Trail foot back fix for early extension?

[Golfbeat]

For most of my golfing life I have been struggling with my trail hip moving towards the ball. With the irons and even fairway woods I somehow can manage my trail hip to behave with some conscious thoughts at set up but with driver that somehow does not seem to work. Lately, I have a lot of success by simply moving my trail foot half a foot back. This apparently keeps my trail hip back and the blocks and duck hooks have basically disappeared.

 

Anybody else have experience with this? Is this a keeper or will it create other issues later on?

 

 

[Zitlow]

An efficient golf swing is one continuous fluid motion from start to finish. You don't need or want to add extraneous motion like casting or throwing your body at the ball. The only conscious thought you need is to get the swing started. From there just go along for the ride.  

 

 

 

[airjammer]

1 hour ago, Golfbeat said:

For most of my golfing life I have been struggling with my trail hip moving towards the ball. With the irons and even fairway woods I somehow can manage my trail hip to behave with some conscious thoughts at set up but with driver that somehow does not seem to work. Lately, I have a lot of success by simply moving my trail foot half a foot back. This apparently keeps my trail hip back and the blocks and duck hooks have basically disappeared.

 

Anybody else have experience with this? Is this a keeper or will it create other issues later on?

 

 

That is currently one of the most prescribed drills for early extension as long as you are actively trying push towards 11 o’clock in the downswing with your lead leg.  
 

Early extension is actually named wrong. Someone who suffers from “early extension” is actually “Anterior/posterior force deficient” on the downswing. Those forces are the rotation forces in your swing. 

[Nels55]

If you do the bowing bit that Milo describes in this video it becomes fairly difficult to thrust the hip towards the ball:

 

[iacas]

53 minutes ago, Zitlow said:

An efficient golf swing is one continuous fluid motion from start to finish. You don't need or want to add extraneous motion like casting or throwing your body at the ball. The only conscious thought you need is to get the swing started. From there just go along for the ride.  

 

Seriously, do you realize how entirely unhelpful this is?

 

2 hours ago, Golfbeat said:

For most of my golfing life I have been struggling with my trail hip moving towards the ball. With the irons and even fairway woods I somehow can manage my trail hip to behave with some conscious thoughts at set up but with driver that somehow does not seem to work. Lately, I have a lot of success by simply moving my trail foot half a foot back. This apparently keeps my trail hip back and the blocks and duck hooks have basically disappeared.

 

Anybody else have experience with this? Is this a keeper or will it create other issues later on?

 

Not a drill I'd recommend (not having seen your swing of course).

 

You're going to want to look earlier in the swing, and at other parts of your body, almost surely. You almost surely "early extend" right now because you must early extend to hit the ball. If you didn't, if you just "fixed" that, you'd likely be much worse.

 

Find the root cause. Fix that, and you'll likely EE a bit less. "The best drill is doing it right."

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by iacas

[Golfbeat]

1 hour ago, airjammer said:

That is currently one of the most prescribed drills for early extension as long as you are actively trying push towards 11 o’clock in the downswing with your lead leg.  
 

Early extension is actually named wrong. Someone who suffers from “early extension” is actually “Anterior/posterior force deficient” on the downswing. Those forces are the rotation forces in your swing. 

 

It certainly feels that I can rotate much better when I keep the trail foot back. Much less slide.

[Golfbeat]

59 minutes ago, iacas said:

"The best drill is doing it right".

 

Why would having the trail foot back a bit not be right?

[MonteScheinblum]

Do you mean this?

 

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CcN8DG2J_2D/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[Golfbeat]

I got the idea more or less from Padraig Harrington. In the video he says "I try to get the right hip under". I can do that much easier when I keep the right foot a bit back.

 

 

 

[Golfbeat]

7 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

Do you mean this?

 

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CcN8DG2J_2D/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

 

Gee, how did I miss that!!!

[MonteScheinblum]

1 minute ago, Golfbeat said:

 

 

Gee, how did I miss that!!!

This is a good drill to teach you what proper movement feels like…..but you still have to address why you EE 

[Golfbeat]

2 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

This is a good drill to teach you what proper movement feels like…..but you still have to address why you EE 

 

Monte, you know me and my swing and believe me I tried everything. You gave me some real good instruction but I believe that I simply cannot do it without not playing. Unfortunately, I play almost every day. I now have peace with my swing faults and if I can use this drill as a "band aid" on the course that would be fine. Sad story, I know 🙂

[MonteScheinblum]

1 hour ago, Golfbeat said:

 

Monte, you know me and my swing and believe me I tried everything. You gave me some real good instruction but I believe that I simply cannot do it without not playing. Unfortunately, I play almost every day. I now have peace with my swing faults and if I can use this drill as a "band aid" on the course that would be fine. Sad story, I know 🙂

I have no issues with that.

