The Lost Art of the Lifted Left Heel in Golf
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- Опубліковано 7 лип 2024
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One thing that everyone should know by now is that I never stop studying the film and I never stop working on getting better as a player and a teacher. I may be 54 years old, but I am not finished as a player, and I am not as good a teacher as I will be in the future. It simply is not possible to know everything you need to know about the game at any given point in time: it is always a challenge to improve. Thus, when you find that I have changed my mind on something in the swing (such as "hands out toward the ball in transition" or "takeaway sequence starts from the ground as opposed to just the upper body") you can be assured that I have given it a lot of thought and have already worked it into my game to make sure I have a handle on the information as far as both look and feel.
The item for discussion here is the left heel and leg movement in the backswing, and ultimately the role of each leg during the entire swing. My previous instruction was conventional in the sense that after 1980 or so it became standard to teach "left heel down", in spite of the fact that prior to that time pretty much every great player who ever lived lifted the left heel to some degree in the backswing. My swing suffers from pivot problems stemming from my multiple back surgeries. More specifically, I have a tendency to lift in the second half of the backswing, then to move my weight to the front of my left foot in transition, which in turn retards my downswing rotation and keeps my hips from ever getting deep enough to exit the club on the shaft plane. One day recently I experimented with lifting my heel, and I found immediately that doing so allowed me to keep my knees more level, and just as importantly gave me a better "feel" for putting the left heel back down again in such a fashion that my leg was now retracting sooner while the right was able to push forward without getting me "stuck" and exiting out to the right. I found this exciting, so I went back to the video to make a closer study of my model swings, and when I looked at the list of players that lifted the heel I found I was looking at a list of the Hall of Fame from about 1990 and back to the 1920's. Here was every great player doing essentially the same thing, and somewhere along the line someone decided that it wasn't a good idea.
I can pretty much place the change in philosophy to a more restrictive lower body action in the backswing to David Leadbetter and Mac O'Grady. They became such a hugely influential force in golf instruction that whatever they came up with became almost immediately accepted and unquestioned. If those guys decided that it was less complicated to lift the heel then it was better to keep it down, in spite of the fact that Nicklaus and Watson and Norman were still the dominant players and all lifted their heel. I have to admit that I blindly accepted this dictum, and it is only now that I am not only questioning the wisdom of it, but am advocating the return to the classic leg movement exhibited by Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Bobby Jones and others that I mention in the video. I don't feel that I am adding a new wrinkle to the teaching vocabulary. This is merely a return to a tried and true method that I feel is more athletic and more natural than what has been standard instruction for the last 30 years. - Спорт
Hi Coach,
Finally I found somebody who agrees with me. You have given an instruction that will help millions of ordinary golfers. My 2 cents worth -lifting the left heel allows the less flexible golfer to get an easier hip and shoulder turn.Planting the left heel on the back swing creates a lot of problems for stiff people.Most adults who take up golf late are stiff. Most children who start learning young do not have a problem. For those who have problems, the left heel lift usually solve the problems.
Jack Niklaus , the most successful golfer in history had a great heel lift. You can't argue with success!
when I played baseball lifting my heel gave me power and timing....did the same with golf and played good......took a lesson with the heel down and it ------ up my rhythm and timing in my swing...great analysis Wayne.
Absolutely a game changer for me, my staying back on down swing was hurting me, this move allowed a natural downswing progression..just finished a very positive range….thanks so much
Wayne, wonderful video. After 45 years of golf I'm just now realizing this. The other thing that's been a big help, and Nicklaus talks about it, is the rolling of the right foot (heal). I just never knew this and would often shank my wedges, and I had to keep the 3 wood in the bag because I just didn't hit it consistently. Thanks for this, agree with you saying more movement is better.
The left shoulder turn of Hogan was a careful balance that enabled the hands to reach behind him low enough to get the right hand wrist cocked to the maximum. Such a position I feel is a leap of faith. There’s no attempt to maintain a sense of balance. Therefore never a moment of uncertainty as to the way of the weight shift. Marines stand at attention but their weight shifts in a subtle way. They stand at attention wishing that they had eyes in the back of their head.
I took lessons from David Ledbetter from 1983 to 1985 and he had me keep my left heel down. I'm still trying to get better lower body action as a result. Thank you for your videos. I use your lines in my recent video "Tales of the Hawk". Your work is a huge influence on my swing development and I'm getting much better as a result.
As it goes, your own videos are more than useful too.
At a driving range recently, I was told by an 88 year old retired golf professional that by my falling for the grounded left heel in the backswing that began being in vogue in the 1980s that I was not only giving up power, but it was wreaking havoc on my sequencing, causing me to fall back on my back foot on the downswing, resulting in the fat and thin golf shots I was hitting. He told me I could play with a grounded left foot, but timing would be probably be “day to day.” I admitted that was the case for me. He went on to say there are many different ways to swing a golf club and the only thing that matters is impact, but he showed me this video on his phone and suggested I try lifting my left heel on the backswing. My contact became more consistent and I felt I was able to shift my weight forward, moving the low point of my swing ahead of the ball, virtually eliminating my fat and thin misses. I think unless you are are professional or blessed with the flexibility needed to keep the lower body still in order to wind up the upper body or are blessed with exquisite timing, lifting the left heel on the backswing can cure a lot of swing issues.
