For many golfers, maintaining control is a big challenge. Most would like to hit the ball as far as possible. This often leads to a lot of lower body movement during the swing because they are trying to crush the ball. But, with the Peak Performance Golf Swing we don't have to compromise power for control because of our trademark setup. Don Klein sent in a question asking how he can better control his swing and the first place I'll start is with the levelers and stabilizers of the swing; the knees.
Hey Surge,Your waltz analogy on your daily video the other day was right on. When I waltz everything is great. When I rock and roll all heck breaks lose. It is a thing of beauty to see my ball flight on a controlled swing. I almost can't wait to age a little bit so I don't have to fight it as much.Could you maybe touch on how you got such a big, strong guy like DJ to maintain such good control of his swing being the athlete that he was when he was younger. He's still a great athlete but it's harder when you're younger. I have tried all kinds of pre-swing thoughts. Maybe I should just keep Greg MacDonell close to me at all times.Thanks for all you do for all of us. There's more of us out there that any non-PPGS player would ever admit.
First of all, let me say that swing thoughts alone are not going to do a whole lot to correct any swing problem, especially if you've got setup issues. Don, we'd all like to have younger bodies but don't start wishing to age just yet. I've got a better way that will help you stay under control. It starts with your setup.
The setup determines the motion. But, there has to be a good blending of good setup and swing concepts to produce a good shot. Both concepts have to work in harmony so as to not inhibit one another. There's perhaps one major thing lacking in your setup. It's all about wide knees outward pressure. This enables you to maintain control throughout your whole body and the club. In the PPGS, we advocate our trademark setup as wide knees outward pressure.
If the knees collapse inward, the body starts to cave in the oppposite direction they're moving. The whole idea is that you have to think of your knees as the levelers and stabilizers. The number one key to making a good golf swing is understanding that golf is a game of angles. So the first angles you better control are the knees. If you move your front knee more than just one inch, you'll set off a series of events that will lead to poor shots. Remember, for every action there's an opposite and equal reaction. That's how I got DJ to stay under control, through stability. You have to control your knees. Otherwise you mine as well be standing on a trampoline or a waterbed.
Now, you want to have outward pressure just enough to get the knees over the ankles so your weight is on the inside center of both feet. If your feet start curling to the outside edges, you've gone too far. Also, don't forget that this outward pressure should only occur in the backswing to the top of the swing. Once you bump and start firing, the right leg is going to go so you don't want to keep wide knees at that point.
The trademark look of the PPGS setup is our wide knees with outward pressure. In fact, you should be able to spot a PPGS swinger on the range just by his or her setup. You've got to control your body! It starts with the setup. Just think waltzing not rocking and rolling!
Keep it vertical and under control!
The Surge
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Swing Control With Wide Outward Knee Pressure
This is an absolutely great Thanksgiving present from the Surge. Many thanks. It is something that I find myself occasionally not doing as well as I know I can : - ( Will be giving it more attention from now on. Wisdom comes with age? Wish it would hurry up then ; - ) heh heh heh! DH in sunny NZ [Go! Luke and Rory]
Wide Knees
Surge, you hit the nail on the head. After having an all day session with Greg MacDonell last August and demonstrating how important the set-up is, ie
GRIP-STANCE-POSTURE-ALIGNMENT-BALL POSITION. I now have this embedded
in my brain on every shot, especially WIDE KNEES and the results are coming.
A comment I'd like to make, is to switch your POWER THOUGHTS from the lower body to the arms by keeping WIDE KNEES, which has helped me beat my old handicap consistently over the past several months, again today with 39 points.
I'm also catching up with Doc Griffin next week on his visit to Australia for another re-fresher lesson.
An Interesting Adaption
A very good golfer/friend has a most unique stance adaptation.
The forward foot and leg look PPGS style, with a flared foot and slight outward pressure on the forward knee. But the REAR foot almost mirrors the forward foot's flare angle. I.e. feet are almost parallel. His upper rear leg also remains very quiet and vertical for the entire backswing. Pretty cool adaptation, but this is where it gets interesting.
That rear foot flared that direction serves to actually LIMIT the turn and backswing rather nicely. And when it comes time for his version of the FUS, wow... can this guy drive through the ball very quietly and athletically. His legs and feet are in position to fire, and they do, very efficiently.
Rick is a really good golfer, and his son is a PGA player/instructor. Dad and Son play often, and it's interesting that THIS is the swing they have come up with for Dad. It is anything but a conventional rotational swing, which his son has.
This adaption just happens to work very nicely.
Back foot
That's pretty much what I do. Flaring the back foot and putting pressure on that knee lets me turn too far. What works best for me is riding the left half of a skinny horse. LOL
From The Ground Up
Hey Smith, that is a great way you describe it. Giddy up.
I have been tinkering around with that back foot position for a while.
Thot I might be the only one on the planet, but now I know it least 2 who do !
I've seen your video clips, and you also come thru the ball very athletically,
but I never paid much attention to you back foot position.
Will take a look next time.
The skinny horse, apparently, will adapt just fine.
Confused
Just checking are you saying he has his back foot rotated forward or rotated backwards flared out.
Which Way
Rear foot is pointed "forward".
The front foot is flared (forward) , similar to Don.
But....that rear foot is approaching "parallel" to the front foot,
i.e., BOTH feet are more or less pointing the same direction,
clearly not flared in opposite directions.
And it looks like rear leg has very slight INWARD pressure on knee,
which of course, would mean weight more easily felt in arch of rear foot.
Perhaps Steve Smith will provide a first-hand description or video link....
DJ and Wide Knees
I went to the canadian open this summer. I spent the Thursday watching DJ play. He played great on the Thursday (rough day on Friday). What surprised me was how far he sticks his knees out. It was great to see PPGS hit at such a high level.