As far as lifting the left heel, I've always thought of it in the sense that it is lifted, not that you lift it. Allowing the left heel to be taken off the ground naturally by the Pivot, instead of lifting it intentionally, will leave you better off in your Motion IMHO. Personally, my heel doesn't lift, but I attribute that to flexibility instead of an effort to keep it grounded. If the Pivot wants to lift the heel, then let it be lifted.
Agreed on all points, NCHamr. A proper pivot will, in almost all cases (especially with the longer clubs and the necessity of the right shoulder to turn to the flatter planes), pull the left heel off the ground.
Problem is . . .
Few golfers have a proper pivot. And they won't have one until that left heel (and the accompanying knee bend) starts accommodating the necessary Hip Turn (and with it, the necessary Shoulder Turn).
The reality is that the average guy's lower body doesn't move very well. Soon, the various pivot Components -- especially the Hips, Knees, and Feet -- get used to that limited dynamic and simply shut down. They're no longer active; instead, they merely accommodate, to a limited extent, the required Golf Motion.
To all golfers, I say this:
Virtually every great player in history has lifted his (or her) left heel and fully-cleared their right hip, especially with the longer clubs. Off the top of my head, let's make a list over the last century:
Early on:
Anderson
Vardon
Braid
Ray
Ouimet
Barnes
Jones
Vare
Hagen
Sarazen
And almost everyone else.
Next gen:
Hogan
Snead
Nelson
Picard
Demaret
Zaharias
Guldahl
Jameson
Mangrum
Bell
Toski
Locke
Cotton
Suggs
Burke
Berg
DiVencenzo
And almost everyone else.
Next gen:
Wright
Palmer
Nicklaus
Jacklin
Whitworth
Rawls
Player
Trevino
Casper
Watson
Miller
Nelson
Norman
Kite
Crenshaw
Langer
Price
Haas (gotta put him in here; all-time PGA TOUR leader in Cuts Made!)
Watkins
And almost everyone else.
Next gen:
Stewart
Lopez
Azinger
Woosnam
King
Montgomerie
Mickelson
Harrington
Love
And a ton of new (but not yet great) players too numerous to mention. Many of whom will no doubt learn from their new age instructors to keep their heel down in the coming years (risking both their backs and their careers).
Woods? No, but then, he's not exactly the straightest driver out there, and at age 35, has already had his 4th left knee operation.
Here's my question, to all players, instructors, biomechanists, broadcasters, magazine experts, et. al:
If virtually ALL of the great champions in history -- male and female -- have had sufficient pivots to pull their left heel off the ground, why is the average golfer inhibiting his own by leaving the left heel down?
Here's an interesting tidbit:
Years ago, marine biologists put a test group of sharks in a pool and let them get used to swimming the perimeter. Then, they put a plexiglass wall across the middle of the pool. Boom. Boom. Boom! The sharks soon got used to swimming in the plexiglass defined half-pool.
Then, the biologists lifted the plexiglass wall.
What happened? The sharks, having learned their constraints, continued to swim in their limited half-pool.
And so it is with almost every left heel/right hip-bound golfer. The pivot lacking, they compensate. Usually with an under plane backswing around their frozen right hip, accompanied by an overswing of their collapsing arms, and the inevitable over-the-top move in the Start Down.
Here's the real deal: Power is not the problem. The Arm Swing is Power, not the body. And the problem is that the Arms cannot swing freely On Plane (and past the body) while the right hip is in the way. Either back or down.
So, get reckless: Lift your left heel. Clear your right hip. Let your left knee be pulled inward and point at or just behind the ball. With that action, you'll create a path for your HANDS to swing, back and down. Follow the lead of virtually every great champion in history . . .
Yoda, does the lifting of the left heel have to be full blown as in Jack's Golf My Way video where he portrays active feet and seems to be picking up the heels on purpose? I've always thought that the left heel is just allowed to rise up as much or as little as it does as a reaction to the pivot action and not consciously picked up in the back swing.