This is strange, but after years of mechanical fear and hitting fat, I loosened up when a pro on utube suggested straightening the left foot to get the hips going towards target. It worked, but then I started lifting my left heel at take away as it felt natural to heave an axe into a low tree stump. Bingo! Bam, the swing came together and what power and hand speed. Do it!
Wayne! You are on the right track! We should get together for a couple videos and keep this momentum going!! Brandel Chamblee would be happy to hear about this video!
Going to pass this one on and let's get Tiger to see this more clearly; I would like to help you undestand that Anatomically and Neurologically we are built and wired to do what you are observing in this video; without ever having to think about the body positions either!
Shawn
Thank God someone finally mentioned this! My teacher has been saying this for years!!!!
Today lifted left heel. The replant helps the left knee and left hip move the pressure properly to left heel and outer left foot. Totally solves both the spin-out of the hips and the head lunging in front of ball at impact (my nemesis). Perfects the proper timing of the post-up, gaining yardage with power behind the ball. Priceless!!! 5 hc moving towards scratch 65 years old…Thank You!
Absolute Gold! Lifting the left foot promotes a wider backswing and stomping down hard a moment before the downswing helps stabilize the torso to create a more whip like action following through. Result....more power. Also, many of the old pros you profiled bend their lead arm significantly at the top. Everyone nowadays (except Shawn Clement and Marcus Edblad) bend their arms significantly and they hit the ball long and solid.
Very good observation. I am a vocalist and golfer and can tell you that vocal instructors typically teach a vocal technique entirely different from the techniques of actual performers like Pavarotti and Corelli. It is strange that regardless of the genre this tends to be the case. My advice is do what the pros are doing. Listen to what the pros have to say. If instructors aren't saying what the pros are saying and doing....don't take their advice. You will be light years ahead doing so. Love the video. Thank you for posting!
Steve from Ohio.
Great video and we are obviously on the same track, as is Shawn Clement. I also watched Brandel talking about this and read his book. As a pro since 1967 I can tell you that it wasn't in the 80's that this was outlawed by teachers. I learnt from my early days of golf that it was ideal if you didn't move at all below the waist. Yep, a backswing with no footwork, no leg movement and no hip rotation. The idea was to attain the maximum coil by turning your shoulders against the static lower body. Ouch! To this day, and despite writing my book and researching now for a second tome, I still don't know when and how the 'coil' theory took hold of golf to the great detriment of the average player. I agree with Shawn; we ought to work together to rid the game of this debilitating heel down disease! As a Brit I have a question for you two; how come the US teaching establishment has ignored and dismissed the swings and advice of two absolute giants of the game, Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus, who both let the heel come miles off the ground and recommended it to all golfers? I find that unbelievable, not that we've done any better over here as we've ignored Harry Vardon and Henry Cotton. This heel down phenomenon is worldwide. Email me: brian@easiestswing.com, I'd love to hear from you.
It's a conspiracy that's what it is. The same occult leadsrs who were responsible for taking us off the gold standard are one and the same. We need to go back to the gold standard AND we need to allow that left heel to come up which puts the power back in the hamds oo the people. This coil teaching is taught by the snake, who loves ❤️ to coil just before it reaches out to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Long live the left heel of power which will stomp out tyranny. Now let us pray 🙏
Thanks for posting.
Jack Nicklaus said he let the left heal come off the ground in reaction to coiling and swinging on a wide arc, he did not just lift it.
Struggled with the game for years, could never get to break 100, had no consistency of ball striking, until I watched a film of Bobby Jones. I tried lifting my left heel and putting my knee towards one o clock, keeping the ball of my left foot on the ground. All I concentrated on was slamming my left heel back on the ground as I started the downswing. Have never hit the ball as pure as I do now, no longer frightened to take three wood of the fairway, irons the same keeping the ball towards the left heel and moving slightly back as the loft increases. This is a great video clip of legends of the game doing what I should have been doing thirty years ago.
Excellent video Wayne. Classic swing never gets old.
Wayne....this is a cherry on top of the icing for golf swings. Recently I struggled with getting a more athletic swing. Some years ago I also bought into the 'left heel firmly on the ground' theory which I then changed to....and the stiff un-athletic result was something I struggled with for years. It also allows for a better shoulder turn IMO. Allowing that heel to raise and free the hips is just the best tip yet for a truly athletic swing....thanks for this great posting.
I started playing in 1965 and that was the prevailing instruction then to keep the left heel down. My swing got much better/free when I threw that out and started rolling and lifting. Its like batting. Batters lift the front leg and step/stride as a timing aide. Great Hagen vid..
Brilliant Wayne. Lots of clues here. Thank you.
Fabulous analysis and commentary. Unconventional and insightful. Thank you.
Brilliant analysis and illustration. Thank you!
