Justin Rose - Using the Right Foot for Consistency

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In this video, I'll show you how Justin Rose uses his right foot to get into a perfect impact position. The right foot can play a dynamic role in the golf swing and by learning how to use it properly in the hitting area, you will become more consistent and still maintain the power in your golf swing.

  • Roll on the instep of the right foot at impact without the heel coming off the ground
  • Picking up the right foot too soon leads to extra secondary axis tilt and the tendency to over use right hand. 
  • Keeping the right foot down at impact, will act like a brake for the hips and allow you to unleash the power the correct time. 

  


Hello, RST swing instructor Craig Morrow and today we're going to be taking a look at Justin Rose and how he uses his right foot correctly to get into a good impact position. First off, congratulations to Justin for his win in this past week's Quicken Loans National. Today I just want to talk to you all about a couple positions that Justin gets into down at impact and how he uses the right foot properly into getting there. There's a lot of things that Justin does that are RST principles that we teach, which has allowed him to log six top tens, one win and make over $3,000,000 on tour this year. So let me talk to you all about a couple of things that he gets into, or a couple of the good positions that he gets into and how he uses that right foot properly because the right foot is something that our members or students often overlook as to the importance of it, into getting into a good impact position.

                If you take a look at Justin on the right side of your screen from the face on view, is that from the top Justin does a great job of getting stacked on that left side. You can see down at impact that everything is pretty much in line with his left ankle joint. His left knee, left hip, are just a touch outside of that but this is pretty much ideal and what we preach on a day in, day out basis here at rotaryswing.com. You can also take note that the right shoulder's working barely beneath the left and that Justin doesn't have too much secondary access tilt. You can also notice that his right foot isn't off the ground too soon, that it's rolling more off the instep instead of pushing off the toes. The lines and circles that I have on the screen right here is why Justin's been so consistent this year, is this is pretty much a can't miss position.

                He's not doing anything that's going to prevent him from not playing on the course due to injury but from this position he's going to be able to control the flight of his ball, the shape of his ball and get a nice consistent strike every time. If you take a look at his swing from the down the line view on the left hand side, coming down onto the ball, what I want you all to watch is his right foot. You'll notice that coming down that his heel doesn't come off the ground too soon, which is meaning that he's keeping his glutes engaged, that he's not tending to engage the quads on the downswing. If that he were coming off the ground too soon and that he were pushing off his toes, that would mean that his glutes were becoming disengaged. Our glutes are going to be our hip stabilizers in our downswing and also making sure that we transfer our weight efficiently.

                This is one position that allows him to achieve where his shoulders are over here on the face on view down at impact, that they're relatively level and he doesn't have too much secondary access tilt. If he were to allow his right foot or heel to come off the ground too soon and be pushing off his toes, what would happen is that he would change his access tilt at impact because everything in the golf swing is based on counterbalancing. So, if he picked up the foot too soon, what would happen is that the lower body would start to push too soon towards the target and start to push beyond neutral joint alignment, which would make his upper body start to hang back. If his upper body started to hang back, instead of getting in this position, or he lacks too much secondary access tilt, or the right shoulder's working barely beneath the left, he would be more here, where the secondary access tilt would be more on the red line and the right shoulder would be here and the left shoulder would be here.

                That position right there would be putting undue stress on his lumbar spine. He'd be putting undue stress on his left hip, his left knee, and he had also be timing a flip down at the bottom because he would be coming too much underneath the shot and with all the good things that he does coming down, he would tend to use too much of his right side in squaring up the club face. For what we know we want to make sure that we're using our left side to square up the club face. The right arm, all he's doing is adding speed on the downswing, we don't want him controlling too much of that club face coming down into the strike. If he were to allow that right foot to come up too soon or the heel to come up too soon, it would tend to cause his upper body to lag behind, add too much secondary access tilt, which would put too much undue stress on his lower lumbar spine but also tend to him to want to flip at it with that right hand coming into impact, which would lead him into being inconsistent and not making $3,000,000 on tour this year.

                So, if you want to get into a good fundamentally sound impact position or hit these positions that Justin does down at impact, you have to use the right foot correctly. You don't want the heel coming up off the ground too soon or be pushing off the toes or engaging the quads because all it's going to do is lead to injuries and inconsistencies down at impact. So, if you want to get into this position and go make $3,000,000 on tour, what you need to do is you need to go check out the video of the roll of the right foot and in this video Chuck's going to talk to you about how we're going to roll off the instep and we're not going to pick up off that heel too soon and start to engage the quads or push off the toes, which is going to tend to lead to too much secondary access tilt and getting the lower body out racing the upper and wanting to flip at it with the right hand versus properly releasing it with the left hand.

