David Lingmerth - Left Leg Impact Position

Sorry, you need to be a member to access this video.
You Are Just Seconds Away - Become a member here!
Already a member? Log in now

Congrats to David Lingmerth on his playoff victory at the 2015 Memorial tournament. Why is that we see so many golf professionals sustain swing related injuries year after year? Is it because golf instruction has always lacked one really important concept of protecting the body and it's joints? You betcha! In this video, I'll show you how a particular David Lingmerth impact position could lead to an injury down the road. I'll also show you the importance of neutral joint alignment in the golf swing and how it could save you from a possible hip or knee surgery.

  • Watch determing proper stance width to define neutral joint alignment. 
  • Make sure your lead side does not go beyond NJA at impact. This can stress the hip and the knee. 


Hey, hey everyone.

This is RST instructor Chris Tyler back again with this week's tour analysis.

Congratulations to David Lingmuth, who picked up a playoff victory over Justin Rose at the Memorial this past weekend.

A weekend fun filled with watching one of the best players to walk the planet here shoot 85.

So this week we're going to be doing something a little bit different here.

There's a particular position in David's golf swing that we'd like to see him get a little bit better.

Because a lot of amateur golfers struggle with some lead hip problems or some lead knee problems.

And if you've noticed that you've been struggling with the same area, I'm going to give you guys a little outline on what you can do to make yourself a little bit more efficient, a little bit more safe at impact.

So let's go ahead and get started.

All right, everyone.

So this week we're going to be focusing on a particular impact position that David has and one that we would like to see him work on and maybe get a little bit better.

Maybe give a little bit of outside perspective here because a lot of times amateur golfers or, you know, even golfers at a professional level struggle with lead hip problems and lead knee issues.

And you can put a lot of stress on those joints.

And so just taking a look at things here, it's going to be a pretty quick analysis this week.

Let me go ahead and show you David's impact position here with his lead knee.

So you're going to see him start to externally rotate his lead leg to pull the hips over to the lead side.

And then as we get down into the hitting area, you're going to notice that his lead knee is quite a bit out past the center of his ankle.

So you can see the center of the ankle being right here.

You see the lead knee, lots of trail side push getting him into this position.

So we expect the trail leg to help push a little bit in the downward move, but we really want mostly the move to be facilitated by that external rotation of the lead leg.

And then when the left knee and a lot of the weight starts to transfer into this lead side, What we would be looking to do is driving that heel into the ground.

Working to clear your hips by using your left obliques to pull the hip away from the target.

Now that movement alone by pushing down into the ground is going to act kind of like a piston.

And then the clearing of the hip is going to now move the left leg to a more of a straight position.

But what I want you to think of is it as it being a passive straight position.

We don't want you to slam it to a straight position.

That's one of the big misnomers of the golf swing.

So if you look over here from a model swing perspective in transition, you're going to see the same sort of movement here from the lead leg.

You're going to see a lot of external rotation right here.

So there's the external rotation.

But now the big difference is is once the weight gets over into the lead side and the hips and knees are now back to more of a square position, this is where that posting up, what you're going to hear is a very common expression around the website.

This is where that's going to start to happen.

So through these next few frames, there's a lot of pushing down into the ground with this lead heel.

And this lead hip is now being cleared with the left obliques, and then back into an impact position where we have more of a stacked up appearance.

So you can see that having these joints stacked on top of each other is not going to put a lot of pressure on the outside part of the knee and allow the hip socket to rotate like it's designed to do.

So really quick review this week.

Again, it's not one of those areas that we would like to see, you know, a playing professional, We still see a lot of golfers get into that position where they have their lead knee out past neutral.

And if you're unclear as to what I'm talking about in this particular, you know, this particular review, I would check out determining proper stance with video.

These are the videos that I recommend along with the tour analysis each week, it's going to be over to the right hand side of the video player underneath recommended videos tab.

Just click that all the videos that I mentioned throughout a review will populate over there.

And so we want to look at determining proper stance width, we'll talk about neutral joint alignment, what that actually means.

And then we have the straight left legged impact video.

It's a video where we talk about how to find or get your glutes to activate and how to use proper muscle groups.

To start to move that leg to a straighter position and help keep it in neutral joint alignment.

And then we have move three, the downswing, and we have five minutes to a perfect downswing.

Those videos are going to really talk about how we're going to use the lower body and get us into a good, safe and efficient spot.

All right, guys, so if you've been battling with some lead hip problems or some lead knee problems in the past, you definitely want to take a look at these videos, get things straightened out, and you'll be well on your way to playing efficient and safe golf.

