Foot Tension

I'm getting hungry!

I do see what you mean. And I agree that once you've got something down, you can always look to add or take away, but are we then in danger of becoming "tinker man" and destroying what we've got? Is this the definition of the dangerous pursuit of perfection?

I believe Nick Faldo has something interesting to say about always tinkering. He found Leadbetter's methods to suit him. Why did he win with it repeatedly, then go on to change it even further?

Only he knows, I s'pose!

hi Neil
it was the same with tiger, he had a winning swing and a good coach and he not only changed his swing he changed his coach too when he was winning everything too.
cheers
bill

Oh yeah! Forgot that one!

Having seen so much written on Faldo and Tiger, I would suggest that the general opinion of the difference is that Faldo thought he could do better, but Tiger knew he could.

I reckon Tiger had direction. A "that's what I want" attitude. So different from "should I try this, or this with this" etc. Which kinda fits in with what we're talking about, although I am aware that we have digressed slightly from the original question!

Foot tension? Can't say I'm aware of it. Supple feet and ankles? Yes. Tension in the swing from the knees on up? Oh yes.

__________________
Luke: I don't believe it!
Yoda: That is why you fail.

Hello All:

It's always interesting to see a thread take on a life of it's own. There will always be different views, feels, keys, methods, tricks etc..to the golf swing. The bottom line will always be...does it work?. Is the ball flying to your intended target? On the desired trajectory, with the right spin....etc. And more to the point, is your score on the course reflective of the skill, desire, attititude you put into the game. Also, is this process fun, challenging, frustrating? The answers to these usually add up to your enjoyment quotient for the game.

Back to my original point in this thread, I most definitely had too much tension in my feet and ankles. As I wrote...."cement feet with rusted ankles". This tension, forced me to use my legs in a manner where my right knee would shoot out toward the ball on the downswing, which in turn forced my right hip out. This was accompanied by a premature straightening of the right knee. This had a negative ripple effect right on through to my hands.

By using the proper roll of the ankles, I can now shuttle both knees toward the target to start my downswing and my right shoulder and arms drop very quickly to my right side setting up many other good things to happen. Neil mentioned that his instuctor brought the attention this rollling action to him. Neil, I'm curious if you had already integrated this action into your swing before instruction? Were you already aware of the importance of correct footwork or was this taught to you? Either way is fine but I do feel that proper foot action is a bit of a mystery to self taught golfers because it is a unique action. Apparently hockey players use a similiar motion on the slap shot and not by coincedence hockey players excell at golf.

As far as the debate concerning tension, obviously there needs to be some muscular tension to energize a clubhead to 100 plus miles per hour. I will say without question, however, as I watch beginner or mid to high handicap golfers, it is a problem with too much tension not too little. This is clearly why the slice is the prevalent ball flight as the handicap goes up. Tension in the grip spreads to the arms and shoulders and tension in the feet spreads to the knees and hips. Since the hands and feet are the connection points in golf, there must be a sensitivity in both areas....to the club and to the earth to make the swing effective.

The best physiological way to describe the feeling I have in my feet as I
set-up now is a relaxed feeling in the arches of my feet. This allows a rolling side to side action versus a rocking from the ball of the foot to the heel soley (bad pun). I use the feet to simply shift the weight and let my hips and torso unwind for power. To see the difference, just try to hit power shots using no rolling of the arches versus a rolling action. Take note of the changes to the rest of the swing. Likely, the most effective method willl involve a little of both motions. In my case, I was not rolling at all because the tension in the arches of my feet did not allow it to happen. Once I integrated it...bingo.

As always, I hope to point out something that may help another. No debate or competition on right or wrong.....(I get enough of that from my wife)....As I said and truly believe it is the challenge and enjoyment of figuring these things out that intrigues me so much about golf. I'm sure most of you feel the same.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Same here Tim. My left toes turn outwards after impact from my foot roll in the down swing and my left shoe seems to rip apart from the left side after 3 months.

It was expensive shoes, rip them, pay for shipping both ways to have them fixed and wait several months before they showed back up.

Now it is a little less expensive shoes that I put plenty of cushions inside, Rip Them and Toss Them. Good Old Gel.

I was always aware that good fottwork was necessary, but the footwork I had sucked!

It was my right foot and ankle mainly. It would get up on the balls quickly in the downswing rather than rolling inwards over the ankle. I'd never looked at it that way before being told about it.

hi Neil
i was very like you with dead feet and sometimes came up on my toes. i found putting a line of five balls and taking a wedge and not trying to use my arms or hands and i started to work on a tempo where i would set up to the first ball and swing back to about 7 or 8 o'clock and use my feet to swing the wedge through the ball and keeping a count so i was in rhythm i would count and step forward with my left foot and then my right and swing and then do the same with all five balls one after another. it got me into a good rhythm and also got my feet working so my upper body followed my feet and knees and hips, you soon feel you swinging freely and you feet and ankles are working .
cheers
bill

__________________
ping zing2 metal driver
ping zing2 metal 3 wood
ping eye2 1 iron
ping zing2 3/9 irons
ping ist 47% wedge
ping zing2 52% s/wedge
ping mb 56% wedge
ping c10 G2I broom handled putter
top flight "T" golf balls
white ping bag