Balance - Golf’s missing link?
Hey everyone,
Recently I interviewed Tracy about the transition move. People were begging us for more detail, and so I spent an hour nailing Tracy down on the step by step details of making this portion of the swing.
Our interview lasted an hour, and has become one of the most coveted pieces of instruction in our Golf Swing Control System because it completely removes the mystery from how to make the transition from the backswing to the downswing.
(If you’ve listened to it, post a comment below and tell me if you feel the same way)
During the interview, Tracy made it clear that one of the fundamental concepts of a powerful, natural swing is staying in balance through the swing - and more specifically starting in balance.
To help explain how to do this, here is a short but revealing 5 minute segment of our interview together on how to start every swing properly - in balance.
Get this right, and you’ll see your consistency skyrocket.
Listen to the audio here - and then tell me what you think by leaving a comment. Can you see how this would impact your game? What questions does it raise for you?
Also, if you’ve found benefit from this concept of balance in your game, let us know your experience - it will help other golfers make the decision to give it a try.
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Balance and Setup – Tracy Reed interview excerpt
Kory: What are some of the details you think people should be paying more attention to during their setup and backswing that you notice?
Tracy: well, first and foremost you have to be in balance, ok? This setup routine took me 10 or 12 years to develop this thing so that anybody using it would make it work. And the way I explain it is, I try to explain what happens during every step.
And it’s amazing to watch people who have gone through this set up drill then they short cut a step or two. And it may be just be because they, well who knows why. I don’t really know why but I would say almost every golfer who comes to me after taking instruction or after reading the golf manual and says I just can’t quite get it… usually my first correction, almost always my correction, is in the setup.
One, you have to be balanced, but you also have to have the correct body angles. For example the upper tilt of the body and the knee bend, the proper amount of knee bend are set automatically by this routine. But it they are not correct the body is not in a position to be able to move in balance. And that’s first and foremost it’s found in the little details of the routine.
Kory: So take me through it step by step. So I’m setting up to the ball, just talk about balance. How do I make sure my balance is correct? What should I be checking for?
Tracy: Well, balance is felt in the bottoms of the feet, plain and simple. And people think balance is just me standing up and not falling down. But in fact what balance is, the true definition of balance, is when every muscle in the body is working evenly with their opposing muscle.
Every muscle in the body has an opposing muscle. It’s a push pull relationship. When the both of them are working evenly, the muscles are in balance, therefore the body is in balance. This can be felt in the feet simply by feeling that when you first start setting up that both feet are working evenly to support the body. And also that the muscles in the body are working evenly to support the different parts of the body that they support.
Well this happens automatically if you allow it to. This is the best part about most of this instruction, is we are allowing the body to do what it wants to do naturally, working within the physics of nature.
So simply… if you set the club behind the ball, as I say, with the proper grip, allow the arms to hang straight down from the shoulders (don’t reach) and look away, look down range. If you start with all your weight on the ball of the right foot, for a right hander again, opposite for a left hander, and you allow the arms to hang down. If you keep your back straight, you are forced by the position of the club and the ball to get the proper upper body tilt. It’s not something that you need to decide or even worry about. You just allow the routine to get that for you.
So every club is going to be slightly different because of the length of the clubs and the angles of the club present. So rather than having to think of it for every club you allow the routine to do this for you.
Then once you get that upper body tilt, you just keep it. Then you set the rest of the body underneath that position. So it’s as if someone just grabbed your upper body, held it in position, and allowed only your lower body to move. You look away from the ball. You look down range and that takes your eyes out of the picture and as soon as you move into motion the automatic response mechanism in the body takes over. So you bring your left foot up, set it in place, move your right foot to the right a little bit. And then what you do is rock back and forth just a little bit just enough to lift each foot from foot to foot and you feel your feet.
And as you move, as you’re still looking away, you simply get in touch with the bottoms of your feet and feel them to make sure that you are in the arches of your feet evenly spaced between the heels and balls, maybe slightly towards the balls of the feet and that you feel comfortable. Because as you move your natural knee bend will happen and your muscles will balance each other out.
That is a position of balance. It happens automatically if you allow it. But so many golfers fight this because they want to take control over what’s going on and there’s just no reason to. This is the easy way to get balance and you see the guys in the PGA doing it quite a bit. I don’t think they do it as effectively as they can because there are very few other people out there teaching this exact routine (Although I’ve showed it to a number of pros). A lot of them do the same thing, they forget a lot of the details and they just remember what they want to remember. It took ten years for a reason. It works.
