If you’re wondering why it’s so difficult to properly apply gravity in your down swing, then it’s likely because you’re interfering with it due to rotation, which is the true enemy of the so-called “gravity drop.”
I have even used a term in the MCS mechanics – “Drop & Pop,” which practically tells you of the use of gravity in the down swing.
My previous bane, heretofore, was always the turning into the down swing which, for many, can cause either the over-the-top or the left-pull, depending on how steep or flat your down swing plane is, and for me, it was the steep over-the-top rather than the pull.
Now, I would be more likely to pull rather than slice if I turn into the down swing, because I’d shallowed out my down swing plane before beginning work on the new MCS Post-Modern Golf Swing model, but if you are getting a very high trailing heel into impact:
Rather than the lower heel impact position:
… then it’s because of the rotation of the hips pulling that right heel up due to that very rotational action.
Probably the only thing I see or hear on TV when talking about impact with which I’d agree is the emphasis on the low trailing heel at impact, but that usually is occurring as the swinger remains too far back on the right side and fails to transfer to the leading foot properly.
With the work I’ve been doing on my own swing, I’ve discovered that even a sliding foot through impact, while completely mechanically-sound (which is different from optimal) is indicative of too much rotation in the pivot actions.
Now, I’ve mentioned before that I suspect my new model could possibly gain more leverage and speed with a pivot that creates raised heels on the back and downswings, but you would sacrifice accuracy and repeatability no doubt, and we know that in the game of golf, accuracy and repeatability are paramount.
Not to mention, a perfectly leveraged swing (or as close to it as one can get) would likely be the longest-hitting one to begin with, therefore allowing one to be content to play golf with such model and not try to play “long-drive, pitch and putt” golf which is not going to spell success for many.
A perfectly leveraged golf swing uses the ground to provide said leverage, and bear in mind it’s not the “using the ground” nonsense you hear and read about with praise of swingers’ leading heel or entire foot leaving the ground through impact – that is just bad mechanics, sorry to say.
No, using the ground means the feet remain planted and stable throughout the entire swing, with perhaps a tiny amount of leading heel separation from the ground at the top of the back pivot.
Witness Mike Dunaway below demonstrating that:
A perfectly leveraged golf swing would also be perfectly stable through impact, foot-wise, again with Mike Dunaway showing how it’s done:
You can see the speed through the bottom and coming back up, practically dragging MD around to the finish. That comes from a lack of impediments to speed and a pure leveraged drop.
If you’re not sure of how stable Dunaway’s feet are at impact in the above swing, here it is:
This is not a “just because” reason to have stability in the feet through impact – this is the visual proof of a nearly complete “gravity drop” into the down swing rather than rotary leverage.
If the back swing pivot is powered by the hips and legs, the down swing leverage is definitely powered by the same action, and you can’t get proper natural leverage if you’re jumping and snapping through impact.
We all know that rotation causes a certain force, and you will snap your fingers if you’re struggling to come up with it and I say, “centrifuge.”
This is another reason I am fervently against the whole concept of “swinging left,” which I have called a back-breaking move – if centrifugal force is swinging the arms and club out to the right as the shoulders turn back to square, you’re placing a lot of twisting forces on the lower back as you try to force everything both down and to the left.
You’re fighting powerful forces doing that, and as I’ve already pointed out, the swing is a natural arc, whether you’re trying to turn left or not, and the club will go left all by itself post-impact:
That is an old gif., and my critique here would be, “too high a leading heel through impact, too much rotation and not enough drop.”
It does show however that even as I’m swinging down and to the right (inside-out), the club head goes left nearly immediately after impact.
So, save your back and your sanity and don’t try to “swing left” with arm and club coming down and from behind you to the right.
There are natural rotation forces that you harness on the down swing, but any conscious effort to rotate through this phase will likely result in over-rotation which will rob you of natural acceleration that you harness just swinging “down.”
Another cause of too much rotation aside from conscious effort is improper technique, usually deriving from improper setup.
WAX Golf 