England is having quite the busy month of July! Wimbledon wrapped up Sunday with an impressive Djokovic win, followed just hours later with a hard fought battle in the UEFA Championship where the Italian squad ultimately took home the hardware in a raucous Wembley Stadium. This week our sport gets the stage as Royal St. Georges hosts the 149th Open Championship! The Open is always such a unique event, and every year it seems the weather conditions play a factor at one point or another. Be it wind or rain, the players in the field must prepare for the worst and hope for the best in this department. Generally speaking, high winds can present some of the most difficult conditions and the players who excel in ball striking often find themselves near the top of the leaderboard on the weekend.
Adjusting to hit a lower trajectory shot, and doing so while making good contact with the ball, is a direct reflection of the player’s ability to maintain dynamic posture and put the club in a position that will result in less loft at impact. Adjusting the ball position further back in your stance and “finishing low” are all things you’ll read about on the internet, but a golfer can still decrease the loft and, as a result, hit a low shot without those adjustments (not saying you wouldn’t still take these into consideration). To do so, the lower body (and lead leg in particular) needs the ability to rotate well through impact. Poor rotation into the lead hip is known to cause a myriad of poor movement patterns in the golf swing, all of which often lead to poor contact and at times a higher ball flight. As you watch The Open this weekend, if the wind plays a factor, pay attention to how the body moves as these athletes try to keep their shots low and penetrating through the wind.
If you’re having trouble hitting this type of shot, make sure you schedule time with a Performance Coach to assess your mobility and stability of your lower body and begin working to improve it!
See you in the Zone!