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To see how to achieve balance during setup on video, Click here
Thanks for visiting,
Kory
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Popularity: 21%
Since I first heard of Golf Swing Control, I have used this system in my last four rounds of golf. I am very excited because I have had 3 rounds of 77 and one at 79. My buddies keep telling me that if I could putt I would be in the low 70’s. I am hitting many excellent shots but am struggling with my puttting to the point that it is getting ridiculous. I am using the image of turning my solar plexis as the transition move and it is working great! I am really anxious to receive the DVD’s that I ordered so I can keep working at improving. Thanks for something that works. AB
Al, that is GREAT news. Thanks for sharing your story. Please keep us posted on your progress.
Kory
Thank you for all of your advice.
On the subject of balance, I did not appreciate the importance until I started to coil and release as you teach us to. If I am not in balance (especially with the driver) then the result can be disastrous. I now believe that proper balance is the only way that I can control and harness the extra power that I am now producing as a result of coiling in the backswing.
Kind regards
Dominic
HI:i wayched the video on Tigers swing and that was fantastic.I wish there was a cd on it for a reference.It looks easy but I know it is difficult.I have taken notes to hopefully help myselfThanks again Frank Russo
Thanks for all your help. It is hard to believe that all the stuff out there someone finally developed a method to determine the distance one stands from the ball to be in perfect balance.
David Walker
It works , since I read the circular sent to me I am a better player without having read the manual . I glimpsed at the video . I am saving that till after I have read the manual .
I tell my fellow members and one is a convert.
If I could putt I would consistently shoot low 80’s
Brian Roberts - Tasmania
Tracy,
All I can say is thank you….
I have a been a scratch golfer for 20years but never could get consistant enough to take it to the level I always thought I would get to.
The routine you share and the balance and consistancy it has created for me and my game has me more excited about golf at 39years old than I was when I played the Hooters Tour 15 years ago.
I look forward to finally playing the golf I always dreamed of.
All the best,
Jeff Grounds ~ Eagle, Idaho
Tracy, I have to say you really are on to something here. Most weekend golfers like my self read magazines and books on how to swing correctly. We watch our favorite pros on TV and wonder how in the world do they do it so consistently. Your analysis of Tiger’s golf swing especially the transition move and then the downswing has really opened my eyes. I have been playing for about a year, and I have tried every transition move I came accross (kick right leg, kick left leg, lead with left shoulder, hip bump and so on) and none of them worked very well. I now understand how to perform the transition move thanks to you, and it is working. I also would like to thank you for the balance information you have given all of us. This is something that I knew was important, but never really concentrated on. This has also really helped my game.
Thanks again
David
PS I feel like I am stealing from you.
Greetings Tracy,
Are you familiar with IZZO Golf Balance Disks? If so, would they be a useful tool to help refine dynamic balance?
Thanks, and keep up the good work,
Fred - Troy, MI
no doubt about it balance is the missing link.
Tracy, Thank you for shareing with us your method of setting up to get in balance. I am trying it and it is winter here in Minnesota, but I will be working on the set up in my basement. I do believe I have been using some of your method that I pick up from another instuctional video I have. He uses the same grip method and I like it. He also set up to the ball the same, but set
his feet a little different but no balanceing. So all I have to try and teach myself is the balanceing. I do like and use your transitional move to the left and if I do it correct my shot is straight down the middle. I have also added one of Tiger’s moves which is to straighten the left knee just before impact. It helps to get a little extra snap to the stroke.
Thanks again for all your help;
Del
I’ve been trying everything to improve my game! I just read Ben Hogan’s Five Lessons. When I tried to put all into action it completely threw off my game. I understand his fundamentals but keeping my left foot open 20 degrees made me hook. I also think I was concentrating too much on keeping my knees bent inward. Maybe I’m trying to change too many things all at once?
My one question is your input on weight distribution between the left and right leg on all golf shots from Driver right down to Lob wedge?
Thanks from Florida, Mark
thank you so much for the set up. It has really helped my game. It helped my balance and overall tempo. After seeing the lesson on balance I understand that it was all in my setup. I did hit some fat shots and in review found I was leaving out the little waggle that set my arms and shoulders. Thanks again, Jack
Thanks…I’m now driving it straight and I feel comfortable in my set up. Now if I could just get some more distance I would really be pleased.
Hi folks.
I have received your dvds & manual read man. twice watched dvds once each.
But i am unable to pratice at the moment because of shoulder operation.SHOULD BE SWINGING IN ABOUT 1MONTHS TIME. Will let you know how I GO
g. netley.