Paul Casey - left heel raising on backswing

[carrera]

Does he do it with iron shots also?

On today's telecast, one driver slo-mo of Casey's swing showed his relatively unusual (and perhaps old-school) lifting of the left heel on his backswing. I could tell from some tee shots with a 3 wood that there was a more subtle lifting of the heel. I couldn't tell though if he did it throughout the bag, or whether it was just for long shots.

[resist_hard.]

Quite a few golfers do this with the driver. Harrington and Westwood both do it with driver woods but not with irons.

[gangster17pi5]

He does it all the way through the bag as far as i nknow, something new he and his coach are working on.

[suavemilagro]

any swings that work that well( finals of the match play) are ok in my book, we should all work on what works for us, not what is technically sound ie. new style stack and tilt or tigers swing

[ijuswanagolf]

any swings that work that well( finals of the match play) are ok in my book, we should all work on what works for us, not what is technically sound ie. new style stack and tilt or tigers swing

 

Just what I was going to say.

 

 

 

Hey he reached that long par 5 (600+ yards) in 2 and he teed off with an iron. I would say it works for him.

[PurePursuit]

george knudson, and sam snead both did this ben hogan said knudson had the greatest golf swing hes ever seen, george knudson said in his book the natural golf swing that sam snead was THE natural golfer and my coach has told me over and over sam snead is the model, the perfect golf swing and sam snead also did this, why the hell would we not copy sam snead obviously hes bracing himself in a different place than most golfers think you should be hes rotating around a center but where exactly is that center....

 

 

Thats because your teacher is a MORAD guy, and Morad based its original model off of Sam Snead. Do a search for Hoganfans posts on his Morad school experience. Its not exactly clear why they chose Snead, but it is clear that snead played a pull fade for the majority of his career (a fine swing though). Lifting your left heel a little isn't horrible, it can increase torque during the replant phase..but it does have its draw backs.

[philiptheboy]

My uncle does this and it works for him, i think it looks quite funny but when he's knocking it 270 yards regular and straight, i can't laugh really

[Jaylasvegas]

worked good for the best player of all time Nicklaus

[breakinpar]

george knudson, and sam snead both did this ben hogan said knudson had the greatest golf swing hes ever seen, george knudson said in his book the natural golf swing that sam snead was THE natural golfer and my coach has told me over and over sam snead is the model, the perfect golf swing and sam snead also did this, why the hell would we not copy sam snead obviously hes bracing himself in a different place than most golfers think you should be hes rotating around a center but where exactly is that center....

 

 

Thats because your teacher is a MORAD guy, and Morad based its original model off of Sam Snead. Do a search for Hoganfans posts on his Morad school experience. Its not exactly clear why they chose Snead, but it is clear that snead played a pull fade for the majority of his career (a fine swing though). Lifting your left heel a little isn't horrible, it can increase torque during the replant phase..but it does have its draw backs.

 

Whats the drawback?

 

I only see good thing when people do this.

[shoot54today]

Nicklaus, Snead and the baddest man on the planet, Jamie Sadlowski. Why does everyone want to stay anchored to the ground? Check this out.

 

http://www.aroundhawaii.com/lifestyle/heal...ger-drives.html

 

I liked Johnny Miller's comment about Casey yesterday. "That (raising his left heel) is probably why he hits it so far for a little guy."

[carrera]

He does it all the way through the bag as far as i nknow, something new he and his coach are working on.

 

I just looked at my Tivo of the final and you are right...more subtle lifting of the heel with irons, but it is definitely there. Something I used to do back in the 80's...seems like a good timing key...plant the left foot to initiate the downswing.

[morganmonroe]

He does it all the way through the bag as far as i nknow, something new he and his coach are working on.

 

I just looked at my Tivo of the final and you are right...more subtle lifting of the heel with irons, but it is definitely there. Something I used to do back in the 80's...seems like a good timing key...plant the left foot to initiate the downswing.

 

Johnny Miller said it was definitely something for the 50+ crowd. Not there (yet) but after re-examining Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, I like the extra turn.

[carrera]

Johnny Miller said it was definitely something for the 50+ crowd. Not there (yet) but after re-examining Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, I like the extra turn.

 

44 here...but I agree with you!

[larrybud]

Whats the drawback?

I only see good thing when people do this.

 

A number of things can happen: Foot doesn't get replanted into the same spot, reverse pivot, swaying...

 

Seems like an unnecessary extra movement to me.

[larrybud]

Nicklaus, Snead and the baddest man on the planet, Jamie Sadlowski. Why does everyone want to stay anchored to the ground? Check this out.

 

http://www.aroundhawaii.com/lifestyle/heal...ger-drives.html

 

I liked Johnny Miller's comment about Casey yesterday. "That (raising his left heel) is probably why he hits it so far for a little guy."

 

Johnny isn't exactly Mr. Physics... I would say Casey hits it far because his arms seem to be the size of my legs.

 

The only way your body has to have some sort of resistance to rotate. That resistance is the ground.

