In the game of golf, lower body balance and stability go hand in hand. Stability of the lower body must include the combined control of the hip, knee, and ankle joints. Every golfer during the back swing must maintain a solid base to allow the proper coiling of the spine and upper body.

Golfers who can not maintain a solid base will often over rotate the lower body or try to brace or lock the right knee.

To develop stability, the golfer needs to work on balance, proprioception, strength and flexibility throughout the lower body and trunk. Exercises such as sumo squats, deadlifts, and single leg movements such as the anterior reach or lunges are good examples of exercises that develop stability in the lower trunk. Here are some excellent exercises to incorporate into your current fitness routine for lower body stability.

One legged deadlift is an effective exercise that strengthens the hamstrings, glutes, and is important for developing single leg stability.

1. Take two kettlebells on the ground side by side

2. Grip the ground with your feet and keep the muscles around your ankle and on the bottom of your foot tight.

3. Hinge at your hips with a semi-squat position and grasp the kettlebells. (be sure your looking straight).

4. Tighten your glutes of the loaded leg and brace the abs.

5. Stay tight throughout the body, push straight down with your leg.

6. Be sure to maintain a straight spine.

7. Do not attempt to recover lost balance by fidgeting; this could injure your knee.

Anterior Reach is a great single leg exercise that trains the core muscles on the back of the body especially the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back muscles.

1) Begin on standing on one leg, draw your navel inwards, slight bend at the knee

2) Using your opposite arm reach forward bending at the hips, touching an object can use a water bottle or cone.

3) Stand back to the starting position. You should feel this in legs, especially the glutes.

One-Legged Balance using an unstable surface.

1. Using a half foam roller stand on one foot lengthwise on the flat down roller.

2. Be sure to keep your eyes on the horizon, and hold for time. If that seems easy than do it with your eyes closed.

By using these exercises your body can work efficiently and allow for the greatest amount of energy to be delivered to the club. Over time your body will develop the ability to stabilize and allow energy to move from one muscle to the next until it reaches the club.

Every golf club in your bag has bounce, some more than others. Here is an explanation of golf club bounce as defined by pgaprofessional.com.

Bounce: “(“bounce sole, bounce angle”) the angle of the club’s sole in relation to level/horizontal, or the amount that the leading edge of the club is higher than the part of the club’s sole that is lower most (usually used in reference to irons, wedges in particular, and measured in degrees) Example: Many sand wedges have a large flange and significant bounce.”

Confused, let`s just say that the bottom of the sand wedge has added material which makes the club more rounded. This rounded material adds weight to the club and prevents the club from digging into the turf or sand. For reference sake, most sand wedges have around 10 degrees of bounce and a D5 swing weight and your pitching wedge has 7 degrees of golf club bounce and a D1 swing weight.

We will review how you can use this bounce to your favor and stay away from it`s pitfalls.

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Golf Club Bounce:

1. Help–Prevents The Sand Wedge From Digging Into The Sand

The wedge, with the extra bounce, was developed to have a golf club that did not dig into the sand. Obviously, in the sand, you do not want to use a club that digs and gets stuck in the sand. The sand wedge will bounce through the sand and splash the golf ball up onto the green. By the way, you are adding more bounce to the club the more you open the sand wedge club face. So here, the bounce is your friend.

2. Help–Adds Weight To The Bottom Of The Club

Remember, by making the bottom of the golf club rounded and adding material, we have increased the swing weight of the wedge from the normal D1 swing weight to a swing weight of D5. By the way, as you probably have guessed, D5 is heavier than D1. So what this means is that you have a golf club that is heavier that is ideal for hitting out of heavy rough and, of course, sand. Especially, when chipping from heavy rough around the green, the sand wedge is very useful. The bottom line is, use the extra weight to your advantage.

3. Hurt–Golf Club Bounce Will Promote Skulls On A Firm Surface

Now, here is what you need to be aware of. You know that nice bounce that helped you on those bunker and heavy rough shots. Well, it can work against you in very firm sand and shots off of other firm lies. That bounce at the bottom of the sand wedge will not let the golf club dig on firm lies. Even worse, it will promote skulls that can be your worst nightmare. So, be aware of your lie conditions and stay away from the sand wedge on any lie that is not bounce friendly!

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There it is, golf club bounce. Is it your friend or enemy? Be aware, that there is a reason why your sand wedge works so well out of the bunker and learn when the bounce is going to work against you.

I hope this information on golf club bounce helped. Look for more articles on golf game improvement and golf product reviews in the near future.