The power you can generate in your swing is largely governed by the connection your feet have to the ground. If you have a hard time believing this, try swinging your driver while standing on icy ground or in even in your bare feet!

Before getting into specific techniques you can apply to your lower body, it always helps to explain a little of the "physics" behind the swing to better understand how energy is created in the golf swing.

Golf Physics and Energy Stored in the Backswing

The golf swing is a rotating motion which is governed by the simple physics of rotating bodies.

The swing speed you can produce with your swing is a function of how much energy you can store during your back swing which is governed by the following equation:

Energy = Torque x Angle of rotation

Swing energy is simply is a function of two factors:

• The angle through which you can rotate the backswing.

• The "torque" you can generate during the turn.

If we break down the requirements for torque a little further, it is a function of two additional factors:

• The combined "force" of all the muscles involved in the back swing.

• The "radius of rotation" around which the whole swing is moving on the backswing.

Summing this up we can state the total energy stored in the backswing depends on three things:

1) The "Angle of Rotation" of the backswing.

2) The "Total Force" of all the muscle contributing to the backswing.

3) The "Radius of Rotation" of the back swing.

All three of these factors are linked with each other and can impact the other depending on how far each is pushed. For example, the common perception for adding more distance to your swing is to rotate more on your backswing. That is only true if you are able to maintain the contribution of all your golf swing muscles during the backswing by avoiding a point where "mechanical" break down occurs in the swing.

That is a point at which a muscle group decides to "opt out" of the swing force contribution because the tension on the backswing becomes too great to hold their position. As soon as that occurs, torque is lost at the expense of increased angle of rotation and the golfer actually ends up loosing energy in the backswing.

The trick for maximizing the energy you create in your swing is to discover the "compromised" swing settings where you can "optimize" the contribution from each factor. There are several areas in the body that contribute energy to the swing, none more so than the lower body.

Lower Body Energy

Most big hitters will tell you that they generate most of their swing power from their legs.

Let's look at the total energy that can be generated in the lower body by examining the three factors that govern energy creation, to understand how to optimize each, and how each impacts the other:

1) Angle of Hip Rotation

The greater the angle you can rotate the hips, the more energy you can store in your lower body. This depends on four things:

• Flexibility of your leg and hip muscles which can be increased by regular stretching exercises of the hips and leg muscles.

• Flexibility of your lower body stance position which can be improved by "flexing" your knees and keeping them that way during the backswing.

• The distance that your feet are spread apart in the stance position. The less distance between your feet, the more flexibility in the hip turn.

• The angle you position your leading foot towards the target (left foot for right-handers). The more you position your left foot in a "square" position in the stance rather than pointing 45º towards the target, the more you can rotate your hips.

2) Total Muscle Force of the lower body

The more total lower body muscles that are used in the turn, the greater the muscle force in the turn. That depends on three things:

• Physical strength of your leg muscles which is improved through regular strengthening exercises.

• Ensuring that both legs are contributing power in the turn by keeping both feet in full contact with the ground at all times. That means no lifting of the left heal from the ground during the backswing.

• Good shoes that have adequate inserts that will avoid any foot slippage with the ground that would result in a loss of muscle torque.

The reason why many golfers lift the left heal during the backswing is because the tension in that region becomes too great to hold the position. When the heal is lifted, most of the muscles in the left leg "opt out" of the total muscle force contribution for the back swing because there is little ground contact around which to generate much torque in that leg. If you observe the modern swing, very few tour players lift their leading heal during the backswing for this reason.

3) Radius of Rotation of the lower body

Increasing the radius of rotation of the lower body increases the torque produced by the legs. That can only be achieved by increasing the distance between your feet in the stance.

When power is needed for a shot such as a drive, you will often observe the pros adopting a wider stance than with other shots in order to generate as much lower body torque as possible.

Optimizing Lower Body Energy

Trying to put these techniques into practice is not easy. You have to find a balance between the three factors of angle of hip turn, muscle contribution and radius of rotation in order to optimize the lower body energy you can create by making certain compromises:

• By keeping the left heal on the ground, you restrict the hip turn angle.

• By increasing the distance between your feet, you make it more difficult to keep the left heal on the ground and you also restrict the angle of the hip turn.

• When you restrict your hip turn, you also restrict your top body turn.

At first glance, as you are trying to decide on how and where to adjust your technique, you might be thinking why would I need to keep my left heal on the ground since that seems to restrict the rotation of the backswing. Do not jump to this conclusion right away.

Here is what you have to remember:

• Swing Power is generated through your feet. The less contact you have with the ground, the less power can be produced.

• Power is not only generated by angle of rotation alone - there are two other factors that also contribute to the energy picture as I have shown that are equally important.

• Whenever you lift that left heal you also impact the balance of the swing by encouraging backward lateral movement of the swing making the timing of the swing more complex on the downswing.

These reasons alone make a stable left heal your top priority for improving lower body energy.

Recommended Adjustments

Here is the sequence in which to make adjustments to your lower body technique:

• Keep the left foot on the ground at all times since that is the only way to guarantee maximum power generation.

• Make adjustments in the distance between your feet to create as much leg torque as feels comfortable - do this only on shots where you need added power. I do not recommend this on mid to short iron play where accuracy is your primary concern.

• Adjust the angle of your left foot to more of a square position in the stance to increase your hip rotation angle.

• Adjust the flex in your knees to promote more hip turn angle.

• Finally, a simple routine of daily hip and leg stretching exercises to increase muscle flexibility can result in 5 º - 10 º increased hip turn in as little as three weeks.

Work on these lower body techniques and you could easily pick up an extra 10 yards on your drives after a few sessions on the range.

Good luck!