IF YOU WATCH THE MOTION OF ANY
professional golfer's hips as they work toward impact,
you will notice the natural blend of lateral and
rotary motion that seems to propel the ball without
any effort whatsoever. Coordinating these two motions
is essential to squaring the club at impact correctly,
retaining the "angle" or lag created by the wrists
and forearms, and removing the last bit of weight
off your right side as the club accelerates through
impact. Unfortunately, most people get these moves
confused and/or eliminate one of them all together.
If you only move laterally without any "turn,"
your weight will slide out past the laces of your
left shoe and cause a dramatic bowing of the left
leg through impact. Once you've lost the firmness
on the left leg, all ball-striking consistency is
lost. This slide also stops the natural squaring
of the clubhead by not allowing the natural turning
of the body. The result is usually a handsy, untamed
motion.
If your swing has only rotary motion with no lateral
movement, you will also experience problems. If
you turn or rotate only, you leave all of your weight
on your right side, causing your spine to come crashing
backward and your left shoulder to move dramatically
upward through impact. This will result in either
blocking the ball to the right or slapping at it
with your hands and hitting it left.
You can also over-rotate and transfer your weight
onto your left foot, forcing you to come "over the
top" at the bottom of your swing. This causes deep
divots that head left of your target line and usually
rewards you with low bullet pulls.
To achieve the proper action through impact, you
must understand how important the lateral motion
of the lower body is at the start of your downswing.
This lateral motion lets the club fall down and
slightly "inside" to start your downswing toward
the impact area. It also transfers or rebalances
the weight from your right instep into the laces
of your left shoe. Finally, it places you into a
balanced position, ready to accept the rotation
of the hips and upper body working together that
will square the club through impact.
Unfortunately, there is a gray area on how this
lateral motion takes place. There is the idea of
moving your left knee only at the target, thus separating
your knees at the start of your downswing and giving
you that "sit down" look. Or there is the idea of
sliding your whole lower body at the target to start
the downswing. In my opinion, it doesn't matter
how you transfer or rebalance your weight with the
lateral motion of your swing. Just get the job done.
However, you should never let the weight move past
the laces of your left shoe before you start to
rotate.
After you have moved laterally and rebalanced your
weight, you must now rotate your hips and upper
torso together through impact. This allows the squaring
of the club to occur naturally without using your
hands. This rotation must take place at the correct
time or you're doomed. This is why you do not start
to rotate until your weight hits the laces of your
left shoe.
Once you feel the weight rebalanced on your left
foot, your hips and upper body should begin to turn
through impact and beyond. This turning pulls the
last portion of weight off your left foot and moves
it through impact.
With the proper movement, you will finish balanced
and rotated over your left foot, which is still
flat on the ground.
Always remember the order in which these things
happen - lateral rebalancing first, then the club
begins to move down from the top and finally a full
rotation of the hips and body to square the clubhead.
