certain point on a 1-to-10 scale, holding a baby bird, holding a baby's hand, holding a tube of toothpaste, etc. are not really helpful in describing WHERE you should feel pressure in the left and right hands. The whole 1-to-10 scale thing is really silly if you think about; how many times have you shaken hands with someone who feels like they're barely gripping your hand, while another person feels like they're about to break your hand. This proves that scales vary from person-to-person. And how many people hold baby birds? I'm going on out a limb (and agreeing with several reputable teachers such as Hank Haney and Shawn Clement) by saying that you probably should be gripping the club harder than you think. But the key is WHERE you put that pressure; it's not with the entire hand!
PP #2
Pressure Point #2 Should Be Called Pinky Pressure #2
This time, I'm focusing mostly on TGM's Pressure Point #2 (PP #2)--the last three fingers of the left hand (for a right-handed player). Recall that PP #2 and PP #4 (pressure of the upper left arm pressing into the left pectoral muscle) are strongly associated with the swinging style as described in TGM; also recall that distinctions between the swinging and hitting style aren't black-and-white; there is a gradient between the two in which all golfers find themselves.
I was recently reading an article in Golf Digest that described a way to help golfers get out of greenside bunkers. The article advocated removing the left hand pinky from the grip completely, either by curling it under or letting it hang off the end of the grip. The purpose was to allow the left wrist to cup coming through, which is important for using the bounce of the sand wedge properly to escape bunkers. Golfers are taught to avoid cupping the wrist in the full swing; it's called a flip and it's a major fault. But in a bunker, the added loft is needed to avoid digging into the sand. On a side note, one would do the same cupping technique when trying to hit a flop shot.
So what does this have to do with PP #2? Well, it stands to reason that if removing the pinky from the grip is important for encouraging a flip in a bunker or when attempting a flop shot, the pinky must be important for stopping a flip in the full swing. The opposite condition of a flip is a flat left wrist (FLW) at impact--just what we need in the full swing. This brought me around to PP #2, which is described as the pressure felt in the last three fingers (pinky, ring, and middle) of the left hand.
Digging further, I found a few articles on the internet that delved deeper into PP #2. And wouldn't you know it: The pressure in these three fingers should NOT all be the same. The left hand pinky pressure should be greatest, followed by the other two fingers in decreasing amounts! This was a huge revelation, because I had always gripped with the same, non-bird-killing pressure in all of the left hand fingers, except the thumb.
By gripping tightest in the last two fingers of the left hand, your left wrist will stay very loose and allow a full release, while making it more difficult to clip the left wrist. Now it's easy to see how PP #2 and PP #4 work together so well. Also, I noticed that my wrist extended downward a little more at address, putting the club shaft at slightly more upright position at address. But maybe most important, this pinky pressure consciousness does--in fact--help create the FLW condition at impact and helps produce the swinging style lag.
Luckily, learning to use the bounce is as easy as removing the pinkie of your top hand from the grip. With this finger off the club, your grip pressure naturally lightens, and it's almost impossible for the hands to stay ahead of the clubhead at the bottom of the swing. I use this tip to teach the right feeling, but you can hit shots like this on the course, too.
BONUS: Open the face and address the ball off the heel. This might sound like Shank City, but remember, you're hovering the club. When the clubhead enters the sand, it will inch slightly closer to you, putting the center of the face under the ball. The shot will come out more predictably.
With your top hand (left hand for right handers) you should be holding onto the club firmly with your pinky, ring, and middle fingers while the other 2 should be relaxed. In your bottom hand (right hand for right handers) you should be gripping the club tightly with your thumb and pointer finger while the other 3 fingers are just along for the ride. The 5 fingers that you are gripping the club firmly with are primarily responsible for releasing the club in a manner that will provide you with more power and consistency.
Properly placed hands work together as one facilitating unit. The left hand (or right hand for lefties) grips the club with pressure felt in the last three fingers and most heavily on the pinkie. This keeps the butt of the club securely attached to the hand.
Too firm of a grip restricts arm and wrist movement in the swing. Most of the pressure should be in the pinkie and ring finger of the bottom hand [error: actually the top hand if the club is on the ground], and the index [error: actually the ring finger--the index finger is the first finger] and middle finger of the top hand [error: actually the bottom hand if the club is on the ground]. The remaining fingers are mainly used for balance and stability, and the thumbs should rest comfortably on top of the grip.