Yoda, does the lifting of the left heel have to be full blown as in Jack's Golf My Way video where he portrays active feet and seems to be picking up the heels on purpose? I've always thought that the left heel is just allowed to rise up as much or as little as it does as a reaction to the pivot action and not consciously picked up in the back swing.
Not Yoda......BUT I think if you watch Jack swing you can see that his left heel is picked up by his hip turn which influences his knees which pulls up his heel. He says in the orig. Golf My Way video that Jack Grout had him do a drill where he would do small swings (kinda like acquired motion) and he would roll on the inside of each foot going back then through. Like a Yoda "left right left right". He doesn't restrict anything but since he is making small swings he doesn't lift his heels but just rolls to the inside.
A side note: being from Columbus I grew up very aware of Jack and his record and swing. I always wondered how he hit it so far if the "x-factor"/other teachers saying restrict the lower body against the upper body was true. Is the secret in how he starts forward with his legs and hips while still going up with his hands and arms?
Not Yoda......BUT I think if you watch Jack swing you can see that his left heel is picked up by his hip turn which influences his knees which pulls up his heel. He says in the orig. Golf My Way video that Jack Grout had him do a drill where he would do small swings (kinda like acquired motion) and he would roll on the inside of each foot going back then through. Like a Yoda "left right left right". He doesn't restrict anything but since he is making small swings he doesn't lift his heels but just rolls to the inside.
A side note: being from Columbus I grew up very aware of Jack and his record and swing. I always wondered how he hit it so far if the "x-factor"/other teachers saying restrict the lower body against the upper body was true. Is the secret in how he starts forward with his legs and hips while still going up with his hands and arms?
As far as the X-Factor goes, if a player could rotate their shoulders 90degrees while limiting their hip turn to 45degrees, wouldn't it be safe to say that if that golfer were to free up their lower body and allow the hips to turn to 60degrees, their shoulder turn would also increase by the same amount? Look at Bubba Watson for instance; his lower body turns a lot more than your typical Tour pro, as evidence by how high his left heel gets, and he's one of the longest players in his generation, as Jack was in his. So utilizing a bigger turn through unrestricted motion of the lower body creates the opportunity for more power through a strong leg drive, which really cranks up that gyroscope and sends that Flail screaming through the ball. Well that's my two-cents on the matter anyways
__________________
"Grizzly Adams did have a beard"-Lee Trevino
Agreed on all points, NCHamr. A proper pivot will, in almost all cases (especially with the longer clubs and the necessity of the right shoulder to turn to the flatter planes), pull the left heel off the ground.
Problem is . . .
Few golfers have a proper pivot. And they won't have one until that left heel (and the accompanying knee bend) starts accommodating the necessary Hip Turn (and with it, the necessary Shoulder Turn).
The reality is that the average guy's lower body doesn't move very well. Soon, the various pivot Components -- especially the Hips, Knees, and Feet -- get used to that limited dynamic and simply shut down. They're no longer active; instead, they merely accommodate, to a limited extent, the required Golf Motion.
To all golfers, I say this:
Virtually every great player in history has lifted his (or her) left heel and fully-cleared their right hip, especially with the longer clubs. Off the top of my head, let's make a list over the last century:
Anderson
Vardon
Braid
Ray
Ouimet
Barnes
Jones
Vare
Hagen
Sarazen
And almost everyone else.
Next gen:
Hogan
Snead
Nelson
Picard
Demaret
Zaharias
Guldahl
Jameson
Mangrum
Bell
Toski
Locke
Cotton
Suggs
Burke
Berg
DiVencenzo
And almost everyone else.
Next gen:
Wright
Palmer
Nicklaus
Jacklin
Whitworth
Rawls
Player
Trevino
Casper
Watson
Miller
Nelson
Norman
Kite
Crenshaw
Langer
Price
Haas (gotta put him in here; all-time PGA TOUR leader in Cuts Made!)
Watkins
And almost everyone else.
Next gen:
Stewart
Lopez
Azinger
Woosnam
King
Montgomerie
Mickelson
Harrington
Love
And a ton of new (but not yet great) players too numerous to mention. Many of whom will no doubt learn from their new age instructors to keep their heel down in the coming years (risking both their backs and their careers).
