Mark Crossfield: The One Adjustment That Helps You Strike It Pure

🏌️‍♂️ Maintaining knee flex during the downswing helps prevent early extension and leads to better golf shots.

🦵 The drill challenges golfers to sustain a squat-like position, making it tough but effective for improving swing mechanics.

⏱️ Timing is crucial—regaining knee flex at the right moment generates more speed and power in the golf swing.

📊 Launch monitor data often shows that proper technique can produce more distance, even if it feels less powerful to the golfer.

⚡ Many golfers mistakenly rely on aggressive movements for power, but correct sequencing and ground force usage are key.

🎯 Practicing the knee flex drill can improve contact, distance, and overall consistency for golfers who struggle with early extension.

00:00:00 - I'm loving this drill at the minute. Watch this. So, this is really good for golfers who might struggle with a little bit of this >> and it actually causes bad shots. So, as in if they push their hips forwards and they hit bad shots, >> correct? >> So, if you're somebody who pushes your hips forwards and hit great shots, just keep it in great shots. That great shots are great shots.

00:00:24 - >> But this is the drill. It's a fun game and it's a hard one. And I'm like I find it tough and students find it really hard. >> So the game is normal back swing down swing move arms down so you're kind of near lead pocket or trail pocket. So the same height >> but still feel like you've got both knees bent and if anything feel like you sit down a bit more into them. >> Yep. A little more of like a squat. >> Yeah. But then try and hit the ball. So there's a slight pause >> to get there

00:00:51 - >> and then try and hit it. And you're going to notice So I caught that one fat >> a little bit. Yep. >> Cuz it's tough. It's hard. So it takes a few goes. I'm just gonna do another one. >> So that's the extra piece of feedback from a coaching perspective of like don't hit a fat like you got to try to almost try to hit a thin like >> Yeah. You've got to be quick at getting where you want to be more into this bend, which we'll show you why that's important in a second. But you also want to be

00:01:12 - >> there you go >> getting out of it. So you can see even as I'm talking that if I'm not concentrating, >> yeah, >> it's a really good drill and tough one. And people can do it at home on launch monitors. And I just want to show or we can show with OPTIMOTION the benefits of why this is so important. >> Yeah. Let's go take a look. So Mark, I know we were talking about early extension, right? Which is that that movement of your hips towards the ball, your chest sort of bending backwards too

00:01:35 - soon. Just want to keep in mind for everybody at home like extension isn't a bad thing. Y that's totally fine to do this. It's just when you do it. Yeah. >> Okay. We're going to use the trail knee flex as a way to quantify and talk about it. So this swing is the chronic early extender, the person who struggles with contact, distance, direction. This is you sort of demonstrating that Justin that that ro that drill you were talking about getting like the the handle down

00:01:59 - towards your pocket. Seen players like Justin Rose do this. Um so let's take a look at just the pattern. So at the top of the back swing. Talk us through kind of what's going on here. >> Well, it's amazing. So we're measuring trail knee flex here with OPTIMOTION. And you can see this is the one I early extend on. This is the one. Bear in mind in the drill we're talking about trying to sustain knee flex. >> 18 degrees of bend in that trail knee >> compared to my better swing

00:02:24 - >> where I'm six°. So this is considerably straighter. >> 100%. >> So it's not only that you're going to try and get into this knee bend. What's happening in golf swings for people is knees are straightening and bending at certain times. Correct. And if they straighten or bend at the wrong time, which you'll see from this one in a second, it encourages certain actions which possibly could encourage some tough shots. >> Yes. >> So, let's have a race. >> Okay. See which one wins. So, we'll

00:02:51 - start the down swing with both of these. >> We want to increase that bend. Like, look at that already. That is unbelievable. >> We are like, how many clicks into that down swing there? Hardly any. >> Not very many. And this one only moved 7° and this one moved uh what? 26. So this one's winning. >> It's ridiculous. So this one I am completely now on that down swing just pushing and pummeling down into that ground. I'm creating flex here. I'm creating flex here as rotations are

00:03:21 - happening as I try to push down into that ground because I want to use that ground to get out and hit that shot. >> Yeah, that's the I think that's the big misconception with like ground reaction force. Like people always talk about using the ground. It's like well the ground doesn't do anything unless you do something to it, right? the ground's not going to move you. You have to move into the ground to use it. So, this is exactly what you're talking about of

00:03:41 - reestablishing that knee flex. And then if we go even one frame f or down here where the shaft's parallel to the ground, you can see even a bigger difference here. So, this number again doesn't really continue to move. It basically stays the same. This one starts to even flex a little bit more. That's what you see a lot of the best players in the world do is they straighten their leg until the top of the back swing, regain their flex until right about this position, and then they

00:04:04 - start to straighten as fast as they can. And that's what moves the club really fast and helps people hit the ball really far. >> Also, I think what's interesting with this, because this isn't really doing much, >> no, >> my body, my brain will feel this. So, I want to do something else >> cuz I don't want to do not much. I want to hit the ball far. >> Yes. So now I'm thinking right I'm going to do something an aggressive shift of something where on this one the

00:04:32 - aggression is kind of happening earlier and then the reactions come out >> where this one there's no the reaction is I haven't done anything >> correct >> I better do something >> cuz when I work with students and you get this action to this one they often say this one feels less powerful >> right >> cuz they think in their brains they're built around this action as being a power source >> correct >> which It's harming their for that person their swing where this person is

00:04:59 - thinking my power source is actually me doing a bit of this. >> Yes. It's the vertical the up and down piece. >> So you take their power source away that they think's right. They do this and they go, "God, that doesn't feel very strong." >> Yeah. >> But then we get the measurements out of the launch monitor and it's like, "Oh, hang on." >> Right. >> That goes further if not the same distance I did. >> Yes. Like all of these inputs that you're talking about are just ways to

00:05:21 - try to manufacture speed in a bad way. Yes. >> See the same thing with people who slice, right? Golfers who move the club out too quickly in the down swing, they just start to open their turns too fast. Mark and I aren't saying opening your turns is a bad thing. We're saying you have to do it at the right time. >> Correct. >> Right. So, it's the same thing here when you have those people that struggle with the early extension. They lose their inclination to the ground too soon. They

00:05:40 - end up introducing power in a bad way that creates more inconsistency. >> Absolutely. And let's think about the drill. The drill is playing, it's putting the race into a position where the gun has fired. >> Yes. So you're not at the starting blocks in that race in the drill. You're already the gun has gone. How quick are you now getting out of those blocks? It's like you've already started to now push out. Yeah. >> With this one, the gun hasn't even gone.

00:06:06 - >> Right. Yeah. There's there's zero reason for this thing to move faster. >> This sprinter is just standing there going, "When's this race? Oh, hang on." >> You've already missed the moment of when it needs to happen. Yes. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. So, this is a really, really good drill if you struggle with that early extension piece. Play that game. run that race. See if you can reestablish the knee flex. That's going to go a long way to helping your contact, your

00:06:27 - distance, and ultimately just help you play better golf and shoot better scores. Absolutely. [Music]

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