                Again, congratulations to Justin, really proud of him for his win, it was a tough one. I mean, he made a great bogey on 18 but a reason that he was there in that position to begin with is because he uses that right foot properly on the downswing. So let's learn how to use that right foot properly, get into a good impact position and shoot some good scores.

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Giap
Could you guys do a swing review on Cameron champ please?
November 21, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Giap. Thanks for the suggestion. I will see what we can do.
November 21, 2018
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James
Hi Craig this is certainly a great video for training that right foot action at impact. Working on this a lot and the bonus is it is helping hold that right shoulder back at impact. One question is should I feel my right shoulder and chest come closer to the ground as I release the club through? I am finding that when this happens, with my trail foot rolling over to the left instep it helps me get a really great solid strike on the ball. Then as I complete the release my trail side shoulder is pulled through under my chin. Providing I have not let the trail (right hand) interfere with the forearms rolling over through the release area. I am working on just lightly holding on to the club with my right hand with just the two middle fingers, letting the last three fingers on the lead (left hand) control club through the release are. Is there anything else you think I should be aware of?
September 11, 2018
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello James. All sounds good to me. Just make sure you don't try to force the trail shoulder to a lower point before impact. If you start driving it towards the ground it could propose an issue. You are letting the chest cover and the shoulders get pulled into position. The trail will drop and work under the chin while maintaining side bend into the follow through. But, make sure it is a function of proper body motion and not trying to force the cover with the trail.
September 11, 2018
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Rob
Hi Craig, Does not keeping the right foot down during the downswing help lead to a lateral hip slide? Rob
February 16, 2017
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Rob. It may lead to a lateral hip slide. However, hip spinning would be more common.
February 16, 2017
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James
I notice when I've worked on this it causes pulls or even pull draws. It's sure a whole heap better than a slice but as a 2 handicap golfer,I feel getting 'control' of the driver is easier said than done
September 29, 2016
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Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
If you are pulling the ball, you could be turning your upper body more through the hitting area or slamming the clubface shut it impact with the right hand. Also, hanging back (creating too much secondary axis tilt), can cause you to get the club coming in too flat and hit a flip hook. Control from the driver should be done by trying to keep your movements exactly the same as you do with other clubs. You can make driver setup adjustments, once you own the movements, have the driver on a good path with proper control of the face. Good luck.
September 29, 2016
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Brandon
It seems like the right foot will move naturally with the body as along as we're using our lead side correctly. Is that a correct analysis?
September 9, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Brandon. Yes. The trail foot should be reactionary to the lead side usage.
September 10, 2016
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Seth
Where is the roll the right foot video you reference?
April 10, 2016
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Seth. Take a look at the Top Right under the Recommended Videos Tab or the Downswing Advanced Section - Role of the Right Foot.
April 11, 2016
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PRIO
I am just wondering what differentiate swing to manage the ball spin, in this video seems that the ball was rolling while most of my approach ball was dead stop and not rolling enough. Would be good to know to manage distance and control the ball.
July 11, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Prio. All lot of the issue has to do with angle of attack and course conditions. Most tour courses are setup to very firm greens. That lead to more roll out. You could be adding a little loft at impact and not getting proper compression. If you could upload a swing to one of our instructors. They should be able to find the culprit thats leading to less control of your distance and ball control. Nevertheless, a good suggestion for us to make a video about distance management. Thanks Prio.
July 11, 2014
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Stevie
Congrats on a great,simple summary
July 1, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Thanks Stevie!
July 1, 2014
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Mike
I've had concerns about my older, flat feet affecting my golf swing. I'll work on the right foot. Can unstable feet cause inconsistency. Suggestions? Your program has cut several strokes off my game. Thank you, Buck
July 1, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Buck. Footwork is important in the golf swing. Just try to stay more on the insteps of the feet. When you take your setup. Feel like you slightly roll the feet inwards. Use them as the pivot point instead of getting outside the foot.
July 1, 2014
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darryl
what is the best video camera to use for swing analysis? That will allow you to see the shaft at impact?
June 30, 2014
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dustin
Darryl, Have you use camera on iPhone 5s ? I used it and have no complain. It's 150 frame per second. Very good !
July 1, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Also, the Samsung S5 Slow Motion Feature works pretty good in a pinch.
July 2, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Darryl. Thats a tough one. So many new cameras out today lacking the shutter speed for golf. A lot of us here use the Casio FC150. However, the model has been discontinued and can be pricey. A few used ones though on ebay. The thing you need to look for is high shutter speed and manual control over it. Casio still makes some high shutter speed cameras. Un-sure of the best model.
June 30, 2014
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mickey
You probably could have put my video next to Justin's to show the incorrect way to do it!!!! The timing of this is perfect based on my latest swing submission.
June 30, 2014
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Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Mickey. Glad you enjoyed the review. And get that right foot on lock down!
June 30, 2014

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