The Lateral Slide – How it Helps with Path, Power & Rotation
In modern golf, we often talk about being centered. It comes from some kind of idea that there’s a fixed point in the body that you move around.
Sure, I get it. You get more consistency in the strike regarding low point, etc. But at what cost?
I feel that a lateral slide, however small it might be, really helps with a bunch of different factors.
Let’s break it down.
Inside Path from Sliding
Test standing on your trail foot and perform a golf shot. What happens?
A bit of a chop across the ball, right? Not so little, to be honest. If I stand on my trail foot in the downswing and just stay there, I’m instantly 10 degrees out-to-in.
When you slide over, you “kind of” create space for the arms, and this instantly creates better inside path properties.
But there’s more at play.
Athletic Ground Usage
When you perform the lateral slide, you establish more pressure in your lead leg.
This happens if you slide the entire body.
If you only slide the lower center of gravity, then it’s another story.
So let’s say you perform it correctly—what happens then is that you get a counterpart to your power protocol.
You get something to act from. This leads to your pendulum becoming more powerful without you trying to do anything at all.
And the cool thing—if you understand how power works in your swing—you can do more of the good stuff.
So the slide gives access to more passive power and more active, optional power.
Low Point & Body Possibilities
Now over to the really cool stuff.
I kind of think that a premature low point (before the golf ball) is one of the biggest swing killers out there.
And when you perform the slide properly (moving your entire body like Scheffler, for instance), you get the feeling that you won’t chunk it.
This opens up tension-free power application, but maybe more importantly, the ability to use the body.
Since the low point is in check, the centrifugal forces can be released. And when the powers are out (with timing that you train), you can start manually rotating your body with very accessible feels.
The Lateral Slide – Summary
Test it out. Make a backswing, and somewhere just before the top of the backswing, slide everything over—then start your power application.
This is built into some of my patterns, and what I’ve showcased in the video is mostly the Big Arc Swinger motion, inspired by Nicklaus, Woods, and all the way to Scheffler.
Not exactly what they did/do—but the stuff that creates the motion.
Check out the Forgotten Master Moves homepage here.
In the FMM Academy I teach differnt patterns and it’s all about fit – has it’s overview page here.