Let's start with defining what a square back foot means in the setup. The toe line, which is parallel left of the aiming line, is called the toe line because the toes of both feet are to touch it in the address setup. Traditional instruction teaches that both feet, when touching the toe line, should be perpendicular to the toe line. When both toes touch the toe line, the feet are termed square in reference to alignment. When the knees, hips and shoulders, and I also like to include the eyes, are also parallel to the toe line, then the entire setup is square.
The PPGS is best accomplished from a square setup position starting with the toes of both feet touching the toe line. The key is the PPGS setup varies from traditional foot placement in that both feet need to be flared outward 30 degrees when touching the toe line. The flared feet allow getting into the wide knees with outward pressure setup easily and, more importantly, this allows for the kneecaps to rotate freely and with less stress in the swing.
When filling out my lesson diagnosis form with my lefty 13 year old KH, who has been working with me for 7 years, the first thing that stuck out at me was his back foot was perpendicular to his toe line. In fact, it was almost turned a little inward, and his knee was also turned inward and inside his ankle so it was absolutely not in the wide-with-outward-pressure position.
Note: This perpendicular back foot to the toe line with the knee pressed inward has been a long time taught setup position. This was to add stability to the swing and build up torque and power because the concept is to turn against the back leg and create torque in the knee and leg, which it does. Ben Hogan, who, it has been said, was double jointed and super supple and flexible, did this because it helped him restrict his swing so he would not over turn and over swing. For golfers lacking his suppleness and flexibility, doing this tends to cause them to get extra tight and tense. When their muscles tighten, and tension and strain build up, they keep trying or forcing the backswing turn against the back leg. That pushes their upper body forward into a reverse tilt.
KH, as he and his father VH told me in the pre-lesson briefing ,was hitting blocks and pulls and chunks with his woods and irons. With all clubs, when he hit them well, the shot pattern had too much of a sweeping hook. The main cause of all these problems was this back foot being perpendicular to the toe line and the back knee slightly turned inward.
The perpendicular back foot, first and foremost, tends to open the hip alignment which was the case with K. His shoulders were square with his toes, so his core was out of alignment and out of sync with his upper and lower body. The second issue is that, especially with the knee inside of the ankle, it tends to push the upper torso slightly forward. The more the knee is pressed inward and turned against in the backswing, the more the upper torso is pushed forward. The more the backswing turns against the back leg, and more torque is built up in the knee and leg, the more stress is placed on the back knee and leg, especially the lower back and hip.
K knew the perpendicular back foot was a big problem and told me it has been an issue for a few weeks and needed to be fixed. K's first pre-swing setup point was flaring the back foot and getting the back knee wide and over the ankle with outward pressure. Practice setup and swings worked well. His balance improved, he loaded into his back leg better, his spine stayed steady, stable and behind the ball. When he did enough good practice setups and swings and I felt he had the setup and swing and had achieved what I call, 'earned his golf ball,' I gave him a ball to hit for the ultimate test. His first swing hitting a ball was really good. His impact was shallow, solid and his ball flight was higher and back to straight with a slight draw if it turned at all.
The point is, it does not take much of a change for the bad in setup to many times really wreck havoc with the golf swing. Setup is all about being in balance in an athletically ready position. A setup with the back foot perpendicular to the toe line and the knee inside the ankle/foot is not athletically ready and balanced. That setup which is designed to build torque in the legs and hips does so and does it with a vengeance for most golfers who are not blessed with being extremely supple and flexile. For most golfers this creates the torque but also creates extreme tension, stress and strain and leads to back pain and injury, never mind causing poor balance and hitting a myriad of poor shots. The PPGS flared feet on the toe line, with wide knees over the ankles (riding a skinny horses as I call it) with outward pressure, is the way to be athletically ready. You'll be in balance to make a powerful and controlled limited turn ¾ vertical swing with a body friendly, little to no tension, stress-free and strain-free swing.
The Surge!