The legs are the leading source of power in your golf swing, and how you move them throughout the swing largely determines how far and straight you will hit the ball. Many golfers spend hours focusing on arm position during their swing, but fail to realize that without proper leg and hip movement, it is difficult ever to achieve a consistent golf swing.
Features
During a correct golf swing, your legs and hips move laterally away from your target, then toward it. While your legs stay planted in one position during most of the swing, the weight distribution on them changes greatly throughout. Having a slight flex in your knees allows the weight to transfer smoothly across your legs and in turn creates a smoother golf stroke. This leg movement is likely to become minimal or nonexistent, however, during a putting or chipping stroke.
Time Frame
As you move into your backswing, your legs lean slightly away from your target as you transfer your weight in that direction. This movement is not large, but enough to put most of your weight over your back foot. As you bring the club from the peak of your backswing to the moment of impact, your hips move forward and your back leg collapses inward at the knee, toward your front leg. Rotating through the shot on your follow-through, your front leg pivots away from the ball to accommodate the motion of your hips. Your back leg turns up on its toe to balance you. Because all of your weight should be on your front leg after you hit the shot, you need your back leg on its toe to keep you from falling over.
Significance
Improper leg movement keeps many amateurs from making good contact with the ball, veteran golfer Tom Watson writes for "Golf Digest" magazine. If you keep your weight on your back leg throughout the swing, you are likely to pull the club face out of alignment with the ball, resulting in a slice or hook. Further, if you do not have a full rotation with your front leg after you hit the ball, you are depriving yourself of the maximum amount of power you could put into your swing.
Considerations
The type of club you are hitting greatly affects how much leg movement you need in your swing. The more power you need in a shot --- such as when you're hitting a driver --- the greater the movement you need in your legs. If you are using a shorter club, such as a pitching wedge, the movement of your legs will be less and more directly in line with the brief stroke the club makes as it moves through the ball.
Misconceptions
One of the greatest misconceptions about the golf swing is that your legs return to their exact starting position at the moment of impact, the Jim Miller Golf website reports. Your hips and legs should actually be slightly ahead of where they started when you hit the ball. This accommodates for the rotation of your shoulders through the swing.
Many golfers also believe all of their weight should begin on the back leg when addressing the ball, the site adds. This is a fallacy because it does not allow for your legs and hips to move into the backswing. Your weight should begin on your front foot so your legs can move freely backward at the start of the swing.
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