Caught this interesting article about LPGA tour rookie Bianca Pagdanganan who is only few starts in, but already leading the tour in driving average. The “secret” to this is generating a fair bit of ground force…
Maybe fair bit is an understatement. There’s a lot of talk about ground force, but I don’t think us amateurs really get it. So, if you do, what’s your explanation of ground force and how we should be using it?
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I’m no instructor, but I see “ground force” as driving the forward turn of the hips. The hips are essentially a “frame” which rotates around an inclined axis (something near the spine). During the backswing, the lead hip rotates towards the target line, and away from the target, which also means it moves downward a bit because the axis is tilted towards the ball. During the forward swing, then, it has to rotate away from the target line, and MUST move vertically upward. By pushing UP with the lead leg, we force that rotation, more pushing means faster rotation, leading to more speed. The trail leg has a lesser role, it really can’t start to extend until well after the forward swing starts, not until the trail hip has rotated a good bit.
I hope the more knowledgeable folks out there will correct anything I’ve said that’s inaccurate, but that’s the way I think of it.
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↑ good stuff!
I look at it as a … Loading (backswing or gaining potential energy in Bryson-speak 
) / Unloading (downswing … kinetic energy) where you’re pushing up off of the ground.
(…or at least that’s what I understand of the basic theory of a good golf swing 
)
I have always thought of the trail leg applying more pressure to the ground during and through forward swing than lead leg. It can’t start until the lead hip is clear however my understanding has always been that the force generated in trail leg leads to that happening.
Maybe that’s my problem I’m backwards.
If you look at pressure plate stuff, you see that very early in the forward swing, the pressure on the trail foot really drops, while it spikes in the lead foot. Look at video of Justin Thomas, his right foot is almost completely off the ground early in the forward swing, while his left leg is extending, pushing against the ground.
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Yes … top level and elite players move laterally target-ward much earlier and more strongly vs a recreational hack (like me!).
I’ve always had a very pronounced lateral move, I just don’t combine it with the other good stuff these pros do 
I think the most important thing for regular players like me to understand is that it’s not so much about the things we can see happening (lateral/vertical movement) but the things we don’t really see (weight shift, powerful transition) that creates the energy that creates those visible things since it has nowhere else to go after it passes through the ball!