Get a more grounded golf swing

Improve the stability of your lower half with the help of a resistance band

Think of your golf swing for a moment as just that… a swing. It is a structure that has a fixed, supported frame that allows a hinged object to create momentum by moving back and through a proportionate distance.

Stability for the swing is created from the ground upwards through your legs. The biggest difference I see between amateurs and tour pros is the athletic leg position they adopt at set-up.

Pros squat more while maintaining good posture. This lowers their centre of gravity in an attempt to provide better balance and stability as they swing.

Amateurs don’t quite adopt this athletic position and, as a result, are more susceptible to the forces of the movement of the club during the swing.

Try placing a resistance band around your knees. Make it tight enough that when you set up at address your leg muscles actively support it. You will feel that you have to squat more and this will encourage you to maintain a solid base by preventing your knees from collapsing inwards.

If your knees collapse that encourages your upper body to actively sway and tilt, robbing you of the opportunity to create balanced coil by turning your upper body against your lower body, an essential ingredient to a powerfully-timed downswing sequence.

AND ANOTHER THING…

We instinctively use the ground to generate movement from running, jumping to throwing. Sometimes we tend to complicate this relationship when we take hold of a golf club. Take the example of skimming a stone across water. We get ourselves into a position as we pull the stone back that promotes weight to be transferred to the front foot first before the body recoils and releases the accelerating hands towards the target. The same as throwing the stone, your golf swing should use the ground to create kinetic energy. That energy should travel naturally upwards through your body and straight to the golf club.

Scott Clark is PGA teaching professional at the Colin Montgomerie Links Golf Academy at Turnberry. For lessons, call Scott on 01655 334190. Follow him on Twitter @scottclarkPGA

Originally published on bunkered on October 29, 2012.

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