We hear teachers talk a lot about different moves in the golf swing, and how they can help golfers hit better shots. But those are only helpful if the golfer on the other end can actually do those moves. What are your physical capabilities? Where are you limitations? And how do those affect the way you swing the golf club?
GOLF Top 100 Teacher Jon Tattersall has a few tests that can help both of those questions.
The first is quite simple: Can you touch your toes? This will reveal your lower body flexibility. If you fail this test, you’ll getting into an athletic setup position and maintaining that hip hinge as you swing — resulting in dreaded early extension.
The second test Tattersall recommends tests your ankle mobility. Get into a lunge position, and shift your body forward. Measure how far you can shift your knee forward. It’s an indication of overall ankle mobility, and the more of it you have, the better you’ll be to leverage the ground to generate power.
If you’ve failed both of these tests, don’t worry, Tattersall says. The exercise itself is the test, so the more of them you do, the sooner you’ll get a passing grade.