As I have mentioned previously in instructional articles, the EGTF is extremely lucky to have the scientific knowledge of Dr Paul Hurrion, one of our members, and coach to Open Champion, Padraig Harrington at its disposal.
It is Paul’s work on ground reaction forces and balance within the golf swing, using his force plate technology, that has enabled the golf world to understand how important balance is in the swing.
The majority of golfer’s problems arise from a poorly balanced address position, where their weight is positioned too much on the balls of their feet, forcing too much weight forward. Unfortunately weight on the balls of feet is still taught by many teaching professionals, but just leads to a lot of the problems that we see in the golf swing.
(left) Poor address position - weight too far forward - (right) Poor top of the backswing - non target knee straightens
This position leads to a number of compensations to stop you losing balance and falling over, with the body trying to find a way of getting the weight to go back into the heels. The main one being, the club being picked up, the non target leg straightening, poor weight transfer and the hips being stuck.
Once in this position, the only way for the body to keep in balance is to move the weight towards the ball, with the downswing starting with the top half of the body, the club being thrown on an exaggerated steep outside path, causing poor shots that can either be pulled straight left or sliced to the right of target.
(left) Downswing starts with top half club thrown on a steep outside path - (right) Weak choppy impact position
If we can start off in a much better balanced position, where our weight is evenly distributed between the heel and toes and our centre of pressure going through the arches or middle of our feet, we have a good chance to create a swing that is efficient with the minimum of moving parts.
(left) A Balanced set up - (right) Hips turn 45 degrees - non target knee stable
With this address position, the body can turn the club away. Resistance can be created in the lower half that will enable a good rotation and power to be stored in the lower half of the body. This is the reason that the 21st century Pro is hitting the ball so far these days, as they are using the bigger, more powerful muscles of the legs and torso to turn the club into position, rather than the smaller, weaker muscles in the hands and arms.
Once we have turned and coiled correctly, the downswing should be initiated by the lower half, with the hips driving back down towards the ball, with a shifting of weight towards the target side and a turning motion so the left side clears properly.
The correct kinetic sequence allows the club to drop into a much shallower inside position on the downswing, from where we can attack the ball going into impact, letting the body do most of the work rather than just thrashing at it with your hands.
At impact, the hips should have turned out at 45 degrees towards the target. Shoulders should be square and over the ball, non target foot rolling onto the inside to ensure a correct weight transfer. This is the power position we are looking for in today’s biomechanical golf swing.
(left) Hips initiate downswing - (right) The club drops inside
Impact position, hips turned 45 degrees - non target foot rolls onto the inside
Not everyone you teach will be able to achieve this type of power movement, as it does require some degree of fitness and flexibility, but if you just start with the basic idea that the swing starts from the ground upwards and that proper balance is vital, you will never go far wrong.
THE GOLF SWING – IT’S ALL ABOUT BALANCE
Once again, thanks to Dr Paul Hurrion for using science to explain how the golf swing should work, rather than, as others do, use the opinions that have been going around for many years as their base of knowledge.
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