It was taught as a way to restrict hip turn. I think it was Golf Digest, called it "The X Factor". Seems like Jim McClain, also had something to do with it. Basically, the idea was, to have as big a gap possible between how far the shoulders turned and how far the hips turned in the back swing. The greater the gap in degrees of turning, the further the ball was supposed to go. Say the shoulders turned 95 degrees, the lower amount the hips also turned, say 43 as opposed to 55, the bigger the rotational gap creating the most distance. Also, if it came in the 80's it was at the very end of the decade. Hope this helps your ideas. Great video buddy!
One of my favorite golf instruction books is " How to Play Your Best Golf All The Time" by Tommy Armour. I am 63 now and was having trouble starting the backswing in a free and easy way. I was rereading this book and noticed Tommy talking about pushing off with the front foot and raising that heel. I have started doing that and have regained a lot of the accuracy and effortless power I had lost. It seems like doing this also starts the club back on a more effective backswing plane.
I agree! When I don't think about it my heal comes up about 2 inches. I'd hate to feel I had to try to keep it down. I'm 54 and am swinging and playing better than ever. It feels like my heel doesn't do much but when I see video it comed UP
YOU ARE both THE BEST, Wayne!
good one wayne, very indepth. thnx, steve
Agreed 100%. I struggled for the last several years while trying to keep my foot down. There is no doubt that lifting that heel and then planting it down is more natural. I no longer get "stuck"
Hi, Wayne. I really love your insights. You can't beat starting off with a shot of the Haig (the first American to win the British Open) in action! Thanks again for your always insightful, factual, sometimes myth-busting analysis! (By the way, that is SOME BIG WINDUP on the backswing on display here with the Haig. Relatively speaking, he must have hit it a TON in his heyday.)
Great video. Thanks Wayne.
Great video! Appreciate your time!
your analysis makes perfect sense. the average golfer will more smoothly finish his backswing, and effortlessly complete his swing with less strain on his body. i am sure i will enjoy the game more following your advice. great work.
great observations
Wayne, great video as usual....you and Brandel can agree on at least one thing. I was really struggling w my ball striking recently and after trying everything I decided to give Harvey Pennicks Magic Move a go for sh!ts and giggles The improvements were almost instant and worked for every club in the bag!
Wayne, Nice work. I agree that the average golfer would benefit from being more natural, more relaxed, loosening up, and creating a bigger arc to create more easy speed to hit the ball farther with less effort and strain.
Great video. Thanks.
You had me at George Knudson.
I was mucking around with this a few days ago at the range and absolutely bombing it.
I like to lift my left foot because its so easy to generate the power I can get 300 meters and I'm 43 so there!!!. If I stand flat my hips don't wan't to turn at all. Plus the stamp of the left foot is a great way to know when to start the downswing. Most people don't succeed with this technique because the head doesn't stay centered anyway hope this makes sense to others. If it doesn't that's fine it works for me though!
Good video Wayne. I had been watching Bobby Jones and think I saw that his lifting of his left heel allowed a deeper turn and deeper swing but with more ease and power and speed. In his words, his pace was almost lazy and this allowed for less jerking forward that a stiffer sequence forces to get speed. Bobby also said the average golfer should put out of his mind any idea about over-swinging as I think he recognized this restriction takes grace and timing out of the swing and actually makes it harder to control rather then less. It is the irony of a fuller swing with more movement of the lower body. While it brings more into play, it gives ease and time for the swing to unfold which actually gives move control as well as power/speed. These left-heel lifters swung with their whole body and did better by doing so. You have to let go to hit freely to hit well. And as you pointed out, with less stress on the body.
Agreed.
IMO the more active that lead leg is in the backswing, and that requires a heal lift, the more it promotes the eventual clearing of the left side.
Remarkable where his hands are at iron impact at the 12:59 mark. ...working hard around that lead hip, in.
But to Hogan's actual comment on the lead heal....."It is okay to lift the heal as long as you put the spikes back in the same hole."
Now we all know that Hogan did some things he was not aware of ...mostly due to improved video technology, but I believe he did say that.
The relationship between the upper body incline and the left forearm to club angle.This is very important in ball distancing.
Hi! Great video. I just started to try lifting the heel and thought I would check out your video. I used to golf lots and quit and now getting back into it. I'm trying to find an easier swing (arthritis and older) that still gives me the distance that had before. I have always had lots of leg and hip action as I'm very flexible and always swung fast. My problem now is my body turns too much before the club gets to the ball or my lower body doesn't trigger and I cast away. Not sure why and its driving me crazy. I'm cutting big time and losing distance. I never used to slice. I tried lifting the heel and Its great. It gives me more hip turn in the back swing and it gives the club more time to get to the ball and I'm much more square at impact. I also tended to move my head too much and for some reason it seems to help keep my head still over the ball in the down swing. I also find it much easier on the knees as getting back into golf now my knees were giving me issues. I don't think its for everyone however. I think its for people (like me) who drives from the ground up with flexibility.