The left hand provides the primary connection for controlling the club. It is very common to grip too tightly with this hand. According to teacher Michael Hebron, the secret is to tighten only the last two or three fingers of your left hand—the pinky and ring fingers, and perhaps the middle finger. In doing so, you create a strong grip without locking the wrist muscles and interfering with the free movement of your wrists.
Engage your ring-finger and middle-fingertip pads with pressure around the grip for stability. The index finger has the least amount of pressure on the grip. The pinky fingertip pad maintains the most grip pressure throughout the swing.
The other reason this is an important fundamental of the golf grip is because it helps with developing the flat left wrist that every “flipper” of the club desires in their golf swings. If you grip the golf club with just your left pinky, you’ll see that it’s actually quite easy to get into a nice flat left wrist position at impact because the pinky leads the way.
Now, take your grip with just the middle two finger and see how the tendency is to get the wrist into a slightly cupped, scoopy position at impact because of the different muscles used in the forearm.
Now, go back to just using your pinky by itself and note how gripping the golf club more snuggly with just the pinky firmly “locks” the wrist in this slightly bowed position, thus making it much harder to flip the club through impact.
I've posted before on the subject of lag and on various ways that have been cited to acquire it. To review for the uninitiated, the word lag is used in the full golf swing to describe how the club head SHOULD lag or trail the hands into the ball. All professional golfers have this lag to some extent, and it's responsible for powerful, compressed, penetrating shots that are associated--at least in the case of irons and wedges--with divots well ahead of the ball. This should not be confused with lagging long putts close to the hole.
Lag isn't necessarily holding wrist angles, especially in the case of the left wrist (assuming a right-handed golfer). But in TGM circles, lag is strongly associated with feeling Pressure Point #3 (PP3), which is essentially located somewhere along the side of the first-finger base knuckle of the right hand (again, assuming a right-handed player). Pressure in this side area of that first right hand finger is applied--as a pushing force--to the shaft on the downswing along with a dorsiflexed right wrist, straight through impact and beyond.This pushing force is applied by the gradual straightening of the right arm through impact (called Power Accumulator #1 or PA #1 in TGM); the right wrist doesn't really do anything except stay bent back. This is also called lag pressure, and many golfers feel that keeping a "trigger finger" helps them to feel this. Doing so automatically flattens or even bows the lead left wrist and ensures that the hands lead the club head into the ball.
I have found it easier to focus on PP3 and the right wrist position rather than trying to produce a flattened or bowed left wrist, which may be a valid way for others to teach and learn this fundamental. I will not go deeply into the differences discussed in TGM between swingers and hitters in this post, but PP3 is more associated with the hitter style (though it can be felt more passively in the swinger style). There are also other Pressure Points and TGM concepts that I'm not really going to discuss in detail here; all you need to do is Google TGM or buy Homer Kelley's complex book and you'll have an endless supply of advanced golf theory to consume.
PP1 and PP3
But there's an equally--if not more--important pressure point associated with the right side or hitting style (PA #1): Pressure Point #1 or PP1. The is where the lifeline of the right hand encloses the left thumb on top of the grip. The left thumb should NOT be visible to you when you apply this pressure point correctly (you should use a "short thumb"). And the kicker is, you should feel downward pressure applied to the base of the left thumb, which means the right hand may be rotated over to the left more than you may think or may have been told, even if you have a strong left hand grip. This helps secure the two hands together, helps prevent the club from moving around in the hands, and helps prevent independent movement. PP1 helps to produce lag pressure felt in PP3. You should feel PP1 through impact, as if the heel of the right hand is pushing the base of the left thumb through the ball (again, use a "short thumb" with your left hand). This pressure flattens or bows the left wrist through impact automatically, keeping the club head behind the hands where it must be. This assumes that your left wrist is kept very relaxed to allow the push force of the right hand heel to flatten or bow the left wrist.
Lag is also known by other synonyms, such forward shaft lean, delofting the club, hitting down on the ball, pinching the ball off the turf, trapping the ball against the turf, etc. Pinching, trapping, and hitting down are descriptions of feel, and many golfers get caught up the verbatim trap of trying to achieve these feels in reality. Forward shaft lean and delofting are the best synonyms of these when attempting to describe reality--what actually occurs when the hands lead the club head into impact.
