Get Fired Up
Get Fired Up
By Dr. T. J. Tomasi, Keiser University College of Golf Senior Faculty and Director of Research
You hear this advice all the time: “Fire your right side” (left for left-handers). It means to aggressively transfer weight to your front foot while rotating your core through the ball. This is good instruction, but to be effective, it must be applied correctly. Two of the reasons I’m wary of the “fire” concept are that it (1) is easily misunderstood and (2) is often performed incorrectly.
The misunderstanding happens because of human architecture. Since we are designed for walking and running, biomechanically the knee flexes over the foot, a position that vertically aligns the hip, knee, and ankle joints to provide maximum stability. Thus, the natural (but incorrect) tendency during the downswing is to move the back knee out toward the target line as if you were going to step in that direction. Phil Mickelson is an example of a player, who fights this problem, and it is just another indication of how counterintuitive this game is — what is natural is wrong.
As Jack Nicklaus says, “Golf is best played on the inside rims of your feet” — a departure from the normal that must be learned. “Firing” is performed incorrectly when you push up and off the back foot, so your trail knee juts out over your foot instead of leaning in toward the target, a move that correctly positions the back foot on its inside rim.
She’s on the inside rim of her foot.
The advice to “fire the back knee” is well-intended in an attempt to provide a trigger to activate the release of the entire trail side. When you release your trail side correctly, your back heel lifts off the ground, and, as part of the release, your back shoulder moves from a high position behind your neck to a low position at impact, while your trail elbow moves in front of your hip. Any laggers in this process will cost you both power and accuracy.
He’s released his knee to the target-note how much weight this pro has already transferred to his front post.
If you’d like to study with Dr. Tomasi and other PGA Master Professionals, contact the College of Golf today.
