Three times each week at 6:00 am I work out with Adrian – a trainer at the Fit4U gym in Edmond. Adrian is a great trainer. He pays particular attention to technique to get the ideal results. This morning was leg day. I’m not in love with leg day. I dread leg day, but this morning, I learned something new.

While doing leg presses in the leg press machine, I placed my feet on the plate to push up the rack. As I started pushing, Adrian mentioned that my feet were too straight. He told me to rotate the feet outward a few degrees.

When I rotated the feet my range of motion increased. It released pressure on my knees, and I could feel the ideal muscles, the quadriceps and gluteus Maximus – being used to push the rack. My legs immediately became stronger.

I also noticed my left leg is much stronger than my right leg.

Now, apply this to the functional position of the foot during the golf swing. You can see how his lead foot is rotated outward and trail foot is more “straight out.”  The position of the feet allows the leg to bend correctly into place to stabilize the lead hip.

In essence, the transition into the downing is a slight leg press into the lead leg into impact.

This movement stabilizes the lead hip. It braces the first side of the body for rotation of the pelvis and torso.

I teach this as a “Step without a Step.” In other words, it feels as though you step into impact, but you aren’t stepping. You are merely moving down into your first knee. The result is a sturdy and braced leg position.