The opposite of good lag into the ball is a cast or club head throwaway right from the top, followed by a flip at the bottom, where the right wrist flips forward early and the left wrist breaks down and dorsiflexes, the left-hand knuckles rising both skyward and targetward. Even a small amount of cupping through impact has a detrimental effect. This is a classic high-handicap, hacker error that adds loft to the club (e.g., turns a 7-iron into a 9-iron, depending on the degree of flip). In a sense, this mistake has the two wrists in antithetical positions at impact compared with their correct positions; in a flip, the right wrist straightens and the left wrist bends backwards in a conscious or unconscious attempt to lift the ball into the air, causing weak, uncompressed, high shots that don't fly very far and many other potential mishits like fat, thin, and sliced shots.
Since exploring and researching this topic more thoroughly, I wanted to post additional references to material on the internet that I've found helpful, especially since this seems to be a subject that isn't taught much or taught in a manner that's easy to understand. The mop drill demonstrated by many professionals goes a long way towards getting the amateur golfer familiar with the sensation of using PP1 and PP3, but I sometimes wonder if this tidbit isn't kept purposefully vague among golf teaching professionals much the way magicians are sworn never to reveal their secrets; yes, I think this fundamental of golf is that important to improving beyond the hacker stage, at least with respect to feel in the hands and arms.
Another drill that golfers may find helpful is the aiming point drill, where a point ahead of the ball becomes a target for the hands. In other words, the hands must get to that point before the club head, and where that point is will vary by the club length and the player (body type, swing speed, etc). With longer clubs the driver and woods, the aiming point moves closer to the ball or possibly even behind it.
I like Tom Watson's description of using PP3); he likes to keep everything loose on the backswing. But on the transition and downswing, he wants to feel that pressure in PP3 increase dramatically and feel that the right wrist dorsiflexes even more than it was at address. This down-cocks the wrist and produces tremendous lag without creating any tension at address or during the backswing; this creates more of a swinger style with some elements of a hitter style. It should be noted that some teachers want their students to create pressure at PP1 and PP3 right at address and carry that pressure all the way through; in other words, the grip pressure should be constant from address to finish. In this same vein, Mr. Watson also states that that a golfer should hit the ball hard with their right hand at the bottom, provided they start down from the ground up. As Mr. Watson says, "Hit it hard!" Also why Ben Hogan stated he wished he had three right hands!
You should still feel PP1 and PP3 when driving the ball. They key is to keep the ball well forward in your stance with the shaft leaning away from the target slightly at address. Even though we've been told to play the ball more back in the stance to hit a draw, using PP3 for your driver can cause you to hit down on the ball unintentionally, causing pop-ups that go nowhere. Keeping the ball more forward, especially if you don't sway off the ball, allows the club to release. In a sense (just as with the aiming point drill), you're allowing yourself time to let the right wrist straighten a bit more, square up the club face, and hit the ball more on the upswing.
And now, caution. Feeling PP1 and PP3 and pushing against the shaft with that right hand knuckle feels very powerful, but pushing too much with the right arm (without enough lower body's initiating movement) can also send the shaft outside too early, causing an over-the-top move (and thus a pull or slice). The way to counteract this potential error is to keep the butt-end of the club pointing down towards the ball for as long as possible in the downswing, while maintaining the feeling in PP1 and PP3. The end of the handle should first point out to the right of the target line (inside the ball) when coming down from the top, gradually reaching a point where it points towards the target, and then finally pointing behind the golfer's left hip when the fully rotated into the ball. If the end of the club points directly at the golfer during the downswing, that golfer is probably over the top.
Using PP3 can also be thought of as using a "trigger finger." The pressure in the right index finger can also be felt in the crook that wraps around the shaft, especially if that finger is well separated from the others. Using the finger this way increases swing awareness of not only where the clubhead is in relation to the hands (i.e., lagging or releasing) but also where the clubface is pointing at all points in the swing. During the release, the right arm and shaft should form a straight line pointing into the ground, and that trigger finger should be rotated over.