Now let's make it a great

Must be Premium Member to Comment

64x64
Lynn
WOW! Who is that on the right? Amazing swing, technically perfect!
September 7, 2016
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Lynn. That's Chuck .
September 8, 2016
64x64
erik
47 year old right handed golfer who recently tore my ACL and partial tear of MCL in left knee. The MCL is healing, and I'm PT'ing for the left. Hoping to avoid surgery. Are there any adjustments to the set up (more flare in left foot?) or golf swing that someone with these injuries should keep in mind? One of my swing flaws is failing to transfer weight onto the left side and now I'm worried that this injury will have me holding back on my right side. Doctors tell me that golf shouldn't be a problem with a torn ACL, but still...can't get it out of my head and looking for some feedback from you guys.
March 20, 2016
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Erik. I'm sorry to hear about your ailments with the left knee. Technically, we should be able to transfer the weight and keep you pain free. Some knowledge and understanding the positions will get us off the right foot (no pun intended, but kinda worked out). Take a look at a few videos for me. Should You Splay Your Feet, Preventing Hip Pain, Fixing Your Weight Transfer, Face One Impact Alignments and Weight Shift Video Part 1. The big keys for you will be getting into a stacked position over the lead ankle joint, not pushing from the trail side beyond NJA and having good stability by using the glutes to shy away from too much lateral hip slide.
March 21, 2016
64x64
Martin
So I have several thoughts I'm trying to rationalize and put into sequence during the swing. 1) Stomp the left heel to begin the downswing. 2) Pull the left hip to the left 3) Squat down and up 4) Bump hips to the left. So my question is what actually is the correct sequence, bump first, then stomp, then squat? How does this all work together?
July 7, 2015
64x64
Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Hey Martin, you are actually looking to make a pretty dynamic move in the lower half when you are working in transition. You want the hips to be shifting, rotating and making a subtle squat/sitting move into the lead side. I would take a look at the sitting into the left side video that Chuck did and see how he works to get moving into the lead side. Let me know if that does not work and I will gladly further assist you.
July 7, 2015
64x64
Martin
so I am noticing that my weight seems to shift to the outside of the left foot after impact. My outside spikes are being pushed towards the ball and my ankle rolls a little, not too much but the foot is not flat. Is that normal?
July 9, 2015
64x64
Chris (Certified RST Instructor)
Check out the perfecting lower body stability video. At the end of the video, I talk about this particular area. If that doesn't help, let me know and I can further assist you.
July 11, 2015
64x64
Ricardo
I recently just rejoin RST after your absence for the express purpose of trying to amend my swing notorious hip spinner all my life but this year have noticed in spite of getting my weight into my left heel and the downswing and squatting still have persisting left knee pain have severe bone on bone from torn ACL never replaced and removed medial meniscus years ago. I think Kyle pain comes from snappy my left knee at impact what can I do to avoid the pain and still squat and get to the left-field without having pain
June 14, 2015
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Ricardo. I answered you under the Straight Left Leg Video.
June 15, 2015
64x64
Loran
The width of the stance provides for foundation of power? But too wide a stance seriously inhibit getting back to the left side quickly enough to maximize power...so, in the end, the squat generates power rather than speed of the hips shifting?
June 12, 2015
64x64
Craig (Certified RST Instructor)
Hello Loan. Yes, the stance width is very important for having a good foundation to setup a powerful swing. Having a stance too wide will inhibit the ability to transfer the weight, stack over the lead ankle and reach a good impact position. The squat and engagement of the glutes allows you to add power from the hips through rotation and leverage. You shouldn't rush the speed of the shift in an effort to create more power.
June 12, 2015
64x64
Seth
Chris, This is very helpful. Would it be possible to create a "pain and possible cause" video page where if we are having certain issues with certain joints/muscles after playing or practicing, we could possibly use that pain to diagnose a particular problem? I'm right handed and I've been suffering from right elbow pain after playing. My only guess is that I'm casting and hitting the ground but that is my guess as to the cause. Just something to discuss with the team at RST.
June 8, 2015
64x64
Chuck
Hey Seth, this might be a good idea for something in the future if there is enough demand for it. Only problem is no one wants to listen to me about how they could get injured until they already are injured! If your right elbow is sore you are 100% overusing it and the swing needs to feel much more left side dominant. Check out this video to get you started http://www.rotaryswing.com/videos/full-swing-advanced/downswing/vijay-release-drill
June 9, 2015
64x64
RICHARD
On Memorial Day injured my left hip - 100 yards out, downhill, fairway lie - fell down after swing, felt like I landed with weight outside on my left hip. On crutches and MRI revealed some torn ligaments. Doing physical thereby probably couple weeks before return to golf. Interested in your thoughts that caused this awful position and what I can do to avoid a reoccurrence. Thanks so much, Dick Frederick PS: rfrederick1@mac.com
June 8, 2015
64x64
Chuck
Dick, sounds like a labrum issue and given that you mentioned you were on a downhill lie this leads me to venture a guess that you got well outside of neutral joint alignment on the left hip. Very important to not move much past neutral, this is why Nicklaus, Watson and many others had their hips replaced. If anything, it is much safer to err on the side of not getting all the way to neutral, but your target should be to be stacked directly over the left ankle.
June 9, 2015

We're after one thing: Real Results - Real Fast. And that's exactly what our members achieve. And that's why they say the AXIOM is: Mind-blowing. Game changing. Revolutionary.

Check it out ...

Here at RotarySwing, talk is cheap and the proof is always in the pudding. Come see the massive transformations we can achieve together in your swing.

See for yourself ...

From beginner to pro, we have what you need to get you where you want to go.

See how inside ...

RotarySwing was founded out of frustration with the current state of golf instruction. Quinton knew a better way had to exist to learn this game we all love.

Learn more ...