 |
Should You Lift Left Heel or not?
If you look at tour pros, most of them probably don't raise or lift their front foot during the backswing. When Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson were playing at their best, lots of pros were lifting their left heel off the ground.
So which method is correct for you?
I have tried both methods and found out the good side and bad side of both methods.
To come right to the point, I think you shouldn't try to keep your left heel on the ground.
If it wants to come off the ground, let it. But you don't have to make conscious effort to lift your left heel when you swing.
It's a good drill to lift your left foot off the ground on the backswing for practice.
But for a real swing, you don't have to lift it if it doesn't want to come off the ground.
When I started golf, I was raising my left heel on the backswing. But when I stopped doing that as I watched tour pros, I lost distance.
So I stopped to make a conscious effort to keep my left heel on the ground and gained more than 20 yards.
You might think that I lost accuracy as I gained 20 yards. But I didn't.
I knew I lost distance when I kept my heel on the ground. So I was unconsciously trying harder to hit it as far as I used to. As a result, I lost both distance and accuracy.
Why Jack Nicklaus didn't Stop Lifting his Left Heel
Jack Nicklaus was known to raise his left heel during the backswing. He said that the young tour pros with flexible body is ok with keeping their left heel on the ground. But most average players should lift that left heel because it helps them make a bigger turn and turn your hips level.
I agree with him.
Lifting your left heel will help you turn fully on the backswing and make weight shift much easier for you.
But like I said earlier, you don't have to make conscious effort to lift your heel. Just let it come off the ground.