I vacillate between concentrating on PA#4/PP#4 (swinger style of pulling the club through) and PA#1/PP#3 (hitter style described in this post), but I sometimes believe that the swinger style (while still feeling PP#1 and PP#3) is more efficient and passive. For me, I need to make sure that I press that right hand knuckle into the right-side-top of the grip at address, which ironically also seats PP#1 better; then I'm free to swing using PP#4 and can forget about PP#3 and active hitting with the right hand. In other words, a solid connection with the right hand and the club is essential, regardless of the swing style. My tendency is to hold the club with no connection or a loose connection of the right hand pressure points. Now, keep in mind that you can vary the pressure with which you press this right hand knuckle into the shaft; experiment with different pressures--lighter pressures are most likely to yield right-to-left shot shapes, while tighter pressures are better suited for fades. Whatever PA/PP combination used, it's important to keep the end of the club handle pointing down-target for as long as possible to ensure an inside approach. Swingers may very well feel PP#3 but it should be passive and not active as it is for hitters.
How can this be fixed? Well, there needs to be an understanding that the clubhead will always follow whatever the other end of the club does. So, the grip actually should lead or direct the club towards the ball. Once the golf club reaches the "set" position at the top of the backswing (a right angle between the left hand and the shaft of the club) that position should stay the same until the hands and the grip of the club are about even with the golf ball. At that point the hands will begin to unhinge and release down into the golf ball.
Golfers use different combinations of these pressure points. A golfer who is referred to as a “swinger” because they’re left side is pulling the golf club primarily use pressure points #2 and #4. Golfers referred to as a “hitter” because they’re right side is pushing the club primarily use pressure points #1 and #3.
The problem most golfers have is that they have no concept of pressure points and lag pressure and they almost inevitably maximize their lag pressure in the startdown. And because you lose lag pressure immediately after you maximize it, the golfer has lost the lag pressure once they arrive to impact. And remember, once you start to lose the lag pressure, you cannot regain it in that swing.
What usually happens when the golfer loses that lag pressure at impact is that their hands stop or slow down greatly in the downswing and they wind up using their wrists (flipping) to move the clubhead towards the golf ball. One of the main things I try to emphasize in the FLW (flat left wrist) at impact is that in order to obtain it, the golfer should avoid trying to actually keep the left wrist flat at impact. Instead, use lag pressure properly and that will get your FLW at impact.
Probably the biggest question I get in regards to TGM is about 'swingers' and 'hitters.' Before I go on explaining the difference between the two styles, I will note that according to physicist Dr. Aaron Zick, who was brought to the latest TGM Teaching Summit, there is no such thing as a 'pure hitter' or a 'pure swinger' on full golf swing shots. Instead, everybody does a little of both.
During the past two years, my thinking has become more refined and I have moved beyond the limitations of TGM thinking, which believes that the swing styles of swinging (drag-loading) and hitting (drive-loading) are mutually exclusive swing styles. I now believe that it is perfectly acceptable to mix swinging elements with hitting elements in the same swing if a golfer can successfully manage to synergistically mix the two elements in a time-coordinated and synergistically synchronous manner.
One of the most overlooked fundamentals of the golf swing is the point of pressure created by the club resting against and across the middle joint of the right-hand forefinger. This pressure point transforms that finger into the "trigger finger," meaning it plays a major role in the loading of the club on the backswing and the lagging of it on the downswing.
Where the grip falls across that finger is where we feel the lag of the club. To use this effectively, lay the handle diagonally across the middle joint of the trigger finger. During the swing, you want to feel the club's weight in that spot the entire time.
You know that the Lag is felt during the downstroke as a steady pressure in the index finger of your right hand (aka Pressure Point #3 (PP#3)). Done properly the hands and the clubhead combine as Clubhead Lag feel that can be directed, or aimed at a target.
Consequently, the Aiming Point is a target on the delivery line where you fire the pressure in your index finger (PP#3) to. The Aiming Point is very rarely at the ball. Therefore you must not consider the ball as your target. Instead, the Aiming Point replaces the ball and becomes your new target.
HERE’S AN IMPORTANT POINT: Nearly every bad shot in golf results from the shaft coming off the bottom hand forefinger before impact. When this occurs, it’s all but impossible to control the clubhead. As you address the ball, you should feel very little pressure on your bottom hand forefinger. However, as you start your swing, the weight of the club puts pressure onto your forefinger. This pressure must be sustained throughout the downswing, with the forefinger staying in front of the clubhead. To help maintain this pressure through impact, when taking your grip extend the forefinger down the shaft.
