Flairing feet with driver - credit to mvmac

[rossvanwyk]

So, the driver. A club that I've had so many ups and downs with its ridiculous. It used to be the best club in my back. I had an old Cobra offset driver, with an OTT swing and hit the driver really well, fading/slicing all irons. Moved onto an old Nicklaus driver that hit way longer but I was way more inconsistent with. i had fixed my OTT swing so the Cobra was causing some solid hooks but the Nicklaus was giving me other problems.

I basically have about 10 different swings for my driver if I must be honest. If I give it horns I slice it off the planet. I tried coming way more inside and I would hit unpredictable duck hooks. Every round I'd hit a decent drive and think suddenly I've found the problem and it would fall apart again.

Last round I played I went back to how I used to hit my drives. Ball on the front foot, pretty wide stance and give it a solid smack. As I have messed around with swinging way within myself etc and it hasn't worked.

Yesterday I saw some vid of mvmac flairing both feet outwards using his driver. Not really sure what the theory behind it was again but I figured I would give it a go. Went to the range today, and no matter how much I was throwing at my drives they were going so straight it was scary. Some had a gentle fade but I've learnt not to hate the fade as much as I used to.

So just wanted to say thanks mvmac, can't wait to hit the course this sunday and really go after some drives as it's been a club I have feared for a while now as I never know whether trouble is coming or not. But I'm gonna flair those feet and give it a flippin rip and I know it's going to be epic :)

Anyhow, cheers for the tip whether it was aimed at fixing a slice or not, it is feeling amazing to me right now.

Ross

[colin007]

its all good till that doesnt work anymore...

at least thats what always happens to me... :)

[Stretch]

Just hit it like this, duck feet and all.

[rossvanwyk]

Yeah that's the vid I was referring to.

[Hoganwoods]

lovely action

[WUTiger]

Depends on the individual which is the best flairing combination. I sometimes overswing, and having the back foot perpendicular to the line of flight - rather than flaired - seems to prevent this.

Front foot I have always flaired.

[james_hirshfield]

Nice!

The feet should always be flared out.

Duck feet is for a reason.

It is a pet peeve of mine seeing a client with square feet. In the long term, start doing it now, because it sets up for the correct pieces that will eventually come. Knee flexes, hips slide, hip slant, which all then have an effect on the geometry and speed of the swing.

James

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by james_hirshfield

Nice!

The feet should always be flared out.

Duck feet is for a reason.

It is a pet peeve of mine seeing a client with square feet. In the long term, start doing it now, because it sets up for the correct pieces that will eventually come. Knee flexes, hips slide, hip slant, which all then have an effect on the geometry and speed of the swing.

James

If your assertion that feet should always be flared out,  why do so many great golfers not flare their back foot, or barely so (at least in the face-on videos I can quickly find online)? Certainly not to extent to being called duck feet.  Is your recommendation mainly directed to the beginning golfer?

I can see that flaring the front foot aids in getting a full rotation of the downswing, but I can't see the reason for flaring the back foot.  Although it could improve rotation on the backswing, which may be an assist to those who are not flexible, it seems it would be detrimental to the pushing off the back foot in the downswing.

[james_hirshfield]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

If your assertion that feet should always be flared out,  why do so many great golfers not flare their back foot, or barely so (at least in the face-on videos I can quickly find online)? Certainly not to extent to being called duck feet.  Is your recommendation mainly directed to the beginning golfer?

I can see that flaring the front foot aids in getting a full rotation of the downswing, but I can't see the reason for flaring the back foot.  Although it could improve rotation on the backswing, which may be an assist to those who are not flexible, it seems it would be detrimental to the pushing off the back foot in the downswing.

Because it has been taught out of golf instruction with disregard to how it changes the function of the knees.

It changes the alignment of the knee joint.

With a 'square" right foot - the golfer is most prone to the knee flexing inward too many degrees in the downswing, potentially changing the location of the upper axis disrupting the geometry / the degrees the hips and shoulders open.

But that's just my opinion..

[mvmac]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

If your assertion that feet should always be flared out,  why do so many great golfers not flare their back foot, or barely so (at least in the face-on videos I can quickly find online)? Certainly not to extent to being called duck feet.  Is your recommendation mainly directed to the beginning golfer?

I can see that flaring the front foot aids in getting a full rotation of the downswing, but I can't see the reason for flaring the back foot.  Although it could improve rotation on the backswing, which may be an assist to those who are not flexible, it seems it would be detrimental to the pushing off the back foot in the downswing.

Hogan in 5 Lesson wanted a right foot that wasn't turned out.  From looking at his swing he had super ankle flexibiblity and lost flex in the leg regardless.  The golf instruction world doesn't like losing flexion in the rear knee, probably from what Hogan wrote, do what Hogan did not what he says.  I'll do a video on the right knee soon.  Everyone loses some flex in the knee, has to straighten so the hips can turn on an incline plane and other good things can happen.

[JetFan1983]

I agree with James ^

I think the reason we don't see it much on tour is because the guys who end up making it on tour, in contention, and winning tournaments, don't have the problem of the weight detrimentally shifting towards the ball. So yes, I would definitely say this is a big time amateur issue and not a tour pro issue at all. For sure you can shift successfully without going duck footed. But if you struggle with the weight shifting correctly, this set-up piece is important.

