Ground Reaction Force and the Golf Swing

by Paul Kochoa, Par 5 Physical Therapy
The hockey player in ice skates in this video is hitting a golf ball. If you haven’t hit the play button yet, take a second and think about what’s going to happen when he goes to hit the ball. Will he fall? Will his feet move? What direction will his feet move? And what does that say about how we interact with the ground when we hit a golf ball.

Here’s a hint: he doesn’t fall down…

This video was shown by Dr. Greg Rose, founder of the Titleist Performance Institute, at a talk he gave at the World Golf Fitness Summit in 2018. If we think about how we swing a club and the forces involved, inevitably we talk about weight shift and footwork.

You’ve probably heard about ground reaction force. It’s the ground pushing up against us as we push against the ground. The more force we produce, the more power we can generate in the golf swing. Weight shift from the trail leg to the lead leg is a hallmark to a good golf swing. (Get to your left side) But if we look closer at the ‘how’ the weight shift occurs, we get this great example of the hockey player hitting the golf ball.

From address to the top of the backswing, it looks like a regular golf swing. But looking how he moves from the transition into his downswing, you’ll notice his feet move. His trail leg moves backward, and his lead leg moves forward. This means that when he initiates his downswing, he’s PULLING with his trail leg, and PUSHING with his lead leg. This activates the posterior chain in his right leg, and the anterior chain in his left leg: creating rotation.

What does that mean? When we weight shift from the trail leg to the lead leg, we should feel like we engage the trail hip (glute) muscles, pull through the trail heel, and shift to the lead toe as we push though the lead leg. This rotates our pelvis, pushing the trail side pelvis forward and pulling the lead side pelvis backward. (Doing this rotation, prevents Early Extension, a common swing fault) The next time you’re at the range. Think about how the hockey player hits the golf ball. It might help with your power and ground reaction force.

If you have more questions about weight shift, ground reaction force, and body mechanics, contact Par 5 Physical Therapy. Feel better, move better, play better.