Dude this is
blowing my mind. Despite all the words here I am describing what I feel and how it helps me understand what we see. We've talked about all of this but the Waltz context is helping me.
So I played 27 holes in the most challenging wooded course I've ever played today. I started out throwing hot garbage but remained committed to the new form. I shot around even for the last 18 with some really smooth stuff and I was giving up more strokes to putts than drives again.
The 3rd throw style from my last post is clearly functioning much better than anything. Here's that one.
If I conceptualize the whole move before the X-step as a
Waltz balance/tilt problem, I notice and can feel the following in real time now:
(1) Now if I use my Waltz "prep step" to mount my starting position tall on the rear leg and then have the patience to move off with the correct tilt (just like Waltz box step) rather than leaning away, I also get my "ball (CoM) rolling down the ramp" like my dance training. I am also now pre-conditioning my "coiled" athletic posture in the backswing like a pitcher on the mound. These are all working together for the first time.
I can feel this red ramp effect clearly happening unhindered in real time in my first move now. Definitely the first time ever
consistently. And this is exactly how my Waltz works:
(2) Something that is unusual in Waltz cross steps but makes a better X-step is to
maintain the tilt/keep the whole posture more "loaded back". In Waltz, you usually let the tilt swing
all the way back and forth for most patterns. Occasionally though you keep the tilt "loaded back" and your movement gets forward and low when you're moving down a line. E.g., like these two experts: in the first part the tilt swings all the way back and forth in their box step (the traveling rotational steps), and you see them get long and then tall as they move between high-low-high phases. Then toward the end when they move along the back line of the room, the tilt stays more "loaded back" when they move faster and lower coming out of the initially high pattern - this is the same as letting their CoM lead their strides. I want to move more like that move down the line of the room from my starting position.
I also think my pelvis wants to open early because I'm "letting the tilt go" from my rear side too early. If I instead think of it like
maintaining my box step tilt back aggressively through the step before the x-step (which is the same as building forward momentum), I am able to start to change it because I can feel it right away.
Picture's worth a thousand words. The green lines are where I want my balance to be if I view the first and second step "down the mound" as a waltz maneuver. I'm still tending to lean back due to my old habit because I am "letting my tilt go" too ahead of the X-step (red line). I think each pro loads their tilt a little differently, but e.g. Catrina's move is clearly keeping it more on the tilted and loaded side all the way through her move and only releases it when she plants! In contrast, I'm letting my tilt leak too forward early, which means I basically have to load it further back again - slightly awkward and inefficient. I need to keep the balance/tilt loaded in the right direction as I stride until I start to shift to plant. I will probably be less aggressively tilted than Catrina out of my first move, but that also means I'll get a bigger centrifugal/whip effect out from my body mass and wide shoulders when I plant. I chose Cat's camera angle because it makes it a little more obvious:
(3) The last part is what I gained from standstills. Once the X-step lands, you continue to load it back into the tilted posture in transition and then "release/unload" landing in the plant, which is also at the same time you're building and then releasing the coil because of the athletic rather than Waltz posture. The body tilt is shifting at the same time (like a full waltz box step) until you land in "braced tilt." This is like letting the pendulum accelerate out of the shifting tilt of the whole posture like a wrecking ball heading out of the backswing, boosted by the muscular chain
on top of the momentum you already gained for "free." I.e., Hershyzer, Double Dragon, Kick the ball, etc.:
After about 9 holes I managed to keep the tilt forward more often in the X-step and the effect was immediately noticeable on the shot power, effort, and accuracy. And sweet Christmas did that feel awesome today.
So yes, my left leg is gimpy and I'll always have a gimp in my gait, but there's a clear motor learning opportunity here building on the Waltz. So I'm going to reinforce my "prep step" to get long and tall and tilted into the first move, and see if I can solidify the aggressive tilt all the way into the X-step. Waltz is the most natural way it seems like I can connect my posture to all the drilling and the throw.