I believe that over the past 28 years of writing golf tips I’ve not touched on what ankles and feet do in the golf swing. However, analytics show that more power can be generated if your feet move correctly during your swing.
If you asked the average golfer what their feet and ankles should do throughout their swings, not many would be able to tell you. But there is a relationship between how you can use your feet to generate more power.
Jack Nicklaus once explained that he felt his ankles roll back and through during the swing. At the time nobody probably fully understood this but with modern technology, such as force plates, we’ve come to realise that Nicklaus’ ankle-rolling feeling is one that can generate immense power in the swing. When players use “frontal-plane torque” (focusing on shifting laterally instead of focusing so much on turning), every player increases their ground-reaction force and clubhead speed.
So, try thinking of not twisting or turning so much and instead of visualising side-to-side a little bit more and a rolling ankle motion.
Out of Bounds: “Some miserable irritating golfers l know are like clouds. When they go away, it’s a brighter day.”