3. BENT BOTTOM HAND WRIST
AT IMPACT, THE FORWARD leaning shaft and clubhead exert force into the ball. When the bottom wrist is bent back, pressure is applied to the lead arm and shaft as the clubhead approaches impact. If the clubhead weight passes the hands prematurely, the bottom hand wrist straightens, slowing down the clubhead. To ingrain the correct feeling of the bent bottom hand wrist, sprinkle some grass on your left thumb and take your grip. Make some short pitching-length swings. If the right wrist stays bent, force is sustained during the downswing and the grass will remain in place.
When a ball is struck with "Lag" it explodes off the clubface! Without this "lag" the sound turns into one of mush, a soft Impact instead of a driving Impact.
So we have a Clubhead Lag Pressure Point (Pressure Point #3) which is the Right Forefinger and this is always directing the club to where, the inside back quadrant of the ball.
The right hand “V” will point straight up toward the chin, and the secret is accenting the forefinger position so it looks like a “trigger finger.” Going further, be sure the first joint segment of the finger is pressing into the side of the club in a manner that slightly puts the first knuckle on top of the handle as pictured here. The trigger finger will maintain side pressure on the handle from start all the way to impact.
A trigger finger can help you better engage your golf swing. What’s a trigger finger? John Daly, for instance, as well as several other top players use some separation between their index finger and the rest of their grip as a “trigger” to help sustain proper grip pressure and assist in better hand rotation and in preventing the club from slipping too far into the palms of the hands. Give it a try and see what a trigger finger can do for your feel and overall swing.
If you are holding the club with the last three fingers of your left hand and the middle two fingers of your right hand, and if your left thumb is cradled firmly in that little pocket of your right hand, with the part of the right hand below the thumb keeping a steady pressure, then you've got it.
You may have trouble keeping the pressure on with your right hand below the thumb. But believe me, this is the right way to hold the club. Master it and you are more than halfway home as a golfer.
Power is applied to the left hand, not the club itself, using the base of the right wristbone pressing against the top of the left thumb, to help the left hand move along its arc around the shoulder fulcrum.
When your right palm exerts this slight pressure against the left thumb extending the grip away from your left shoulder, you will not need to have any tension in your left arm to help it remain straight and your left arm will have the same radius around your left shoulder from start up, through your back swing, down swing, and through impact. [This] pressure point has another function as well, it monitors the cocking and uncocking of the right elbow and sends this information to the motor cortex. It only feels this hinging motion and should never add or contribute to the actual cocking or uncocking of the right elbow.
The dreaded sway is a plague. For one thing, it's hard to discern if you're guilty of it if you're not paying attention, and an amateur golfer with a sway is usually focused on other parts of the swing. And the opposing sensation--the correct one--will feel wrong when first attempted. Let's face it. A sway feels powerful to a beginning golfer; after all, they're "shifting weight to the back foot" like they've been told to do. But they can't figure out why they're seeing all these weak, floaty, fat shots coming off their club. Must need to swing faster...or sway more. Nope.
I recently understood why--finally--I had thought that keeping my right knee bent was helping me during a particular round but didn't seem to help much subsequent to that. I had assigned the results I was getting at the time to the wrong aspect of my backswing. Yes, I was keeping my right knee more bent in the backswing, but the real help was that my pelvis was passively turning in a more centered fashion WHILE keeping my right knee bent! This is a prime example of how we golfers can go on wild goose chases for that "thing" that will always be with us on the course, when in reality we can only count on a few key fundamentals and physics. We must continue coming back to those and working on them.
First, there are some setup characteristics that encourage an over-active hip rotation and its more desirable opposite. The more closed your stance (as if presetting for a draw), the more likely you will over-rotate the hips going back. Conversely, squaring your stance (or even opening it a bit) will decrease the possible amount of hip turn going back; the caveat is that a more open stance increases your chance of hitting outside-in. A ticked-in right knee will discourage hip over-rotation, as will a right foot that is kept perpendicular to the target line. Finally (already alluded to this), keeping the right knee bent in the backswing will prevent the hips from turning too much going back.
