Keeping the lower body "quiet"

[Caddyshack]

Does anyone have any good drills for keeping the lower body steady? i have been working on getting more width in my swing and as a result i have started sliding the hips (there is always something!!) also it feels like my back leg is movinig which i know is not good... any suggestions to stop this?
Thanks

[nlowplacez]

im hoping you mean on the backswing. and its a pretty easy drill to help. but make sure you have the flexibility to keep the lower body quiet with a wide swing arc. otherwise you may need to let the hips turn (not slide) ala jack nicklaus, bubba watson

heres the drill, or actually just a technique i used to use. just kick in the right knee. done kind of like somebody putting their foot on the outside of your knee and just pressing. it wont let your lower body slide. if you do need to turn quite a bit with the hips just concentrate on keeping the weight on the inside of the foot and dont let it get to the outside. hope this helps GL

[Caddyshack]

im hoping you mean on the backswing. and its a pretty easy drill to help. but make sure you have the flexibility to keep the lower body quiet with a wide swing arc. otherwise you may need to let the hips turn (not slide) ala jack nicklaus, bubba watson

yes i mean on the backswing, sorry i should have put that in there , thanks for the tip

[brgolf]

Put a bucket between the legs, don't touch it with the left leg on the backswing.

Put a chair with its back facing the right side of your body. Move your weight over the chair but don't touch it by incorrectly sliding your hips.

I look for genuine tension in the muscles on the left side of my chest at the top of the backswing. My hips have turned 40-45 degrees, my shoulders more than 90.

[PingGKEN]

I always felt that the "feet together drill" helped to keep things quiet and keep you in balance. My instructor gave me that as a drill to practice when he saw my hips flying around throwing me off balance.

[TN94z]

Feet together drill is good. Also, imagine you are taking full swings while standing in a barrel. The barrel prevents you from swaying and makes you turn instead of slide.

[soloredd]

I always felt that the "feet together drill" helped to keep things quiet and keep you in balance. My instructor gave me that as a drill to practice when he saw my hips flying around throwing me off balance.

This is my favorite drill for both swing mechanics and tempo. Whenever something feels out of kilter, I do the drill and its easy to do even during a round.

You can also try the golf ball under the right heel drill. This keeps you from moving too much once there's a lot of pressure on the ball.

[enduro]

I always felt that the "feet together drill" helped to keep things quiet and keep you in balance. My instructor gave me that as a drill to practice when he saw my hips flying around throwing me off balance.

This is the drill I was going to recommend as well.

[Zeph]

I like working on the feeling that I'm rotating around the tips. Not moving the body out, but pivoting on the hips. Feet together drill is kind of strange at first, but it's a good drill if you get it down.

[PingGKEN]

I have to come back to this thread... had a lesson yesterday and the main focus was keeping the lower half of my body quiet on the back swing. My instructor says I "shuffle" my feet, and he wanted me to swing without moving my feet at all. At the top of my backswing, my left foot came up and allowed my hips to turn back even further.

He had me go back to the feet together drill. I am to practice taking the same feelings obtained during that drill and putting them into my full swing. I dont want ANY lifting/turning of my left foot. Lets see how these next few range sessions go!

[bruce]

As the op said kick in the right knee,and also i like to feel my weight on the inside of my right foot.
I'm actually working on the same as you,trying to get more width.

[bunkerputt]

I have to come back to this thread... had a lesson yesterday and the main focus was keeping the lower half of my body quiet on the back swing. My instructor says I "shuffle" my feet, and he wanted me to swing without moving my feet at all. At the top of my backswing, my left foot came up and allowed my hips to turn back even further.

Practice hitting 50 yard pitch shots with both feet planted the entire time. Another good drill is to hit balls with your weight planted left like a hockey slap shot. There's zero lateral motion in a slap shot, but they can still launch it like crazy (100 mph+). That's a drill I recommend for my brother:

<------------- This avatar is his finish position Notice his right knee has kicked in way too much at this point. That's because the footwork was sloppy and the swing wasn't driven by his core.

[PingGKEN]

Practice hitting 50 yard pitch shots with both feet planted the entire time. Another good drill is to hit balls with your weight planted left like a hockey slap shot. There's zero lateral motion in a slap shot, but they can still launch it like crazy (100 mph+). That's a drill I recommend for my brother:

Thanks for the tips. I never thought that "happy feet" could cause problems in the swing. I have now started to concentrate on my takeaway. I want the only things that move to be the club, arms, shoulders..all going back as one unit for the first 6" or so. Everything else completely motionless. No kicking in of the right knee, no "tiny hip turn" to the right, nothing. Left foot must stay planted the entire time. Seems to be helping a lot so far hitting practice balls in the backyard.

[simland]

I'm a little confused about this concept. Coudl someone clear this up for me?

Aren't you suppose to shift your weight to your right side during the backswing?

And again when you initiate the downswing are you nto supposed to bump your hips forward?

Does the lower body talk reference mostly just lifting feet off the ground or having soft knees?

[PingGKEN]

For me yes. Lifting of the left foot and kicking in the left knee was making my hips turn way too much on the back swing. Its that big difference in turn of the shoulders compared to the hips that we were trying to achieve.

I had a laugh when I got home that night. The "Playing Lessons with the Pros" episode with Anthony Kim was on. Anthony specifically stated that his main focus is keeping everything from the hips down as quiet as possible. That its "something amateurs never think about". I had to just shake my head and laugh. Sure enough, watching his swing, nothing moves down there.

[Dub]

Boo did a clinic at my home course back in April. He quickly went into a Q&A; session with the audience.

Somone asked him about this very topic. He said, "I gotta drill for you", smiled and ran over to his golf bag and pulled out a kids beach ball. He laughed and said he used to have a better ball but the kids kept taking it.

Anyway, he placed the ball between his knees and then hit a few shots. He explained that it kept things quiet and vs. swaying or other.

[PingGKEN]

Man, my instructor is spot on! He said envision that you are trying to hold a beach ball down there. I'm going to have to give this a try!

[Black Hulk]

The "feet together drill" is very helpful at times on the course I hit shots that way!