[woods991]

making sure the left foot remains in the same place is the key or like the previous post stats if it moves it will create a swaying action which could be very bad. Make sure that you spikes are newer so your left foot remains in place.

[arkstorm]

Nicklaus, Snead and the baddest man on the planet, Jamie Sadlowski. Why does everyone want to stay anchored to the ground? Check this out.

 

http://www.aroundhawaii.com/lifestyle/heal...ger-drives.html

 

I liked Johnny Miller's comment about Casey yesterday. "That (raising his left heel) is probably why he hits it so far for a little guy."

 

Johnny isn't exactly Mr. Physics... I would say Casey hits it far because his arms seem to be the size of my legs.

 

The only way your body has to have some sort of resistance to rotate. That resistance is the ground.

 

He's got Popeye forearms. Maybe that has something to do with it.

[golfingnut300]

Lifting the left heel or should I say planting the left heel is also a timing issue. I know a few teachers that teach the planting of the left heel and the squating motion starts the downswing.

[morganmonroe]

Whats the drawback?

I only see good thing when people do this.

 

A number of things can happen: Foot doesn't get replanted into the same spot, reverse pivot, swaying...

 

Seems like an unnecessary extra movement to me.

 

 

 

Younger guys don't need it for sure. For older guys, they slowly integrate it, or lose distance and accuracy. It's called life. :-\

[breakinpar]

Whats the drawback?I only see good thing when people do this.

A number of things can happen: Foot doesn't get replanted into the same spot, reverse pivot, swaying...Seems like an unnecessary extra movement to me.

I'm sure Gumby doesn't need to lift the left heel but most of us are not Gumby.

[larrybud]

Whats the drawback?

I only see good thing when people do this.

 

A number of things can happen: Foot doesn't get replanted into the same spot, reverse pivot, swaying...

 

Seems like an unnecessary extra movement to me.

 

 

 

Younger guys don't need it for sure. For older guys, they slowly integrate it, or lose distance and accuracy. It's called life. :-\

I don't see it adding distance.

 

Think about this: If you lift your heel, then replant it before the downswing, how has that added any swing speed? IOW, if you're flexible enough to replant it before the downswing, then you're flexible enough to leave it there in the first place.

 

I guess the age old question: Is length of swing (i.e. how far the clubhead goes back) the determining factor in swing speed, or is tension (i.e. coil) between the upper and lower body the determining factor?

[shoot54today]

I don't see it adding distance.

 

Think about this: If you lift your heel, then replant it before the downswing, how has that added any swing speed? IOW, if you're flexible enough to replant it before the downswing, then you're flexible enough to leave it there in the first place.

 

In his book, the Physics of Golf, Jorgenson stated that gravity added 13% to swing speed.

 

The other night I was taking a few swings and recording the swing speed. I was swinging consistently 115-119 mph. I started to focus and work on raising the left heel and standing taller and closer to the ball. After about 5 more swings, I recorded 120mph and then 123mph. I rested 1-minute between swings and used that time to mimic the raising and stomping of the left heel like Snead. Took a few more swings in the 120-123 range and them popped a 130mph, followed by 123,123,123.

 

Look at the old-time Heel-Raisers and their place in all-time PGA Tour Victories. Snead, Nicklaus, Nelson and Casper.

 

So, why do we want to stay anchored to the ground like trees? Plant the heel and squat and then push off the ground. In that slo-mo of Casey the other day, he planted the heel, squated and pushed of the ground vertically while rotating. It ain't his forearms.

[haxx27]

Casey only lifts his heel on his power-shots (i.e woods, driver, possibly 2 iron).

 

According to the thousands of hours I've put into researching Casey's swing (I'm tyring to model my own after it, one of the best swings on tour IMO). after about a 6 iron does his left heel ever leave the ground, and even if it does it's very minimal. This has me to believe that Paul only has a life of the heel on his longer clubs.

 

That left heel lift is obviously doing some good with his long game, as he is definetley a monster off the tee.

[bloodredsun]

Here's a picture I took of Casey at the BMW Championship at Wentworth. No heel lift there and it does seem that it's only the power shots that he does it.

 

 

I watched him hit about a dozen shots - what an awesome swing and interesting that he's one of the few guys who has a noticeably different noise at impact.

[carrera]

Casey only lifts his heel on his power-shots (i.e woods, driver, possibly 2 iron).

 

According to the thousands of hours I've put into researching Casey's swing (I'm tyring to model my own after it, one of the best swings on tour IMO). after about a 6 iron does his left heel ever leave the ground, and even if it does it's very minimal. This has me to believe that Paul only has a life of the heel on his longer clubs.

 

That left heel lift is obviously doing some good with his long game, as he is definetley a monster off the tee.

 

Many shots of Casey's swing at the Shell Houston yesterday. I noticed a modest amount of heel lift on a shot as short as 154 yds (an approach to a back nine hole). No heel lift on wedge shots. I'm not sure what iron he used for the 154 yd shot (8 or 9, I'd imagine), but that seemed to be the demarcation line.

 

And no heel lift on a fairway bunker shot.