I agree. I lost significant distance when a pro told me to keep my right foot down. (lefty). I didn't hit it much straighter. I worked on my "foot position" at set up and went back to lifting it, and now I actually hit it straighter and almost 80 yards longer lifting my foot. My flexibility is pretty good. Different strokes for different folks. (This same pro really helped my game overall, and now my handicap is down to a 3, but with driving his advice and belief didn't help me. I have only been playing 2 years.
I think the reason the left heel lifting became out of vogue was because of the 80s craze about the "X factor" i.e. distance comes from increasing the difference between hip and shoulder turn, or even more simply "turn shoulders as much as possible while hips least as possible". Jim McLean I think brought it to the forefront, I am sure you remember all the golf mag articles. This naturally stops left heel lifting, because the only reason it lifts to begin with is to allow bigger hip turn into bigger shoulder turn. If you are stopping the hip rotation early, the left heel will not want/need to lift. So there are kind of two ways to approach the body turn for power: turn as much as possible total (like older players who lifted heel, Daly, Snead, and young Nicklaus being the prime example), or create as much difference between hips/shoulders as possible (Tiger and the modern power swing). The advantage to the long power swing is that it is much easier on the body, normal people can do it with some stretching and practice. The disadvantage is accuracy, because often the club is across the line at the top with big hip turners and it is a longer arm swing in general with a more active right elbow coming down and just more moving parts. Although as both Nicklaus and Norman (post-Butch) proved, if you take it outside a bit/set up open you can still have huge hip turn and keep club from crossing too badly.
The advantage to the restricted hip turn is you get the power of a long swing (as long as you keep it wide) but the swing itself can be short and controllable, the disadvantage is that it is fundamentally much harder on the body, grinding into that hip every swing, and it demands much more flexibility from the body in order to get a full shoulder turn. The restriction of the hip creates power from not only the tension between upper/lower but also it gives the hips a head start on getting fully cleared going down, especially for "hip snappers" like Rory, Justin Thomas, etc. who have straightened left leg and snapped hip fully left and behind them even though the club is still way up at 10 oclock or so coming down.
Now lots of amateurs swing with heel down just fine, but that is completely different because they are doing most of the swing with arms only, and like 50-60 degrees of shoulder turn, and it really doesnt matter what they do if they do that, the hands and arms are swinging the club for better or worse and usually worse. Tour pros do not have the luxury of short shoulder turns and swinging with arms and hands, they HAVE to compress the ball and hit it high and far in order to compete on tour-type course setups.
If you see a tour pro keeping his heel down with a 110 degree shoulder turn hitting it 350....that is a human more flexible than you or I will probably ever be, a swing like Tiger's original swing would put most people in traction. Remember how "short" his swing was? One of the biggest hip/shoulder differentials of all time, which is one reason a 155 pound kid was hitting it 350 at will with 1990s equipment when tour driving avg was 276 or so (plus his ultra fast hip clearance left starting down and just incredible talent to keep it all together). If you look at tape of that exhibition match Tiger and Daly played in 1998 or so (Bigfoot? I forget the name), you can see perfect examples of both types of swing side-by-side.
Pretty much every amateur should lift their heel and turn fully with hips/shoulders.....and try not to use arms and hands at all, just like Nicklaus (you still will use them too much, but try to just keep them extended and then let them drop coming down). This way you can keep left arm straight, make proper turn/pivot, and create lag and angle coming down - WITHOUT having to be super flexible or athletically gifted. Just watch out for going TOO far and making the "Seve" move, where right hip starts going UP and you straighten up and then back out of shot. Basically turn as much as you can without doing that.
I have golf mags going back to 80s and earlier, and you're quite right, Wayne. The major reason they claim was raising the left heel encouraged the weight falling back and staying on the right side. Bio-mechanically, the left foot is following the action of the left knee, which itself is following the rotation of the hips. You can resist that dynamic tension or not. It's probably not the most important part of the swing, but resisting doing it may not be a good idea, especially if you have flexibility issues. Nice clip, good work, thank you.
Well said! 👍👍
The notion of keeping the left heel on the ground was born out of an an obsession for length. As the modern player became more athletic, the idea of creating torque replaced the idea of creating more momentum. The term you often heard was winding up, and letting go. By keeping your heel on the ground your hips would be restricted to about a 45 degree turn while the goal was to still turn the shoulders 90 degrees (if not more). This did create higher swing speeds and thus more distance, but it also created something else - serious back problems. The spine isn’t designed to be restricted that way. Ask Freddie Couples, Jason Day and of course Tiger himself about that.
Then think of Sam Snead, who was in the hunt for a major Championship in his mid 60’s and in well into his 70’s still could get his driver to parallel in his back swing. Jack Nicklaus as you pointed out had probably the most pronounced left heel lift. He also talked about how returning that heel back to the ground was his trigger for his downswing, and when you look at his swing that’s exactly what you see. It helped keep his shoulders back and prevent him from hitting over the top. Tom Watson was another 60 year old that came within a 5 foot putt of winning the British Open, and was also another pronounced left heel lifter. The biggest gain of allowing it to come off the ground, is promoting the longevity of your swing. It releases the tension that torque can put on the lower back, and help you maintain a free and flowing swing. I for one, was someone whose body suffered in an attempt to perfect my golf swing. The torque created by keeping the left heel down directly led to two herniated discs in my back. Nowadays the ONLY way I can play golf is for the left heel to come off the ground, and even then I can only make it through 14 holes before I have to stop due to the pain.
