How to Get Off the Back Foot

I know there are many golfers out there who struggle with staying on their back foot for too long. If you feel you have a hard time getting onto the front foot in the downswing then give this video a watch…

If the club face is overly open throughout the swing we will often have a tendency to hang back as this aids in closing the face late in the downswing. Shifting onto the front side will actually SLOW the closing of the face and an open face in the downswing needs that process sped up. That’s why the first objective for any golfer that hangs back should be to strengthen the face in the downswing.

 Once you have a stronger club face on the way down you should take the Scottie Scheffler Shuffle Challenge. Work to get your pelvis driving forward enough to drag that trail foot at some point in the downswing. Have some fun with this one and if you happen to hit a few shanks as you work to do this – the club face is still too open. Give it a go.

The REAL Reason We Need Shaft Lean

When hitting shots with the ball on the ground it is simply imperative that we lean the shaft towards the target at impact in order to expose the sweet spot to the back of the golf ball. After watching this video you will know exactly why…

As you can now see if you’re not leaning the shaft it isn’t possible to hit the ball out the center of the face. Leaning the shaft and delivering the clubhead in a slightly descending fashion gives us the best opportunity to compress the ball and deliver maximum energy transfer. A leaning shaft at impact gives us:

• a delofted club face, thus improving ball speed and distance.

• a sweet spot that can now collide with the golf ball.

• increased ability to hit down on the ball, thus improving strike quality.

• an energetic and penetrating ball flight that sizzles!

I’m sure you’re wondering what you can do to start leaning the shaft more effectively for shots played off the ground. Keep in mind that an open face on the way down will corrupt any ability a player might have of leaning the shaft. Try these ideas:

• at address, feel that your hands are slightly ahead of the ball and that your weight gently favors the front foot.

• make sure your club face is in a neutral to strong position on the way down and into impact. Tip it down!

• practice hitting low, knockdown style shots on a regular basis. Punch the ball.

Give these ideas a try to start to improve the quality of strike, ball flight, distance, feel and outcome of your shots off the ground. I sincerely hope it helps!

Fancy Footwork

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.

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!

Trajectory Tricks

The loft on the clubface at impact is largely responsible for the launch of the ball. When it comes to wedge play friction also plays a significant role in determining the launch angle, but the purpose of this article is to share an idea to help you improve the loft you deliver to the ball at impact.

Most of us will either hit the ball overly high or too low. This video illustrates a simple drill to get you to feel what you need to feel in order to grasp what is required to deliver either more, or less, loft.

For the high ball hitters:

• Using a pitching wedge get set up with a narrow stance
• Position the ball off the tip of your front foot
• Feel the handle or butt of the club travel a long way forward into impact
• It’s not easy but do all you can to hit low launchers

For the low ball hitters like me:

• Stick with the PW and a narrow stance
• The ball should be in line with the tip of your back foot
• In the downswing you’ll feel the clubhead swinging a ton. The clubhead should feel like it outraces the hands
• This will feel scoopy and that’s a good thing

Notice where my hands are just post impact in the image below - the low ball hitters need the hands less forward while the high ball hitters need to sense how much more forward they need to be…

It’s never easy making changes as they always feel so uncomfortable. Let’s get away from associating discomfort with ‘wrong’ as you work towards improvement. I know this exercise seems like it’s the opposite of what it should be, but as the task becomes more challenging (which this one is) we have no choice but to adapt.

The good news is that this drill applies directly to your long game too, so don’t be afraid to incorporate a few of these drills with those full swings too.

Thanks for checking in and I hope this helps you to enjoy your golf a little more.