Instruction
Should the rear knee remain flexed or straighten during the swing?
One thing I love about teaching golf for a living is watching players making golf swings that look totally different, yet each work effectively in their own right. As Homer Kelley stated in his book, The Golfing Machine, there are 24 component motions that make up the golf swing with a total of 144 variations. Thus, there are more than 446 quadrillion ways to swing a golf club (seriously). All you need to do is figure out the one that works for you.
One of the most controversial aspects of the golf swing is the action of the right knee (for right-handers) to the top. Should it straighten or stay flexed? In this article I would like to examine the pros and cons of both in efforts to figure out which one may work best for you.
Holding the flex of the rear knee
As you can see, the rear knee here has maintained the flex it started with at address, and you should note several things:
- Holding the flex will restrict the hips from turning on the backswing.
- The hips will rotate in a more level condition.
- This causes the backswing to shorten for most people.
- The hips have turned around only 45 degrees.
- The backswing will tend to be a touch shorter.
- There will be a slight “lean over the right leg” at the top.
- Some players have a slight lateral head motion to the right when using this style.
Straightening the rear knee
The rear knee here has lost its flex that it started with at address. Because of this, you’ll want to note several things:
- As the right knee straightens, the hips will rotate more on the backswing.
- The right hip will rise above the left hip at the top.
- The backswing will tend to be a touch longer with this type of hip action.
- As the rear knee straightens, it becomes easier to get the left shoulder “behind” and “under” your chin to the top.
- Weight will stay a touch more centered or even slightly left while the head stays very stable laterally to the top.
- The forward knee will move more toward the ball en route to the top, not behind it as in the flexed position.
The cons of both positions
The biggest flaw for the “flexed rear knee” player is the issue of spinning out during the transition. This will cause the rear shoulder to move outward, and the swing path will shift too far to the left — the classic “over the top” move we all know and love.
As you can see above, the left hip has not moved back on top of the forward foot. Therefore, the weight is hanging back and center of gravity is more centered over the rear leg. The solution is to make sure the left hip “bumps” over the left foot a touch longer before the hips begin to spin. This will allow the rear shoulder to drop more downward instead of outward.
On the other hand, whenever the rear knee tends to straighten, most golfers will tend to “lean out in front” of the ball on the way down. As this happens, your Angle of Attack tends to move too much downward making the driver more difficult to hit. That’s the reason why “stack and tilt” golfers were generally better with their irons than their driver. What will happen with your irons, however, is that your low point will tend to shift further forward giving you better contact.
So which one is better for your game? Personally, I teach it both ways depending on the natural motions of the player. However, if I had to suggest one way or the other I would say that if you battle over the top, I would allow the knee to straighten a touch and if you tend to get out in front of the ball, I would work on slightly more flex to the top.
But remember, everyone has a different golf swing; it’s all about making your swing work for you!
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Instruction
Clement: Laid-off or perfect fade? Across-the-line or perfect draw?
Some call the image on the left laid off, but if you are hitting a fade, this could be a perfect backswing for it! Same for across the line for a draw! Stop racking your brain with perceived mistakes and simply match backswing to shot shape!
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Instruction
The Wedge Guy: The easiest-to-learn golf basic
My golf learning began with this simple fact – if you don’t have a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, it is practically impossible for your body to execute a fundamentally sound golf swing. I’m still a big believer that the golf swing is much easier to execute if you begin with the proper hold on the club.
As you might imagine, I come into contact with hundreds of golfers of all skill levels. And it is very rare to see a good player with a bad hold on the golf club. There are some exceptions, for sure, but they are very few and very far between, and they typically have beat so many balls with their poor grip that they’ve found a way to work around it.
The reality of biophysics is that the body moves only in certain ways – and the particulars of the way you hold the golf club can totally prevent a sound swing motion that allows the club to release properly through the impact zone. The wonderful thing is that anyone can learn how to put a fundamentally sound hold on the golf club, and you can practice it anywhere your hands are not otherwise engaged, like watching TV or just sitting and relaxing.
Whether you prefer an overlap, interlock or full-finger (not baseball!) grip on the club, the same fundamentals apply. Here are the major grip faults I see most often, in the order of the frequency:
Mis-aligned hands
By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.
