FootPower for GolfWilliam Breland Although the ankle is the most injured body part of an athlete, very little is ever done to strengthen the stabilizing muscles that prevent rolling in and out. Golfers are no exception in neglecting ankle strengthening. They seldom sprain their ankle swinging the golf club, but strength of ankle muscles is very significant to maintaining positions that establish balance, and create a powerful and efficient golf swing. During the backswing, the moment a golfer allows body weight to move outside the neutral position of the ankle that was established at address a power leak is created. It then becomes a challenge to transfer weight in the forward swing with any consistency. Although this lateral displacement of weight often occurs as a compensatory move due to hip inflexibility, it may be accentuated or even caused by weakness of the ankle evertors or muscles that tilt your ankle up on the little toe side. The ankle position of the forward foot closest to your target is a major factor in successful delivery of power at impact. At this “moment of truth” when tremendous force is created from the feet upward your ankle should hold fast to its neutral position. Strength of the ankle evertors becomes a major factor at this point as the body mass is quickly rotating and moving toward the target. If your weight has moved outside the “power zone” and your ankle has rolled to the outside, you have once again created a power leak. The stronger and better trained your ankles are:
Perform this as an exercise and hitting drill. You will gain strength, improve footwork, establish better golf balance and increase swing power as you move from the backswing, into your forward swing, to impact and to the finish position. The exercise--- Take your normal address position. Contract the outside muscles of each lower leg in order to flare up the outside of each foot slightly. Strive to maintain this “flared up” position with each foot as you hit a golf ball with a shortened half swing. As you move toward impact the back foot R foot of right handed golfer will naturally move out of the starting position as the heel leaves the ground to establish the normal follow through position. Just beyond impact the forward foot L foot of right handed golfer will flatten but do not allow your weight to transfer to the outside of the foot. Your follow through is shortened to parallel to the ground for this drill/exercise. Repeat with 10 to 20 swings or until your leg muscles fatigue to the point of not being able to adequately hold your feet in the proper flared positions. Remember: During your swing keep proper spine angles, maintain a good solid position of the back knee during your backswing, rotate your center of gravity within the balance zone, and accelerate through impact just as you would in a normal swing.
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