YOUR GOLF FITNESS | UNLEASH YOUR SWING
GOLF FROM THE GROUND UP
When is the last time you thought about the importance
of your footwork in your golf swing? We become so
inundated with swing thoughts and manipulations of the
club that ensue we forget that we are still attached to
the earth below us. Meanwhile, we build tolerations and
compensations in our swing such as early extension, loss
of posture, lateral sway, lateral slide, etc. We also build
the tolerations and simply accept that knee, low back, or
shoulder pain is just part of the rigors of the game.
The body is beautifully designed in intricate systems
that all work together in order to produce efficient
movement. This intricate system is called the kinetic
chain. It is composed of a linkage system that connects
adjacent joints and muscles throughout the entire body.
We use this linkage system to transfer energy or force for
any movement we do. In the golf swing we can see a
wonderful coordination of the energy transfer through
our feet all the way up to our hands in order to generate
club speed and transfer all of that energy to a very small
white ball.
Golf from the ground up is a concept based on Newton’s
third law, for every action there is an equal and opposite
direction. That is to say that whenever an object pushes
another object it gets pushed back in the opposite
direction equally hard. In his book, Golf Anatomy, Dr Craig
Davies eloquently states, “For maximal power creation
with minimal negative stress on the body, the ground must
be the first link in the chain of energy transfer. As such,
using the legs to drive forcefully into the ground results in
the ground pushing back up into the golfer’s body with an
equal magnitude of force. The force the ground transmits
into the golfer is known as the ground reaction force
(GRF). GRF is then transferred up through the legs and
into the pelvis. From the pelvis the force is transferred into
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the golfer’s core, shoulder complex, arms, and, finally, the
golf club and ball.”
With this brief introduction to biomechanics let’s begin
by establishing a solid platform for our golf performance
and address a crucial joint that is often neglected, the
ankle. Loss of immobility in our ankle joint can create an
unfortunate chain of events in our golf swing. To go along
with the analogy from my previous article, what good
is a Porsche engine and frame when we have improper
wheels? Our feet and ankles are the first line of defence
for energy transfer. I have seen a significant reduction in
inefficient movement when addressing this issue in many
of our professionals and avid golfers. So let’s build a game
plan for optimal range of motion and build our swing from
the ground up!
1) Inhibit: Self Myofascial Release- Calves
Placing as much weight on the foam roller as can be
tolerated and while keeping the foot relaxed, slowly roll
up and down the length the lower leg from the heel of
the foot to the back of the knee. Stop rolling and hold
sustained pressure on the most tender spots for at least
30 seconds.