How To Unleash More Power With the Legs
Posted: Thursday, April 19, 2007
by John Matherly
http://golfvideos.blogspot.com
Weight shift - many beginning golfers find this difficult to execute, an unnatural feeling, and not clear why it must be done.
In addition, there is the subject of the legs - some golf pro's ignore them almost totally in their system. Some say "this is an upper-body swing using the legs only as solid base."
Well, this can work. No doubt about it. BUT you are excluding an important power source if you decide not to use your legs. And there are basically different ways to use the power of the legs.
2. The second method is what I call the "push-off" method and is used by golfers who feel comfortable with hitting the golf ball. When the 100-meter runner is starting from the blocks, he pushes off strongly to explode out of a standing position into the fastest start possible. Or when the swimmer pushes off of the wall in the swimming pool, he pushes as strongly as possible to get his body moving toward his goal as fast as possible.
For example, have you ever been at the driving range and seen someone falling backwards after hitting a ball. Why? Because the golfer was hitting the ball forward only with an upper-body movement and the "recoil" (just like with a rifle!) PUSHED the whole body backwards. In other words, the legs were not actively used to initial the swing of resist the backpressure of the upper-body turn.
In the push-off method, the RIGHT LEG can be used to strongly push-off to start the whole body into motion to strongly whip (there is a reason this report is only AFTER the SNAP report!) the relaxed upper body around into the golf swing. When you are coiled up over the INSIDE ARCH of the right foot, stay relaxed in your upper body.
Push off very hard with your right foot like when skiing and making a sharp turn. Keep pushing with the right foot and right leg until the sole of the right foot is totally off the ground. Just concentrate on the right leg and keep the rest of the body relaxed. See how much distance you have gained!
3. A third method is "counter-fall" as first described by David Lee in his book - Gravity Golf. Golfers who prefer swinging the golf club and not hitting prefer this method. The key here is to use your own body weight to whip around the upper body. While the upper body performs the back swing up the top, the lower body moves back to the right foot and FALLS back to the left heel.
This means the lower body has gone to the right AND BACK AGAIN TO THE LEFT during the period of time that the upper body has only gone to the top of the backswing.
This is sometimes described as a 2 - 1 rhythm, the lower body has moved twice as fast as the upper body. Jack Nicklaus describes this 2 - 1 rhythm with different words. When asked whether he stops at the top, he said, "No - not intentionally." Rather, he described his movement as "a two-way stretch", meaning that his upper body is still going to the top of the backswing while the lower body is already moving towards the target.
The lower body, particularly the left hip and leg, is then allowed to fall like a tree in a direction forward and to the left of the target line. This lower body movement is called a "counter-fall" since the lower body is falling in a balance and coordinated way against the upper body movement.
It is a dynamic falling of the lower body, and the lower body action PULLS the upper body around and down the target line. The counter-fall is a very relaxed stretching and balancing movement that can make the golf swing look very effortless and artistic. Nonetheless, learn the general principle - let your lower body - whether by push-off or counter-fall, whip the upper body around and down the target line.
Until the next report.
Best regards,
John Matherly http://golfvideos.blogspot.com & www.swingofchampions.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I dont understand how the "second method" could be compatible with your (very correct) analysis of the " slowing of the body etc..." : you need to create a torque on the left arm (to initiate the snapping of the whip) : Is this possible with a push of the right feet ? Not clear for me...
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