A crucial component of generating power in the swing is ankle mobility. More specifically dorsiflexion mobility, which is the bend in the ankle where your foot flexes towards your head. From the top your downswing the ankle progressively flexes more and more until maximum ankle dorsiflexion occurs just before impact. The greater dorsiflexion you have the more you can impart muscle force into the ground and thereby create a reaction force from the ground. The reaction force is what enables you to generate maximum power from the glut muscles and the rest of the leg and generate club speed and therefore distance.
The other variable to consider is that lack of mobility in the ankles or asymmetry in ankle mobility leads to swing problems such as coming out of posture early in the downswing. This often leads to those nasty habits such as topping the ball or a solid slice that can hit homes lining your favourite course.
In addition to mobility in the ankle we require the ankle to be dynamically stable and not to collapse in the downswing into what’s commonly known as pronation. A muscle called the tibialis posterior is your chief stabilizer here. So it’s very important that this muscle is strong but flexible.
An exercise to improve the range of motion in your ankle is to use the shaft of an iron to work out and massage the calves at the back of your leg. Do this for 3 minutes on each leg before hitting the first tee box.
An excellent exercise to strengthen the tibialis posterior muscle is to wrap a rubber band around the ball of your foot and hold the opposite end of the band with your hand. On the count of 2 seconds push your ankle down and in towards the other foot, hold for a second before returning to the start position on a count of 3 seconds. Repeat until fatigue.
After 3 weeks your ankle compression should be improved and your club speed increased with more shots being on target.
Greg Redman
Team Canada Head Physiotherapist and Strength Coach
