Fix Your Legwork In The Golf Swing

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Tip of the Day: If you put the golf ball farther forward in your stance, it will be easier to step off of the back foot rather than shifting into it, as your first move.

Golf instruction has been based around instinct and rhetoric for the most part. This approach has left strong potential for the general public to be left in the dark. Creating the right “set and setting” that will impart your instincts to work with the natural laws of motion, has yet to become mainstream…even on the PGA Tour. That being said, Masters season is upon us and even though it has been a “peculiar year” at best, it is exciting to see our favorite players back on the most iconic course of the last century.

While there has been a significant jump in technology behind golfing equipment and easier accessibility, the opposite could be said for mainstream golf instruction. People have been tied in knots by instructors that are focused on so called perfect potions and the feel/dynamics have been getting covered in dust. The swings of old (rustic voice), such as Bobby Jones, Miller Barber, Sam Snead, Count Yogi and even players like Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino, have been sidelined as anomalies.  However I guarantee all of them would have stacked up with the best stats on today’s weight plates, Track Man and K-Vest.

Your golf lesson today is about learning to use the legwork in your golf swing. This is the main part of golf instruction that has been misunderstood. First off, when your weight moves in any direction, it starts building momentum and kinetic energy. If the flow or direction has to be changed at any time, it will take an outside force or “tension” in the golf swing, to change the path it is moving on. Most people develop a habit of 1-1 timing, where the weight shifts back to the hind foot in the backswing and then transitions back to the front foot in the downswing. This type of legwork in the golf swing causes you to stop at the top and redirect the flow of energy that is moving away from your target, back to where you want it to go. It’s like taking a step backwards, before moving forwards. There is a far more efficient and consistent way to create weight flow in your golf swing.

When you watch the Masters this year, I want you to pay particular attention to where the weight appears to be at the top of each player’s swing. The farther the weight is towards the back foot at the top of the swing, the more likely the swing will look fast, violent and the player may end up on their toes. If their weight is closer to their front foot at the top of the backswing, it will most likely be a smoother transition and a more gentle rotation through impact. Allowing the body to fall back to the front foot in the backswing, allows for momentum to build naturally, creating a tremendous amount of kinetic energy. Learning to do this is an essential part of a golf swing that works with gravity. To dig deeper into this, study up on the Gravity Golf Swing Sequence and how dynamic alignment works in golf.