Friday, August 7, 2015

How to Use Legs for Power in Golf Swing

How to Swing from the Ground Up in the Golf Swing

How many times of you heard that you should use your legs in the golf swing? None other than Jack Nicklaus said that he got most of his power in his golf swing from the ground! What on earth does that mean, you might ask yourself! How do you get power in the golf swing from something that isn't moving?

Using the Ground for Leverage

The key is to learn how to use the ground for leverage. Using the ground for leverage means that you are physically pushing against the ground with your legs. This allows you to use the powerful muscles in your trunk for not only stability but for power in the golf downswing. 

The key to this is that as you start your backswing you need to start loading your legs and your hips, in particular your right hip so that as you get to the top of the back swing you are physically pushing down into the ground with your right leg. 

As you then start your downswing you want to shift back to the left and begin pushing against the ground with your left leg. This allows you to drive force into the ground with the lead leg which is the next key for explosiver power at impact. This pushing against the ground is often called ground reaction force and is a technical term for using the ground for leverage. 

Essentially what you're doing in the golf downswing is you are push pushing into the ground with your left leg imagining that you are pushing the ground away from you. This allows you to derive force from the ground through the legs which is which is then transferred up the kinetic chain to your arms and eventually to your clubhead.

A simple way of thinking about this is imagine you're swinging a golf club on an ice skating rink. Imagine how you would slide around as you would have no grip from your feet and hence you would not be able to use your legs. You would tend to swing all from your upper body and this is the weakest way that you could swing a golf club. Your golf swing should feel as if you were driving into the ground and you're very anchored to the ground with your legs. This will give you much more power in the golf swing and let allow you to swing much more efficiently using your big muscles.

In this golf swing video I go over how you need to load your body in the correct sequence in order to have a powerful and effortless golf swing. So, watch this golf instruction video and enjoy your new found power!

To see part two, click here!