Foot pain

[Abu3baid]

Hello, So I have been practice swinging in my apartment and when I do so I usually will do it barefoot.. Now I have started to develope this uncomfortable pain in the left foot under the left side of the balls of my feet, basically I'm assuming that is where pressure is put during my swing i believe. So, I have two questions... Does anyone else ever practice barefoot and should I stop doing that? Also, does this at least mean that I am transferring my weigh correctly to be putting the pressure on the left side of the balls of my feet, or should the pressure really be going somewhere else.. I wish I could see a diagram of where correct pressure should be felt in the bottom of the foot at each position while coming down from the top... Ill see if i can put an example of what would help me visualize. Thanks again

[Abu3baid]

NO.. it's not my actual foot.

That is basically how I am feeling the pain/discomfort and right up the toe.. even now when I bend my toe forward I feel something as if it is bruised maybe?

Anyway, I noticed that when I am driving down with my foot that my left knee is really going more towards the target and to the outside of my foot and I'm assuming that is why the above is happening.  However, if you look at the below this is where I feel the pressure when I feel my left knee going slightly between the target and the ball really, and then the pressure is centered in the balls of my feet.

It would be great to have this same sort of diagram for pressure and percentages during set up, top of the swing, impact & finish!  am I asking for too much :)

[billchao]

Barefoot is fine, I do it all the time. Do you do any other exercises while barefoot? Depending on the amount of cushioning and support in your shoes, the muscles in your feet may not be developed enough for certain activities. It's kind of like if you don't do a lot of mechanical things with your hands and then spend a day hammering nails, your hands are going to hurt afterwards.

Best thing to do in my opinion (I'm not a doctor, so take it with a grain of salt) is to rest it for a few days and see if the pain/discomfort goes away. If it persists, then you should probably see a doctor.

It would be great to have this same sort of diagram for pressure and percentages during set up, top of the swing, impact & finish!  am I asking for too much :)

Here you go: http://thesandtrap.com/t/64993/weight-forward-using-swingcatalyst-and-sam-balance-lab-to-explain-pressure-throughout-the-swing

[Abu3baid]

Thank you, I have seen that thread before and I want to ask about something more specific especially on the way down.. Is the pressure on the ball of my foot or the outer half or the instep? Then where my left knee is going on the way down because I feel like that is adding pressure on my foot as well.. I think as I start changing my swing i will feel aches in different area like you mentioned.. Thanks again

[billchao]

Thank you, I have seen that thread before and I want to ask about something more specific especially on the way down.. Is the pressure on the ball of my foot or the outer half or the instep? Then where my left knee is going on the way down because I feel like that is adding pressure on my foot as well.. I think as I start changing my swing i will feel aches in different area like you mentioned.. Thanks again

If you study the video it tells you everything you're asking. I'm on lunch atm but I can give more details later.

[billchao]

Thank you, I have seen that thread before and I want to ask about something more specific especially on the way down.. Is the pressure on the ball of my foot or the outer half or the instep?

It starts on the ball of your front foot and progresses to the outer half and towards the heel as the knee straightens. I know some of this is discussed in the thread, but we're specifically looking at the feet, so you want to focus on the pressure image of the feet in the upper right hand corner.

A1:

The contours of Grant's left foot are pretty well defined, which says to me that the pressure is pretty evenly distributed throughout the whole foot. You can see that the pressure is pretty much the same on the ball and the heel of the foot. The right foot is a different story. There is more pressure on the ball of the right foot than the heel.

If I had to put a number on it, I'd say 50/50 ball/heel for the front foot, 60/40 for the back.

A4:

At the top of the backswing, you can notice that a lot of pressure has come off the left foot, namely from the heel. The pressure on the back foot looks like pretty much the same distribution as address, just with more of it. The net effect of this is the white dot (center of pressure) has moved more towards the toes than it was previously, at address.

I'd say the feel is that the pressure moves from the heel of the left foot to the ball of the left foot during the backswing. The back foot should feel increased pressure overall, with no movement or shift from the address position. Notice the pressure doesn't really move towards the heel or the outside of the right foot, it's a pretty uniform increase.

Transition:

This is only a few milliseconds after the last screenshot. It's mentioned in the video that Grant's pressure actually increases slightly in his right foot, which you can clearly see. You can also see that there is less pressure on the left heel (it's almost disappeared from the image).

When you compare this moment with the top of the backswing, you can see that the lower body has started forward. The hips have opened slightly and there's a bit of a squatting motion happening. If I had to make a guess (which I do, because I don't know this for sure), I'd say the left knee has increased flex slightly, which explains the pressure shift.

A5:

Pressure is almost centered where it was at address already, and we only got to A5. The majority of the pressure is focused on the ball of the left foot. The pressure of the back foot is centered mostly on the balls, as well. If you look at the trace (the white arc the dot is following), you can see that this is pretty much as far towards the toes as Grant gets during his swing.

