Is restricted thoracic spine mobility destroying your coil—and should you lift your lead heel?

Keeping your lead heel glued to the turf during the backswing is a modern coaching fad that robs senior golfers of 15 to 20 yards of carry.

Thoracic spine rotation naturally declines with desk posture and age. When you attempt to make a full backswing while keeping your hips restricted and your lead heel pinned to the grass, your body hits a physical wall at 60° of shoulder turn. To compensate, golfers either collapse their lead arm, stand up out of posture, or cast the club from the top in an emergency attempt to generate speed.

Truth: The Classic Jack Nicklaus Heel Release Jack Nicklaus, Sam Snead, and Ben Hogan all allowed their lead heel to lift one to two inches off the turf on the backswing. Releasing the lead heel allows the pelvis to rotate a full 40° to 45°, which automatically turns the shoulders 90° with ZERO strain on the lower back. On the downswing, planting the heel back down creates an effortless, natural pressure shift into the lead side, activating ground reaction forces and delivering high-compression ball striking with a relaxed, fluid tempo.

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