Tip Tuesday – Ground Series Part 2: 3 Exercises to Help Lateral Movement

In part two of his six-part instruction series on using ground forces to help your swing, Classic Swing Golf School‘s Ted Frick is here to demonstrate three of his favorite exercises to help condition yourself to use those ground forces effectively in your lateral movement.

 

 

 

Ted Frick:

All right, so we’re going after distance. We’re talking about power and utilizing the ground. Power comes from the ground up and I get the lateral portion. Stef’s going to follow up with rotary, and Eddie’s going to knock out the verticals.

So again, using my band, let me give you the number one power exercise for your glutes. And you want to keep it safe, and that is the deadlift. Do not let it scare you. Look, I’m holding the bands. I’ve got my shoulders back and my pelvis is even out. Good posture. The key to doing this for the glutes is to have slight knee break. And as you go down, keep your shoulders back and push your hips back. Notice how my hands are staying on the outside of my shins right now. Look at that. So if I had 10-pound dumbbells, keep it light. I like elastic resistance so I can control the tension level. Again, I would knock out 10. Let me do this again. Slight knee break. Pelvis is out, shoulders back, good posture. One of our keys in the golf swing. Good posture.

Going down, trying to keep the shoulders back, controlling the tension. I’m really throwing the glutes out. So right now, I’m isolating my hamstring, my glutes, throwing them back and I’m coming up. This is not about speed, this is about power. So I would get in at least 10 reps, maybe three sets of 10. Okay, so now let me move into another lateral exercise. This one was for the glutes.

So right here on the ground, I’ve got my yoga mat. Which tonight’s Monday night, and at 6:15, we do yoga every Monday night, year-round. Teeter-totter board, body track, and my fan. I’m going to get to more resistance training. This is an excellent exercise using ground forces. You’ve got to jump.

So one of the cool tips I learned at the coaching summit by this gentleman named Ken Duffy, and he trains those speed guys. He said, “Get your students jumping rope three times a week for a minute.” I was like, “Jumping rope?”

Now I’m not going to jump rope for you. I’m going to do a lateral jump. Ready? Now watch this. This is it. This simple. So I’m working on balance, but I could also work on speed. So I’m going back and forth across my yoga map because I’ve got to get my laterals going and I got to feel how the ground’s working. I’m going to get a minimum of 10 there, a minimum of 10, because I got to get some speed going on. Power plus speed.

So here comes one of my favorite swing tips. Now, I’m just going to throw in three swings with my old power fan. Been with me 30 years. I love resistance training. So I just want to get loose. Now, watch my step-in drill.

Just step in, get my lateral. This is a drill.

All right. Now step in drill for the driver.

So the driver’s the only club in the bag where, again, we would set up trail leg heavy. Watch the step-in drill here. So I’m not going to make it as dynamic, but I’m going to get moving lateral. So before I even complete that backstroke shoulder turn, tip number one, look at that, I’m actually begin moving lateral on the downstroke. I got to get energy moving this way first. Explosive energy on that leg. Lateral one, spin two, launch or vertical three.

Okay, left foot comes to the right. Step-in drill. That is the most awesome drill for any of the students that need help getting their energy going this way to start their downswing.

Alright, so we’re going rotary next. Keep the ground forces going. Power from the ground up!