Where does your swing turn?
The lower body pivot is a fundamental of the backswing. With a poor backswing pivot comes poor ball striking and a lack of power, which is a double-whammy against good golf.
A simple dictionary definition of pivot is “the action of turning around a point.” In the golf swing, there are three possible pivot points the majority of us fall into that describe the lower-body rotation during the backswing: center post, rear post and front post, all of which are based on our body structure and balance alignment. Experimenting and finding out which pivot is the best for you could be the key to unlocking better ball-striking.
Rear-post golfers pivot around their trail hip and leg and will feel a greater load of pressure on their back foot at the top of the backswing. During the downswing, this golfer will have a leaning-back look through impact. There are many golfers who attempt to be rear-post golfers, where they move and load their trail side too much to gain a feel of power and more distance. This often leads to more inconsistency.
The greatest mistake of attempting a rear-post pivot is allowing your upper body and head to move too much laterally off the ball on the backswing. This excess lateral movement adjusts the bottom of the swing arc behind the golf ball and leads to fat shots.
The center-post pivot point is through the center point of the pelvis. Pressure from the feet and ground are balanced at address, and there will be slight loading of pressure to the trail foot during the backswing without any lateral upper-body movement away from the target.
The front-post pivot point revolves around the lead hip and front leg. Golfers with this setup will have slightly more pressure on the lead foot at address and minimal shifting of pressure to the trail side during the backswing. If you struggle with your short irons or are hitting behind the golf ball, try the front-post pivot for more solid contact and accuracy.
To figure out what pivot point may be best for you, stand in front of a mirror with a club across your thighs. With your feet balanced, turn your pelvis and see the direction to which the natural movement of your pivot point shifts.
If your pelvis’ center moves to your trail side, you are a rear-post golfer. If your pelvis center rotates around your body’s center, you are center-post. If your pressure and balance stay on your lead foot and pivot around lead hip, you are a front-post golfer.
Once you determine which post you may be, play around with that pivot point. Perhaps your game will have something to turn around.
Peter Harris is the director of golf at the Fore-U Golf Center in West Lebanon. His column appears in the weekly Recreation page during the golf season.