Correct right hip pivot.
Even though you do shift weight to the right foot (for a right-handed player), the pelvis--and thus the right hip--should never move to the right from its address position. Instead, the right hip rotates both backwards and towards the target in response to the right shoulder pulling straight back (causing the left shoulder to turn behind the ball); the rear hip never moves away from the target or to the right, which is the textbook definition of a sway and probably some form of a reverse pivot. The weight automatically stays concentrated on the inside of right foot and right leg as its supposed to.
In other words, imagine a line drawn on the ground that extends from the ball to between one's legs at address (i.e., a line perpendicular to the target line). A correct backswing hip movement has the right hip rotating back and around towards that line while the left shoulder turns to point at or just behind the ball; the right hip should not move further away from that line. This is a key distinction. And when you first do it correctly--when you've been swaying away--it will feel wrong...until you actually hit the ball and feel what happens.
A sway usually involves a straightening right knee due to (or as a result of) active hip rotation, while the correct, passive hip pivot in the backswing--with the hips initially resisting and remaining stable during the takeaway--allows the right knee to stay bent in order to keep the hips level and prevent the upper body from leaning to the left. During the takeaway, you should strive for the feeling that the hips and knees stay parallel to the target line initially and only pivot back due to the shoulders continued turn; this creates tension in the body that can be used to add power to your swing, while the stable lower body contributes to more consistent contact.
Examine a professional golfer in their address and backswing positions and you'll see that their rear leg at the top of the backswing appears to keep the same angle it had in relation to the body at address: The rear leg appears--from the foot to the hip--to be angled towards the target throughout the swing, while a swayer's rear leg goes from the correct angled appearance at address to an upright or vertical appearance at the top of the backswing. Heck, a severe sway can even have the rear leg angled entirely in the other direction at the top!
It's that centralized pelvic motion brought about by the proper rear hip rotation that allows for an easy weight shift to the front leg, dynamic front hip rotation (that mirrors the rear hip rotation in the other direction), and powerful, compressive impact. This is what Shawn Clement refers to when he talks about the correct weight shift and hip pivoting action--his "braced tilt." As a matter of fact, the left hip in the downswing nearly mirrors the motion of the right hip's backswing movement. At the completion of the backswing, there's a subtle, small shift of pressure into the left foot (many call this shift a "hip bump"); following that subtle move, the left hip simply turns behind the golfer and away from the target, while the upper body and arms stay passive! In reality, the left hip pivots both away from the target and upwards, due to the straightening left leg. The upper body shortly follows, and this makes it easy to keep one's head behind the ball, swing inside-out, and hit a push-draw. Performed correctly, you will notice a distinct stretched feeling all along the left side of the rib cage; a line running along the side of the left leg and left torso will resemble a crescent shape at impact.
Also, keep this in mind: The correct sequence of the aforementioned rear hip movement for the takeaway and backswing always follows the turning of the shoulders. The shoulders, arms, and club make a centralized turn first while the lower body remains still, and the shoulders eventually reach a point where they can't turn further; it's here that the rear hip turns back and behind the golfer to allow a 90-degree shoulder turn. Don't turn the hips before the shoulders. The correct sequence is that the shoulders turn the hips going back, and the hips turn the shoulders on the way down.
Left hip and crescent shape.
You see, the term “shift” is all wrong for the backswing. “Pivot” is a better term. The right hip will pivot back like sitting back in a chair and then around – actually coiling back toward the target slightly, not drifting sideways to the right. The right foot will stay braced on the instep, and the leg will remain leaning inward like a ball player braced to push off for a throw.
Have you ever hit balls at the range next to someone who made an awesome sound when they hit the ball? That sound is compression. It makes other players turn and watch because obviously this is a great ball striker. The player has made his divot past the ball and transferred the energy efficiently from the clubhead to the ball. Distance control is one of the keys to scoring. Great golfers don’t always hit the ball accurately but they often hit the ball pin high which means they are making solid contact. Proper hip action on the backswing plays a major role in compressing the ball. A common swing thought is to transfer your weight to your right side on the backswing. Unfortunately, most players sway their hips back to do this causing fat and thin contact. The key is to allow your hips to truly turn, not sway.
