Power of the Big Toe

CONTROVERSIAL STATEMENT OF THE DAY: The Big Toe is the foundation of all energy production throughout the human body.

Think for a moment about how YOUR body moves magically through space, and how ALL your body parts seem to magically know what to do in that movement. It makes sense that whatever is in contact with Earth during that movement would be the first thing to take action – a pushing action against the Earth, and that everything above that would need to follow, in sequence or there would be NO magic movement through space… if that movement is walking or running, or standing, then YOUR feet are involved… what could that mean for YOUR Golf Game?

THE PHYSICS OF IT ALL

Think about how a fish moves through the water. The head turns one direction then the other creating a (literal) wave of energy down the length of its body to push its way through the water – effectively pushing off the water with its tail, very much like the way we push ourselves off the Earth. The foundational principle of the wave that applies to YOU and YOUR Golf Game is that some action has to initiate the wave of energy.

When YOUR head initiates a movement, a sequential wave of energy flows down to your foundation, your connection to Earth, YOUR Big Toe to press in a particular direction with a specific amount of pressure… THEN every joint above your Big Toe (in series) sequentially creates a specific amount of energy in a particular direction to support the action the Big Toe has initiated. This all happens in the matter of a few milliseconds, so in a 1-2 second Golf Swing this wave of energy is repeated and adjusted many thousands of times; every time the Big Toe is the most important piece of the process because it connects YOU to Earth.

WHY TALK ABOUT THIS?

We do so many things to manage our Golf Swing – swing thoughts, gadgets, lessons, meditations, equipment, YouTube videos, etc… Sometimes we even do fitness or conditioning programs. But it is usually for the big stuff, like shoulder turn or leg strength or flexibility. It is almost never for the stuff that gives us stability and durability. These are the most important components to ANY successful physical endeavor.

Stability is the single factor responsible for consistency in action; there is no better way to lower your Golf score than being more consistent. Durability is the single factor responsible for ability to take action; the ability to repeatedly express significant amounts of energy without loss of ability or injury. The Big Toe is responsible for establishing the base of stability in EVERYTHING you do, and, if allowed to function fully, it is responsible for how durable you will be when doing those things, YOU do.

Even though it is called THE BIG TOE, it is a small anatomical feature… with HUGE responsibility. And it is one of the last things we consider (if at all) when we think about improving our Golf Game.

The GOLF Tip of the Day

Find YOUR Neutral Alignment for maximum energy production: At address, lean forward to feel pressure on YOUR Big Toes; then Pull it Back to feel the pressure in the middle of YOUR feet.

Let YOUR Big Toe GO!

STARTING POINT

With any Athletic Performance enhancement program, we have the same starting point, we call it Stabilization. This is a term that comes from a conditioning system called “Periodization”, where we break up the time available for making change into smaller segments and then assign a specific purpose (outcome) to each of those segments – we can talk more and specifically about Periodization another time. For today, we will be talking about Stabilization and Strengthening.

In a lot of ways our bodies are much “smarter” than our brains. Often the brain gets in way of letting the body do what it does best, creating and applying energy efficiently. Simply put, if we let the foot move naturally and unhindered, it will develop a structure capable of use without injury and full of power.

Spending as much time as possible barefooted while walking or doing things where standing is required will allow all the muscles around the food and ankle to develop in concert. It is important to note that this process of spending time barefooted should be done in a progressive manner; and, if at any time you start to feel fatigue or pain in your feet, then stop what you are doing and/or put your favorite “comfortable” footwear on your feet to provide relief. You will find that this progressive approach will allow the foot to adapt, condition and improve its level and duration of function fairly quickly. You need a stable and durable platform to apply power in ways you need and want.

UTILIZING YOUR GOOD STARTING POINT

Part of human structure regarding balance and position is that the Big Toe is automatically “reaches” for a starting point in every physical action YOU take. Even getting up from laying down YOUR Big Toe extends to connect with something just in case you need it to apply some energy for some reason.

Stabilization makes all things Athletic Performance more available. When you provide an opportunity for your body to feel stable at its connection to Earth, it eliminates the need for many of the Swing Thoughts people often have. Example: when developing Stability from the Big Toe up, your body becomes really good at creating something called “Neutral Alignment”, which allows energy to flow unhindered from head to toe, and toe to hand; which then means you won’t have to THINK so much about where your knee is or which foot you feel pressure on or did my head move too much during the Golf Swing.

BEYOND THE BASICS OF STABILIZATION

Understanding the value of having a high quality efficient and powerful energy producing and utilizing foundation is just the first step in a lifelong process we call Being an Athlete – yes, a Golfer is an Athlete. Because everything you build on top of your foundation is only limited by the integrity of your base.

The next steps could be Strengthening or Synchronizing or Rest. Depending on what YOUR conditioning objectives and timing limitations are. Whatever your next steps are, they will only be (physically) limited by the quality of connection to YOUR Big Toe, YOUR connection to Earth.

CONCLUSION

In the spirit of the first domino falling in a sequence, the quality of everything you do depends upon the Stability and Durability of YOUR Big Toe… so embrace the Power of the Big Toe to make YOUR Golf Swing the best it can BE.