We are all for making big golf swings. An amateur who steps up to the green and takes his or her very first swing is something we love seeing. But it has to be done correctly.
The most common golfing mistake seems to be raising up onto the toe of a player’s left foot as they swing towards the heavens. Let’s look into this in more detail.
How Much Should Your Feet Move in A Golf Swing?
Your feet play a significant role in your golf swing. If you are not using them enough you could end up losing stability and strength. On the other hand, if you use them too much you can also risk losing control and strength.
This is how you can keep the movement on your feet balanced. (1)
A golf player’s strength emanates from the ground through to the feet. As a golf player, you have to remain sturdy throughout your swing.
Your upper body is used to turn and unwind that strength as you swing. Being unstable in your feet can contribute to a loss of balance and control. This can make you feel like you are spinning all over the place. Let’s examine the role of the feet in both the backswing and downswing:
Backswing
In the backswing you swing your arms and turn your shoulders into a fixed back leg for a truly coiled feeling. When your front foot comes up too much on the toe area, you lose generating and strengthening your power.
You might even be tempted to lift up that front foot of yours. This is okay as long as you do it naturally as you turn.
Downswing
Here your backfoot should not be all up on your front toe. It should come up gradually instead of just lifting it up. When you lift up your backfoot in a hurry, you risk losing posture and balance.
Remember that your weight moves from your back foot to your front foot to loosen your torso and legs right through to the hitting area to ensure a well-adjusted finish.
Keeping Your Left Heel On the Ground
You can try to remain off of your toes by keeping your left foot on the ground as you swing.
To be precise, doing this will emphasize on the heel of your left foot throughout the backswing. This is because it has a habit of lifting from the ground which may tend to lift from the ground as you twist your upper body.
You will also be able to produce more consistent shots, seeing that keeping your left heel from rising lessens your chance of moving while you swing.
Always remember that the less movements you employ in a golf swing, the more convenient and stress free it will become to accurately hit good shots.
By increasing the angles at which your upper body turns you will find it much more challenging to appropriately speed up right through towards impact. Lifting your left foot, and therefore your toes, makes it tougher to point it back at the right spot and at the right time.
Downswing Drill to Avoid Spinning
This is an easy drill you can do in case you find yourself spinning around in your downswing. We suggest that you do the following; Get into position with a 7 iron. Start by hitting balls with your feet spread quite far from one another.
There is a fair warning here: by implementing this stance you will end up holding back on both your backswing and downswing. The good news on the other hand is that this stance will help your feet feel more secure and that they will not spin out of the way. (2)
It is important that you try to hit all your shots without your back foot lifting up as much. Don’t be aggressive and just make some gentle relaxing swings.
The Toes Up Drill
The following drill is ideal if you are really battling to get off of your toes during a golf swing. Lifting your toes can cause quite a number of misses, especially shanks and blocks, just to name a few.
A good swing depends on you making sure that your weight rests in the arches of your while you stand at address. Your feet have to remain grounded during the course of your swing.
What to do
First thing’s first, take your usual kit and address the ball. Now put a 2×4 piece of wood beneath your toes.
If you don’t have a 2×4, you can use a simple golf ball tray. In case you can’t find any of the above, a last resort option would be to place a golf ball under each ball of your foot.
When you’re comfortable, begin by making slow practice swings.
Do your best to keep your weight back on your heels as you swing. Yes you should have your weight on your arches, but in this drill there has to be somewhat of an “overcorrection” to stop you from tilting or falling onto our toes. As soon as you are comfortable and have found it possible to keep your balance, you can go ahead and gradually try hitting some golf balls.
Apart from lifting your toes, you may even notice that you will shank your shots less (If this has been an issue before). All of these mistakes will become less frequent as you become more stable on the center of your feet.
Conclusion
Toes has an impact on your consistency, balance, and posture. You have to be able to handle Coming up on your toes during your swing very well in case you hope to land some great shots. Regardless of the reason for you lifting your toes during your swing, doing a few practice drills and trying to keep your left foot on the ground ought to bring your better results over time.
