A great "thru the ball" position/Flat Right Foot (with a Brian Manzella Video Answer)

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Jim Kobylinski

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A great "thru the ball" position/Flat Right Foot (with a Brian Manzella Video Answer)

Here's a student of mine that i have been working with for over a year now. He isn't very tall, isn't very flexable, and let's just say he likes his beer ;).

HOWEVER

He can get into a very nice positions as shown below (click for larger photo):




This photo is obviously well into the follow through however some things to note:

1) Hips WIDE OPEN
2) Shoulders well open
3) Right heel BARELY off the ground
4) Ball flying straight
5) Stayed in his tilt
6) You can't see the clubhead which means it hasn't flipped past his hands

These are all things you want to strive for in a "through the ball position." Something that we work on a lot is 3/4 shots where he keeps his right heel ON THE GROUND and only lets his PIVOT drag it off. This keeps him from lunging through the shot and losing his tilt.

So if someone who is inflexable as he is can do this, then there is no excuse for the rest of you ;)
 
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davidmac00

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sure?

Jim Kobylinski said:
Here's a student of mine that i have been working with for over a year now. He isn't very tall, isn't very flexable, and let's just say he likes his beer ;).

HOWEVER

He can get into a very nice positions as shown below (click for larger photo):




This photo is obviously well into the follow through however some things to note:

1) Hips WIDE OPEN
2) Shoulders well open
3) Right heel BARELY off the ground
4) Ball flying straight
5) Stayed in his tilt
6) You can't see the clubhead which means it hasn't flipped past his hands

These are all things you want to strive for in a "through the ball position." Something that we work on a lot is 3/4 shots where he keeps his right heel ON THE GROUND and only lets his PIVOT drag it off. This keeps him from lunging through the shot and losing his tilt.

So if someone who is inflexable as he is can do this, then there is no excuse for the rest of you ;)
Click to expand...



jim,
i really would like to see the rest of the film of this pupil,especially face on(caddy view),as its hard to tell a swing from one picture,but your pupil looks to have a reverse pivot.how can i tell this?well the left leg looks locked straight,the right heel should be nearer target at this point indicating hip slide(axis tilt) as oppossed to spin out.the left arm looks to be bent and the divot aims left.i like to see divots FLY leftish while ball straight,but on close inspection your pupils divot is open faced(diamond shaped with heel leading at exit point).
please show the rest of the film,i will learn a lot if you can show me to be wrong and please dont think im trying to be controvesial with this,im like you brian and the other teachers here trying to learn from one another.
thanx
david mccallum.
 
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Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
davidmac00 said:
jim,
i really would like to see the rest of the film of this pupil,especially face on(caddy view),as its hard to tell a swing from one picture,but your pupil looks to have a reverse pivot.how can i tell this?well the left leg looks locked straight,the right heel should be nearer target at this point indicating hip slide(axis tilt) as oppossed to spin out.the left arm looks to be bent and the divot aims left.i like to see divots FLY leftish while ball straight,but on close inspection your pupils divot is open faced(diamond shaped with heel leading at exit point).
please show the rest of the film,i will learn a lot if you can show me to be wrong and please dont think im trying to be controvesial with this,im like you brian and the other teachers here trying to learn from one another.
thanx
david mccallum.
Click to expand...

This isn't a film, it was a still. Also, i'm sorry to say but all of your "assumptions" are wrong. This was a 9 iron that went about 125 yards dead straight at the target. I'd also like to know you can figure out which divot was his out of the multitude that there is. Also the only way you can have that much waist bend and still have your foot relatively on the ground is IF you tilt your axis. Also this student doesn't use a lot of axis tilt because of his inflexability so we have him setup much more bent over so it allows less hip slide to get the right shoulder to go down plane easier.

Honestly the reverse pivot comment is kind of funny because if anything we work on not making him SWAY off the ball to the right. He actually has to feel like his head stays more "still" because he tends to swing too far to the right (because of a lack of participation from the pivot), sets up with too much tilt and actually gets the right shoulder almost underplane.
 
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Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
Chris Sturgess said:
Why would you think it's a good thing for the right heel to be barely off the ground that far into the followthrough?
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Well it depends, maybe i should edit the title and say great instead of "ideal" because ideal means for "everyone."

In my opinion the right foot/heel/ankle, whatever you want to call it, should be pulled off the ground by the pivot. If you look at the best ballstrikers in history, their right heels do not prematurely get up on their toes.

It's just something i like to see in a nice swinging motion.
 
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Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
mb6606 said:
Jim he looks great.
Do you have a still of impact????
Click to expand...

No, this was simple a quick pic i snapped with my camera phone. I took it to show him that he has plenty of tilt and is getting his right shoulder to go downplane.

He tends to over tilt his axis at times and this causes him to not be able to be open enough at impact. So this causes a out to right field type flip.

The more i told him to pivot and just turn and not worry about the right shoulder he was getting worried and thought he wasn't striking it solid but this pic shows that he was doing everything ok.
 
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Chris Sturgess

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Jim Kobylinski said:
In my opinion the right foot/heel/ankle, whatever you want to call it, should be pulled off the ground by the pivot. If you look at the best ballstrikers in history, their right heels do not prematurely get up on their toes.
Click to expand...

What you mean by prematurely may be a little off. At the halfway down position I agree, but at halfway through I'm pretty sure every great ball striker's heel is well off the ground and on the toe. Unless you count Kenny Perry as a great ballstriker, he's an exception.
 
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Chris Sturgess

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NGC_ErnieElsProfile_300x500_20061010.jpg
 
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Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
puttmad said:
Jim, Doesn't keping your heel down too long cause undue stress on your back?
Click to expand...

Only if you're FORCING it too, if it happens naturally it doesn't matter.

Chris for every pic that you find with a heel up i can go find one with one down. In last month's golf diget Tiger is past the follow through of where my student is and his heel is similar.

As long as you aren't forcing it, it's fine.
 
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Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
Chris i'm glad you have such PASSION for a high right heel but it doesn't make you right or wrong, it's just another way.

You need to look around some more swing sequences and not just the ones that support your theory. Go look at Brady Riggs site with all of his swing sequences and you'll find plenty of sequences of tour players with their right heel in a similar position. Even one of Ernie ;)

Also you need to be comparing another short or possibly mid iron shot at a similar point in the follow through. Because a short iron has a whole lot less axis tilt than say A DRIVER it's much easier to keep your right foot on the ground through the impact area.
 
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JeffM

New member
Jim - surely, as a general principle, the degree of lifting up of the right heel at impact depends on two factors - i) the degree of pelvic rotation at impact, and ii) the degree of body flexibility?

Surely, Tiger Woods has more right heel lifting up in some swings because he has more hip rotation (at the time of impact) in those swings?

I believe that right heel lifting up is a PASSIVE phenomenon that reflects the degree of rotation of the right hemi-pelvis at the moment of impact.

Jeff.
 
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