So, if you want to play good golf for as long as possible, LET that left heel come off the ground!!!
Great post, Larry! 😃
Thanks 🙏🏻
Thanks thanks thanks
I used to have a massive sway, my head probably moved at leased 10" my right leg was solid and my left heel didnt get off the ground.Now I have improved and stopped trying to get my body behind the ball and use my hips instead my left foot comes up.
“Free it up”. This is going to be my swing cue.
I'm fairly certain that none of the golfers made a conscious effort to move their left heel ever so slightly forward. As you say, it's simply a byproduct of driving the right knee toward the left. I've seen a video of Jack where he raises his left heel so high that he practically comes up on his left toe. Mickey Wright also lifted her left heel. As an older golfer, this certainly allows me to swing deeper without a lot of strain on my back and cures a reverse weight shift as well.
Planting the left foot back down to initiate the downswing allows the hands to drop inside, eliminating coming over the top. Allowing a bigger turn for more distance is just an added bonus. There, saved you 17 minutes of rambling.
I tend to rotate the left hip in place due to tight hips and the current swing concept of keeping both feet on the ground in the back swing. I think some of the left heel coming up in the good old days is perhaps a freer turn of the hips that allows the left hip to go further back in the back swing, thus, pulling the left heel off the ground by necessity (depending on your flexibility). Lifting the left heel while rotating the left hip in place (i.e., not turning left hip further back in the backswing) will not do much good because it is likely not necessary (not being dragged off ground) to permit the in-place rotation. Love the video.
This works for balance and makes the ball easy to hit plus for me the ball goes dead straight
missed a name from that list. Seve. he lifted the left heel and boy did he lash it. exciting man to watch in real life.
Wayne this is a fantastic re-discovery by you.....I grew up in the 60's and lifted my heel and played well.....then later on I succumbed to the new concept of leaving the heel on the ground.....that change was awful in my opinion and especially with the woods and long irons where you need some drive and power. The swing felt totally restricted.....and Im a very good athlete...since seeing your video i have gone back to the 'old' way and the swing now feels wonderful again and its fun to hit now.
I fell into the same trap. The end result was a reverse pivot, plus fats and thins.
I saw a video of Charles Howell III from the back and he lifted his left heel a little and
definitely placed it back the way you see in the guys you show in the video.,I thought this was interesting but the put back changing position is automatic due to the weight shift. towards the target on the Dswing.. However if you don't shift your weight back to the right on the back swing but keep the weight centered , you don't have to lift the Ll heel. I like this as it allows a more consistent ball strike.
jack Nicklaus had the greatest footwork of any golfer who ever livedwords of brandall chamblee
Nice video. Hogan said he paid no attention to his heel lift (5 Lessons). I'd like some discussion of back muscles sometime. They seem to be under discussed as a power source.
PGA & LPGA decided in 1970's & 80"s to keep left heel on the ground, left arm straight and eyes on the ball forever to increase the amount of torque in the swing. Gives a great "snap" of the hands at impact but causes lots of problems for shoulders, back, knees, hips.
Check out The Easiest Swing by Brian Sparks. Relaxed.
Tiger/ Rory pick up and replant slightly on downswing.. So there's an addition! It's subtle but happened in Tigers prime with driver and Rors for sure if you look closely
The idea of raising the left heel, is to tap into reactive part of the brain. Jack Nicholaus stated the he never tried to rotate his lower body on the downswing.
The idea of the golfswing is to mechanicaly couple the the rotating mass of the body to the golf club.
By lifting the left heel we are essentially taking ourselves " of balance". If you have ever dropped an object and simultaneously caught it before it hits the floor, whithout thinking about the body mechanics, you have experienced the speed of the reactive brain.
If we have to couple the whole mass of our rotating body to the golf club, we need to utilise the power of gravity. Because by lifting the left heel, with no intention to come down and hit the ball, we are. Essentially falling over and fora split micro second : the mass of the body and club head are moving in perfect phaze. This " falling statue" condition ignites the reactive brain to spontaneously rotate the hips just before the body succumbs to the laws of gravity.
Because the mass of the body is off balance at the point of rotation, the is less resistance, resulting in a much faster rotation. Think about trying to move a 500lb barrel, by trying to rotate it flat on the ground : much effort would be needed! Then instead, tip the barrel on its edge and even a child could move it.
Golf teachers even today teach you to keep the left foot down, which is understandable, if you don't understand the physics behind it.
Thanks for the post. I found that lifting my left heel ala Jack stopped me from coming over the top, and a pulled hook. I've gone from a 5 handicap 2 years ago, to now 10 with all the changes I made on my own. I've always known that it was my balance, and not the swing that messed me up. Then Why did I Make All Those Changes?
really onto something here, maybe if only to preserve your back, seve woods couples , all had back issues, probably alot more.......stress free range of movement.
