BODY PIVOTING
pivoting away from the pulling force. What does this look like in a golf swing ( bottom row )? On the backswing, your right hip pushes back, and you feel more pressure in the right foot. That’s be- cause the pulling force is off your right side. Then, on the downswing, the club moves out towards the ball, so you’re pushing more straight away from the ball. When the club swings through impact, the pulling force is off your left side, so your left hip push- es back, with the pressure moving to your left heel. That’s how you offset the force of the swinging club. Moving away from the force through impact is a huge speed producer be- cause it slings your arms powerfully towards the ball. If you move your body in the direction of the force, there’s no sling. For power and consistency in the golf swing, this pivoting action is essential.
UR LAST MOVE is how the body works to offset a force pulling
away from you. Think of ca- ble exercises in the gym or tug of war: Your body piv- ots away from the pulling force to create leverage and maintain balance. Without balance, your body is just trying to save itself from falling down, so you can’t really do anything. Look at the photos in the top row. I’m simulating my swing as someone is try- ing to pull me off balance. To counter that force, I pivot my body directly away from it. When I swing a club, the pulling force is not as obvious, but it’s there, especially when the club is accelerating. Imag- ine the swing as a circle created by the path of the clubhead. To maintain that circle, which allows you to maximise swing speed, you have to keep the centre (your body) in one place. You do that naturally by
Sometimes words send a bad message, and the term “weight shift” is a real killer in golf. Most golfers take it to mean the body should shift laterally to the right on the backswing and then laterally to the left on the forward swing ( left ). As we discussed, that’s the opposite of how you should move to create leverage and swing with power. Remember the circle: When your body moves laterally, the circle isn’t a circle anymore, and that makes it hard to accelerate the club and deliver it to the ball in a predictable manner. For instance, the low point of the swing, where you make contact with the ball, is the bottom of the circle. If that spot shifts around, you have to time the lateral movement perfectly to catch the ball solid. It’s much simpler to keep the centre in place by pivoting away from the force. If this is sounding complicated, remember we’re just getting you back to what you do naturally. THE BIG MISTAKE
70 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024
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