Gonna beat this reverse pivot!!!!!!!

[Dub]

Gonna beat the brakes off this monkey that's been riding my back....the dreaded reverse pivot.

Played today and really hit some quality shots....best driving I've done in a long while....straight, solid distance, nice traj.

Got sloppy at one point late in the round and had two bad holes. Finally "cured" it when I had a lie with the ball below my feet. I had to focus on maintaining a good knee bend throughout the swing....results were super.


Next couple of holes I really focused on maintaining that knee bend throughout the swing....great results continued. Hopefully the reverse pivot can go haunt another house from now on!!!!

[DavidFehertysBike]

Oh man...weight shifts kill...hahaha. Im a 4 handicap and i still struggle with a reverse pivot from time to time. Im working on getting more leg and core fitness in the gym rather than a swing move to try and cure my inconsistancies there. It will make your base more stable.

[Dub]

Yup...heading to the gym in the morning. Probably not gonna do much with weights but ride a stationary for a good ride while watching Robin Meade on CCN....she inspires me to keep peddlin'.

I'm hoping the weather will cooperate tommorrow....I'll like to wait until it gets as warm as it is gonna get....and go tee off about 2:00pm and walk 9 holes.

My buddy that I played with today is about my age...and his joints creak worse than mine...especially his knees. He's a health nut and has strengthened the leg muscles around his knee joint. It's obviously helped his consistency....guy hits more fairways & greens than anyone I've ever played with.

[PEZGolf]

Gonna beat the brakes off this monkey that's been riding my back....the dreaded reverse pivot.

The reverse pivot is a deadly mistake. My late brother, Steve, was an excellent golfer. When he was 17 and the #1 player on his high school team, he went for lessons because of a spell of trouble. The local pro told him to not lift his left heel off the ground since he was flexible enough to make a full pivot without raising it. For a week or so, everything seemed fine. Then, I caddied for him in a big tournament. After being under par for the first 6 holes, he started hitting low line dirves to the right. I was shocked. He could not get it straightened out, and ended up shooting a 78 or 79.

We immediately went home and I had him swing a club in front of me because I had an idea what was wrong. I told him that his head was dropping two inches or more by the time he got to the top of his swing. That was a sure sign of a reverse pivot. I asked him why he was keeping his left heel on the ground. "Because I was told to," he answered. "That is the problem, " I told him. After that he let his left heel come up slightly and emphasized loading up his right side and getting a normal weight shift. I have been a golf instructor for over 30 years, and I tell my students to let their left heel (for right-handed golfers) rise off the ground slightly. The first move after the top of the swing is to slam that heel to the ground to initiate the shift back to the left side, led by the lower body. That works. Trust me, that works.

[Dub]

The reverse pivot is a deadly mistake. My late brother, Steve, was an excellent golfer. When he was 17 and the #1 player on his high school team, he went for lessons because of a spell of trouble. The local pro told him to not lift his left heel off the ground since he was flexible enough to make a full pivot without raising it. For a week or so, everything seemed fine. Then, I caddied for him in a big tournament. After being under par for the first 6 holes, he started hitting low line dirves to the right. I was shocked. He could not get it straightened out, and ended up shooting a 78 or 79.

I'm gonna give that a whirl, too. I know that for a fact I over-rotate my hips and let my left heel dance.....cheating a real shouler rotation.

I'm gonna keep working diligently on maintaing the knee flex and I'll be thinking of the left heel, too. Thanks for the advice.

[Fourputt]

I'm gonna give that a whirl, too. I know that for a fact I over-rotate my hips and let my left heel dance.....cheating a real shouler rotation.

Planting the heel was part of Harvey Penick's "Magic Move". The other half of it was bringing the right elbow back to your side.

[PEZGolf]

I'm gonna give that a whirl, too. I know that for a fact I over-rotate my hips and let my left heel dance.....cheating a real shouler rotation.

You are welcome. It will work, but do not overdo it. Just let the left heel rise slightly off the ground. Do not let it get too high, or you will overshift your weight to the right side and maybe even sway.

[starchuk]

The first move after the top of the swing is to slam that heel to the ground to initiate the shift back to the left side, led by the lower body.

Interesting... can you explain this a little? I'm having trouble understanding how the left heel acts in function to the lead hip and spine relationship?

My idea of a reverse pivot in the upswing refers to the top of the shoulders (where the players name would be on their jersey) is closer to the target than the lead hip because the hips have moved back towards the right side. If the lead hip stays over the lead leg, then no reverse pivot can be achieved. There is a recent book on Hogan describing this. "hogan's secret" or "hogan's missing piece" or something like that. I hope this helps.

[mm6840]

Mostly reverse pivot happens from tilting instead of turning.

Planting left heel is very important (#2 move (1-backswing, 3 downswing) for 2 planer left hip slide toward the target, 1plane left hip turning away from target ) because swing is pivoting movement . before you change direction of the movement you need base for that (left side)

regards

[starchuk]

But wouldn't lifting the front heel put you in a less balanced position? There aren't any new school players with strength and good flexibility lifting their heel.

If you are talking about a reverse pivot, the left foot should not really be a focal point. If a players sways to the back leg and lifts his arms to the top a his swing, there is a good chance that there is going to be a reverse pivot. If the player can turn OUT of this lead hip rather than INTO the trailing hip, there will no reverse pivoting.

[mm6840]

But wouldn't lifting the front heel put you in a less balanced position? There aren't any new school players with strength and good flexibility lifting their heel.

