Balance is the Key to Success

Maintaining balance is often discussed as a key to making a good golf swing, but what you rarely hear about is proprioception. What is it? In short, it's your ability to know where your limbs are without looking. If you can type without looking at your hands, if you can run without looking at your feet, then you have functional proprioception. 
 
I used the word "functional" because, unlike balance, which comes from fluids in the inner ear and is involuntary, you can increase your proprioception through training. It might seem like it's a subconscious activity because you have become so good at it. But what you might not know is that you can improve your proprioception and, in turn, improve your golf swing.
 
I spoke with Tiger Woods' swing coach Sean Foley about this subject the other day. He's a big believer in becoming a better player through footwork. When you swing the club, you probably give little, if any, thought to what your feet are doing. But many of the game's best players and 

teachers will tell you footwork is very important in hitting solid shots. It's the reason Sam Snead famously practiced in his bare feet, Foley says, or why Jack Grout told a young Jack Nicklaus to "roll your ankles."

You might think that since you're able to walk, run, jump without looking at your feet, they'll just come along for the ride when you swing the club. Truth is, they will. But if you spend some time training your feet, you can make your golf swing better.

One of the best ways to do this in the gym is to perform exercises on one leg or with your eyes closed. Safety, of course, should be your primary concern, so don't start lifting heavy weights blindfolded. But when you do one-legged exercises and/or movements with your eyes closed, focus on what you're feet are doing to control your body. This awareness will transfer when you play golf, and you'll begin to understand how your feet control your swing.

Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest

Tiger Makes a Statement

Tiger can thank his improved putting as a key to his win at Bay Hill, and potentially a springboard to more victories in 2012. In the final round alone, he made putts of 14 feet on No. 4, four feet on 8, seven feet on 11, eight feet on 14, 12 feet on 15 and four feet, seven inches on 17. As simple as Sean's tweak to Tiger's setup was, having your shoulder's square at address can be quite important. If we watch golf on TV for one afternoon, it isn't difficult to see how many different putting styles can get the job done. (Take a look here at the winning putting styles of 2011.) Most good putters on tour try to set up with their shoulders square at address. Here are few thoughts on putting alignment:

Everything square isn't a must
There are many great putters who set up up with their feet open at address. Brad Faxon is a prime example. There are fewer players who set up closed to their target line (pointed to the right for a right-handed golfer). South African Bobby Locke is the first player most instructors think of. Locke would aim to the right, and pull-hook his putts back on line. While it certainly worked for Locke, being closed at address is typically a tougher way to putt. Check the video below from 2010. While Tiger practices his one-handed drill with the putterhead between two tees, note his shoulders seem slightly open at address. Also, the putts he misses miss to the left. Also note that, until this past week, he hasn't putted consistently well since he won the BMW in 2009.


Shoulders trump feet
The shoulders have a far greater effect on your putting stroke than your feet do. Even on Tiger's drill in the video, some of the putts he hits are with his feet aligned well left. Shoulder alignment, however, affects the forearms, and forearm alignment greatly influences the path your putter will take. Open shoulders will lead to more of a "slice" stroke, while closed shoulders typically cause the putter to track too far to the inside in the backstroke, leading to pushes and a "hook" stroke. For a quick check-up, simply set up to a ball in front of a mirror, as if you're putting directly toward the mirror. Without changing your posture, swivel your head toward the mirror to check your shoulder alignment. If your shoulders are square and your forearms aligned, you'll only see one arm (your lead arm).

Use your full swing as a clue to fix your putting
There are few absolutes in golf, but I often see the same patterns throughout a player's game. If you tend to set up open at address to your driver, slice your fairway woods and take the club too far to the outside on your pitch shots, it's unlikely you'd have a "hook" putting stroke. In watching Tiger's pre-shot routine on full swings, he makes many rehearsals that exaggerate a cut. He and Foley have worked hard on avoiding hooking the ball, and the outside-in practice swings Tiger makes are evidence of that. Maybe all the "anti-left" practice Tiger has been doing crept it's way into his putting setup. But it sure seems that Foley has Tiger "squared" up for now.

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Supinate Your Wrists Like the Best

The more I study the instructional thoughts from the great players and teachers of the past, the more I realize that the principles they espoused are just as valid today as they were then. For example, take the idea of supination and pronation that Ben Hogan spoke about so clearly and precisely. 

In his book Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, Hogan said: "There is one position of such signal importance that it warrants closeup study. This is the position of the left wrist and hand at the actual moment of impact. [The publisher printed the following words in all caps, but I'll put them in bold so they are easier to read here./RS] 

"At impact the back of the left hand faces toward your target. The wrist bone is definitely raised. It points to the target and, at the moment the ball is contacted, it is out in front, nearer to the target than any part of the hand.  

"When the left wrist is in this position, the left hand will not check or interrupt the speed with which your clubhead is traveling. There's no danger either that the right hand will overpower the left and twist the club over. It can't. As far as applying power goes, I wish that I had three right hands!

"Every good golfer has his left wrist in this supinating position at impact. Every poor golfer does the exact reverse. As his club comes into the ball, he starts to pronate the left wrist--to turn it so that the palm will be facing down."

In other words, Hogan did not want your arms and wrists pronating on the downswing. (Pronate only on the backswing.) He wanted your arms and wrists to turn counterclockwise (to your left as you're looking at the ball) into and through impact, but in a way that your left wrist was slightly bowed and your right wrist bent backward at the moment of truth. This is the classic impact position you see in the small circular image on the cover of the Five Lessons book shown above, as well as on the cover page inside. The result will be a more powerful strike because you are delofting the club through impact while turning the clubface from open to closed, which also creates extra clubhead speed coming into the ball. 

It's why really good players--and all tour pros--make that classic ball-then-turf contact resulting in a more penetrating ball-flight. Less-skilled golfers often turn their arms and wrists in the opposite direction--clockwise (to your right as you're looking at the ball) through impact, which cups the left wrist and adds loft to the club. This results in a weak slice and a softer ball flight. As Hogan said, "At the very point in the swing in which [the golfer] should be increasing the speed of his hands, by pronating he slows them down."

So if you want to improve your ball flight and hit your shots farther with more consistency, take a tip from Ben Hogan and supinate your arms and wrists through impact. You might want to combine this move with some gym work with light weights to be sure your arms and wrists are strong so you don't injure yourself. Click here for a Fitness Friday how-to video. 

And for more classic images of Ben Hogan swinging the club, click here.

All credit for this post goes to:

Roger Schiffman
Managing Editor
Golf Digest