Glutes

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Proper lower body engagement enables consistent contact. Above all, learn to get the weight to the front side.

In many sports, imitation of athletic moves is apparent. For example throwing a baseball obviously looks better to shift weight to the forward foot. In golf this is not as intuitive nor obvious. Too often we want to get our feet as wide as possilbe and hang back on the back foot. This may feel good but it is not good for the golf swing.

All too often we hit the “big” ball (the earth) before we hit the “little” ball (golf ball). Per the other basics learned to this point, the apex of the swing is directly below the lead shoulder (for right handers that would be the left shoulder). So the physics suggests that the bottom of the swing is going to be directly below the left shoulder. In order to hit the little ball before the big ball, we need to advance the apex or left shoulder just in front of the golf ball because we want to hit the ball before the turf. The resulting divot begins where the ball was and continues towards the target.

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Weight shift (101)

This is a good place to point out that a proper stance of a few inches outside of hip joint neutral is critical. If your stance is too wide, good luck!

In golf the apex of the swing is at the left shoulder. We want the club to bottom out in front of the ball. That can only happen if we transition our weight to the left side.

Most swings include this transition. Chip shots won’t. With a chip we will set the weight per the position of the ball in our stance.

Besides increasing power and proper swing dynamics, this is best accomplished by shifting the weight to the left side - specifically to the left heel - during the downswing. Practice shifting weight to the left heel. This will properly advance the left shoulder or apex. Weight on the heels engages the glutes which are perfect for keeping balance. Quads are not for balance.

I think this is possibly the biggest difference between golf and other sports. There are few sports where the target, or apex, moves. Other sports have similar athletic moves but few others change the target/apex mid-swing. This is weight transfer so non-intuitive that it is not automatic.

I remember on one occasion my mid round swing was in such a mess that I decided to walk up on the ball and hit it mid stride. I was shocked how well it worked. It worked because I was transferring my weight to the left side. My apex was shifting so that I was finally taking the little ball before the big ball.

The apex of the swing at contact should be in front of the ball. Now when I chip, I shift my weight to the left side at address. There is no weight transfer. This minimizes hitting the ground before the ball.

Right glute Left glute “clamshell” (210)

The Right glute, left glute drill promotes weight transition and power without spinning the hips. This also promotes keeping the butt back so that the arms have room in the swing - they don’t get stuck. Additionally, this drill helps encourage covering the ball with the chest.

I tend to stand up in the downswing. Moving my hips forward, instead of the butt back, will cause contact closer to the heel of the club - the dreaded shank. It will also mess up the plane.

In addition, in it’s purest form, transitioning into the left side should be accompanied with a feeling of the chest going down a bit with the weight into the left heel - like a clam shell pivoting a bit closed.

Remember, Johnny Miller said, “Keep your C”. Rotary swing calls it the clamshell drill. The average golfer calls it, “Keep your head down.” Whatever you call it, the key is you want to feel that your chest is staying down and at the ball on contact - ball strike. I personally have a tendency to stand up at contact. Naturally moving the apex of the swing up and away from the ball will cause me to hit the ball thin. So stay down!

The pros spin their hips to get crazy power but they practice 24/7 hitting maybe 10 times the number of balls we do. At some level this just comes down to being satisfied with a consistent 200-250 yard drive instead of an occasional 275-300 yard drive.

Post up - Left buttocks (301)

On the downswing, begin by flexing both knees a bit, while covering the ball with your chest “clamshell”. Using the Drill, as your lag is at a maximum, hands over right thigh. Post up or straighten your left knee. Don’t hyper extend it just straighten it. Can you feel the club head whip around the body from the centripetal force?

There are two types of rotational forces: centrifugal and centripetal. The difference in these forces is exemplified in pulling a trailer behind a truck. Backing or pushing (centrifugal) a trailer into it’s parking spot is infinitely more difficult than pulling (centripetal) a trailer down the road.

It is the same with the golf swing. It is more predictable to pull the club into place in the backswing and downswing (centripetal). Technically speaking we should be using our big muscles to do so: our back muscles, and leg muscles as appropriate. The same is true if we pull the club into place in the downswing. Again, using our big muscles to transfer weight, and continuing to use our big muscles to pull the club into contact.

In a rotational sense of centripetal force, if we want the club-head down to the ball we need to pull away from the ball with our legs. Try it. Using The Drill, as the club shaft starts to pass parallel on the downswing, straighten your left knee. This straightening is called posting up. We only want to post up in our left leg. Not the right leg too! We also don’t want to hyper extend the knee. The optimal position is maintaining a fraction of flex in the left knee. Did you feel an increase in speed in the club-head? This move is akin to whipping something. To cause a high speed “whip” action at the intended object, we make and abrupt and hard opposing move from the target. In the swing that hard move is away from the ball.

If you have succeeded in this move, please note, that being able to control all of this new found speed in your swing is not easy. Can you handle increased speed? Yes! Can you handle all the speed you can generate? Maybe. It is up to your ability and golfing acuity. The pros can but I am no pro. So I do what I can.

Additionally, the post up is a move that opens the hips without hip whipping! The post up move with the glut engaged, moves the hip back and out of the way. Clearing the hips is desirable but whipping the hips is difficult to control and fraught with side effects. Better to post up and move the left butt back.

Also, this move should be done with the hip in a joint neutral position. The transfer of weight does go laterally from right to left but the body should not slide. Sliding results in the hip extending beyond neutral.

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