Extending the Right Knee on the Backswing

[JetFan1983]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dominic Iafrate

I love the responses on here arguing what someone like Nick Faldo's saying....Has anyone on here won 6 majors and 40 tour events? NO...  If you follow TPI and biomechanics, the right knee must remain flexed no different than any other sport in order to fire off of.  Do you throw a baseball or foot ball from a straight right leg?  Do you shoot a basketball that way? If you look at those pics, its hard to see flex because of the way the pants fall....

Here's the thing, you do not fire off the right foot. Impact has 80 plus percent weight on the front foot, so you fire off the front foot. How can you fire off a foot that has such lack of contact with the ground. Most pros bank there back foot in, you don't push off a banked foot, there's no support there.

If you actually read what was posted you'd realize Faldo says one thing and does another. Feel isn't real, it's been proven by video analysis. How about you educate yourself and read the entire thread first.

This Dominic guy doesn't know what he's talking about re: the right knee flex, but you do actually fire off the back foot to start the downswing. Check the pressure testing swing thoughts thread. Good players fire off the right foot. That's how the trail knee regains its flex in the early downswing after having "straightened" on the backswing.

The pressure increase actually happens in both feet in the downswing, but of course, by impact, all that pressure has gone considerably forward... like you said 80+%.

[iacas]

This Dominic guy doesn't know what he's talking about re: the right knee flex, but you do actually fire off the back foot to start the downswing. Check the pressure testing swing thoughts thread. Good players fire off the right foot. That's how the trail knee regains its flex in the early downswing after having "straightened" on the backswing.

The pressure increase actually happens in both feet in the downswing, but of course, by impact, all that pressure has gone considerably forward... like you said 80+%.

Quick little nit-pick: re-bending the right knee isn't "firing" - it decreases pressure. The muscles in your right leg do very little on the downswing.

[JetFan1983]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetFan1983

This Dominic guy doesn't know what he's talking about re: the right knee flex, but you do actually fire off the back foot to start the downswing. Check the pressure testing swing thoughts thread. Good players fire off the right foot. That's how the trail knee regains its flex in the early downswing after having "straightened" on the backswing.

The pressure increase actually happens in both feet in the downswing, but of course, by impact, all that pressure has gone considerably forward... like you said 80+%.

Quick little nit-pick: re-bending the right knee isn't "firing" - it decreases pressure. The muscles in your right leg do very little on the downswing.

OK, I follow you. That pressure experiment is really the gift that keeps on giving though of a thread

[ydwang83]

Hello everybody, just joined this website hoping to learn more as I am a beginner that is self-learning. After videotaping myself, I realized that I straighten my right leg considerably during my back swing so I started to google this subject.

I only read a couple of pages of this forum post and it appears most everyone agrees that the leg shouldn't lock up completely but straightening is unavoidable.  However, I looked at a lot of videos of Adam Scott, as I really like his swing and wished to emulate him, and saw that it is indeed possible to keep the right knee almost the same flex even at the top of the back swing.

This guy bauercti has lots of awesome HD slow motion videos on Youtube and here are the links to a couple of them.

(Adam Scott 3 wood back view):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-NrigoW_I8&list;=TLeEY-tCiOfVwQxMXI18sQUh4OLoshuOmj

(Adam Scott Iron head on view)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DIcmJilO_w&list;=TLIpV3-61lW6Fk1m-P5SkX0bh-ybfLycKD

I haven't tested this extensively, but from limited practice swings, it feels like I am able to get the club head to the same spot during contact (height-wise) more consistently. In other words, I thin the ball less. I probably had a little bit of up & down going on when I straightened my right leg without realizing it and keeping the knee flexed maybe is helping with consistency as it is one less moving part.

What do you guys think?

[iacas]

Hello everybody, just joined this website hoping to learn more as I am a beginner that is self-learning. After videotaping myself, I realized that I straighten my right leg considerably during my back swing so I started to google this subject.

I only read a couple of pages of this forum post and it appears most everyone agrees that the leg shouldn't lock up completely but straightening is unavoidable.  However, I looked at a lot of videos of Adam Scott, as I really like his swing and wished to emulate him, and saw that it is indeed possible to keep the right knee almost the same flex even at the top of the back swing.

…

I haven't tested this extensively, but from limited practice swings, it feels like I am able to get the club head to the same spot during contact (height-wise) more consistently. In other words, I thin the ball less. I probably had a little bit of up & down going on when I straightened my right leg without realizing it and keeping the knee flexed maybe is helping with consistency as it is one less moving part.

What do you guys think?

I think a couple of things.

1. Adam Scott's trail knee definitely decreases flex in that swing. It might "only" be about 10-14 degrees or so, but it's there. Virtually every PGA Tour player loses at least about 10° of flex in their trail knee, and gains 10° of flex in their lead knee.
2. Your head may be going up in the backswing because you're not adding a corresponding "bend" in the front or lead side. Your lead knee, hip, and spine all increase how much they're flexed - your knees and hips mirror the other side, and your spine increases lateral flexion about 10°. This takes your shoulder down as it turns, leading to a steeper shoulder turn, so you aren't rising up and eliminating the "up and down". Here's an old thread on that: .