I watched this drill yesterday (actually I only watched about the first 3 or 4 minutes of it) and decided to give it a try.
So I got 10 balls and hit them with my gap wedge, just making a mini swing going about halfway back, only thinking about using the shoulders. Keeping my arms extended but not using them for power at all. All 10 shots, baby draw and going about 70-80% of my normal distance. I thought, this is a nice drill to engrain the start of the backswing, because rolling the wrists open is always my fatal flaw.
So then I grabbed 10 more balls and switched to 6 iron. Again just mini swings using only shoulder turn, no arms or hands. Nice draws, going 150-160 yards. Similar to the 2.8 drill, but even smaller.
So then I grabbed 10 more balls and switched to driver. Mini swings, no active arms or hands. Bunting them out there 180-190 with a nice tight draw. After 3 or 4 balls, my first thought was, this could be a nice option for a fairway finder or wind cheater swing. They're going a little lower than normal and with very low spin.
So then it got more interesting... I decided with the remaining balls, I'm just going to swing back a tiny bit further on each one, but still all based on shoulder turn and not actively using my hands and arms. 200... 215...230...240... 260 Nice draws, and with low spin.
Mind you, with my 'normal swing' i average about 245 with driver. But using this method, it felt like I wasn't even trying and the ball just kept going.
I think this could be a good exercise to find your 'sweet spot' with driver (or all clubs) with backswing length and the amount of exertion you put into it. I find that when I actively swing harder, the driver spins more and I feel like I'm not getting the same return on investment in terms of effort. Definitely going to try this again next time I hit balls.
Awesome post, @bh11 - thanks for sharing your success with this!
Indeed, the result of a correctly executed swing should generate what seems to be an absurdly fantastic return on investment, the ball rocketing towards the target with the application of seemingly minimal - if any - effort. That's the beauty of the physics and geometry embedded in this swing system. While it is normal at first to micromanage positions and movements to build in the "feels" and ingrain them, once we are able to confidently entrust the motion to the big muscles fabulous things happen such as what you experienced. That is the "giving up control to gain control" element, and that is what then allows us to go out there and actually enjoy the game of golf as opposed to being mired in the bog of frustration of playing "golf swing".
As to your comment regarding the diminishing returns of trying to swing harder, in doing so you are likely activating the hands and arms and thereby impeding the awesome power of the shoulders and hips. The big muscles give us superhero power and wonderfully predictable consistency; contrived manipulations of the small muscles amount to golf swing Kryptonite.
Well done!!