Golf Tip – What Should The Feet Be Doing At Impact In The Golf Swing?

Golf Tip Question

I have a question about my wife’s swing, that nobody has ever been able to solve. At impact, she lifts both heels and she cannot prevent herself to do so. But when she does a practice swing, without a ball to hit, her front heel stays perfectly on the ground.

Golf Tip Answer

I have seen many golfers over the years have both heels off the ground at impact. For example, I’ve seen Tiger Woods, Jamie Sadlowski (one of the longest drivers in the world) and Laura Davies do this (see proof below), just to name three.

But at impact what matters is where you’re striking the ball on the clubface.  How fast the clubhead is traveling. What path the clubhead is traveling on. The alignment of the clubface. The angle of attack etc.

Having both heels off the ground at impact has no direct relationship with what happens between the clubface and ball.

I would never teach anyone to do this, but if someone came to me doing this I wouldn’t try to stop them doing it. I would just put it down to a quirk. Another good example of a swing quirk is at impact Fred Couples’ right hand grip is almost off the club. Here’s what he says about that:

“When I reach impact, my right hand feels like it’s almost off the club, which gives me a more powerful hit through the ball than if I was “choking” the grip. I wouldn’t necessarily teach anyone to do that, but it’s the right kind of feel.”

Also, when you see pictures of Vijay Singh at impact you can see that his right hand is almost off the grip like this…

Again, you’re never going to teach someone to do that. So it’s a quirk. And it’s a quirk that has no direct result on what happens between the golf club and ball at impact.

So what I’m trying to say is….don’t worry about it! It’s an issue that doesn’t need fixing.

That was an answer to a golfing question I have received from one of my students in the online Consistent Golf School. If you would like me to give you a solution to a golfing problem you’re having, simply go here, signup and I’ll do that for free, anytime as part of being a student of the online Consistent Golf School.