Do You Sway?

A Sway is when there is too much lower body lateral movement away from the target during your backswing.  So for righty golfers, it means you move too far to the right.  Basically, all your weight shifts to the outside of your right foot, making it hard to get the weight shift you need during the transition and downswing phases.
During the transition phase, the back leg needs to be stable to help create power and swing speed by developing the proper "coil" around the hip.

There are a few possible causes of a Sway:

• A basic lack of understanding of proper technique
• Injuries to the ankle, knee or hip
• Keeping the ball too far back in the stance
• Physical limitations

Since I work on the fitness side of golf, I will go over the physical limitations.

Physical limitations that can cause a Sway:

1.  Lack of back leg hip internal rotation- if you can't get your torso to rotate around the back leg hip, you will compensate by swaying.

Exercises and Stretches you can do to help with mobility and flexibility of the hip:

Foam Roller- Use the foam roller to massage the whole hip area. We want to try to cover as many muscles as possible.

Sit on the roller and roll back and forth over the low back and butt.

Cross ankle over knee opposite knee and continue to roll.

Move over onto side and continue to roll over the whole hip area.

As Boston University Ice Hockey Strength coach Mike Boyle likes to say, "Foam rolling is like a poor man's massage."  The object of the foam roll is to decrease the density of the muscle and prepare it for stretching.  If a muscle has a trigger point in it, it will not respond well to stretch. 

Now that we have "ironed out" the muscle, it's time for a stretch.  This is called the Hip 90-90 Stretch.  Get in a position so that both knees are at 90 degree angles.  (If this hurts your knees, don't do it)

Keeping the 90-90 position, lean over your left knee.

Come back to starting position and lean straight back so there is pretty much a straight line between your right knee, hip and shoulder.

2.  Unable to disassociate the upper body from the lower body- if you can't separate your trunk from your pelvis on the backswing, your lower body won't be able to stabilize the lateral movement during your big shoulder turn. Thoracic immobility and inflexibility of the lats can limit the shoulder turn and proper separation.

Thoracic Spine Mobilization- (if you have any arthritis of the spine, do not do this). Place the foam roll perpendicular to your spine, just below your shoulder blades.  With your hands behind your neck (not your head, your neck), exhale and drop back over the roller toward the floor.  Go slow (3-5 seconds) and work your way up to just below your neck.

Upper Back Foam Roll
Roll over the mid-back and shoulder blades.  Keep arms up to expose some of the muscle for foam roller to get in there.

Foam Roll- Lats
Lie on side, and roll from arm pit to just over the shoulder blade.  Turning body more towards the ceiling will get more rotator cuff.  This is probably the hardest and most painful area to attack.

Reach, Roll, Lift and Side to Side with Stability Ball
Kneel behind Stability Ball with your butt on your feet and your palms down low on the ball. 

Roll the ball forward as your chest drops to the floor and your hands rotate toward the sky.  Keep your butt on your feet the whole time. Try to lift your hands off the ball at the end of the stretch.

Then turn your palms facing the ball and move the ball side to side, really getting a good stretch in the lats.

3.  Inability to stabilize your right leg (left for Phil) during the backswing- The glute medius (a smaller muscle on the side of your butt, under the big daddy- Glute maximus) is a stabilizer of the pelvis and will help control any lateral movement.  A weak glute medius will not prevent right hip elevation or a lateral shift.

Hip Windshield Wipers
The first time I saw this exercise was at the Titleist World Golf Fitness Summit.  It looks funny but it works.

Lie on your back with your feet in the air and hips and knees at 90 degree angles.  Put your fists together between your knees. 

Try to separate your knees as far as possible (farther then Ryan, a tennis player at Fairfield who has very tight hips!) without letting your knees or hands separate.  Perform as many reps as it takes to feel a slight burn in your hip muscles.

Happy Clams
Lie on your side with your knees bent and together.   Try to lift your knee up as high as possible.  The trick is to keep your pelvis still (don't let it open up and move back) and your feet together.

Bridges and Bridges with Leg Extension
These exercises will help strengthen the glutes and help train single leg and core stability. 

Start out on your back with your knees bent and feet on the ground.  Keep your arms to the side in the beginning and progress to your arms crossed across your chest.

Contract your glutes and lift your pelvis to the sky, keeping a straight line from your shoulders to your hips to your knees.

When you get strong enough, extend one leg out and hold for as long as you can, maintaining the straight line from your shoulder to your ankle.

If you feel a cramp in your hamstring, your are not using your glutes enough.  Also, be careful not to use your lower back to lift the pelvis off the ground.

As you can see, physical limitations can cause you to Sway (as well as other swing faults) so it is important to make sure you have the stability, mobility, flexibility, balance and strength needed to execute proper swing mechanics. Try these stretches and exercises as you are working with a teaching professional on your swing and you will be well on your way to playing your best golf.

The best way to find out if physical limitations are the cause of your swing faults is to work with a Golf Fitness Professional.  Click here to find one in your area.

Anthony Renna, Titleist CGFI

Anthony is a Certified Golf Fitness Instructor (Titleist) , a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA), and a Sports Performance Coach (USAW)  who works with elite and recreational golfers.  Anthony has been working with golfers for almost 25 years, starting out as a caddie at Century Country Club in Westchester, NY.  He is founder of Five Iron Fitness, a golf-specific personal training company; www.GolfFitnessProducts.net, a resource for all things golf fitness; and www.BetterGolfwithFitness, a blog discussing the current issues in golf fitness. 

Anthony is also the host of the Better Golf with Fitness Podcast.

The articles at GolfFitnessProducts.net are for informational purposes only and are not intended to substitute for direct examination and exercise prescription by the appropriate health professional.  It is strongly recommended that you do not perform any exercise program without the consent of your personal physician.