Malaska Lesson 6 Journey

Video details

• Instructor: Mike Malaska
• Category: Lessons
• Topic: Full Swing

Transcript

We've got some cool new opportunities for golfers out there. They're called Journeys. These are lesson series, and they're really dynamic. And one of those that we've done is with Mike Malaska. It's available over at GolfLife.com, but right now we're going to share a part six of this lesson series that is just a true jewel. I think you're going to really enjoy this. It's never been seen before on TV, so check it out. Week six. Now we're going to start talking about how you use your lower body. This becomes really critical, and we're going to start with just a little pitch shot. So we're going to start with your left hip. Now, initially, when I used to do this, I thought it was more people's right hip that was the biggest problem. But the reality, it's how your left leg works is a big problem. Right's also, but we're going to do both. We're going to start with the left. If I set up and I was going to hit a little pitch shot, as the club's going through the ball, my left leg pushes my left hip out of the way. So it's just pushing my left hip socket straight back. There is no turn in a golf swing. Turn is an effect. Your body understands straight line forces. That's how it works. So what I see most people do, if I turn and face the camera here, they're going to hit a little pitch shot. If you watch my left hip, there's my left hip socket. They go like this, and they start into the ball, and their left hip socket stays there, and then they push with their right. So their hips keep turning, but this hip socket doesn't move back. So what happens? They're moving closer to the ball. So what you start with is you start by hitting little pitch shots where this left leg learns how to push this left hip out of the way as the club goes through the ball. Now, it's not straighten your left leg. See, I can straighten my leg. It doesn't do anything to my hip. So as I come into the ball, my left leg is pushing my hip out of the way. Through impact, my left knee is still flexed. That's why I don't hurt my back anymore. You don't have to hyper extend your knee. This doesn't really mean anything other than it just locks your knee and it sets you up for knee injuries. So as you're coming into the ball, your left leg just pushes your left hip out of the way. It just pushes it out of the way. Pushes it out of the way. Pushes it out of the way. So you start with pitch shots with your left side. Now we go to full swing. I'm set up, I'm going to hit a ball. Here's what happens. As I start back, what does my right leg do? My right leg pushes my right hip back. You have four ball and socket joints in your body, your shoulders and your hip sockets. If your hip sockets are tight, you are done. Because what happens now is now your hips are locked, and for my hip to move, my leg has to stretch. So this is all tight. See, my hips are loose enough that when I turn back, when I push my hip socket back, my pelvis rotates on top of my femur. See, the rotation is supposed to come in your hip socket, not in your lower lumbar spine. If you lock your hip socket, then all the twisting comes out of your lower lumbar spine. You want to hurt yourself, and that's where a lot of guys are going. So what we're doing now is I get set up here, and on the backswing as I go back, my right leg is just pushing my right hip out of the way. Then I come into the ball, my left leg is pushing my left hip out of the way. So right leg pushes my right hip socket back, left leg pushes my left hip socket back. So it's just push back, push back. And that's what stabilizes your hips. And my pelvis, when you watch that swing, you'd say, "Well, your hips rotate." I don't feel turn at all, and I feel zero pressure in my lower lumbar spine. Now, half of my career was spent restricting my hip, get here, and then fire my hips. That's why I ended up herniating two discs in my lower back, and it's how this pushes this hip back, and this one gets pushed back. By the way, when you're doing that, where do you feel a lot of your force or weight going? In your feet. For so long, I heard people talk about get athletic, get on the balls of your feet. What is that? Are you kidding? So what I see is everybody's up here on their toes, and they're trying to play up here. All of the things we have now with all the pressure mats, what they're finding is force stays a lot further back in people's feet than they think. So when I set up to the ball, when I go back, my weight goes back to my right heel. Then it goes into the middle of my feet, and then it goes to my left heel. It never goes out to my toes. Now, there's a few players you see on tour who come up on their toes, no question, but they go like this. So where's this going? So the force, even though they're on their toes, the force that's in those plates is getting pushed backwards. So this one pushes back, this one pushes back. Here's what you can do if you go to the gym or you're at home. At the gym, they have things called cable crosses. They're pulley systems that have arms. If you put the arms right down here, so the cable's right there. So there's the pulley off your left foot. You take a hold of the pulley and you get the wire on the same angle your club would be. And then what you do is you go pull. So you use this hip to pull the weight back. So you pull it back. Now, if you have two cables on both sides, this one pulls, and then as you let this one down, then this one pulls. So what are my hips doing? My right hip's pushing back, my left hip's pushing back. Right hip pushes back, left hip pushes back. I've never seen anybody on a pulley system go like this. I've never seen it. Or go here and then go to try to pull the other way. They all go boom, boom. Well, that's exactly what my hips are doing in my golf swing. So this week six was about how your body moves. Now, if you follow this process and you go through what I told you each week, and then you review each week, by the sixth week, you're going to be amazed at how much better you're going to hit the ball. So you get these things down, you're going to see a big difference in your game. I'll guarantee it, because I've watched it time and time and time again. It's a process of learning. So I know this is going to be great for you. I know it's going to help all of you, and I look forward to meeting you all in the future, and hopefully you're hitting the ball a lot further than you normally hit it, and hopefully you're in your own fairway and not mine. Head to GolfLife.com right now. You can access the full lesson series from putting, chipping, short shots, and the full swing.