In terms of your question, the early part of the downswing has the pressure primarily on the ball of the left foot. I didn't see any part of the swing where the pressure is focused primarily on the left instep.

A6:

Pressure is starting to make it's way to the outside of the left foot, but if you look closely, you can still see a decent outline of the foot and the arch.

This does not mean that the weight shifts to the outside of the left foot. I still think the foot is pretty well planted, maybe slightly favoring the left side. I can replicate this feeling by standing straight up and then bending my right knee so that I'm standing on only my left leg. In order to maintain balance, the pressure in my left foot shifts slightly to the outside.

A7:

The pressure in the left foot is shifting towards the heel as the left knee straightens. Just as before, there is more pressure towards the outside of the foot, but it's still pretty well defined. Again, the foot is firmly planted. I'd almost say the pressure is distributed 50/50 in the front foot, there's just a whole lot of it, now.

There's a couple of things here that I think are pretty important:

First, the pressure of the right foot is primarily on the instep, but notice that the right heel is still exerting some pressure on the ground. No lifting, here.

The other thing I noticed is that Grant has his weight forward 91%, but the upper body is still at center and there is no excessive hip movement. Basically, I'm trying to say that he's not getting his weight forward by throwing his body towards the target, but rather by pushing his left leg down against the ground.

As a side note, I'd love to see the actual pressure numbers instead of just a ratio. I'd bet that at impact, not only does Grant have 91% of his weight forward, but he actually "weighs" more (is exerting more pressure against the ground) than he did at address.

A10:

You asked for it, so here it is. Pressure is on the left heel and the outside of the foot. The foot has rolled slightly and the left instep is off the ground. There's only one point of contact for the right foot. Even though it's 95% weight forward now, Grant is exerting a lot less pressure on the ground than he did at impact, making him "weigh" less.

So I hope this helps. This is what I meant when I said that everything you were looking for was in the video. Hopefully, I didn't mess up any of the analysis too badly, but I'm sure somebody will correct me if I did.

[mvmac]

Hello,

So I have been practice swinging in my apartment and when I do so I usually will do it barefoot.. Now I have started to develope this uncomfortable pain in the left foot under the left side of the balls of my feet, basically I'm assuming that is where pressure is put during my swing i believe. So, I have two questions...

Does anyone else ever practice barefoot and should I stop doing that?

Also, does this at least mean that I am transferring my weigh correctly to be putting the pressure on the left side of the balls of my feet, or should the pressure really be going somewhere else.. I wish I could see a diagram of where correct pressure should be felt in the bottom of the foot at each position while coming down from the top... Ill see if i can put an example of what would help me visualize.

Thanks again

I think practicing barefoot is a good idea.  If you do it enough, all the muscles of the foot and ankle are "engaged", creating more efficient movement patterns, muscles in our feet can become “lazy” in shoes.  One of the reasons I like True golf shoes

Thank you, I have seen that thread before and I want to ask about something more specific especially on the way down.. Is the pressure on the ball of my foot or the outer half or the instep? Then where my left knee is going on the way down because I feel like that is adding pressure on my foot as well..

I think as I start changing my swing i will feel aches in different area like you mentioned.. Thanks again

Bill did a good job answering your question, here's another video to help with the visual

If you study the video it tells you everything you're asking. I'm on lunch atm but I can give more details later.

Yeah agree with Bill, give the video another view.

A6:

Pressure is starting to make it's way to the outside of the left foot, but if you look closely, you can still see a decent outline of the foot and the arch.

First off, good post Bill

Yes the foot is planted, pressure slightly to the outside of the left foot,, left knee is flexed past the left ankle.  With some player you can see the spikes on the bottom of their left foot, really bad for the feet/ankles/knees.

[billchao]

First off, good post Bill

Thanks! You guys really deserve the credit, though, for putting the tools and knowledge out there. All I really did was put it all together.

[Abu3baid]

I hit the range today and the pain was really just an afterthought with the shoes on.. Even after all it is now is almost like dull pain so i think I will be ok after a week of no barefoot practice.. Thanks bill and mvmac for the info.. Helps to know what I should be feeling and where.. Thanks again..

[GPFsteve]

Hi, Pressure on the inside of the foot would occur when the foot is in eversion (foot rolls in) which is supposed to happen in the golf swing unless your a pro and your lower body does not move. You could try swinging with your left foot turned in slightly so it has more room to get into eversion. I would recommend seeing a physio to get a diagnosis as it easier to decide on the best exercises to supplement a treatment plan. Hope this helps! Steve

[mvmac]

Hi,

Pressure on the inside of the foot would occur when the foot is in eversion (foot rolls in) which is supposed to happen in the golf swing unless your a pro and your lower body does not move.

Huh?  Pros are moving their lower bodies, much more than the average player.

You could try swinging with your left foot turned in slightly so it has more room to get into eversion.

Yeah don't that, makes it harder to get the weight forward, harder to open up and can cause some injuries.