Oh Those Cheatin’ Feet. Golf Tips from Greenville SC.

Generally we don’t think about the fronts of our feet as “cheater” mechanisms.  The arches, balls of the feet, and our toes, all help to make changes in our vertical attitude so that we can function more comfortably, efficiently, and safely as upright, two-legged animals.  When we are standing, the more than twenty different muscles in the feet are constantly making minute adjustments to our vertical position, with little or no conscious awareness that they are doing so.  Think of what it would be like to walk on two peg legs or on a pair of drywall stilts.  It can be done, but it requires great core control of our center of mass.

In the golf swing, we can leave our ideal swing-plane in the back-swing, and the arches, balls, and toes of the feet, can be used to “fight” our way back onto plane in the down-swing and follow-through.  Ideally, we should never leave our perfect plane at all, and learning how to do that is totally possible.  Incidentally, the popular notion that the rear leg should “drive” in the delivery is scientifically incorrect.  The rear foot should slightly “drag” in the follow-through to help stabilize the balance at the finish of the swing.  Proper rotational movement in the delivery is done by turning over the leading hamstring, not by pushing from the rear foot and quadriceps.

If you wish to have the technically best swing possible, leg-work is critical – not foot-work.  Few people practice doing much of anything rotationally over their hamstrings unless they practice the hammer throw or discus.  If you wish to develop hamstring strength for increased power and control in your golf swing, do the Gravity Golf “heel-to-heel” drill with the feet in full motion.  Doing this drill will help you find your ideal swing-plane and stop your feet from “cheating.”  It is perhaps the very best of all our drills yet developed.  You can study my son Danny doing it online on “The Driver Drill Club” video on YouTube.