 

People come to me all the time and ask for bandaids.  It’s not how I prefer to teach, but if it’s what people want and they know what they’re getting into, one semi affective bandiad is better than a merry go round of inaffective ones.  The lesser of two evils..  

 

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by MonteScheinblum

[coops]

4 hours ago, Golfbeat said:

 

Why would having the trail foot back a bit not be right?

 

Half a foot back seems more like a reasonable adjustment for you rather than an extreme bad-aid/quick fix... never have read Hogan's Five Lessons, but there's an old pic of his ideas on ball position - of course from the days of steel shafted 43-1/2" drivers but perhaps it's not such a drastic idea 😉

 

 

 

[iacas]

6 hours ago, Golfbeat said:

Why would having the trail foot back a bit not be right?

 

Like Monte said, it might kinda help, but… I think it's at best a band-aid.

 

2 hours ago, coops said:

 

 

Hogan was likely doing that as a D-Plane type thing, not because he early extended and was trying to fix it. 😄 

 

7 hours ago, iacas said:

You're going to want to look earlier in the swing, and at other parts of your body, almost surely. You almost surely "early extend" right now because you must early extend to hit the ball. If you didn't, if you just "fixed" that, you'd likely be much worse.

 

Find the root cause. Fix that, and you'll likely EE a bit less. "The best drill is doing it right."

 

I'll re-iterate that. But, if you just want to play and want a band-aid, then… ignore it and keep on with what you're doing.

 

Louis Oosthuizen EEs a ton.

[golferdude54]

I’d be careful about the trail foot back drill, that can really get your hands and club too deep inward in your backswing and make you get stuck.

[MonteScheinblum]

1 hour ago, golferdude54 said:

I’d be careful about the trail foot back drill, that can really get your hands and club too deep inward in your backswing and make you get stuck.

Starting with trail foot back can definitely do those things if you’re not careful.

Edited November 17, 2023 by MonteScheinblum

[i*windows]

15 hours ago, Golfbeat said:

For most of my golfing life I have been struggling with my trail hip moving towards the ball. With the irons and even fairway woods I somehow can manage my trail hip to behave with some conscious thoughts at set up but with driver that somehow does not seem to work. Lately, I have a lot of success by simply moving my trail foot half a foot back. This apparently keeps my trail hip back and the blocks and duck hooks have basically disappeared.

 

Anybody else have experience with this? Is this a keeper or will it create other issues later on?

 

 

what happens to the ball, does it go roughly where you want it to?  what are you trying to fix? 

 

I EE when I take the club away, its due to bad rotation of my hips (AG have a good video on it), but I hit the ball ok and can certainly play ok golf like this. sometimes I think people get worried about the wrong things

[Golfbeat]

6 hours ago, golferdude54 said:

I’d be careful about the trail foot back drill, that can really get your hands and club too deep inward in your backswing and make you get stuck.

 

I can see how that could happen. However, I believe that this will be mitigated if you keep your core and shoulders still square to the target line.

[Golfbeat]

4 hours ago, i*windows said:

what happens to the ball, does it go roughly where you want it to?  what are you trying to fix? 

 

I EE when I take the club away, its due to bad rotation of my hips (AG have a good video on it), but I hit the ball ok and can certainly play ok golf like this. sometimes I think people get worried about the wrong things

 

When my right hip comes forward, my arms get stuck and are moved too far to the right. The result is a block or block slice to the right or a duck hook when I feel it coming and quickly throw the arms and shoulders over the top to the left.

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Golfbeat said:

When my right hip comes forward, my arms get stuck and are moved too far to the right. The result is a block or block slice to the right or a duck hook when I feel it coming and quickly throw the arms and shoulders over the top to the left.

 

Like I said… you're likely EEing because you have to. Fixing the EE is probably not "the" fix. Fixing what causes you to need the EE is probably the fix.

[umamimami]

To add to iacas

 

Consider that you’re not going to be able to hit your shots as you know them, once you

figure out this EE. 
 

I guarantee you will not be able to align the same, see the target the same, etc. with your old setup and pattern as your to be new one. You’re certainly not going to be able to draw (more) power in the same ways.

 

id also suggest getting some “balance trainers” they’re little red inflatable discs that you can put beneath you feet. Get those ankles moving.

 

if you want to “fix” EE you need to prove to yourself that you can swing without EE and get similar results. This may involve consciously limiting yourself to half powered swings for a long time.

 

EE creates power and control. The reason why people advocate against it is that they know that there are alternative ways of creating the same power and control. We also know the ceiling on non-EE methods is higher. In short, your EE methods work, sometimes, if you want to change you need to commit. 
 

If you want to change, for a long time, you need to be okay with improvement being based on you swinging differently and not producing a better outcome.

 

you’re going to hit a lot of crap shots before you learn how to make the new way work for you. If you’re judging your changes based on the outcome shot-to-shot, You’re never going to change. At this point you’re simply too “good” at EE that your best EE shots are better than your middling shots without EE.