I agree. I have just started to lift the left heel and feel much more freer in the backswing, and am much more consistent. I have played for years with the left heel down and have never gotten the consistency I want.
when i was a junior back in the 80s, it was all left heel lifting, then it became unfashionable, my first move was to stamp my left heel down, i now have lower back trouble. so i'm back to lifting the heel.
I still do it!
Both keeping the heel down or lifting it can both work. If you keep the heel down, you probably need to roll the left foot back and through. This gives rhythm and proper movement to the lower body rotation. Moe Norman did this. I prefer the lifting of the left heel on the backswing and then replanting it on the downswing. It's just easier on the body and feels freer.
Thats an interesting and correct observation of Moe. As he got older he lifted his heel.
Hi Wayne
I completely correlate. I remember when I first took up the game 30 years ago. I used to lift my left heel. Everybody said I would be a scratch golfer. I was told very quickly to leave my left heel on the ground so I would have less moving parts and this would give me more consistency . The lowest I got to was 9.
I have never worked so hard on my swing as I have in the last 6 months. Analysing my swing- I am completely coming over the top and have being for years. Way to steep.
I came across a site that proposed .
From the top of your swing with a raised left heel and about (standard) 20 % pressure on your left toe and toe pad.
To Start the downswing- leave your golfclub in place .ie no pulling on the handle
but instead move the pressure that's on your left toe and pad to the outer 3 toes(same foot) .
Guess what- The shaft shallows beautifully all by its self .The leg movement starts to look a little like what's in your video.This is what I think the old greats where doing. I think your title is very apt .A lost art indeed . I'm going back to my swing of 30 years and maybe just maybe it's not too late- to play my best golf ever.
Thanks for the post
Hi Frank - Great post! How is your game since making these changes? Cheers! ⛳️🏌️♀️
I just figured this out from watching golf my way 1983 Jack Nicklaus. I think in a nutshell when the left knee goes in and on fuller swings the left hell lifts a bit the hip joint primarily the left one unlocks this is huge! With the feet planted on full swings for ordinary humans not gymnast the joint will lock and the tendency and fight will be for the weight to go forward or reverse and your dead to hit a bad shot it's just biomechanics. Now a 90 wedge controlled wedge wont matter,and for young guys a soft 5 iron it will work when planted. The hips can still be limited and a turn can be achieved for a good shot. Sometimes limiting hip turn for less than full shots is ideal like fairway bunkers,wind shots taking more club etc.. Ideally loading up into the braced right leg for full shots and unlocking the hips for a full turn is a prerequisite and in a round of golf this accounts for 90% of the shots you take not green side. Par 3 186 yards 5 iron,hybrid or for some 3 wood! This will need a full swing and a uninhibited turn I think if you can do this then your talents is maximized simple as that. In fact Id compare this move to a 3 point shooter in basket ball,vs a free throw shooter. The free throw guy can keep his feet close together and just flick the shot or use the knees,but the 3 point guy never stays flat footed he is moving his feet he stutters the jumps and shoots. Sure he is fading away sometimes,but always using his feet first.
The theory behind not lifting the heel was that the heel may not land in the same spot as the downswing starts, I believe. I think the swing motions of the body change with the equipment anyway. The hickory clubs needed a slow steady acceleration at the start not to over torque/twist. Steel changed a lot of things.
you explained better in the overall hogan analysis. weight never fully on right side therefore now actual weight shift to right lead sidem. as you mentioned, weight is braced on the inside of right leg. left foot lift facilitates turn and rhythm of swing. they sit into the left side to trigger downswing while finishing the backswing causing natural wrist hinge and cock. the left lead foot is square when it comes down as well as sitting into left side, creates feel of bumping into a wall. you must turn to bring club around either inside out with right elbow in and right shoulder under and club head inside to outside. hogan closed to line while Trevino was open to line. modern flat foot teaching encourages upright arms only back swing and steep over the top outside in downswing if player is not flexible or does not practice a lot to maintain timing. they become flippers. best to follow hogan and if they start hooking then open the stance more from target while swing inside out. like Trevino says "aim left, swing right, walk straight".
Reason. In the late 80s, leading pro instructor David Leadbetter who coached Nick Faldo to his back-to-back Masters wins in 1989 and 1990, held the philosophy in swing mechanics that moving the least number of muscles necessary would produce the most reliable swing and thus the most consistent ball flight. It has nothing to do with club head speed or trajectory, but consistency. After Faldo's 2nd win, swing coaches everywhere embraced the philosophy and Butch Harmon made Tiger Woods' planted heel swing the "modern textbook swing." The downside nobody thought at the time was what it does to the spine. Back injuries increased - especially among weekend golfers. Only now after Woods' back fusion are more sports doctors rethinking the importance of involving the left heel.