Woods? No, but then, he's not exactly the straightest driver out there, and at age 35, has already had his 4th left knee operation.
Here's my question, to all players, instructors, biomechanists, broadcasters, magazine experts, et. al:
If virtually ALL of the great champions in history -- male and female -- have had sufficient pivots to pull their left heel off the ground, why is the average golfer inhibiting his own by leaving the left heel down?
Here's an interesting tidbit:
Years ago, marine biologists put a test group of sharks in a pool and let them get used to swimming the perimeter. Then, they put a plexiglass wall across the middle of the pool. Boom. Boom. Boom! The sharks soon got used to swimming in the plexiglass defined half-pool.
Then, the biologists lifted the plexiglass wall.
What happened? The sharks, having learned their constraints, continued to swim in their limited half-pool.
And so it is with almost every left heel/right hip-bound golfer. The pivot lacking, they compensate. Usually with an under plane backswing around their frozen right hip, accompanied by an overswing of their collapsing arms, and the inevitable over-the-top move in the Start Down.
Here's the real deal: Power is not the problem. The Arm Swing is Power, not the body. And the problem is that the Arms cannot swing freely On Plane (and past the body) while the right hip is in the way. Either back or down.
So, get reckless: Lift your left heel. Clear your right hip. Let your left knee be pulled inward and point at or just behind the ball. With that action, you'll create a path for your HANDS to swing, back and down. Follow the lead of virtually every great champion in history . . .
Just do it.
History of the proper technique, proof, justification, and elegant description! No place else but here, imho!
ICT
__________________
HP, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Progress and not perfection is the goal every day!
I've read so much about resisting too big of a shoulder turn by restricting the length of shoulder turn with the hips. I have been taught that this is supposed to supply torque to the swing, by using hips to limit too big of a shoulder turn it is supposed to be similar to tightening a rubber band.
I guess I have over done it or really didn't understand what was meant. Didn't learn that here.
I had been instructed in the past to keep my left heel down on back stroke, and not to let my knee flex to far towards the ball. Taught to me in my first or second lesson actually, probably why its uncomfortable for me to lift my heel now, and I was also taught to try to keep my right heel flat until just after impact. My old body won't allow the flat heel at impact, and I found out as I learned more about the swing that I needed to have some lift in the right heel at impact, that is how I knew I was at least making some type of attempt at a proper weight shift.
Per my marching orders I am trying to READ and am searching for how to make a proper pivot. There is so much information here its mind boggling. I know a poor pivot and poor use of lower body are two areas of my swing that are really hosed!
Per Yoda's advice I will start to do it. I will lift that left heel!
Just added another reason to the million I already have to get down to the swamp to see the master!
When I met with Yoda we discussed this very issue. He told me that we would go get legal pads and make a list- him with left heel up major winners and me with not. He rhetorically asked me whose list would be longer? Even dumb ol' me knew that answer! I have kept my heel on the ground for years and still struggle with it. However, when I do it AND maintain a steady head, and turn the right hip straight back from the target line, the stroke feels so free and the ball goes much farther. In fact, Lynn and I talked about this very issue- right hip clearing- yesterday on the phone.
When I met with Yoda we discussed this very issue. He told me that we would go get legal pads and make a list- him with left heel up major winners and me with not. He rhetorically asked me whose list would be longer? Even dumb ol' me knew that answer! I have kept my heel on the ground for years and still struggle with it. However, when I do it AND maintain a steady head, and turn the right hip straight back from the target line, the stroke feels so free and the ball goes much farther. In fact, Lynn and I talked about this very issue- right hip clearing- yesterday on the phone.
I have a similar issue.
I also have heard many instructors say the pivot will pull the left heel up.
For me, this will never happen.
What I am doing is allowing the left heel to rise to facilitate the right hip to turn back. The feeling from the MacDonald drills has directed me in this action.
I coud be way off base here but that's what I'm doing.
Hybrid Mode