The position of the grip in the upper/left hand
I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.
To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.
Too much lower (right) hand on the club
It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.
Gripping too tightly
Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.
So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.
More from the Wedge Guy
- The Wedge Guy: Golf mastery begins with your wedge game
- The Wedge Guy: Why golf is 20 times harder than brain surgery
- The Wedge Guy: Musings on the golf ball rollback
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Instruction
Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!
Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?
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John Krug
Oct 28, 2015 at 3:13 pm
The worst swing of all is the modern swing where the upper half of the body turns to the right while the lower half remains fixed and on the downswing results in the left leg remaining rigid and pressure being placed on the spine. This has resulted in numerous Tour pros suffering knee and back problems, best illustrated by Tiger’s 4 knee surgeries ans back problems.
The left foot should be flared out to the left, not be square. The head should be over the right knee. The left knee should flex forward and the right leg shoud straighten. The swing is initiated by turning the left hip to the rear.
JB
Oct 28, 2015 at 3:05 pm
I have a different experience.
With (somewhat) bent knees, my upper body rotation is less restricted than with straight knees. This is especially critical during the last phase in the backswing (of the full swing), where the straight knees position makes me get into position by moving the arms instead of the upper body.
Pingback: Should the right knee stay flexed or be straight on the backswing? | GolfJay
Robert
Oct 25, 2015 at 12:53 pm
Very interesting. I have the opposite problem. If I let my knee straighten, I tend to get too far back and feel like I have to throw my body out ahead of everything to get the timing right. If I keep the knee flex, then my lower body stays in sync through impact and I don’t come out of it. Thanks for confirming that I’m the weird one. I’ve always thought I was a bit strange in regards to the consequence of both.
Stretch
Oct 23, 2015 at 12:43 pm
Great idea Paul. Instruction seems to be going forward to working with a student’s unique biomechanics. EA has taken TGM and translated it into how it can be referenced into model swing groups.
Paul
Oct 23, 2015 at 4:51 pm
Thanks Stretch, Hope someone will bring these guys together with TM et al
birly-shirly
Oct 23, 2015 at 10:52 am
Nice article. No dogma – just options and consequences. More like this please.
Stefan
Oct 23, 2015 at 3:10 am
Hi Tom,
thanks for that interesting article.
Actually, being a mid handicapper i never really worried about my right knee during the swing. I do the straightening move.
I think we still need to discuss the topic of flexibility in this concern. Keeping the right nee flexed and restricting hip motion i think is fine if you’re able to turn far enough with your shoulders.
Is straightening the knee a valid move to detour this lack of flexibility for big blokes like me ?
Mat
Oct 22, 2015 at 11:04 pm
If you straighten the right knee, you have no flex to “fire your glute”! 🙂
Rick
Oct 22, 2015 at 9:48 pm
I have been experimenting with keeping my right knee bent as a way to prevent early extension ( I’ve found when my right knee straitens at the top of the back swing, it usually doesn’t bend back on the downswing causing my weight to shift to my toes). I also have kind that “lean out in front motion” I’m trying to correct. Is keeping the right knee bent a good solution for an early extender?
Alien
Oct 22, 2015 at 9:19 pm
Flexed but firm and held on enough, I should think
Robert
Oct 22, 2015 at 2:28 pm
Do you do video analysis Tom?
Paul
Oct 22, 2015 at 1:34 pm
Another great article Tom, my simple observation is that a right-handed player with a natural front-anchor pivot will have less flex in their rear knee than one who has a rear-anchor pivot. But you have nailed it, it depends on the player’s bio-mechanics and natural motions. So you could say that in this regard everyone is unique.
Those people who believe that the same position whatever it might be applies to everyone, they are mistaken. That is why I believe it is important that when the swing of the student is compared to a tour player, there is a reasonable match with that student bio-mechanically, otherwise it is comparing apples with bananas. I have discussed this with my Trackman contact, asking him and his colleagues to consider classifying their library of model swings into groups according to the player’s bio-mechanics. I’m sure yourself, EA Tischler, Mike Adams and others between you could come up with a suitable classification which I feel would add considerable value to the golfing community.
Paul