Wayne D...Would you pls clarify your comment at 12:55 re Hogan.."in thru the ball & as you’re hitting it, glutes & upper part of legs are trying to connect & squeeze together & drive left & up"...Thx!, Jack
Agree with 95% of what your saying. The thing where my opinion differs from you is that you say they are driving off their right legs. If you take Nicholas for example, his set up makes the weight shift happen along with gravity. Notice how the right leg has a slightly different angle than the left...like a kickstand. I think you make this happen by bumping the left hip slightly forward which also sets your shoulders in a little more tilt. Now when Jack begins his backswing by throwing the club back high (with flying right elbow, giving him more arc), the weight of his upper body, arms, and clubhead hit the right side (inside of the right heel), that weight automatically shifts/falls to the left because of the position of the right leg combined with gravity (before the backswing is complete). Now all that is left to do is let the arms drop then using gravity and centripetal force let that mass pivot around the left leg/hip. I've seen a ton of video of Jack's right toe sliding/dragging toward the target because the inertia of his body mass pulled the right side through rather than the right side pushing through. I think that the same happens with a baseball pitcher. At the top of the pitching motion, the pitcher starts falling forward, he steps toward the plate, then the elbow leads the hand (like lag in a golf swing) and the hand releases the ball toward the plate.
watch the left heel and hip rotation, it seems to come up when players rotate their hips more in the backswing I think it comes up when they rotate back
Is this why modern day players don't look as elegant when swinging the club that the older guys. Billy Casper great swing.
I'm your big fan.Thank you for all great videos you've made. However, I think, keeping left hill down can keep hip turn less than 45 degrees with 90degree+ shoulder turn at the top, which is believed to create more coil these days. Butta... I also have doubt on coil amount between hips and shoulders as great power source, because it could break ground-up sequence ...
I think the issue with teaching amateur Golfers to restrict hip turn is that they tend to swing back with just their arms. An arm swing with an average shoulder and hip turn will probably lead to a huge loss of power and an over the top movement on the downswing.
This allows for the left knee flex to change and tilt the hips. Keeping the left heel flat + keeping the flex in the right knee is flat hip turn city.
and also, I think somewhat restricted feeling at the top can result in over the top swing for most amature golfers, and can somehow lock up the body that actually reduce club head speed. Just my opinion...
Casper would lift and plant his right heel slightly to start his backswing and then lift his left heel to start the weight moving to his right side Great timing mechanism and he won 50 plus tournaments
The idea of keeping the left foot planted has always seemed wrong to me, but seems to related to staying within yourself and promoting maximum torsion in the trunk. However, to me it seems to invite a collapsed left knee and all kinds of knee and back injury. It also seems to feed into this almost spasmodic hyper-rapid, stiff-armed swing that has come out from people trying to copy DeChambeau without understanding what he understands. To swing successfully and especially in the long term, you need dynamism and mobility. That way you truly swing from the ground up and the lifted left heel is intrinsic. It completely enforces weight transfer to the right (or rear) leg while providing the enabler to commence the downswing and weightshift toward target - all the while within your stance and as part of the necessary rotation. Lifting the heel also promotes a swing that uses all the joints in the body from the ground up as they are evolved to work and so works well within the capacity of each joint, preventing damage.
here is a couple of thoughts. 1. If you keep both feet on the ground do you get a better torque??? 2. If you lift the left heel it becomes the trigger for the start of the downswing and where should the downswing start ????? from the ground up....SIMPLES
It's interesting how for so many decades you had players of so many different styles doing the same thing. Yet, all of a sudden, teachers everywhere were telling golfers not to do that. I remember being told that, and it was just so awkward, and there was always something that didn't feel right about my swing. It was supremely uncomfortable, and I always worried about it.
I've always heard that keeping the left heal on the ground would help you NOT over rotate the hips (past 45 deg.) on the backswing so as to produce more coil in the torso as the shoulders turned to 90 deg. I've been doing this for about 8 years I'd say, it's not made me any more consistent or given me more length. I took your advice and went to the range and hit balls today all the while lifting the left heal slightly on the backswing and low and behold; for me I found something I think is the most important thing. Planting that left heal back down at the very beginning of the downswing is a natural "mental trigger" to fire the legs and hips progressing through the 'chain action' Hogan speaks of in his writing. Re-establishing that left heal at the top of my backswing to me is like a forward press some players use to initiate the take-away. I also found the reduction in torque is easier on my 50 year old body. Great stuff.. Thanks for the reminder the greats of 50 and 75 years ago are always going to be the greatest of all time. Funny how Hogan's swing is still the blueprint for so many tour players today.
Joe Scopelite In the 80's all the pros and Golf Digest made a big fuss about the X Factor. They determined scientifically that reducing hip turn, keeping left heel on ground and stretching shoulder turn produced more power and accuracy. They were nuts and a lot of people now have back problems. Poor Tiger Woods. Lift your left heel Joe, it works!
Good points, both.. Thanks..
