Footwork

[Sir Shanksalot]

I've seen Peter Kostis examine Tiger's swing and he's said on numerous occasions that great ball strikers tend to keep their right heel low or planted at impact. I realized that this is not something I do. My last practice session I concentrated on maintaining my balance and keeping my right heel down through the hitting area and did notice an improvement. I'm not sure how that will translate to the course but I was wondering if it is something you think is important.
Thanks.

 

[pjcedog]

I've seen Peter Kostis examine Tiger's swing and he's said on numerous occasions that great ball strikers tend to keep their right heel low or planted at impact. I realized that this is not something I do. My last practice session I concentrated on maintaining my balance and keeping my right heel down through the hitting area and did notice an improvement. I'm not sure how that will translate to the course but I was wondering if it is something you think is important.
Thanks.

With good posture your weight has to be back and on your heels mostly throughout your swing in order to stay balanced, never up on your toes. When you do that you will tilt forward or back without control and will hit it fat or thin because of that. Hogan said he always had to be able to wiggle his toes at address and you can't do that if your weight is forward at all.

 

[JB]

Please keep this section clear until our THP professional has had a chance to come in and the question.

 

[amollerud]

PJ is on the right line. What we are seeing with todays equipment versus 15 years ago when you would see players up on there toes at impact is the shafts load different now. To hit a powerful shot these days you are looking to drive the body through the ball at impact. In order to do that you should feel the weight on the inside of your back foot and towards the heel of your back foot at the top of the back swing and you shoud use this to drive the body through the ball.

This is a move that I have started to work on with some of my students. What I am finding is they are getting a better smash factor on the shots. What that means is the club head speed remains about the same but the ball speed gets faster resulting in a bigger smash factor. Simple terms they are hitting it longer and not having to work harder to do it.

 

[grab6303]

Watch Tiger hit a Stinger, his back heel comes pretty high off the ground. Nothing like watching that guy when he is swinging well, quiet yet quick as hell.

 

[Sir Shanksalot]

Watch Tiger hit a Stinger, his back heel comes pretty high off the ground. Nothing like watching that guy when he is swinging well, quiet yet quick as hell.

I think his heel always winds up high but it seems to be low at impact.
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[pjcedog]

Watch Tiger hit a Stinger, his back heel comes pretty high off the ground. Nothing like watching that guy when he is swinging well, quiet yet quick as hell.

You can swing a lot harder if you are balanced. What is important here is balance at address, at the top and through contact. I don't see any contradiction between starting at address with your weight back through your heels and moving the heel up through contact.

 

[Sir Shanksalot]

Well, I took it out to the course on Wed and struck the ball great. I really think I'm on to something here.:clap:
I only hope it isn't W.O.O.D. (Works Only One Day). I heard Johnny Miller say that once.

 

[pjcedog]

Well, I took it out to the course on Wed and struck the ball great. I really think I'm on to something here.:clap:
I only hope it isn't W.O.O.D. (Works Only One Day). I heard Johnny Miller say that once.

This often happens with swing changes or other tweaks made after lessons that seem to work for a while and then stop working for some reason. Truth is that if a change ever worked then it works, you have the proof. Look at what you are actually doing and not what you think you are doing. That is where the discrepancy is, it is not necessarily in the technique. This is the real benefit of video.