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INSTRUCTION
with Joel Weitz, Vitense Golfland, Madison
Many golfers experience the following: One shot pulled left, the next shot pushed right, then something in between. To fix this problem it is often helpful to look to the lower body.
When reviewing the golf swing from the "face on" or side view of the target line position, a common cause of many errant shots is simply lower body instability, or initiating the backswing with sliding the hips right (for a right-handed player). That can cause weight to move to the outside of the right foot and the spine to then tilt awkwardly and excessively back to the target as the club nears the top of the backswing. "Reverse pivot" is often used to describe this position.
From this posture many things can happen: If the player stays in this inverted position, it's very easy for the arms and hands to outpace the body, causing a significant "smothered" hook left. To the other extreme, a player may sense the inverted position at the top and overcorrect, throwing his or her hips forward toward the target, then lifting and tilting the spine back away from the target. This type of motion can easily misdirect the path of the golf swing, causing the ball to work well right of the target.
Occasionally, the golfer may time the corrective forward move sufficiently to strike the ball toward the target - the infrequent good shot.
To correct the above swing flaw, start the backswing with the upper body, letting the hips be pulled around as the upper body coils over the lower body. This will help keep the hips and spine stable to promote a properly positioned and sequenced forward swing.
As an exercise, brace the back of a chair against your right hip (for right-handed players), then take your backswing. Evaluate how much pressure you place against the chair. Hopefully, you're not pushing the chair away from the target.
Take a look at your swing in the mirror to see if your backswing includes the hips sliding away from the target and creating the reverse pivot. Controlling lower body stability is a great way to establish swing reliability
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