Josh’s Tips & Tricks: Rotation and Foot Lift

Intro

Hello golfers. The Masters has been and gone which means the golf season has begun! We’re going to have to be a little more patient for some good weather but we are getting close to playing on lush green fairways in shorts and polos. Congratulations to Rahm who after a 4 putt on the first showed some serious nerve and talent to win by such a margin on the final day. He looked completely in control of his game and I’m sure will be winning more green jackets in the future.

Lead Foot

This week I want to look at something that crops up in lessons quite frequently. This is the movements of the lead foot in the swing. Lots of people try to keep this grounded which could be causing limitations in movements. Other people use it too much and end up pushing away from the ball. Take a look at the following video to see what I mean.

Video – Rotation and foot lift

In the backswing we want to turn the shoulders close to 90* with the hips turning roughly half that amount. If your body cannot seperate the shoulders from the hips this can be difficult to do. If you lack mobility and don’t use the lead foot to push away from the target you could get stuck with a very short backswing. Opposite to this would be using the lead foot too much to push away from the target. This can often lead to swaying off the ball and lifting up out of posture.

How much movement?

My main rule for people is that you can use the lead foot to push the hips and shoulders away from the target as long as posture is maintained. The head should stay centred and maintain the same height. Try some different feelings next time you practice to create different amount of hip rotation. If you feel short and stuck in the backswing try and turn the lead knee away from the target and that foot can come slightly off the floor. If you’re more prone to a sway or lifting into the backswing try to keep the lead foot a little more planted with the weight just pushing against the instep.

Summary

Understanding the movements of the lower body in the golf swing is very important. Lots of people focus on wrist angles, clubface angles, and shaft angles but the movements of the lower body can be much more important. Overall try to keep the same height with the head but push and turn the hips and shoulders around an axis. If you struggle with rotation you’re allowed to use the feet to push from side to side!

If any of this sounds familiar and you would like some clarity you can CLICK HERE TO BOOK A LESSON NOW.

Hopefully you all now have Masters fever and are gasping to get back on the course. I know I am!

Catch you soon.

Cheers,

Josh