If you flair out the trail foot, it considerably encourages the golfer to not spin out and end up with a completely vertical trail foot. Since the weight shift is lateral -- or along the stance line -- this can be a very important piece. It doesn't solve the issue completely of course -- sort of in the same way strengthening one's grip doesn't magically produce a draw -- but it certainly encourages it if the golfer is both 1) striving to fix a poor-towards-the-ball weight shift and  2) aware of what the correct movement is in theory.

[uttexas]

Young Jack Nicklaus with both feet flared out (duck feet) at address [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/image/id/189108/width/640/height/385][IMG]http://thesandtrap.com/image/id/189108/width/640/height/385[/IMG][/URL]

[bunkerputt]

I've played the right foot with both a flare and square to the target.  One thing is for sure:  when my right foot is flared, it's more difficult to slide the hips forward.  This is simply because the rear muscles of the glutes are stronger than the muscles on top of the hips.  That's one of the reasons no one can run as fast backwards as they can forwards.  With the rear foot flared, it forces you to engage the hip flexors and push slightly backwards to force the hips to move towards the target.  With the rear foot square, you can make a biomechanically simpler motion by simply engaging your gluteus medius instead of trying to blend gluteus medius and hip flexor action into the right direction for the hips.  Now, it's not quite so cut and dry since the geometry of the swing is affected by your foot and knee action, so probably the best thing is to find the right amount of flare that allows you to engage the stronger muscles of the glutes while not throwing the swing centers out of whack.  For me, this is mostly square, maybe flared 5 degrees or so.

[colin007]

i believe that the duck footed stance allows a golfer to push his hips linearly towards the target, longer, before turning left.

[bunkerputt]

Slight correction to my previous post.  I said gluteus medius, but the gluteus minimus is included in that motion as well.  It's these two guys that you feel when you lift your leg out laterally and point the toe down towards the ground, which would be an analogous motion to pressing the hips laterally with a square-to-shut right foot:

Flaring the right toe, gets these guys involved:

Generally, the glutes are stronger.  They are also, given a sedentary lifestyle, larger, and therefore easier to build strength in given a golf conditioning program.  Now it's not only those muscles involved, as there is some quad and right leg straightening action going on.  But regardless, physical condition needs to be considered when recommending a right foot position.  Most professionals sit down a lot, and I would imagine a good hip slide from a flared right foot position wouldn't feel as easy to accomplish as it would if the right foot were square.  I'm sure for most golf pros, it's pretty easy to accomplish either, since they are likely good athletes in good shape anyway.  So there may not be a second thought to what muscles are involved and their capacity when selecting a right foot position.  I would think failure to slide the hips would be a greater error than what would be caused by not having flare, so that's why I generally lean to only very slightly flared but mostly square with the right foot.  In actuality, I'm just picking the angle that my body tells me will give it the best leverage and comfort for getting the hips forward.

[saevel25]

Interesting, never really thought about it, i tend to agree. What i think the better way is,

With the right foot flared out, you have easier rotation with the hips back and up. But, since the right foot is flared you are bracing at an angle counter to the rotation of your hips in the downswing, because knees tend to point in the direction of the toe, you now have created a resistance in the downswing that pretty much would act as a dampener.

to me, you don't really need to flare the right foot because most people believe in keeping the right knee flexed so they never realy get full hip rotation in the backswing, so they believe that they need to flare the foot to get that. But i think if they just learn the right movement they could keep it at 90 degrees.

Now the front foot, since the golf swing you want to pivot centrally, your left foot can flare a bit and not inhibit the rotation as much as the back foot does. But flaring does allow you to clear your left hip easier and faster.

This is the method i prescribe to when i want to hit the ball farther. I square-square, just how i always was, but if i want to gain a bit more mph with the golf club, i flare my left foot out about 20-25 degrees..

[scv76]

Are you advocating a back swing hip rotation of 90*? I have been trying to only do 45*

Originally Posted by saevel25

Interesting, never really thought about it, i tend to agree. What i think the better way is,

With the right foot flared out, you have easier rotation with the hips back and up. But, since the right foot is flared you are bracing at an angle counter to the rotation of your hips in the downswing, because knees tend to point in the direction of the toe, you now have created a resistance in the downswing that pretty much would act as a dampener.

to me, you don't really need to flare the right foot because most people believe in keeping the right knee flexed so they never realy get full hip rotation in the backswing, so they believe that they need to flare the foot to get that. But i think if they just learn the right movement they could keep it at 90 degrees.

Now the front foot, since the golf swing you want to pivot centrally, your left foot can flare a bit and not inhibit the rotation as much as the back foot does. But flaring does allow you to clear your left hip easier and faster.

This is the method i prescribe to when i want to hit the ball farther. I square-square, just how i always was, but if i want to gain a bit more mph with the golf club, i flare my left foot out about 20-25 degrees..

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by scv76

Are you advocating a back swing hip rotation of 90*? I have been trying to only do 45*

I think Saevel is talking about keeping the back foot at 90* to the swingpath line, not the hip rotation.