I was talking about planting left foot/heel into the ground as "2" move ! (if you refering to my post). In 2 plane swing (movement to the right) lifting can happen (slightly) and it's not bad position. In 1 plane left knee is primary flexed and "2" move gets you slightly forward (1-2 inch) and give you solid base for hard pivoting.

reverse pivot : when you're tilting you shoulders instead of turning (enough) during the backswing and hips slide laterally away from the target and the upper torso leans more to the left than it was at adress. This puts the weight on the left foot at the top of the backswing.... result : too steep + out to in path. regards

[Fourputt]

But wouldn't lifting the front heel put you in a less balanced position? There aren't any new school players with strength and good flexibility lifting their heel.

Lifting the heel isn't something you do as a conscious effort. You take your backswing and if the heel comes up a bit, then don't fight it. For some players it will lift, and for others it won't. Just focus on making sure it's firmly planted to start the downswing. Even if it doesn't actually come off the ground, there shouldn't be much weight on the left heel at the top of the backswing, so planting that heel is still a good swing thought to help to shift your weight back to the left side.

[starchuk]

I guess it would be my own personal opinion but I think that at the top of the backswing is not the place where a player would want to be in a less balanced position. Having to make an unnecessary compensation to plant the lead heel would delay proper use of ground forces.

[Fourputt]

I guess it would be my own personal opinion but I think that at the top of the backswing is not the place where a player would want to be in a less balanced position. Having to make an unnecessary compensation to plant the lead heel would delay proper use of ground forces.

It has nothing to do with being off balance. When you turn your shoulders and hips your weight naturally moves off your left heel. Depending on your coil and your flexibility, the heel may or may not lift, but 75% your weight should still be on the inside of the right foot at the top of your backswing, completely in balance, ready to power the downswing.

[darthfader]

...Depending on your coil and your flexibility, the heel may or may not lift, but 75% your weight should still be on the inside of the right foot at the top of your backswing, completely in balance, ready to power the downswing.

You both make excellent points. You need to arrive at the top of the backswing with:

1. some flex in the right knee (requires right hip flexibility, right quad and adductor strength) 2. most weight loaded into right arch 3. hips resisting the coil of the upper body (lots of core strength/flexibility required here) 4. upper body NOT tilting towards the target (No reverse pivot) As far as the left heel goes, people who cannot keep the left heel down are people who haven't felt the need to develop the extra strength/flexibility in the LEFT hip that is required for that movement. Some people simply don't need it (Jack Nicklaus). Some people do (Tiger). To each their own. Seems to me that keeping the left heel down might help to prevent the hips from closing too much during the backswing, but keeping it down could also cause other issues. Hard to say.

[PEZGolf]

Lifting the heel isn't something you do as a conscious effort. You take your backswing and if the heel comes up a bit, then don't fight it. For some players it will lift, and for others it won't. Just focus on making sure it's firmly planted to start the downswing. Even if it doesn't actually come off the ground, there shouldn't be much weight on the left heel at the top of the backswing, so planting that heel is still a good swing thought to help to shift your weight back to the left side.

You are right. It should not be a consicous effort. For the average player, if he or she makes a proper body turn, and loads up the back side, then it almost always happens that the front heel comes up, off the ground, slightly. If so, balance is maintained, a proper weight shift is accomplished, and the golfer is set to initiate the downswing by slamming the left heel to the ground. That means the lower body will lead the downswing, which is exactly what should happen. The average golfer has no concept of proper sequential action and that the lower body is the last part to be involved in the backswing, BUT it leads the downswing. Too many average golfers over use the upper body.

[starchuk]

It has nothing to do with being off balance. When you turn your shoulders and hips your weight naturally moves off your left heel. Depending on your coil and your flexibility, the heel may or may not lift, but 75% your weight should still be on the inside of the right foot at the top of your backswing, completely in balance, ready to power the downswing.

What is 75%? I can't feel 75% and I can't connect my golf shoes to my computer yet. You say that weight naturally moves off the front foot. i don't think there is anything natural about a proper pivot. If you are trying to load up your back foot because you've been told that by the golf media and a driving range pro and sometimes on tv they draw lines and you have this perception to do so, then yes, this may feel natural to you, but then you may not have the right idea. A proper pivot uses the ground as friction, as you can see with some old school players when their metal spikes tear up the turf. If the feet are coming off the ground then the player is not using the ground properly. There have been some great studies down with the use of force plates to measure the amount of energy being used by the ground. I can assure you that players are not creating that must shaft pressure by waving their body weight back and forth. Baseball players actually dig their feet into the ground. I do the same thing out of a fairway bunker. I'll dig my back foot in and get almost like a starting block for a runner. I have the feeling of always pushing off that back foot so that at worse I hit it thin. Thin can still get to the green. I can tell you a personal swing thought for me is to feel like I'm pushing my front foot into the ground. Not moving my weight forward to put "weight" on my front foot, but pushing and applying pressure. Hogan said he found it in the dirt? Maybe he found that the dirt could help him grip the earth better.

[Fourputt]

What is 75%? I can't feel 75% and I can't connect my golf shoes to my computer yet.

Maybe that's why you're a 36 handicap?

The traditional golf swing naturally shifts weight from the center of the stance toward the back foot as you rotate your backswing to a full coil. Then you plant the front foot (or start the weight shift if you prefer) to initiate the downswing, and the uncoiling of your hips and shoulders and the drive off the back foot create power and should shift the weight to the front foot. If you aren't shifting your weight like that then you are either using the stack and tilt swing or you are doing a reverse pivot. Watch film of 95% of all professional golfers and you will see clearly that their weight shifts more or less as I have described it here.