How to make the left foot (or whole stance) more stable?

[Golf-Streamer]

I recently noticed that the reason for some of my hooks is my left foot loosing grip, eg. I (start already before impact to) spin around the heel and increase the speed of the clubhead and hands beyound the rhythm of my body resulting into a low hook.
I can fix it by taking the left foot 2" backwards, then the stance is more stable and the grip of the whole sole holds. But obviously fixing one mistake with another is not desirable. Also slowing down helps but who wants that?
I also sometimes have a socket problem (balance turning forward during the swing) that, once started, is not easy to stop. It feels there is nothing wrong in the swing but still you hit those low marmot-killers one after another.
Could these both be related to same back/forth unstability of left foot or whole stance? I play with a quite speedy long swing. Is there any other easy way to fix this (randomly occurring) problem than learning to repeat a mantra keep your foot down?

[keiko]

Re: How to make the left foot (or whole stance) more stable?

My two cents worth: in my opinion, the left heel needs to stay down during the swing; some can lift it(jack nicklaus) but they admit they have to time the downward placement precisely in order to hit good shots.
Let's look at why you are lifting or moving the left foot; maybe to get more pivot, maybe you are taking your backswing too fast or too outside, maybe your weight distribution at address is more on toes than centered on the foot, etc., anyway, one way to keep it down is to take practice swings while focusing on planting that heel with more weight rather than being on your toes. At address, I am conscious of the left heel sometimes because there is a natural tendency to come off it. I like to feel at address as if my weight is more towards the heels, not on the heels. Anyway, I like to turn from the ground up which means two things, I am bending the left knee towards the ball instead of lifting the left heel and also, at the end of a practice session, the turf on the range is ripped from the force of my heels; they are squishing down against the turf as I swing.
To start with, I believe if you will bend that left knee as you take your backswing and while pivoting by turning your left shoulder under your chin, you will see immediate improvement.
Of course, slow down your swing for awhile until you get the hang of this new move.
One more thing, stay centered with your head just behind the ball all the while you are pivoting, moving the head will move the body and you will sway and lose your balance. The body pivots around a stable spine. It is a turn rotation not a lateral sway
As you turn, be conscious of just getting that left shoulder turning behind the ball at first.

I recently noticed that the reason for some of my hooks is my left foot loosing grip, eg. I (start already before impact to) spin around the heel and increase the speed of the clubhead and hands beyound the rhythm of my body resulting into a low hook.
I can fix it by taking the left foot 2" backwards, then the stance is more stable and the grip of the whole sole holds. But obviously fixing one mistake with another is not desirable. Also slowing down helps but who wants that?
I also sometimes have a socket problem (balance turning forward during the swing) that, once started, is not easy to stop. It feels there is nothing wrong in the swing but still you hit those low marmot-killers one after another.
Could these both be related to same back/forth unstability of left foot or whole stance? I play with a quite speedy long swing. Is there any other easy way to fix this (randomly occurring) problem than learning to repeat a mantra keep your foot down?

[BrianW]

Re: How to make the left foot (or whole stance) more stable?

Try reducing your hip rotation in the backswing, work on keeping the hips still untill you have taken the club back to the halfway stage and then only allow them to make minimal rotation. In the downswing you will need to rotate the hips forward from the start, this will assist you to keep the upper and lower body working together. If you over rotate the hips back in the backswing you will have problems syncronising the upper and lower body and this will lead to hooking and big pushes.