Do You Jump in Your Downswing? Why & Why Not?

MYSWING 3D GOLF - FINDING YOUR BODY-SWING CONNECTION

Do you jump in the downswing? Why and why not to do it 

HERE’S A LONG DRIVE CHAMPIONSHIP GOLFER GOING THROUGH IMPACT AND YOU CAN SEE BOTH HIS FEET ARE COMING OFF INTO THE AIR.

When you look at long drive champions - you often see them jumping in the air through impact - However, do you jump in the downswing? 

There is a slight difference between jumping as an active motion or jumping as a reaction motion in the downswing.

In our lab, we see many golfers that have a tendency to jump before getting to impact position to get through in downswing. That active jumping before is often a result of a physical restriction/ dysfunction that either limits the amount of rotation through the downswing or inability to hold the spine angle against the speed they are creating with the club in downswing.

In the picture above, the jump in long drive golfers are a reaction motion. That jumping motion is a result of the golfer pushing into the ground on the trail side to shift the pressure and reaction force to the left side in the downswing.

AS SEEN IN THIS PICTURE, YOU CAN SEE HOW THE BLUE ARROW IS FORCE PUSHING INTO THE GROUND, AND THE RED ARROWS ARE REACTION FORCES FROM THE GROUND PUSHING UP THROUGH THE BODY AND HENCE, PUSHING THE GOLFER UP INTO THE AIR.

When we look at transitioning to downswing, in order to utilize ground reaction force properly you need to be able to maintain your pelvis tilt angle, spine angle and pelvis rotation. When transition, you want to try to push into the ground with your right (Trail) foot so in turn, it push up towards your left (lead) hip and pushes it back to rotate around.

The more you can push down with your right foot, then the more ground reaction force is created to push your left hip back. With that pushing the left hip back, it helps open up the hips while the core fires to rotate the trunk towards left. As a result of the force pushing back up with the rotation, the forces push the golfer up into air- and that is what we see as a jumping in long drive golfers through impact position.

So in order to use the ground reaction force properly, you are not trying to jump to do it but instead pushing into the ground for the reaction force to push you up into the air. 

Here’s a quick drill that you can try with a resistance band around your pelvis to help you feel the ground reaction force in pushing your hip back and up in downswing:

Try this drill in the video below and let me know how it feels :)