Where does golf’s losing streak begin? With your arms and your shoulders, or your feet and legs? You will find disciples of both schools of thought, however most golfers will agree that the lower body begins the downswing. Enough studies have been done to prove that this is the best starting point for the swing. Now pay attention here. When we talk about the lower body, we don’t necessarily mean the legs and feet.
If you’re like me, you’ve done everything from swinging your left knee out to kicking your right knee toward the target to sliding both knees toward the target. It seems that all of these moves cause the club to move in a different direction but not necessarily in the right direction. Let me give you a piece of advice here: when you focus on starting the swing with your legs, you will most likely overdo or overdo the movement and end up with a big slide or slam that throws your body out of sync and destroys the slump. When you focus on any part of your body, the tendency will be to exaggerate movement in that area. If you overdo your leg and hip action, you’ll ruin your swing.
Starting the downswing with your lower body is as simple as moving your center of gravity to the left side. Your center of gravity is your belly button.
Here’s the secret that helped me get it right. Imagine that twelve o’clock on the clock face is directly in front of you. As you complete the back swing, your belly button moves toward your right heel. Now, while the stick is still moving back, begin to push your belly button in toward the ten o’clock position. You can do this quite strongly and not overdo your legs and hips.
This pull forward as you complete the backswing will further extend your arms into a big arch and increase that X factor you’ve heard so much about. The hips and legs will move to support this movement, but remain in control. Simply allow your outstretched arms and the club to swing forward in response to the navel pull.
If you want to see a perfect example of this, go to the nearest ball park where six to eight year olds play and watch those perfect swings as the tummy guides them. You will see many perfect little golf swings here. If these youngsters stay away from instructions on correct and incorrect positions, they will maintain perfect forward swings.
You have a perfect golf downswing inside of you that just begs to be put into motion.
Want more information on all things golf. Next, study Ben Hogan’s swing video on Your Pro Golf Swing.
