How to Use the Ground

Ground Forces

Now that we are entering the off season,  it’s a great time of year to take a look at the primary fundamentals and understand where you are with respect to each one.  Ground forces is the first one and can be considered the foundation of all athletic movement.  You cannot do much athletically with power unless you leverage something and in golf it is the ground.  

In terms of cause and effect ground forces is a lead factor when we look at the golf swing.  On the Swing Catalyst system here at The Golf Performance Center we are able to measure how someone is using the ground in the golf swing in terms of amount of force and direction of forces being used.  One of the most influential factors to how someone uses the ground is stance width.  A stance that is too wide may lead to more lateral movement than rotational movement and a narrow stance may lead to instability of the lower body and potentially difficulty moving at maximum speeds.  

Take the time to see where your stance width is and look to understand how that may be influencing your tendencies in the golf swing.  Very few people have the proper stance width and most people underestimate the value of working on this simple fundamental.  As in the photo above, look to have your big toes line up with the inside of your armpits on each side (that is with minimal foot flare).  The lead shoulder may come just inside of that due to proper side bend of the torso. Take some swings from this stance width and see how you move differently through the swing.