Leg Drive for Power + Confidence

[BC MIST]

From Rick Smith on analyzing Mickelson's swing:

"That old advice about driving the legs through impact just isn't right anymore. Driving your legs ...makes you lose balance and the bottom of the arc isn't consistent."

GD April, '05, Pg 49.


VJ and author on confidence.

Author - That confidence doesn't come from winning. That winning comes from confidence. And that confidence comes from hard work.

VJ - "It doesn't come on a plate, does it? You have to work for it. If you do all of this practice, then, when you get on the course, it's there. You don't have to think about it. In fact, if you have to think about it, it almost can't be done."

So in simple terms, when you play, if you think about how you are swinging while you are swinging, you will not achieve your true potential. So, what do you think about while you are swinging when you play? The $64,000 question.

[Golfpeasant]

I think a totally ridiculous phrase, mostly for tempo.

[beatnik58]

I think about the shot, not the swing.

[mberube]

That’s my problem. I think too much. When I play my best, It all comes naturally and I think of nothing.

It’s sad that it’s hard to think of nothing especially when everything is going wrong! :cryin

[Andru]

Think about target. If it's tree. Create a strong mental picture in your mind of the tree. What colour are the leaves? How tall is it? If it's the flag what colour is the pole, What colour is the flag? The more detailed the better.

[leftylucas]

I agree with Andru and so does Fred Funk. He is so accurate with Z BIg Stick, he aims to a very specific point and then drives away. At the very least there are no swing thoughts, Natural Golf adhere to the same philosophy, set-up propoerly and then think target and nothing else. Aint this game easy!

[dbweathe]

I think about the target, but now I'm thinking more about what Rick Smith said about leg drive being not right anymore.
Where does he get that from and how does he justify it? I'd like to read about it as I think he is a good teacher.
I'm a student of the Jim Flick swing method and leg drive is almost a fundamental part of generating power and getting the club to the ball first on downswing. There's alot more involved in the Flick method to get you to the ball, but leg drive is an important part of it.
I know Flick's methods are from the 1970's, but his methods are still taught and have created some amazing players. I can't think of a single player on tour that doesn't incorporate some type of leg drive into their swing either, so I'd like to read more on what Smith says and what his alternative is.

[The Saint]

I'm trying to not think at all but visualize my ball flight and hit my target. I trying not to have any conscious thought about mechanics. I've done all the practise and I'm confident I can perform the shot. If I start thinking about it then I lose focus. The odds of me screwing up increase.

Do you ever notice that at the practise range you perform well, then when faced with the same shot in your round you screw up. The problem is that we allow our conscious mind to come into play and tell us how to perform the shot. At the range there is no consequence and we allow our natural ability to perform the shot. We trust our swings. The moment we start thinking about mechanics is when we stop trusting our ability to perform the shot.

We perform best when the conscious mind is turned off.

[BC MIST]

I'm trying to not think at all but visualize my ball flight and hit my target. I trying not to have any conscious thought about mechanics. I've done all the practise and I'm confident I can perform the shot. If I start thinking about it then I lose focus. The odds of me screwing up increase.

Do you ever notice that at the practise range you perform well, then when faced with the same shot in your round you screw up. The problem is that we allow our conscious mind to come into play and tell us how to perform the shot. At the range there is no consequence and we allow our natural ability to perform the shot. We trust our swings. The moment we start thinking about mechanics is when we stop trusting our ability to perform the shot.

We perform best when the conscious mind is turned off.

I agree with everything you said except what I have bolded above as it contradicts what you said in the first part of the sentence. Visualizing the ball flight and hitting your target are manual or pre-shot activities and should be kept there. The concept of "thinking target" while you swing is a stress inducer and diminishes performance. (I still do not understand how a golfer can look at the ball and still see his target. When I look at the ball I see the ball.) It is similar to golfers playing towards a bailout area(a negative thought) choking down on a club(a negative thought) or saying to yourself, "I am going to hit this on right down the middle," as what you are REALLY saying is, "I have to avoid the OB right and the water hazard left," again, negative thoughts.

Once you have made a plan for the upcoming shot, you must switch your mind into automatic mode where what you are thinking MUST be non-golf related and must last from the time you grip the club until you are standing there watching the flight of the ball. Some golfers/mental game gurus say, you should not be thinking of anything, but as long as humans are awake, they are thinking of something.


Your last statement, "We perform best when the conscious mind is turned off." is almost correct in that the golfer should have no conscious swing thoughts, however, as we are conscious, we then have conscious thoughts, so just make whatever they are non-golf swing related or not swing results orientated.

[SwingGuru]

From Rick Smith on analyzing Mickelson's swing:

"That old advice about driving the legs through impact just isn't right anymore. Driving your legs ...makes you lose balance and the bottom of the arc isn't consistent."

GD April, '05, Pg 49.


VJ and author on confidence.

Author - That confidence doesn't come from winning. That winning comes from confidence. And that confidence comes from hard work.

VJ - "It doesn't come on a plate, does it? You have to work for it. If you do all of this practice, then, when you get on the course, it's there. You don't have to think about it. In fact, if you have to think about it, it almost can't be done."

So in simple terms, when you play, if you think about how you are swinging while you are swinging, you will not achieve your true potential. So, what do you think about while you are swinging when you play? The $64,000 question.

Nicklaus put it the best:

No thoughts means I win the tournament by a bunch.
One thought means I can play pretty well.
Two or more thoughts means I'm a basket case on the course.

What they were thinking only they know, but the less the better.
I haven't heard of leg drive since the 70s....

[shawnabramsen]

I';ll throw in my .50 cents on leg drive if y'all don't mind!
As long as the leg drive is completed before the hands move down, then the stability is there to swing away. show me an athletic movement in any sport where power is applied without a preceeding weight transfer and i'll show you the guy that didnt win.
there are two swing centers in the golf swing to which the radius power travels around: the top of the spine and the lead shoulder. as long as they are stable when the club whips around, you can shift your weight as fast as you want.
Cheers!