Fancy Footwork

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At our most recent Coach Camp, I had the opportunity to learn from Kevin Duffy. Kevin is trainer to a number of the world’s best golfers and shared a few of his insightful ideas pertaining to the golf swing. Watch…

Kevin advocates so much more than I’m capable of sharing with you here today, but a few of my take aways were:

  1. We should pressure the ground in the golf swing in a similar fashion to when we walk

  2. When walking we start with heel contact and pressure then transitions to the mid-foot, the pinkie and finally the big toe

  3. In the backswing the trail foot works as if we were walking backwards - big toe, pinkie, mid-foot and then heel

  4. The downswing is the opposite of the backswing with the trail foot moving from heel, to mid-foot, to pinkie and finally big toe

This may sound complex, but stand up and give this a try right now! It always amazes me when I do this how my hips rotate beautifully coming into the “strike”.

Here is a before and after image of a student I worked with recently where all we focused on was the sequence of pressure movement under each foot. You’ll not only notice how much more his hips have rotated through impact, but also how much better the arms and club face are positioned.

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Give this a try the next time you head for the practice ground and let me know how things worked out.

Thanks for your readership and support in 2018! I can promise more of the same quality of information for 2019. Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and may you be blessed in the New Year. Cheers!

Foot Action in the Swing

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Correct foot action throughout the golf swing is indicative of a body that is working well. A body that works well will create the opportune space necessary for the arms and the club to get into the slot - the delivery point where the club has virtually no choice but to do the right thing through impact.

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The Golf Swing and Foot Work

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Let's take a look at each slide and the corresponding position of Lee Westwood. Address: I like the way the weight is evenly spread here. The head should be centered between the feet and if this is the case the foot pressure will be matching and thus correct. Takeaway: It is interesting to note that there is not a tremendous amount of shift here - notice how the right shoe only has one segment that is absorbing more pressure than the left foot. Top Position: While the right foot is clearly under more pressure than the left this is due to the coiling and wind up of the body vs. a huge weight shift or slide. Remember there should be no (or very little) lateral motion as you pivot to the top of the backswing. In fact, if you looked at Ben Hogan's feet when his club reached the 'top' he would clearly have more pressure on the left foot due to his very dynamic swing. Impact: What I love about this illustration is how impact only has two more pressure points than the follow through! The weight is clearly on the front foot - just as it should be. Follow Through: The weight is all the way up on the front foot, but not significantly more than where it was at address.

Tom Watson at Turnberry Sam Snead at WentworthThe moral of the story is that in order to shift the weight correctly, the lower body and particularly the feet, need to work. Just like Watson and Snead - the lower body must make its contribution to the motion and energy generated in the golf swing.

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