Lateral Balance Boards - Do You Use Them?

[phillyk]

This was posted to facebook, recently.

The question is when does the weight shift start to occur? Some golfers move to their trail side from A1 to A2, and some don’t really move laterally much at all during that period.  From that point on, we move towards our lead side.  To understand this shift, I like to think more in terms of pressure (and eventually GRF) than weight, because it moves around more, is a bit easier to see (with force plates) and sometimes feel.

EPR - End of Pelvis Rotation; TB - Top of Backswing

This image is from Dr Kwon. Pay attention to the 3 arrows pointing upwards. There is one arrow for each foot and the third is taken from the center of pressure for the system. Each arrow is a vector, so it shows how much and in what direction.  In the beginning, the center of pressure is sometimes more on the lead side as we push into the trail leg. Usually by A2, we stop moving into trail side. We stall, laterally, as we push hard through the trail foot to bring club upwards and around. At this point the COP is really close to the trail foot. Then around A3.5, you can see the COP move, more visibly, towards the lead side.

Things certainly change fast in the transitionary phase. Between A4 and A4.5, the COP has already moved into and past the center of our stance. 

Now look at the direction of the arrow on the right foot and how it changes. There really isn’t a ton of change in horizontal force during the move from A2 to A3.5 (where the pressure in the trail foot is greatest and where the direction of weight shift occurs). In the transitionary phase (A3.5 to A4.5), is when the arrow really changes direction, but the amount is severely lessened.  Hence, why we call it more of a fall, then an actual pushing effect.  The push happens A2-A3.5, but in more of a vertical fashion than a horizontal one.

So the question is, do lateral balance boards help with this?  I personally prefer stepping drills, but I also haven’t used a balance board before. On the facebook post, many people agreed and some said it depends on when the shift occurs. Have any of you tried a balance board and did it help with the weight shift?

[ChetlovesMer]

Personally, I've never tried one.

I probably have some of the worst balance of anyone I've ever met... So, there's that. 

[dennyjones]

1 hour ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Personally, I've never tried one.

I probably have some of the worst balance of anyone I've ever met... So, there's that. 

I doubt that.  

[boogielicious]

I’ve used balance boards for squats, but not golf. I think step drills are more useful because you can do them anywhere.

[mchepp]

@phillyk this is a great question. The best drill I've seen is from Josh Koch on Instagram. He shows a video from Jason Zuback doing a step drill I've not seen before. 

Josh Koch

I have hit balls on the balance board but never felt comfortable on them to be able to go "full" speed on them. I think they could be used in some training exercises but not hitting balls at full speed.

[iacas]

On 1/11/2023 at 1:03 PM, phillyk said:

Hence, why we call it more of a fall, then an actual pushing effect.  The push happens A2-A3.5, but in more of a vertical fashion than a horizontal one.

Yes. If you replaced the right leg with a pole, you'd see a similar arrow. Maybe even a bigger one because a pole wouldn't be re-gaining flexion in the knee. 😉

On 1/11/2023 at 1:03 PM, phillyk said:

So the question is, do lateral balance boards help with this?  I personally prefer stepping drills, but I also haven’t used a balance board before. On the facebook post, many people agreed and some said it depends on when the shift occurs. Have any of you tried a balance board and did it help with the weight shift?

I wrote this:

I use them sparingly. Golfers often don't understand, early on, the relationship between force and movement and the timing of it all. They'll often do two things in a "not-so-great" way: 1) In trying to actively "push" their bodies forward to get the front side of the board to go down, they'll keep the trail side down via that "pushing" move. 2) They'll try to "slam" the front side down, which can send their mass backward.

I think that for some students they work really well. I have two Sheftic boards in each size, and I think I'd use them more often if they were more rounded, like a rocker. They're great for some students working on this. Also, though "external focus" things often work well in golf, using pressure shift boards often seems to make people less athletic with their timing and movements. I like stepping drills (even picking your foot up half an inch and putting it back down again) or things like that a bit more, as they're a bit more "natural" to people (and I put that in quotes as little is truly "natural", this is just closer to that end of the spectrum IMO more often than pressure boards).