The Waist Straightens This bending forward from the waist straightens the knees and really locks them tightly so that any sense of footwork or shifting of weight is impossible. From the sit-down position the good golfer assumes his knees are easy and relaxed so that footwork and weight-shifting can be done easily. As you do your first four steps, learn to get the sit-down effect rather than the straight locked knee effect. So much for the first four steps. Let's proceed now with an explanation of the actual making of the shot, which will be done with the second four steps.
THE SECOND PART OF THE GOLF SHOT
The Four Moves that Make the Stroke If you follow the first moves related in Chapter Three, you will find yourself balanced on your left foot. This position should give you a sense of aim, a sense of hit and a sense of contact with the ball. The position created by these first four moves will place you in the proper position at the time and point of impact with the ball. It is a position where you are really leaning the club against the ball. However, the position so assumed is contrary to the act of raising the club to the top of the swing. As long as the weight is on the left foot, the player will have difficulty in making the backswing correctly. Therefore, before the player makes any attempt to take the club away from the ball, he must shift his weight. He must change his balance from his left foot to his right, and only then will he be able to raise the club freely. All good players assume this position of balance on the left foot as they address the ball; likewise, all good players shift their weight and thereby move their balance from the left foot over to the right foot before they make any attempt to lift or raise the club to the top of the swing. Furthermore, all good golfers shift or change their balance from the left foot to the right foot in exactly the same way, because there is only one way in which to change one's balance from one foot to the other. The one way to shift one's weight, the one way to change balance from one foot to the other, is by changing knee positions. For example, if a person were a member of an army squad, and the officer called "Attention," heels would snap together and the soldier would stand erect, both knees straight. In this position his balance or weight is divided evenly between both feet. When the officer calls "At rest," the soldier simply "pops" or bends one knee, and thereby balances himself on the opposite foot. If he popped or bent his left knee, the right knee would remain straight and his balance or weight would be on the right foot entirely, while the left leg would be relaxed and at rest. After standing on the right foot for a while that right leg would tire, so the soldier merely reverses knee positions—in this case he would bend the right knee and, as he did this, the left knee would straighten and by this reversal of knee positions the weight and balance would be on the left foot. | 