Downswing Sequence Explained

Golf Monthly

In this video, PGA Professional Katie Dawkins explains the downswing sequence.

Transcript

00:00Hi, my name is Katie Dawkins. I'm here today at West Hill Golf Club to explain to you the

00:09downswing sequence. The downswing in the golf swing is something that people get very screwed

00:14up in the head with. There's too many thoughts going on in a movement that takes very little

00:19time to actually do. So it's really important that we don't clutter our minds with lots and

00:24lots of different thoughts. It's important as well to remember that the downswing sequence

00:28really is just us trying to propel an object towards the target. That's no different to me

00:33getting a ball in my hand and chucking it for the dog. Everything happens in the same way. So if I

00:39want to get optimum power and send that ball or whatever I'm chucking straight down the middle,

00:44I've got to first of all be in an athletic position to do that. So I need good posture.

00:48So solid fundamentals are really key here. What I've then got to remember to do is actually use my body.

00:55And this is something that golfers don't do. They tend to just swing their arms up and down.

01:00So from the top of the backswing, what should happen is your body should start to uncoil from

01:07the ground up. And that's the kinematic sequence that we tend to talk about. It's that movement of

01:13power stored in that coil up in the golf swing and starting to unwind. So the first thing that goes

01:19is from the, from the ground up. So you're going from the hips and everything's rotating,

01:24your torso is turning towards the target. The last thing to crack through is that golf club.

01:28So actually when players are standing there and swinging from the top of the swing,

01:32the first thing they tend to do is get this sequence in the wrong order. So they will throw

01:36that club from the top, throw all that power away, cast it away if you like, and end up with no power when

01:42they get to the ball. A lot of their clubs will go the same distance and it'll all feel like hard work.

01:47So how can we stop this from happening? One of the best things that you can possibly do is actually

01:54practice without a golf ball. So take the golf ball out of the equation totally and just practice that

02:00winding up and that unwinding, feel it from the ground up, unwind the body and really turn to the

02:07target. So the golf swing becomes turn and turn. That's going to be quite a simple movement that

02:14you can think about while you're out on the golf course. If you can get through to a lovely photo

02:18finish at the end of your swing, you've probably done the right stuff to get there in the first place.

02:23Golfers who aren't doing this sequence in the right order tend to jump off the ball and end up on

02:29their back foot, almost walking backwards off it and wondering why it hasn't gone where they wanted it to go.

02:37So the players that turn up for golf lessons, lacking power, lacking distance, it's usually down to them

02:42getting this kinematic sequence in the wrong order. The reason that they do that is because they haven't

02:48got the postures to begin with. So there's not that athletic ready to run somewhere feeling that we need

02:54and you see all the best players in the world have. Their weight is on the balls of the feet, we're ready

02:59to run somewhere, that's how it should be. What I tend to see is no angles, everything sort of sat back

03:04almost like you're leaning on a bath stool and weight on the heels. There's no balance there

03:09and with no balance you're not going to get the control. So all that's going to happen is

03:13you will swing the arms up and down and so you're powering your golf swing with the arms only.

03:19If you were to try and get involved with this lovely wind up of the body and turn you're going

03:23to rock all over the place. So our bodies are very clever, they tend to protect us from falling over,

03:28which is handy. So if that position at address is athletic, I can support a lovely coil up

03:36and a lovely uncoil. Therefore the kinematic sequence is working in the right order. If it's

03:42not in the right place to begin with my body, I've got no balance, it's not going to happen.

03:50So what if you've got a poorly back? If you've got immobility in the hips, there are some physical

03:55limitations that might be the reason you're not getting into this position and not getting the

03:59sequence correct on the downswing. If you're not in a decent position at setup, sometimes those

04:05physical limitations can cause you to not be able to hold that good posture, for example. So bear

04:11that in mind that actually maybe a pilates class or a bit of yoga might just help you to achieve a

04:16better impact position. So if you're not getting this downswing sequence correct, chances are there's

04:22faults in the setup and perhaps you're not winding that club up on the way back. So if you get those

04:29things right, the downswing is a reaction to that. Go and have a lesson, go and get your fundamentals

04:35checked and with that you'll start to see a much more tight movement all the way down through the ball

04:41until that photo finish.

Category

Transcript

Recommended