- Lesson 2: Foot Action
By Tom Ward, Professional Golf Instructor
"The great end of life is not knowledge, but Action"
Thomas Henry Huxley
In Lesson #1 I demonstrated the "5 Basic Body Actions" necessary to achieve maximum results in attaining your golfing goals of playing well in a relatively short period of time and which require minimum amounts of maintenance.
The first action we will talk about -- Foot Action -- is instrumental because even though your hands are the only connection with the club, your feet are the only contact with the ground. When you build a house you need a solid foundation. Not to diminish the overall importance of the hands, which we will talk about later, but the feet don't feel the anxiety or nervousness that we apply to the hands by gripping tighter under pressure.
In addressing the ball, there is a best stance for every shot in golf, and the stance may vary for different players.
- There are three types of stances in golf: Square, Closed, and Open.
The Square stance is that in which both feet are equally distanced from the line of flight which is the imaginary line between the ball and the target. This is your basic standard stance, which is recommended for overall compactness and control.
The Closed stance has left foot nearer than the right foot to the line of flight. This stance is assumed when desiring to draw or hook the ball.
The Open stance has the left foot drawn back farther away from the line of flight than the right foot. This stance is best utilized to fade or slice the ball to the right of your intended target.
In addressing the ball, the heels should be placed at approximately the
width of the shoulders. The weight should be distributed evenly from the ball to the heel of the feet. Now as we begin to start your swing, the feeling we want you to achieve is by rolling the inside of your left foot over to the inside of your right foot, which is braced. This movement is minimal, yet very important, as it will initiate the cycle of establishing the proper reaction in your swing in the correct sequences, as you will see.
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