JoAnn came up with a fantastic question and I felt everyone should see my response. JoAnn is learning the PPGS and came up with the observation: 'Men have incredible upper body power compared to women. You talk about keeping your feet not too far apart … what you say makes a great deal of sense. But women have more power in their legs and lower body – how do we use that power?'
JoAnn,
You are correct in your assessment that men have incredible upper body power when compared to women, who have more power in their lower body and legs. On the other hand, women have much more flexibility and suppleness in their upper body than men, which reduces your probability of suffering injuries due to stress, strain and torque in the neck, back and hips when swinging a golf club.
Men, because of their upper body strength, can regain control of the club at the top of the backswing, get it back to impact, and have a reasonable contact that will hit the ball far. but the direction is often off the map.
Women, on the other hand, with their suppleness can, in many cases, turn and twist and over swing to a much greater degree than men with the lesser degree of stress and strain, which is good. The downside of this is a woman's lesser strength in the upper torso, arms and hands, means you have less chance of gaining some control of the club, and get it to impact ,for at the least a descent hit. This is why women so often have such a wide difference in their hits, ranging from great shots, looking like a scratch player, to hitting blocks and pulls and tops and chunks, looking like a beginner golfer. This dilemma for women, of less strength and more flexibility, can be controlled and managed to produce power and good ball striking on a consistent basis.
Lets look at the main tenants of the Peak Performance Golf Swing setup of the narrower stance, as you mention, maxing out at shoulder width for the driver. The PPGS setup states that the knees must be in line and over the feet in, as I call it, the “building effect” or “ride a skinny horse.” The main point in this setup is the principle of exerting outward pressure in the knees and thighs, with the left knee resisting moving inward in the backswing and creating “quiet knees” as I call them. The reason we resist moving the left knee inward is to maintain dynamic balance, stability, and levelness of the knees, hips and upper torso. Almost no inward movement of the left knee is the main ingredient to making the PPGS “Limited Turn 3/4 Length Backswing, turning the left arm and club only to over the toe line.”
This is the time for everyone to do the “Left Knee Stability and Levelness Test.” Stand up and assume your address stance and posture. Now look down at your left knee as you begin to move it inward like you are starting a backswing. What you want to feel and see is how far can you move your knee before you feel it begin to pull and move your left hip. For the majority of golfers, men, women, youngsters, and seniors the distance is around one inch. Move the left knee any more than where you feel the hip move, and it will begin pulling your upper torso downward and to the right. This causes the reverse tilt or hips sliding backwards to the right, where the upper torso is now becoming disconnected from the legs and is out of dynamic balance, affecting the control of the arms and club at the top of the backswing.
For all golfers, especially women, juniors, seniors and golfers with strength issues or arthritis, maintaining wide knees with outward pressure is critical. You have a dynamically balanced top of backswing, with less to no stress, strain, torque, overturning and over swinging of the club at the top of the backswing. I believe Gary Player best described a controlled top of backswing when he said, “It is owning the club at the top of the backswing.” Controlling the turn and club at the top is the key to making smooth yet explosive transition of shifting the weight in the “Lateral Left Shift' or 'Bump,” as I call it, onto the flexed left knee and leg to stand up to the T- Finish, swinging the arms up and over the left shoulder. This explosive and powerful transition happens in the snap of a finger because the left knee is basically in the same place at the top of the backswing as it was at address. Once the upper torso is immediately over and onto the stable base of the left leg and hip, the arms can be swung up powerfully and with control and balance.
Controlling the legs through the wide knees and outward pressure is the key to 'owning the club at the top of the backswing.' Mastering the quiet knees is the answer to more power and hitting more consistent shots for all golfers, especially women.
The Surge!
P.S. The “secret” to great ball striking and lower scores is just a click away. (Go ahead, click.)