Straightening Left Leg at Impact

[exgolfpro66]

Hi all,
Here is something that I've been tinkering with for a few months. First a little about my swing...pretty good move back off the ball. Left arm across the shoulder line. Not intentionally single plane, but close to it naturally. Downswing has a fair amount of lateral movement to it. With irons, I hit a good closed face draw. Very consistant. With my driver and 3wd it is a different story. Because of my "fair amount of lateral movement" on the downswing, my left leg stays flexed at impact. This causes a lot of pushes and blocks. But recently, I began 'forcing' my left leg to straighten at impact. This, of course, forces me to release my driver and I've had a decent amount of success with it. My question is, is this something I should be forcing to happen or should I be looking for other causes of the push/block?

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

Hi all,
Here is something that I've been tinkering with for a few months. First a little about my swing...pretty good move back off the ball. Left arm across the shoulder line. Not intentionally single plane, but close to it naturally. Downswing has a fair amount of lateral movement to it. With irons, I hit a good closed face draw. Very consistant. With my driver and 3wd it is a different story. Because of my "fair amount of lateral movement" on the downswing, my left leg stays flexed at impact. This causes a lot of pushes and blocks. But recently, I began 'forcing' my left leg to straighten at impact. This, of course, forces me to release my driver and I've had a decent amount of success with it. My question is, is this something I should be forcing to happen or should I be looking for other causes of the push/block?

That's why.

 

[puttmad]

...

Hi all,
Here is something that I've been tinkering with for a few months. First a little about my swing...pretty good move back off the ball. Left arm across the shoulder line. Not intentionally single plane, but close to it naturally. Downswing has a fair amount of lateral movement to it. With irons, I hit a good closed face draw. Very consistant. With my driver and 3wd it is a different story. Because of my "fair amount of lateral movement" on the downswing, my left leg stays flexed at impact. This causes a lot of pushes and blocks. But recently, I began 'forcing' my left leg to straighten at impact. This, of course, forces me to release my driver and I've had a decent amount of success with it. My question is, is this something I should be forcing to happen or should I be looking for other causes of the push/block?

EGP,
Just a thought,
Forcing the left leg straight for impact is apparently the reason why Ernie Els needed a knee op last year. That action is a lot of pressure on the left leg joints, especially with most of your weight going right onto it at the same time.

 

[Brian Manzella]

Left Leg Snap.

It is something that WILL HAPPEN if you transfer the MOST POSSIBLE WEIGHT into impact.

You do that by using the ground.

You won't hurt yourself.

It is funny to re-read the Leadbetter article in this months Golf Digest. All he needs to do is have Michelle Wie do what the number say.

She doesn't do it.

You have found a way to tap into it.

 

[mcflog]

EGP,
Just a thought,
Forcing the left leg straight for impact is apparently the reason why Ernie Els needed a knee op last year. That action is a lot of pressure on the left leg joints, especially with most of your weight going right onto it at the same time.

Ernie blew his ACL out on a boat trip, I remember before he got hurt they were talking at the MAsters and Ernie was saying one of the things he's always keyed on was trying to keep a "softer" left knee. It does straighten, but not violently like some.

 

[puttmad]

....

Ernie blew his ACL out on a boat trip, I remember before he got hurt they were talking at the MAsters and Ernie was saying one of the things he's always keyed on was trying to keep a "softer" left knee. It does straighten, but not violently like some.

Yes,
One of the TV commentators mentioned the fact that the knee may already have been weakened, which contributed to the the injury in some way. But then again, who knows...

I have a suspect tendon in my left knee, which can play up if I twist my leg a little as I get out of my car, or drive in town a lot, where I am constantly using the clutch pedal and went through a phase of "straightening the left leg" a couple of years ago, and it got pretty painful, pretty quickly..

As soon as I stopped trying to straighten the leg, it stopped hurting.

 

[KnighT]

I think Brian talks about this in the audio for the Cary Middlecoff swing analysis because his left knee remains bent through impact. From memory he says that it is from 'staying with the shot' longer.

 

[exgolfpro66]

Where is this video? I don't find it under the Video link.

 

[tourdeep]

puttmad...


"Childhood skateboard and bicycling accidents had already compromised the health of the knee, but Woods put inordinate strain on it when he went for an extra 10-20 yards by snapping the knee into hyperextension. By ’02, the compensations he was making for an increasingly achy joint initiated a laundry list of bad habits deleterious to his consistency. Such circumstances also threatened his longevity, a necessity if he is to reach his goal of passing Jack Nicklaus’s record 18 professional major titles."...