Note: Many Symple Swingers (and traditional golfers) find this drill so helpful that they actually integrate it into their playing routine (at least for a while). Mike and I use it when we are teaching all the time and find it one of the most helpful drills. It’s a kind of one step beyond the “Stack and Tilt” concept because the back heel being up really helps you “hit into” that front leg to gain power.
If you have any trouble generating power or you want to finish your swing better you should definitely try the “Back Heel Up” Drill. This drill can also be helpful in making a smoother backswing, reducing extra lower body motion, dramatically reducing pulls and hooks.
The Back Heel Up Drill is very good at helping you to get the feeling of posting or bracing into your front leg. Many Symple Swingers finds this drill helps them set up in a more athletic stance. This drill is also quite helpful in reducing swaying and other extraneous movements in the lower body.
The Back Heel Up Drill will help you to learn to turn your core (shoulder and chest) around your spine. The turning of your core literally whips your arms (and the club) through the ball with little lower body movement.
With this drill you address the ball, then “rock and lock” and flare your back foot out as usual, then you lift your back heel 3-4 inches (or more) off the ground. You want the ball of your back foot to stay on the ground but you want to lift that back heel way up in the air. I know this will feel weird but do it anyway. You should feel your back leg pushing yourself slightly into your braced front leg. (You’ll feel the tops of your thighs tensing slightly.) This helps stabilize your lower body. The opposing tension helps keep the lower body from becoming overactive especially in the backswing.
Hit some practice shots keeping your back heel slightly way up in the air (3-4 inches or more). Do keep the front hip forward. Keeping the back heel up throughout the whole shot reduces the early spinning of the lower body which dramatically reduces the tendency to hook or pull. KEEP THE FRONT LEG STRAIGHT. Don’t bend your front knee during your swing. If your front knee is bent a little (Mine is) and it stays that way through impact that’s fine.
Feel the weight of your front leg on the outside of your front foot. That’s important because in order to feel that weight on the outside of the the front foot you need to push into the front leg with the back leg and you need to shift your hips forward. When you do that you should feel the tops of both thighs tense slightly. When you push into that front leg what you are doing is stabilizing the lower body giving you a sold base to hit off of. The turning of your core (shoulders, chest & abdomen) should still easyly open the back hip (moving it away from the ball) but overall there will not be a lot of lower body motion.
After you hit some balls with the back heel way up in the air, gradually bring your heel down lower about a ½ inch at a time while continuing to hit practice shots until your heel it back touching the ground lightly.
The goals of this drill are 1. Learn to turn the core around the spine, 2. Reduce lower body motion (especially over-rotation of the hips which causes pulls), 3. Learn the feeling of posting into the front leg.
I listed “learn the feeling of posting into the front leg” as goal number three but don’t underestimate its importance especially in generating power. Don’t worry if it feels like your weight is on your front leg when you lift that back heel up high. That’s okay. (Your weight is not really as much on the front leg as it feels.)
With Symple Swing this is no weight shift (meaning center of gravity moving backward and forward) but there is a force shift where you should feel all of your weight and your power being thrown into your front leg. Doing this back heel up drill is the quickest way to learn that feeling.
While you’re thinking of your stance you should also review the new, easier way to get into your Symple Swing stance. http://simpleswing.forumco.com/topic~TOPIC_ID~267.asp
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