So Wayne...have you used this method? Has it helped your power and accuracy? Has it helped reduce the strain on your body? I want to try this method because my swing hurts...I am currently a 10 handicap and I keep my left heel on the ground. My swing feels restricted even though it is fairly powerful (240 - 260) and fairly accurate (9 fairways out of 14 on average). The day after golf is not a good day at all for me! I did notice that it is 10 mph faster to lift heel on the radar gun...
I was new to golf and after searching the whole universe of youtube for lessons, I realise my golf swing ia getting worse. Then I was my old video on driving range when my swings were good then I realise I subconciously lifted my left heel. So here I am getting better and pretending to be Ben Hogan.
I have played tennis my entire life, and only just recently at age 45 I played golf for the first time, and in my opinion nothing about the traditional golf swing makes any sense. The only swing that makes sense to my is the Juju swing, which Jimmy Bruen and Matt Wolf both use variations of. To me, the traditional golf swing removes the timing and efficiency that the “whip” creates for you. Why would anybody want to do that? I don’t do that when I hit a tennis serve or forehand, because I want the most power with the least effort. In tennis the mechanics are most similar to the Juju swing, which just makes more sense.
I have always lifted my left foot. People always try to teach me to stop. I am a 52yr old female and I can hit my driver 190 to 200. Play under 90. Not bad for never practicing.
another link in the kinetic chain. Heel plant, knee, hip, shoulder, arm. If you used this with the new equipment what in the world would course designers do then?
coil doesn't mean speed all the time. left heel off is for gain more speed and balance. specially good for keeping balance throughout the swing.. good trick for downswing trigger and transfering coiled energy to drive the ball. I agree with myswingevolution i also started learning golf in 80's and was taught "left heel off is bad" .misled for long time.
Are jack and mikey Wright the same at the top?
most important, yet abandoned, move in golf.
And Peter Kostis (on national TV btw) said Ben Hogan didn’t lift his left heel!🤷🏻♂️ Francisco Molinari gained 20 yards and 5mph clubhead speed just focusing on lifting then planting his left (lead) heel. Of course, sooner or later, Tiger is going to join the conversation. That dude is just a freak of nature😉
Yes the lead heel does want to naturally come up on takeaway. Where that got lost in the modern swing I believe was once coaches worked out that if you stabilised the lead foot in the preshot routine the left heel lifted inside the shoe marginally and is not clearly detectable.
I think Leadbetter helped the avg player by keeping the swing more quiet...but I also think that it limited the ability of most players to hit the ball longer. Golf requires both accuracy AND power....the left heel lift certainly helps in the sequencing of the swing starting with the legs and lower body as the driver and as a result you will hit the ball with the big muscles and not the hands and arms which are only there to connect you to the clubhead.....they do not provide the power source.
@Thomas Michalski yes , my left heel comes up in the backswing and i have stopped trying to keep it down. the swing in general is stressful enough so i think letting the heel raise and the left knee break inward behind the ball is a good idea. make sure to stay braced on the inside of your right foot and turn that foot outward at address
Thanks Wayne...in practicing the backswing, I noticed that I must to turn that right foot outward because I am making a fuller turn. I had been of the Hogan school where the right foot points straight & the left foot flares out at address. It just won't work with the heel raise. Harvey Pennick favored the heel raise & said the downswing begins with the left heel returning to the ground & the right elbow back to your body. It's old school...can't wait to try it myself if the sun ever comes out!
A typical misunderstanding is Jack Nicklaus belief that the head is the axis and David Leadbetter's lack of knowledge about the clubhead speed which he claims to be due to Centrifugal force(This is ignorance of one of the highest paid teacher) Centrifugal force is directed to the ground at the point of impact.
Lifting the heel allows for more rotation of the hips. most people struggle to rotate their hips at all and finish up hitting their shots with their arms. Lifting the heel solves this problem
I call the problem, not finishing the back swing. You don't need to lift your heel to finish your back swing, and you don't need to lift your heel to drive the ball 360m plus. I've done that without lifting my heel.
Golf is played in many different ways because we are all different.
Arnold Palmer said it, he lifted his heel because it gave him more hip rotation. IMHO it takes away consistency, but I can see how it might take some stress away from the lower back.
To relieve back problems, hold the club in your hands, not your fingers, and get a solid neutral grip. This is the only way to stop yourself injuring your spine.This connects the hands to the spine, holding the club in the fingers disconnects the hands from the spine.
At start of video we see Walter Hagen demonstrating a perfect shoulder pivot,in my opinion he is the best example,nobody turns their shoulders as far as that today.I,m a fan of lifting lead heel in backswing.There is an English golf school who recommend allowing feet to move freely,it,s a body friendly swing,away from traditional method,it,s called Positive impact golf.S/J.I,m out.
If you lift the left heel you don't have to slide as much in the downswing (to generate good power).
simple, just talk with a chiropractor about spine rotation and lifting the left heal. Oh, if you want lower back problems, ignore this video.
If you compare golfers of the past to todays swingers,i would argue that modern swingers don,t have a full shoulder turn,looking at Hagan, Nicklaus they had more than 90 degree turn,i say bring back the art of lift lead heel.S/J.
You missed out the greatest Mike Austin!!