Todd Sones is someone whom I’ve admired from afar (and near) for some time now. It was a putter fitting with him at his course outside Chicago that eventually led me to enroll at the Golf Academy of America in Phoenix and completely change career paths. Less than five years later, I’m a PGA Class A Professional!
Todd has the credentials to back-up my admiration for him. He’s a Golf Digest Top 50 and Golf Magazine Top 100 Instructor, and he’s a published author. I even reviewed his latest book, The Scoring Zone, which just came out last year.
So when Todd sends out instructional videos that I think can help my students, I try to post them on my web site. Just remember, the videos usually expire in one week. Of course, you can always gain access to this video tip and more by becoming an Impact Golf Member at toddsones.com.
From a teaching standpoint, one of the hardest concepts to translate to a student is the idea of how the lower body should work during the golf swing and what’s supposed to happen to the trailing leg at the top of their backswing.
A lot of students sway, but that can be corrected by placing a golf ball underneath your trailing foot or even using a door stop and telling them to feel as if they’re driving their trailing foot straight into the ground.
Then there’s the dreaded reverse pivot, where the trailing leg straightens instead of remaining slightly flexed at the top of the backswing. This is a harder correction if only because it’s harder for the student to feel. Golf is two things: a sound and a feel. Todd describes these feelings as a sway, a spin, or a load in the following video: