Bear in mind that there is a difference between the standard Classic Golf Swing and what I call the optimal Classic Golf Swing, and there will be two obvious differences between the two – the grip and the footwork.

Many people who play golf either pay little heed or none at all to the crucial element of footwork.

I didn’t get through my most recent blockage in progressing on my swing research until I really took a hard look at the footwork following my breakthrough discoveries on the grip.

These are actually the two most important commonly overlooked parts of the swing – you are holding the club in your hands and that is the only contact you have with the club you are using to strike the ball.

Just as with the footwork – the only contact you have with the ground on a regular full swing is going to be with your feet, so footwork is just as important as the grip.

This particular post on footwork deals with the standard or traditional Classic Golf Swing and why I think (and will attempt to prove) that Greg Norman’s footwork in a particular swing I’ve seen of his is closest to the optimal if it isn’t.

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First, I have been looking at the footwork of the golf swing probably since 2006, where I remember my own leading foot roll-twisting through impact, seeing that on video while hitting balls into a net in my yard and thinking, “well, that’s what you have to do to avoid injuring your leading foot and/or ankle because of the twisting force…”

I solved the issue when I began to “kick-in” my trailing leg at address and letting the trailing foot slide-release on the down swing through impact.

Now, think about that for a minute – anyone who is analyzing golf swings and who praises the “Flying Foot Syndrome” move – any of the different types I’ve described, is analyzing the golf swing at roughly the level of athletic/kinesiology knowledge or expertise that yours truly possessed about a year into my swing research journey.

At the time, aside from athletic intuition, I knew nothing about a proper golf swing, and yet here we are.

At some point, I was experimenting with different slide-releases and actually performed what I would call the Greg Norman release action, which differs from the regular “short-stop slide” release.

About a decade later, I saw Greg Norman’s slide release in this swing gif. below:

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… and I recognized it instantly.

I probably looked somewhat like this when I did see it:

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This is the slide-release action that enabled Norman to become the greatest ever driver in the persimmon era with regards to speed and power production, distance, accuracy and consistency.

It gave him such an advantage that he is considered to have been a better driver overall than one Jack Nicklaus, who as I have said had close to what I’d call the optimal Classic Golf Swing.

Now, Norman never played Senior Tour golf because he was more business-oriented after turning 50, but also due to his history of various back and knee injuries.

He also stated however that these issues came about as a result of his lack of knowledge of golf fitness in his youth when taking up the game.

I could tell you right now that the swing model Norman was utilizing in the above gif.s was definitely not the cause of any of his injuries, but who knows what damage he did learning to play golf in his teens.

Once I’ve completed my testing of the completed model on which I’ve been working, I’ll be able to say whether my assertion has been borne out (this is the best footwork based upon my swing numbers) or whether I’ve been way off the mark (i.e. I get better numbers swinging with a different release action).

More to come.